WWII

Changes on the homefront

1. People had to ration different items and use "ration coupons" to assure everyone got an equal amount of the rationed items. Examples of items were gas, tires, rubber, metal, and paper. Children also helped collect these materials to try and be a part of the war. 2. People organized victory gardens which were gardens that grew crops. This was so everyone in the U.S. and the soldiers had enough food. 3. Women started to work a lot during the war. They worked on things that were stereotyped as "Men Jobs." All of these things were a huge part as to why the United States were successful in WWII.

Maginot Line

A line of fortifications (defense wall) on the border with Germany. This was supposed to help from Germany invading or attacking France, but didn't work as Germany invaded France by the end of June.

Manhattan Project

A secret U.S. project for the construction of the world's first atomic bomb. Named this after the location of the first offices. Was successful and created two bombs. These bombs were dropped on Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Arguments for dropping: More American lives lost in invasion of Japan. Atomic bomb would end war faster. It would show USSR the power we had. Arguments against dropping: Too many civilian casualties, very expensive, radiation caused illness, could be used to blackmail other countries.

Atlantic Wall

A system of fortifications built by the Germans along the western coast of France to try and prevent an invasion from Britain.

Fascism

A type of government in Germany and Italy. It is totalitarian, or where one party is in control and no criticism of government is allowed. Also, nationalism (where people love their country) is very strong with these governments.

Surrender of Italy

After the allied victory in North Africa, they invaded Sicily. They captured the island. Gen. Montgomery landed in the "toe" of Italy and on September 3, 1943, Italy agreed to an armistice with the Allies.

Axis Powers

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

Allied Powers

Alliance of Great Britain, Soviet Union, United States, France, China, India, Australia, and most of western Europe during World War II.

Douglas MacArthur

American General who was the Allied commander in the Pacific and tried to keep the Japanese from taking control of the Philippines. He was forced to evacuate by Pres. Roosevelt because it was very dangerous.

Free French

An organization of French troops who were against the Axis Powers. Charles De Gaulle led this movement.

Anschluss

Annexation of Austria by Germany. Germany annexed Austria in the union in 1938.

Battle of Saipan

Another island the Americans tried to capture. It was captured in July of 1944 and was only 1300 miles from the mainland of Japan. This was devastating for Japan. This island contained "suicide cliffs" where 22,000 civilians committed suicide rather than surrender to Americans since in Japan it was horrible to surrender.

Harry Truman

Became president when FDR died; gave the order to drop the atomic bomb

Bernard Montgomery

British General. He was the commander of the Allied Powers in the Battle of El Alamein. He needed to stop German General Erwin Rommel from getting control of the Suez Canal.

Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941. Japan attacked Pearl, Harbor Hawaii. Reason was so the U.S.'s navy would be hurt so Japan could expand in the Pacific. This made the U.S. declare war on Japan. Japan bombed other U.S. territories as well like the Philippines.

Adolf Hitler

Dictator of Germany. He manipulated his country when he made everything positive, created parades, never spoke of war, he prepared and rehearsed everything, people weren't allowed to publicly rebel, and people never saw anything bad about Hitler. He helped Germany get out of the depression by rebuilding and rearming the army, going against Treaty of Versailles.

Battle of Guadalcanal

First battle in the "Island Hopping" campaign. This campaign was when the United States went from island to island, retaking them, with the final goals of invading Japan. This lasted six months and finally the Americans drove Japanese forces out and declared it was secured in February of 1943. This ended the threat of an Australian invasion.

Erwin Rommel

German General who led troops in North Africa. His nickname was the "Desert Fox."

General Dwight Eisenhower

He was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. He was the one that decided to start the D-Day Invasion on June 6th.

Nagasaki

Japanese city in which the second atomic bomb was dropped (August 9, 1945). This led Japan to surrender. They surrendered on August 15, 1945.

Hiroshima

Japanese city that was hit with the first atomic bomb on August 6, 1945.

