WW2 Flashcards
FDR’s Leadership
told America that in order to win every man and child had to fight - kept a confident, good tone to keep everyone in good spirits - moved people with his words
Industrial Production
work your head off to keep it - people worked hard and fast - 18 hrs a day
Role of Women
didn’t want women to work - thought they shouldn’t leave the house - needed them tho bc most men were in the war - got planes in the air and got product expectations passed
Jobs and Roles of Civilians
ALL Americans had to work for the war - people donated scraps to be used as war supplies - some kids even donated toys - supplies were rationed like gas
Japanese Internment Camps
hating Japanese bc Japan was the enemy - thought they were all spies - put them in camps to “stay safe” - made art portraying the Japanese as subhuman monsters and monkeys
442nd and the Lost Battalion
group of japanese americans - brought in when others failed - went through tough german lines in 3 days - americans surrounded by germans - lost battalion - 442 sent in to rescue them - lost 400 to rescue 230 - less expendable bc they were japanese?
The Fall of the Philippines
2 days after pearl harbor Japan attacks philippines - Douglas macarthur retreats to Bataan peninsula - troops hold out there for 3 months - April 9, 1942 they surrender
Bataan Death March
Filipinos/Americans march 65 miles to Japanese prison camp - 10,000 troops died
Corregidor
small force held out - may 1942 they surrendered and philippines falls to japan
The Doolittle Raid
FDR wanted to bomb tokyo to bring up morale - could only reach by aircraft carrier - created b-25s which could reach Japan - could go further - FDR puts james Doolittle in charge - April 18, 1942 us bombs japan
Battle of Coral Sea
Hawaii code breakers figure out Japan’s code - decode message about Japan’s attack in coral Sea - Nimitz sends ships to stop them - stopped attack even though Japan sunk both ships
Battle of Midway
decoded attack on midway - had ships waiting to ambush Japan - Japan goes to midway and gets destroyed - had 2nd wave where japan loses again - turning point - US ambushed and stopped Japan advance - US had much less casualties
Reasons they started in North Africa?
give the army more experience - could help British troops fight Germany in Egypt
Rommel
desert fox - GB fought Rommel for 12 days but were still a threat - eisenhower sends troops to trap him
Patton
General of American forces who captured casablanca - losing to the germans - eisenhower put Patton and the forces were able to push back germany - lead to them surrendering
Blackouts in the Atlantic
US ships were easy targets - dimmed/turned off lights to protect them from Germans - had a glow that reflected in the word
Convoy System
protect themselves from Germany - matched Germany in shipping sunk - would go in zig zags around one important to be able to save the ships who were sunk
New tech used
american planes/boats started using radar sonar and depth charges to locate/attack German submarines and torpedo ships
Why was the Battle of Stalingrad a turning point in war?
Germany was now of the defense like japan
Why did the Germans lose?
