World War 2

Adolf HItler

The dictator of Germany during world war 2

Benito Mussolini

The Dictator of Italy during world war 2

Winston Churchill

The Prime minister of Great Britain during world war 2

Joseph Stalin

The Dictator of the soviet union during world war 2

Non-Aggression Pact

Agreement between Germany and the USSR not to fight each other. They also agreed to divide Poland

Battle of Britain

The German air force launched an all-out air battle to destroy the British Royal Air Force

Great Depression

The economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s

Pearl Harbor

Surprise attack by the Japanese on December 7, 1941 that resulted in the United States' entry into world war 2

Japanese Internment

In 1942 the U.S. Government removed more than 100,000 people of Japanese birth and ancestry from their homes on the pacific coast to relocation centers

Nazi

A German member of Adolf Hitler's political party

Holocaust

The Nazi campaign to exterminate the Jews during world war 2

Fascism

A political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition

Isolationism

A national policy of avoiding involvement in world affairs

Emperor Hirohito

The Emperor of Japan during WWII. His people viewed him as a god

Harry Truman

The 33rd President of the US. Led the U.S. to victory in WWII making the decision to use atomic weapons for the first time.

Allied Powers

Countries that worked together during WW2: Great Britain, US, France and Russia

Axis Powers

Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II.

Tojo Hideki

Military leader of Japan leading up to, and during World War II

WWII in Europe began with

Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939

Cause of WWII

Treaty of Versailles leaving Germany angry and weak

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty that ended WWI. It blamed Germany for WWI and handed down harsh punishment.

Atomic Bomb

American scientists developed a bomb based on atomic energy, which was used against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Concentration Camps

Prison camps used under the rule of Hitler in Nazi Germany. Jewish people, were generally starved or worked to death, or killed immediately.

Battle of Stalingrad

Decisive battle in German invasion of Russia, the Germans were surrounded and systemically destroyed

Hiroshima

City in Japan, the first to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, in 1945

D-Day

Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944

United Nations

An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace.

Island Hopping

A military strategy used during World War II that involved selectively attacking specific enemy-held islands and bypassing others

Charles de Gaulle

leader of the French government

FDR

the President of the US during WWII. He was the only president in U.S. history to be elected to four terms

D-Day

Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944

Battle of the Bulge

A 1944-1945 battle in which Allied forces turned back the last major German offensive of World War II.

Battle of Midway

1942 World War II battle between the United States and Japan, a turning point in the war in the Pacific

Anti-Semitism

Hatred of Jews

Lend-Lease Act

The laws passed by the U.S. allowing us to give aid to Great Britain during WWII

Albert Einstein

escaped Germany and informed FDR about the Germans working on an Atomic Bomb, his scientific theories helped the Allies make the Atomic Bomb instead.

Manhattan Project

A secret U.S. project for the construction of the atomic bomb.

Battle of Moscow

The first Russian victory in World War II

Battle of Leningrad

city under attack for over 900 days; 3 million Soviets were blockaded in by Germany and over a million of them died.

Georgi Zhukov

Soviet general; led troops in keeping Moscow from falling to the Germans

Battle of the Atlantic

Germany's naval attempt to cut off British supply ships by using submarines called u-boats.

Neville Chamberlain

Great British prime minister who advocated peace and a policy of appeasement

Appeasement

A policy of giving things to an aggressor in the hopes of avoiding war.

Invasion of Manchuria

Japan took over in 1931. Invaded for resources

Rape of Nanking

In late 1937, Japan conquered the Chinese city of Nanking. Chinese civilians were brutalized and thousands were killed. The event shocked Western powers and contributed to sanctions against Japan.

Blitzkrieg

"Lighting war", typed of fast-moving warfare used by German forces against Poland in 1939

Dunkirk

port in France from which 300,000 Allied troops were evacuated when their retreat by land was cut off by the German advance in 1940

Rape of East Prussia

The destruction of the Easternmost province of Germany when the Russians arrived after years of war. Thousands of civilians were killed, raped or tortured.