WWII Flashcards
Axis Powers: leaders & countries
Germany, Japan, Italy
Allied Powers: leaders & countries
GB, France, USA, USSR(later)
Blitzkrieg
a way to attack that involves rapid, quick assault (first war to use?) Involved: Tanks, Soldiers, Planes, Noisemaker
Nonaggression pact
agreement to not fight (Germany and Soviet Union agreed not to take military action against each other for the next 10 years)
Appeasement
making concessions to dictorial powers to avoid conflict.
Isolationism
During the 1930s, the combination of the Great Depression and the memory of tragic losses in World War I contributed to pushing American public opinion and policy toward isolationism.
Unilateralism
the doctrine that nations should conduct their foreign affairs individualistically without the advice or involvement of other nations
Hitler’s invasion of USSR (June, 1941)
Hitler goes against the Nonaggression Pact and stuns Stalin, so Stalin joins the war on the side of the Allied Powers (GB, USA, France).
Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)
Japan sneak attacks the navy base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii (USA) Pearl Harbor bombed Dec. 7, 1941
* This event marked the U.S.’s involvement in WWII
Executive Order 9066
order signed by Roosevelt that allowed for the relocation of Japanese American citizens. put them in camps b/c we didn’t trust any Japanese after Pearl Harbor
Japanese internment
took Japanese out of their homes and sent them to camps to help prevent more invading. idea to move western Japanese people to eastern side so they would be father from Japan.
Kataoka family
Refer to “Home was a Horse Stall”
Issei/nissei
Issei-The first generation of immigrant Japanese Americans-were not allowed to become naturalized American citizens until 1952
Nissei- Second-generation Japanese Americans-first American-born generation
Civil Liberties Act of 1988
signed august 10, 1988 by Ronald Regan. passed by congress to provide apology and
Korematsu v. U.S
Supreme Court case of a Japanese American citizen who refused to go to the Japanese internment camps set up by the US government. Review the document (in the Executive Order 9066 packet) and the majority and dissenting opinions.
Wartime economy
when a country is at war they focus more on financial planning so they can have extra money to use towards the war
Female workers
in WWII women got jobs that men had done before they left for the war. they filled in for the men and the time also filled so they would feel less sad about their husbands being gone.
Sybil Lewis
Strong African American woman who faced discrimination, but pushed through it and worked very hard to do what she wanted despite the discrimination she survived
Adele Erenberg
woman who worked in a machine shop and faced discrimination. fought her way for higher wages and equality
Inez Sauer
elite woman who decided to work despite her family’s disapproval- mother was afraid she was essentially get raped when working in a factory.
gender roles
expectations for women changed because before WWII, they were expected to remain in the private sphere at home and take care of the household and children, and after WWII, they were expected to work at factories for the war effort and were encouraged to do so. After soldiers returned from WWII, they were expected to go back home and many didn’t want to be stuck in the roles that were expected of them.
D-Day
- June 6, 1944-Invasion of Normandy
- was the day Allied troops crossed the English Channel and opened a second front in western Europe during World War II.
Hiroshima
first bomb dropped by the US on Japan on August 6, 1945
Nagasaki
second bomb dropped by the US on Japan on August 9, 1945; 1 day after the USSR invaded Japan
GI Bill
US law that paid for education expenses for returning veterans; many blacks benefited especially from this opportunity
General George Patton
American general who was involved in the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge; known for his great ability in tank warfare -review his speech in your packet
Cold War (1945-1991)
Who: -US (West) v. USSR (East)
Why: -Competition to be #1 superpower
-“Cold” because the US and USSR never fought each other DIRECTLY
What: -Proxy Wars: indirect fighting between US & USSR (i.e. Korean War, Vietnam War)
-Began: End of WWII; atomic bombs dropped on Japan (1945) Truman
-Ended: Soviet Union (USSR) collapsed (1991)
Containment
Kennan, U.S. state department official, and expert on the USSR, urges a policy of containment towards Soviet expansion
McCarthyism
going after Americans who some suspected of being spies and bringing them in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to accuse them; many people’s reputations were ruined because of the accusations
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)
if the US fired a nuclear weapon, the USSR could retaliate; so theoretically there was a balance of power that made things somewhat safer because it was unlikely that rational leaders would launch a nuclear first strike
Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61)
Going to the brink of war while threatening massive retaliation
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)
Reduced conventional forces
Highway Act of 1956: the birth of the commute
Military-industrial complex
The military-industrial complex is the relationship between the military, the government that funds it, and corporations in the defense industry; if the US has a permanent defense industry, it means in order for those companies in that industry to be profitable, the US either needs to be constantly at war or to sell weapons to other countries
Korean War (1950-1953)
NK invaded SK; UN went in with the US to help SK; ceasefire at 38th parallel
Manhattan Project
America’s secret weapon to build a nuclear weapon
Truman Doctrine
Truman Gave Greece and Turkey $400 million
Nations must choose between U.S. and USSR
Marshall Plan
gave Western Europe $13 billion
post WWII
US’s strongest economic point