didn’t have gear for the cold weather - Soviets did - fighting in the Soviets homeland - had to fight house by house - Stalin orders to protect the city at all cost
Casablanca Conference
FDR and Churchill meet - want to step up bombing of Germany - allies launch attack on Axis in sicily
Strategic Bombing
3,700 tons of explosives dropped on Germany by GB and US - wildly inaccurate - caused severe oil shortage + wrecked German railroads
Striking Italy
eisenhower leads invasion of Sicily w/ Patton - July 10, 1943 - allied troops come ashore - led to Italy deposing of Mussolini - arrested - Italy surrenders - Germany captures North italy and restores Mussolini to power
Tehran Conference
FDR meets Stalin and Churchill before invading France - reach several agreements - Stalin will launch full-scale offensive against Germans - would divide Germany after war for peace - Stalin promises to help us with japan - accepted FDR’s international peace keeping org post war
Operation Overlord
Germans knew attack but not where allies where - invade 60 mile spread along Normandy coast - invasion at night to hide their ships - very detailed - lots of requirements - June 5-7 1944 - June 6, d-day
The Longest Day
weak German defenses - US captured Utah beach in 3 hours - Omaha beach - US assault almost breaks under intense German fire - British and canada landing went well too
MacArthur Strategy in Driving Japan Back
troops begin invading guadalcanal- then ordered his forces to capture hollandia - 600 m away - secured new guinea and morotai - last stops before the Philippines - MacArthur told Philippines he was back and his forces were here - biggest attack 160,00 troops
Nimitz
commander of the US navy - invaded 3 Mariana islands and captured them - his forces hopped across the central Pacific ocean
Guadalcanal
first island captured by macarthur of many that led to them taking enough islands surrounding Japan base starting japans fall
Island-Hopping
worried how many would die during actual battles - advance by hopping from island to island - different troops would capture NG and retake philippines - US slowly regained the islands that Japan took
Navajo Code Talkers
Americans used radios to speak but the Japanese could intercept/translate their messages - they developed a code - used in Iwo jima - unbreakable
Amphtracs
CALLED ALLIGATORS - Coral reefs weren’t deep enough to get ashore - had to wade through the water - many died - used amphtracs - florida swamp boats - to get through the reefs
Kamikaze
divine wind
D-Day Successes
hedgerows - Germans could defend their positions - broke through and liberated Paris?
Battle of the Bulge
hitler’s last desperate offense - cut off allied supplies in Antwerp, Belgium - Germans catch US soldiers by surprise - lines bulged forward - eisenhower calls Patton for backup - came 3 days later - allied aircrafts start hitting German fuel depots - x-mas Eve - German troops halt - US breaks lines - Germany lost 100,000 ppl and lots of supplies - didn’t have enough to stop allies
The War ends in Europe - Berlin
soviets launch a massive attack on Germany in Russia - forced Hitler troops back to Poland - Soviets now only 65 miles from Berlin - Soviets cross the east border - US crosses West
Hitler’s Suicide
Hitler realizes he is going to lose - commits suicide in an underground bunker in Berlin - chose Karl Doenitz as his successor - April 30, 1945
V-E Day
allies invade Germany - Doenitz accepts their terms of surrender - may 7,1945 - may 8, 1945 is V-E Day - victory in Europe day
FDR Dies
has a stroke in Georgia on vacation - devastating - people thought of him as a friend and were very sad - April 12, 1945
The Battle of Iwo JIma
November 24, 1945 - US bombs Tokyo with b-29s - ran out of fuel decides to invade Iwo jima to land/refuel - volcanic ash everywhere - hard to travel/land
Firebombing Japan
filled bombs with napalm - exploded and started fires - killed civilians - oxygen sucked out of the air - killed 80,000 people - 250,000 building - took out 67 Japanese cities
Okinawa
Americans thought Japan would surrender when invaded - kept supplies in Okinawa - Japan took position in the mountains - US had to fight up steep slopes w/ guns shooting at them - 12,000 died - June, 22, 1945 took okinawa
Terms for Surrender
Japan wanted to end the war but US demanded unconditional surrender - would only surrender if the emperor stayed in power but US said no so the war kept on
The Manhattan Project
Leo Szilard was a British scientist who created an atomic bomb which he send to eisenhower - codenamed the Manhattan project - 1942 made nuclear reactor - July 16, 1945 detonated on NM - operation led by oppenheimer
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
debating how to use the atomic bomb - killed a bunch of civilians - wanted to drop to shock Japan into surrendering - allies threaten Japan with death if they don’t respond - didn’t respond so they dropped a bomb on hiroshima - destroyed 63% of Hiroshima - dropped another on Nagasaki - killed a bunch of civilians
V-J Day
august 15, 1945 - Japan surrenders - Victory over Japan day
Plessy Vs Ferguson
1896
Spanish American War
1898
WW1
1914-18
19th Amendment Ratified
1920
US Involvement in WW2
1941-45
Great Depression Begins
1929
School Desegregation Ordered
1954
Korean War Begins
1950
