WWII Flashcards
Lend Lease Act
What: Allowed US government to lend or lease war supplies to any nation vital to US defense
Why: allowed US to help allied nations like UK and Soviet Union. Gave FDR unlimited authority to direct material aid to allies
When: (Passed 1941)
Double V Campaign
What: launched by African American newspaper. “Victory Abroad and Victory at Home”. African Americans fight against fascism overseas and for equality in US
Why: African Americans made sacrifices for the military and demand social progress.
When: (launched 1942)
Executive Order 8802
What: Created Fair Employment Practices Committee. prohibit ethnic or racial discrimination especially in defense industry
Why: appeased civil rights leaders, African Americans get more job opportunities and less discrimination
When: (issued 1941)
Nye Commission Report
What: documented huge profits that arms factories made during WWI. found that bankers had pressured Wilson to intervene in the war in order to protect their loans abroad
Why: More control over war profits in WWII
When: (1934-1936)
Smith Connally Labor Act
What: allowed federal government to seize and operate industries threatened by or under strikes that would interfere with war production. prohibited unions from making contributions in federal elections. aka “anti-strike act”. aka “War Labor Disputes Act
Why: gave government more power over industry. gave workers less power.
When: (1943)
Executive Order 9066
What: authorized military commanders to excuse civilians from “military areas”
Why: allowed exclusion, capture, and sending to camps of Japanese Americans
When: (1942)
Atlantic Charter
What: statement by FDR and Winston Churchill which set out American and British goals for the world after end of WWII
Why: war hadn’t ended yet, but already planning for afterwards
When: (1941)
War Powers Act
What: granted FDR extensive powers to support the war effort and provide for nation’s defense
Why: increased federal and FDR’s power
When: (1942)
Zoot Suits
What: suits made with excessive fabric worn by Mexicans and Mexican American youth. banned during war for waste of fabric. Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place in LA when American servicemen and whites attacked any Mexicans wearing zoot suits
Why: racial attacks on Mexicans
When: (1943)
Revenue Act of 1942
What: introduced the Victory Tax. increased individual income tax rates and made 75% of workers pay income taxes
Why: helped pay for war, doubled number of people who had to pay income tax
When: (1942)
Popular Front
What: anti-fascist groups
Why: fight against fascism
When: (1930s-40s)
America First Committee
What: isolationist pressure group against American entry into WWII. led by Charles Lindbergh.
Why: influential, opposed aid to allies and entry to war
When: (1940-41)
Committee to Defend America by Aiding its Allies
What: advocacy organization to persuade public that US should supply Allies with as much material and money as possible to keep US out of war
Why: pro-British, influential, help Allies as much as possible without sending soldiers
When: (1940-1942)
Cash and Carry Provision
What: part of Neutrality Acts, allowed sale of arms to warring nations as long as they were paid at once in cash then shipped on the warring nation’s ships
Why: allowed US to sell arms to Allies. protected US ships and sailors. did not allow loans of arms to warring nations
When: (1937)
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
What: provided WWII veterans with funds for college education, unemployment insurance, and housing
Why: helped WWII veterans, established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available
When: (1944)
Neutrality Act of 1935
What: prohibited export of arms, ammunition, and implements of war from US to foreign nations at war. required arms manufacturers in US to apply for export license
Why: limited US ability to help Allies, attempted to keep US out of war
When: (1935)
Four Freedoms
What: speech by FDR to promote spread of democracy as US moved towards war
Why: increased support for war as a war for democracy. outlined goals of entering war as spreading democracy
When: (1941)
Korematsu vs United States
What: Japanese man was arrested for living in West Coast. US Supreme Court uphold exclusion of Japanese Americans from west coast
Why: held that the wartime internment of American citizens of Japanese descent was constitutional
When: (decided 1944)
Battle of the Bulge
Last major German offensive in Europe
Navajo Code Talkers
In the European theater, army commanders used their native language to thwart the Nazis and exchange crucial military commands on the battlefield.
Battle of Midway
June 1942 American victory in which the U.S. navy severely damaged the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet and prevented a second Japanese attack against Pearl Harbor.
Atomic bomb
Its success in August of 1945 led chief scientist Robert Oppenheimer to recall the words from Hindu scripture: “I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.”
