WWII Flashcards
The policy of making concessions to an aggressor in order to avoid confrontation or conflict.
Appeasement
A method of warfare involving a rapid, concentrated deployment of forces to achieve maximum surprise and overwhelming force.
Blitzkrieg
An executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in February 1942 that authorized the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones, clearing the way for the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps.
Executive Order 9066
An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
Fascism
An informal term for the American soldiers in World War II, derived from “Government Issue.”
GI’s
Places of confinement for individuals are considered to be a threat to national security. During World War II, Japanese-American citizens were interned in such camps.
Internment Camps
A Supreme Court case in which Fred Korematsu challenged the legality of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps. The Court ruled in favor of the government.
Korematsu V. Unites States
A law passed by the United States Congress in 1941, authorizing the president to “sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of” any defense material to any country whose defense the President deems necessary to the defense of the United States.
Lend Lease Act
A policy or action that emphasizes the importance of military power.
Militarism
The process of preparing for and organizing military forces for war.
Mobilization
An agreement between Nazi Germany, Britain, France, and Italy in 1938 that allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
Munich Pact
A form of fascism characterized by extreme nationalism, racism, and militarism.
Nazism
A series of laws passed by Congress in the 1930s to keep the United States from being drawn into foreign wars.
Neutrality Acts
Laws or regulations setting maximum prices for certain goods or services in order to prevent inflation.
Price Controls
A government that is installed and controlled by a foreign power.
Puppet Government
A system of controlling the distribution of scarce goods, usually in wartime.
Rationing
A three-year civil war fought in Spain between 1936 and 1939, in which General Francisco Franco’s nationalist forces fought against the elected Republican government.
Spanish Civil War
A form of government in which the state has absolute control over the individual and all aspects of life.
Totalitarianism
An agency created in 1942 to control the production and distribution of war materials, and to coordinate the production of civilian goods with military needs.
War-Production Board
Countries that fought together against the Axis Powers in World War II, including the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, France, China, and more.
Allies
A nuclear weapon developed by the United States during World War II, which was dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Atomic Bomb
The coalition of countries that fought against the Allies during World War II, including Germany, Japan, and Italy.
Axis Powers
A significant naval battle during World War II in which the Allied forces defeated the Japanese in June 1942.
Battle of Midway
A major World War II battle between the United States and Japan in April 1945 where the US was victorious.
Battle of Okinawa
A major battle between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany during World War II in which the Soviets were victorious.
Battle of Stalingrad
June 6, 1944, the day of the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II.
D-Day
A campaign in World War II that sought to achieve victory against fascism abroad and racism at home.
Double V Campaign
The deliberate and systematic extermination of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.
Genocide
The mass murder of Jews and other persecuted groups by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Holocaust
Japanese pilots who flew their planes into Allied ships during World War II as a form of suicide attack.
Kamikaze
A military strategy used in World War II in which an attacking force bypassed strongly defended positions in order to attack the enemy from the rear.
Leapfrogging
A top-secret program created by the US during World War II to develop the atomic bomb.
Manhattan Project
The first African-American military aviators in the United States Army Air Corps.
Tuskegee Airmen
An agency established by the US government during World War II to help refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe.
War Refugee Board
A branch of the US Army established in 1942 to provide women with a place to serve in the military during World War II.
Women’s Army Corps
A series of riots in Los Angeles in 1943 between US military personnel and young Mexican-American men wearing zoot suits.
Zoot Suit Riots