D-Day invasion/Operation Overlord

June 6, 1944. This was when the Allies invaded The French coast of Normandy (a region of France).. Although Hitler knew an invasion was coming, he didn't know when and where. To try and protect themselves, the German's created an Atlantic Wall to prevent an invasion from Britain through the English Channel. This invasion was so big, it was divided into parts. First, many Allied Troops parachuted into France to cut communication lines and stop the Nazi's from escaping and getting more supplies. Allies used paratroopers to go behind enemy lines in D-Day. Next, thousands of bombers began releasing tons and tons of bombs along the coast. Battleships then started to bombard the shore so the troops could start to land on shore. Finally, ships landed on shore with tanks and troops. There were five different locations for the invasions. The Omaha beach invasion was the deadliest out of them all. These invasions were from the U.S. (Utah and Omaha), Britain (Gold and Sword), and Canada (Juno). After a day of fighting, the Allies moved the German's more and more inland. The allies were victorious. This was the major turning point of the war. It is also the largest invasion force in the history of the world./O

Battle of the Bulge

Last major German offense of the war. This battle depleted German forces on the Western Front and they weren't able to replace much because they were low in supplies. This attack was meant to split the Allied lines so the Germans could surround and destroy the allied armies and force them to negotiate a peace treaty. The allies were victorious. It is named this because bulge described the bulge on the Allied front lines.

Joseph Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union. Was originally allies with Germany but after they destroyed them, Stalin decided to join the Allied Powers. Stalin was a dictator. He was very cruel and the USSR was in bad shape. He wanted all farmland to be owned by the state (collective farming), he forced peasants to work causing them to starve, and would arrest people if they tried to escape. He was a very bad leader.

Blitzkrieg

Lightning warfare. When countries fight a quick and surprising war. Strategy used by Germany.

Battle of Midway

Located between U.S. and Asia. It was the site of the first American victory in the Pacific . It was the turning point of the war, since the U.S. went on the offensive (began to attack rather than just defend) after the victory.

Lebensraum

More living room/space. This means they wanted more land for their country. They wanted this land for the 'superior' Aryan race.

Pacific Theater of Operation

NOTE: You should know what happened in the Pacific based on what is in your notes and Timeline.

Navajo Code Talkers

Native Americans that developed a code using their native language. It was very successful in the Pacific and was never broken.

Phoney War

On September 3 of 1939, France and Britain declared war on Germany, thus starting WWII. After this day, there weren't any major land battles. This caused the time from September 1939 to May 1940 to be known as this because nothing really happened.

Rationing

On the Homefront in WWII, everyone had to ration different things. People had to use ration coupons, which were coupons you needed to buy different things. This was so the military would have enough and so all the civilians would have equal parts. People would ration gas, tires, rubber, metal, and paper for the military.

FDR

President of U.S. for most of the war. He was very inspiring and caring. He ended up dying April 12 of 1945, right at the end of the war.

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII.

Eastern Front (Russia)

Siege of Leningrad- When the Germans invaded the USSR. This lasted 900 DAYS and resulted in 1 million Russian deaths. The went against the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Battle of Stalingrad- This was a turning point in the war. This was fought in summer of 1942 to winter of 1943. The Germans' wanted oil fields in Caucaucus. They also wanted to take over the city of Stalingrad which was named after Joseph Stalin. Hitler wanted to capture this city because he hated Stalin. Russians didn't want to give up this city because it was named after their leader and they didn't want Germans' to get the oil fields. The Germans went ins retreat from the Eastern Front by February of 1943.

Battle of Iwo Jima

The Allies captured this island in March of 1945. One of the famous photos from the war was taken here. This island was 450 miles from Japan and could've been a good base to attack Japan.

Hirohito

The Emperor of Japan.

Luftwaffe

The German Air Force.

Reichstag

The German Congress. They passed the Enabling Act that gave Hitler dictatorial powers.

Hideki Tojo

The Prime Minister of Japan during WWII. He helped plan the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan did this to cripple US Navy so they could expand in the Pacific.

Lend-Lease Act

The act Congress passed in March of 1941. Allowed the U.S. to sell or loan war material to anyone they believed would help the defense of the U.S. They helped Britain and tried to ship goods to them, but were often sunk by the German u-boats. This is known as the Battle of the Atlantic.

Island Hopping

The allied powers strategy to go and take back control from the Japanese of many different islands, leading to Japan. They wanted these islands to help them eventually invade Japan.

Potsdam Declaration

The atomic bomb was tested in NM. Truman found out that the bomb had been tested and worked at this conference. The declaration threatened Japan to surrender or else they would be given "utter destruction." Japan didn't surrender.

Battle of Britain/London Blitz

The battle where Germany tried to invade Britain (called operation sea lion). From July to September of 1940, this battle took place. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) fought back and suffered many losses since Germany tried to soften them up and destroyed airfields, etc., but Hitler was unable to destroy them. The invasion attempt was cancelled. They then decided that starting in September of 1940, the Germans would begin bombing London and other cities on an almost daily basis, trying to break the spirit of the people. The bombing continued until May of 1941 and was known as the London Blitz. The British people never gave in, and the country never surrendered.

