World War II Vocab
Blitzkrieg
A German term for "lightning war," blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. Its successful execution results in short military campaigns, which preserves human lives and limits the expenditure of artillery.
The Maginot Line
A line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapons installations that France constructed just before the border with Switzerland and the borders with Germany and Luxembourg during the 1930s.
Scapegoat
A person or group that is made to bear blame for others.
Nazi Party
A political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that practised Nazism.
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and Führer of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945.
Fascism
An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
Appeasement
Appeasement, the policy of making concessions to the dictatorial powers in order to avoid conflict.
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940.
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until his ousting in 1943.
Emperor Hirohito
Emperor Shōwa was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States.
Axis
Germany, Italy, and Japan, which were allied before and during World War II.
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States. As the final running mate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Truman succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when Roosevelt died after months of declining health.
Hideki Tojo
Hideki Tojo was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army, the leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during much of World War II, from October 17, 1941 to July 22, 1944.
Anti-Semitism
Hostility to or prejudice against Jews.
Propaganda
Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
Internationalism
Internationalism is a movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations for the theoretical benefit of all.
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin or Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953.
V-E day
Marked as the day when the war ended in Europe.
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II.
The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
Munich Conference
The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation "Sudetenland" was coined.
Potsdam Declaration
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 17 July to 2 August 1945
D-Day
The day (June 6, 1944) in World War II on which Allied forces invaded northern France by means of beach landings in Normandy.
Concentration Camps
The term concentration camp refers to a camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and imprisonment that are acceptable in a constitutional democracy.
Aryan
The term ārya was used as an ethnic self-designation by the Indo-Iranian speaking tribes in the ancient times.
Allies
The victorious allied nations of World War I and World War II. In World War I, the Allies included Britain, France, Italy, Russia, and the United States. In World War II, the Allies included Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States.
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible.
Nazi-Soviet Non Aggression Pact
Union met and signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression guaranteed that the two countries would not attack each other. By signing this pact, Germany had protected itself from having to fight a two-front war in the soon-to-begin World War II.
Beer Hall Putsch
Was a failed coup attempt by the Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler
Yalta Conference
Was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Mein Kampf
Was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. Hermann Göring formed the unit in 1933.
The Gestapo
Was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. Hermann Göring formed the unit in 1933.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, RA was a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955.
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England, literally "Air battle for England") is the name given to the Second World War air campaign waged by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940.
