APUSH WWII

Manhattan Project

code name for the secret United States project set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II

Dwight D. Eisenhower

commander in charge of D-Day leader of the Allied forces in Europe during WW2--leader of troops in Africa and commander in D-Day invasion-elected president after Truman

War Productions Board

regulated the production and allocation of materials and fuel during WWII in the U.S.; rationed gasoline, heating oil, metals, rubber, paper and plastics

Heroshima and Nagasaki

The United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, during the final stage of World War II.

Douglas MacArthur

U.S. general. Commander of U.S. (later Allied) forces in the southwestern Pacific during World War II, he accepted Japan's surrender in 1945 and administered the ensuing Allied occupation. He was in charge of UN forces in Korea 1950-51, before being forced to relinquish command by President Truman.

WAAC

Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. Women volunteering for the army would not be given the same rank, pay, or benefits as men who were doing the same thing as them.

Sudetenland

German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia, ceded to Germany in the Hitler-Chamberlain Munich meeting (September 1938)

Axis Powers (WWII)

Germany, Italy, Japan

Benito Mussolini

"Il Duce"(1883-1945) Italian leader- founded the Italian Fascist Party, and sided with Hitler and Germany in World War II. In 1945 he was overthrown and assassinated by the Italian Resistance.

Mein Kampf

"My Struggle"-book written by Hitler during his imprisonment in 1923-1924, in which he set forth his beliefs and his goals for Germany

V-J Day

"Victory over Japan day" is the celebration of the Surrender of Japan, which was initially announced on August 15, 1945

Bataan Death March

(1942) a forced march of American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese in the Philippines in World War II

Nuremberg Laws

1935 German laws defining the status of Jews and withdrawing citizenship from persons of non-German blood

blitzkrieg

1939- "Lightning war"; Germany's military strategy in Europe including initial strikes followed by invasion of fast tanks and infantry in order to quickly destroy another nation.

Cash & Carry

1939- Allowed Great Britain to buy war materials from the United States. Britian paid up front and used British ships to carry goods back to Great Britain

Invasion of Poland

1939- Germany invaded this country breaking previous agreement with Britain Britian and France declared war- starting World War II

Battle of Britain

1940- German air forces attacked Britain but the British Royal Air Force drove them out with the help of the new invention radar- The Blitz- Winston Churchill

Selective Service and Training Act

1940- required all males aged 21 to 36 to register for military service- peace time draft

Lend-Lease Act

1941 law authorized the president to aid any nation whose defense he believed was vital to American security.

Allied Powers

1941- Alliance of Great Britain, Soviet Union, United States

Atlantic Charter

1941-Pledge signed by FDR and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill not to acquire new territory as a result of the war- work for peace after the war

Korematsu v. U.S.

1944 Supreme Court case where the Supreme Court upheld the order providing for the relocation of Japanese Americans. It was not until 1988 that Congress formally apologized and agreed to pay $20,000 2 each survivor

Korematsu v. US

1944 Supreme Court case where the Supreme Court upheld the order providing for the relocation of Japanese Americans. It was not until 1988 that Congress formally apologized and agreed to pay $20,000 2 each survivor

Battle of Iwo Jima

A battle in February and March 1945 in which U.S. forces took Iwo Jima, a small but strategically important island off the Japanese coast. During the battle, an Associated Press photographer took a world-famous photograph of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on the summit of Mt. Suribachi.

appeasement

A policy of making concessions to an aggressor in the hopes of avoiding war. Associated with Neville Chamberlain's policy of making concessions to Adolf Hitler.

communism

A political and economic system where factors of production are collectively owned and directed by the state. Opposed to religion. Control all aspects of the economy, the media- repressive measures against opposition. Shares many characteristics of fascism's militaristic and repressive authoritarianism

Neutrality Act of 1935

Act that allowed nations at war to buy goods and arms in the United States if they paid cash and carried the merchandise on their own ships- Cash-Carry and Lend-Lease

Tuskegee Airmen

African American fighter pilots famous for shooting down over 200 enemy planes. African American pilots who trained at the Tuskegee flying school.

Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

Agreement between Hitler and Stalin that said they would both invade Poland and not attack one another. Hitler would later break the pact and invade the USSR

Axis Powers

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

Joseph Stalin

Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Communists after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953.

Adolf Hitler

Born in Austria, he became a radical German nationalist during World War I. He led the National Socialist German Workers' Party-the Nazi Party-in the 1920's and became Chancellor of Germany in 1933 - given full dictatorial power

Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister prior to WWII who signed a peace treaty with Germany which promised "Peace in our time." Hitler did not honor the treaty, attacked Britain, and Winston Churchill replaced Chamberlain.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

British prime minister who joined President Roosevelt in the Atlantic Charter. Led Britain through the Battle of Britain (the blitz" "This is our finest hour"

Pearl Harbor

Dec. 7, 1941 United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II.

Executive Order 9066

FDR's order to place all Japanese Americans in Internment Camps for the duration of the war.

Francisco Franco

Fascist leader of the Spanish revolution- helped by Hitler and Mussolini

Enabling Act of 1933

Gave Hitler absolute dictatorial power for 4 years

Nazi Party

German political party emphasizing nationalism, racism, and war. When Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi Party became the only legal party and an instrument of Hitler's absolute rule.

fascism

Government system led by an authoritarian leader ( cult of personality) brutal suppression of opposition- use of secret police- extreme nationalism and appeal to national and racial superiority- control of all media - use of propaganda to build unity and support- expansionist - accepting of religion and religious institutions- promotes and uses private business and industry - xenophobic

America First Committee

Isolationist group in America that insisted that America stay out of World War II; held rallies from 1939 to 1941; argued that affairs in Europe should be settled by Europeans and not Americans and stated that the Soviet Union was a greater eventual threat than Nazi Germany. (Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford were prominent members)

Fall of France

June 1940 France and most of Europe was conquered by Germany. Left Britain alone against Hitler

V-E Day

May 8, 1945; victory in Europe Day when the Germans surrendered

Holocaust

Methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy- called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled- 6 million Jews died as a result

Extermination Camps

Nazi camps for the mass killing of Jews and others(Gypsies, Russian prisoners of war, and ill prisoners). Known as "death camps". Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka were all in Poland.

Auschwitz

Nazi extermination camp in Poland, the largest center of mass murder during the Holocaust. Close to a million Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and others were killed there.

militarism

Political orientation of a people or government to maintain a strong military force and to be prepared to use it aggresively to defend or promote national interests

Nye Committee

Senate committee led by South Dakota Senator Gerald Nye to investigate why America became involved in WWI. Theory that big business had conspired to have America enter WWI so that they could make money selling war materials. Called bankers and arms producers "merchants of death."

Rosie the Riveter

Term symbolized all women who worked in defense plants and other industries during World War 2.

Harry S. Truman

The 33rd U.S. president, who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945. Truman, who led the country through the last few months of World War II, is best known for making the controversial decision to use two atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945. After the war, Truman was crucial in the implementation of the Marshall Plan, which greatly accelerated Western Europe's economic recovery.