Operation Barbarossa

The codename that Germany used to invade USSR. It failed since there was faulty intelligence, a horrible winter, and too many fronts. This invasion broke the alliance and pact Germany and USSR had. This caused the Soviet Union to join the allies.

Atlantic Charter

The deal FDR and Prime Minister of Britain, Winston Churchill made about the postwar world. They agreed that they wouldn't attempt to gain new territory from the war. They also pledged to support the rights of all people to choose the form of government they wanted to live under. Finally, they wanted to form an organization like the League of Nations.

Weimar Republic

The government that had replaced the German Empire after WWI. This government ended in 1933.

Third Reich

The government that took over in 1933. Established by Hitler.

Benito Mussolini

The leader of Italy.

Henri Petain

The leader of Vichy France. He cooperated with the Germans.. His government in Vichy was a puppet government.

North African campaign

The main battle in North Africa was the Battle of El Alamein. At the start of the war. The British and Italian forces were fighting in North Africa. However, in 1941 the Italian Army was pretty much defeated, so the Germans were sent there. Americans landed here in November of 1942. The Allies were under the command of British General Bernard Montgomery. The Allies needed to make sure the Axis powers couldn't get control of the Suez Canal and the access to oil fields in the Middle East. The Allies wanted this as a way to invade Europe from the south. The Allies won the battle. This led to the Germans surrender in North Africa.

Executive Order 9066

The order that called all Japanese Americans living on the west coast to be put in Internment Camps after the attack of Pearl Harbor. This was in an attempt to avoid spies.

Nazi-Soviet Pact

The pact Germany (Hitler) and the USSR (Stalin) signed to agree not to attack each other. Also part of the pact was to secretly divide Poland and other parts of Europe. This didn't last long since Germany invaded the USSR in June of 1941.

Munich Conference/Munich Pact

The pact said that Hitler promised Germany wouldn't try to get any more territory after that. France and Britain agreed to this.

appeasement

The policy of giving in to aggression to avoid war. Britain and France allowed Hitler to take land with the hope he wouldn't start war. This is an example of that.

Wehrmacht

The regular German army.

Fighting in the Aleutians

These were a chain of islands that were a part of Alaska. It was invaded by a small Japanese Force. There were lots of fighting and battling here. On June 7, Japan landed on the Attu Island and established a military base there. This was scary because Japan could've attacked the western U.S. The islands were occupied until August of 1943.

Doolittle Raid

These were bombers led by James Doolittle. They went to attack Tokyo and several other cities in revenge for Pearl Harbor. This did very little to damage Japan but it also showed Japan that the U.S. could attack them.

Kamikaze

This is the name for Japanese suicide pilots. They would fly into ships and kill themselves. This was effective.

Bataan Death March

This was a part of the Philippines that Japanese took over. This was the site where 60,000 POW's were forced to make a 65 mile march to a prison camp. 22,000 POWs died on this march.

Battle of Okinawa

This was an 82-day battle that resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater of war. It was the last great battle of the war and was the last island the Allies needed before the invasion of Japan.

Battle of the Coral Sea.

This was fought from the arcraft carriers of Japan and U.S./Australia. in May 1942. This battle kept Japan from taking New Guinea. This would've provided Japan with a base for them to invade Australia.

VE Day

Victory in Europe. The Germans surrendered on May 7, 1945. This day, May 8, 1945, was officially the end of the war in Europe.

VJ Day

Victory in Japan. On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered after the atomic bombs were dropped. The U.S. celebrated the surrender. This was the official end of WWII.

Dunkirk

When the German Army tried to take over France, the British were pushed back to this French city on the coast. The British soldiers, along with French and Dutch soldiers, were evacuated, but had to leave all their supplies behind. They were evacuated using hundreds of civilians' boats.

Yalta Conference

Where FDR, Stalin, and Churchill met here in Feb. of 1945. Here, they decided that they would divide Germany into four zones of occupation (For U.S., Britain, USSR, and France). The USSR also promised to declare war on Japan within three months after Germany surrendered.

Vichy France

Where Henri Petain led the puppet government that agreed to an armistice with Germany. Part of the deal was that Germans occupied north and west of France. Vichy was the part of France not occupied.