WWII Flashcards
Allies
USA
Russia
Great Britain
Axis Powers
Japan
Italy
Germany
FDR
The President of USA when he war started
served 2 terms
Truman
Headed Senate war investigating committee
Saved 15 billion dollars
President
Made crucial decision to end war in japan
Churchill
Prime Minister of Great Britain
Stalin
The Communist leader of Russia
Hitler
The Communist leader of Russia
Mussolini
Fascism leader of Italy
Franco
Dictator of Spain
Fought Spanish Civil war
Took control of government
Rommel
Nicknamed “desert fox”
Commanded German defenses against allied invasion of northern france
Chamberlain
Prime minister before Churchill
Policy of appeasement
Annexed Czechoslovakia
Signing the Munich agreement
“A Peace for Our Time”
Axis Aggression
Japan slowly took over China
Italy attacked Ethiopia and defeated them
Germany defied the treaty of versailles and took over Poland/czechoslovakia
Appeasement
Giving into demands to get peace; no one wanted to deal with Hitler
Anschluss
Relationship between Germany and Austria
Czechoslovakia
Served Hitler for 7 years as a source of industrial goods
Didn’t see much war but terror to citizens
Dunkirk
French dig in past maignot line
Phony war
Allies retreated & trapped
Operation Dynamo
Blitzkrieg
Uses tanks and air power to cause devastating blows to enemies
Operation Barbarossa
Largest Military operation in history, as well as the deadliest
Stalingrad
Large industrial city
Brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany
Very important transport hub
Lend Lease Act
Provided resources and materials to Great Britain (without getting directly involved in the war)
Pearl Harbor
US Naval Base
Bombed and caused the US to join the war
US banned sale of war material to Japan (they saw that as a threat so they bombed)
US Joins the war
Pearl Harbor Bombed
Holocaust
Deprived Jews of their basic human rights, tortured, murdered, put into concentration amps, killed 6 million Jews/”unwanted people”, Aryan was seen as perfect race and Jews were disgusting
Total War
Every aspect of human life is put into war. Everything made/done is for war effort
D-Day
June 5th thousands of paratroopers dropped in
June 6th 1944= land/sea attack (resulted in victory by the end of the day)
Atlantic Wall
Wall of multiple barricades and defenses to keep people form coming to the beach (10 ft wall, head hogs, machine guns, mines, logs with mines, etc.)
Eisenhower
Supreme commander of allied expeditionary Force in Europe, achieved 5 star ranked General of the Army, prioritized balanced budget over tax cuts. Continued new deal programs
Luftwaffe
Best Air Force in the world, German military planners allowed the use of this to help with blitzkrieg tactics.
Kamikaze
Japanese pilot whose main purpose was to die in war, would crash their plans into boats and die (also known as suicide pilots)
Schindler’s List
List of hundreds of Jews to be sent from Goeth’s camp to his instead of Auschwitz’s, saved many people and allowed them to survive the holocaust
Victory in Europe
Roosevelt dies, Guerrillas attack/execute Mussolini, Hitler commutes suicide, US has enormous production, Several German fronts, bombing hindered German production, May 8th 1945 – V.E Day
Manhattan Project
Secret American project that’s purpose was to create atomic weapons
A-Bomb
Atomic Bomb, Fat man/Little man, Dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, related to the manhattan projects
Victory in Japan
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Nuremberg Trails
Laws against Jews, restricting them to do basic things (the start of the holocaust)
Island Hopping
Attacking random Japanese island to avoid them being able to have full ability to fight back
Cold War
A “silent” war between US & Russia deciding who can make the biggest and best atomic weapon
WWI Death Tolls
8.5 Million soldiers
6-13 Million Civilians
15-21 Million Altogether
Dust Bowl
Periods of severe dust storms and drought
Caused by over-farming, drought, and strong winds
Many forced to relocate
Jazz (WWII)
Entertainment and a way for people to escape the war
Lifted Moral
Russian Revolution
Overthrowing of the Russian Government
Profound impact on the course of history
Gulag
System of Forced Labor Camps
Soviet Union
Socialist state
First country to be based on Marxist socialism and Leninist communism
Nazi
Extreme nationalist and racist ideologies
Policies of discrimination, segregation, and ultimately genocide, culminating in the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were systematically murdered in extermination camps
Lebensraum
German term meaning “living space.”
Referred to the expansionist policy adopted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, which aimed to secure additional territory for the German people, primarily in Eastern Europe
Nuremberg Laws
A set of anti-Semitic laws
Institutionalized racial discrimination and persecution against Jews, codifying many of the racist policies and beliefs of the Nazi regime
Kristallnacht
Night of shattered glass that littered the streets after Jewish-owned businesses, homes, synagogues, and schools were ransacked, vandalized, and destroyed
Black Shirts
Were incorporated into the Italian military and continued to serve as a paramilitary force loyal to the fascist regime
Italy
Shifting alliances, military defeats, and internal strife
War left a profound impact on Italian society, politics, and economy, shaping the country’s post-war trajectory and contributing to the downfall of fascism in Italy
Hideki Tojo
Increased militarization and expansionist policies in Asia and the Pacific
Strong advocate for Japan’s aggressive actions
Support for the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 which precipitated Japan’s entry into World War II
Japan
Military expansionism, territorial conquests, and ultimately devastating defeat
European Theater
Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939, triggering the outbreak of World War II
Pacific Theater
Conflict that encompassed the fighting in the Pacific and East Asia from December 1941 to August 1945
