World War II

Appeasement

Appeasement is the strategic maneuver based on the fear of war, or moral conviction, that leads to the adopting a non-agressive politics. Appeasement is probably a learned behaviour or strategy, often shaped by negative experience when aggression was used in the past. It was practised by European countries, particularly Great Britain between 1937 and 1939 when they failed to impose sanctions on Hitler's invasions which eventually led to the Second World War.

Communism

Communism is a theory and system of social and political organization that dominated much of the history of the 20th century. In theory, communism is a classless society in which all property is owned by the community as a whole and where all people enjoy equal social and economic status. As a political movement, communism sought to overthrow capitalism through a workers revolution and redistribute the wealth in the hands of the proletariat, or working class.

Benito Mussolini

Mussolini was supreme dictator of Italy who came to power in 1922. He founded the concept of a fascist government where there is one leader and one party that has total power. He was an inspiration to Adolf Hitler. He was famously called el Duce which means 'leader'. Hitler picked a similar name Führer.

RAF

Royal Air Force- Air force of Great Britain. Perhaps the defining moments of the RAF's existence however, came during the Battle of Britain. Over the summer of 1940 the RAF held off the Luftwaffe in an air war, perhaps the first of its kind, contributing immensely to the delay of Operation Sea Lion, and helping to turn the tide of World War II.

Joseph Stalin

Stalin's title was General Secretary of the Communist Party. He led Russia through terrible and devastating battles with Germany. Millions and millions of people died. After winning the war, he set up the Eastern Bloc of Soviet led communist states.

Democracy

A democracy is a form of government in which the people, either directly or indirectly, take part in governing. The word democracy originates from Greek, and means rule of the people.

Civilians

A non-military citizen Associated with or performed by civilians as contrasted with the military; "civilian clothing"; "civilian life".

Emperor Hirohito

Hirohito reigned as Emperor of Japan from 1926 until 1989. He remained Emperor after the war. The first time his subjects heard his voice was when he announced Japan's surrender on the radio.

Adolf Hitler

Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and Fuhrer in 1934. He was a ruthless dictator who hated Jewish people. He wanted to purge Germany of all weak people. He also wanted to take control of all of Europe.

Fascism

In 1919, Mussolini started his own political party called the Fascist Party. He hoped to bring Italy back to the days of the Roman Empire when it ruled much of Europe. The members of the party wore black clothes and became known as the "Black Shirts." They were often violent and didn't hesitate to attack those who had different views or opposed their party. What is Fascism? Fascism is a type of political ideology, like socialism or communism. Fascism is often defined as being a type of "authoritarian nationalism." This means that the government has all the power. The people living in the country should be devoted to supporting their government and country without question. Fascist governments are usually ruled by a single strong leader or dictator.

Invasion

March aggressively into another''s territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation; "Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939".

Franklin D. Roosevelt

One of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States, President Roosevelt led the country out of the Great Depression and through World War II.

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Great Britain during most of World War II, Winston Churchill was a great leader. His country was the last country fighting against the Germans in Europe. He is known for his famous speeches to his people when the Germans were bombing them during the Battle of Britain.

The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was an important battle in World War II. After Germany and Hitler had conquered most of Europe, including France, the only major country left to fight them was Great Britain. Germany wanted to invade Great Britain, but first they needed to destroy Great Britain's Royal Air Force. The Battle of Britain was when Germany bombed Great Britain in order to try and destroy their air force and prepare for invasion. The Battle of Britain started on July 10th, 1940. It lasted many months as the Germans continued to bomb Britain. The code name for Hitler's invasion plans was Operation Sea Lion. Germany continued to bomb London at night until May of 1941. This series of bombings was called the Blitz. At one point London was bombed for 57 nights in a row.

Holocaust

The Holocaust is one of the most terrible events in human history. It occurred during World War II when Hitler was leader of Germany. Six million Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis. This included as many as 1 million Jewish children. Millions of other people that Hitler didn't like were killed as well. This included Polish people, Catholics, Serbs, and handicapped people. It is thought that the Nazis murdered as many as 17 million innocent people. Why did Hitler and the Nazis do it? Hitler hated Jewish people and blamed them for Germany losing World War I. He considered Jewish people to be less than human. Hitler also believed in the superiority of the Aryan race. He wanted to use Darwinism and breeding to create a race of perfect people. Concentration Camps: All Jewish people were eventually to be brought to concentration camps. They were told they were relocating to a new and better place, but this was not the case. Concentration camps were like prison camps. People were forced to do hard labor. The weak were quickly killed or died of starvation. Some camps even had gas chambers. People would be led into the chambers in large groups only to be killed with poison gas. The concentration camps were horrible places.

Luftwaffe

The Luftwaffe (in German literally: "air weapon") is the air force of Germany. The inability of the Luftwaffe to control the skies in the Battle of Britain after the tactical mistake to bomb industrial targets in cities instead of British airfields formed a key point in the war, and German air power diminished further with the arrival of the Americans, though it remained strong, especially on the Soviet front.

The Allied Forces

The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, and the United States. The Allies formed mostly as a defense against the attacks of the Axis Powers. The original members of the Allies included Great Britain, France and Poland. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. Russia becomes and Ally At the start of World War II, Russia and Germany were friends. However, on 22 June 1941 Hitler, the leader of Germany, ordered a surprise attack on Russia. Russia then became an enemy of the Axis Powers and joined the Allies. The US Joins the Allied Powers The United States had hoped to remain neutral during World War II. However, the US was attacked by surprise at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in December 1941. This attack united the country against the Axis Powers and turned the tide of World War II in the favor of the Allies.

The Axis powers

World War II was fought between two major groups of nations. They became known as the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers. The major Axis Powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Forming of the Axis Powers The alliance began to form in 1936. First, on October 15, 1936 Germany and Italy signed a friendship treaty that formed the Rome-German Axis. It was after this treaty that Italian dictator Benito Mussolini used the term Axis to refer to their alliance. Shortly after this, on November 25, 1936, Japan and Germany both signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which was a treaty against communism. An even stronger alliance was signed between Germany and Italy on May 22, 1939 called the Pact of Steel. This treaty would later be called the Tripartite Pact when Japan signed it on September 27, 1940. Now the three main Axis Powers were allies in the war.