2020 Module 11 World War II

What percent of Americans in 1937 wanted no involvement in Europe's rapidly approaching war?

97%

Battle of Midway

A World War II battle that took place in early June 1942. The Allies decimated the Japanese fleet at an island lying northwest of Hawaii. The Allies then took the offensive in the Pacific and began to move closer to Japan.

Congress of Industrial Organizations

A labor organization composed of industrial unions founded in 1938, it merged with the AFL in 1955.

Wagner Act

A law also known as the National Labor Relations Act enacted in 1935 to protect workers' rights after the Supreme Court declared the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional.

Battle of the Bulge

A month-long battle of World War II, in which the Allies succeeded in turning back the last major German offensive of the war.

D-Day Invasion

A name given to June 6, 1944 - the day on which the Allies launched an invasion of the European mainland during World War II.

Fascism

A political philosophy that advocates a strong, centralized, nationalistic government headed by a powerful dictator.

Rationing

A restriction of people's right to buy unlimited amounts of particular foods and other goods, often implemented during wartime to ensure adequate supplies for the military.

Why were the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway important?

Allied naval forces halted the advance of the Japanese in the Pacific.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

An agency, established as part of the New Deal, that put young unemployed men to work building roads, developing parks, planting trees, and helping in erosion-control and flood-control projects.

United Nations

An international peacekeeping organization to which most nations in the world belong, founded in 1945 to promote world peace, security, and economic development.

CORE

An interracial group founded in 1942 by James Farmer to work against segregation in northern cities.

How was the United States able to produce so much war material in such a short period of time?

By converting existing factories to wartime use and organizing resources efficiently.

How did Congress attempt to maintain U.S. isolationism throughout the 1930s?

By prohibiting the sale of arms to countries at war or engaged in civil war.

A. Philip Randolph

Civil Rights activist from the 1930s to the 1950s; planned the Washington march that pressured President Roosevelt into opening World War II defense jobs to African Americans.

Joseph Stalin

Communist dictator of the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) from 1924 - 1953, worked with Roosevelt and Churchill during World War II, but afterwards became an aggressive participant of the Cold War.

Internment

Confinement or a restriction in movement, especially under wartime conditions.

Adolf Hitler

Fascist dictator of Germany's Nazi Party from 1933 - 1945, rose to power by promoting racist and nationalist views, and planned the Holocaust against European Jews.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy who took power in the 1920s, called Il Duce or leader, known for his brutal policies and started Fascism.

What caused France and Great Britain to finally resort to military force in dealing with Germany?

Germany invaded Poland.

In what way was Hitler's "Final Solution" an application of Nazi beliefs?

He condemned groups deemed inferior in order to preserve the purity of the Aryans.

Allies

In World War II, the group of nations - including Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States - that opposed the Axis Powers.

How did Germany's taking over of Austria and the Sudetenland fulfill a Nazi goal?

It united German-speaking people in one country.

Which of the following was an effect of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Japan agreed to surrender.

Hiroshima

Japanese city and important military center that was destroyed by the first atomic bomb used in World War II.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Physicist (scientist) who led the American effort in World War II to develop the first atomic bomb.

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Great Britain before and during World War II, survives the Battle of Britain and powerful speechmaker who rallied Allied morale during the war.

Nuremberg Trials

The court proceedings held in Germany, after World War II, in which Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes.

Genocide

The deliberate and systematic extermination of a particular racial, national, or religious group.

Appeasement

The granting of concessions to a hostile power in order to keep the peace.

Axis Powers

The group of nations - including Germany, Italy, and Japan - that opposed the Allies in World War II.

Price Support

The maintenance of a price at a certain level through government intervention.

Holocaust

The systematic murder or genocide of Jews and other groups in Europe by the Nazis before and during World War II.

How did many German citizens react to the Treaty of Versailles following World War I?

They were angry and resentful at what they felt was an unfair treaty.

Why was the War Production Board (WPB) established during World War II?

To allot resources to the armed forces and war industries as needed.

Why did Joseph Stalin pressure U.S. and British leaders to open a "second front" in Western Europe?

To force Germany to send troops from the Soviet front to fight in France.

Why was the Servicemen's Readjustment Act (or GI Bill of Rights) passed?

To help veterans return to civilian life.

What was the purpose of Operation Torch?

To invade North Africa and open a second front against the Axis powers.

Why did the Nazis target homosexuals and people who were mentally deficient, mentally ill, physically disabled, or incurably ill?

To rid Germany of any person unfit to be part of the "master race."

What was the Allied "island-hopping" strategy in the Pacific?

To take over less-well-defended islands and use them to launch future operations.

Why did Japan attack the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor?

To weaken U.S. naval power and allow Japan to expand in the Pacific.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Top U.S. general in Europe, in charge of all Allied (British, French, and U.S.) forces, and planned the D-Day invasion of France.

Douglas MacArthur

Top U.S. general in the Pacific, created island hopping, and in charge of the U.S. occupation of Japan after World War II.

Harry Truman

U.S. President at the end of World War II, who decides to use the atomic bomb on Japan and helps form the United Nations.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

U.S. President during most of World War II, who dies before Germany and Japan surrender ending the war and starts the atomic bomb project.