WWII VOCABU

LARY TERMS

1. InflationAn economic condition when money loses its

value and prices rise.

Ex: This happened to the German money due to the

high war reparations of the Versailles Treaty. Germany printed more money; making their currency worthless.

2. DictatorA leader who rules

with total authority in a cruel or brutal

manner.

Individual human rights and

freedoms are restricted.

3. Nazi Party

“National Socialist German Workers’ Party.”

Hitler’s fascist party.

Government during WWII.

4. FascismA political philosophy

in which total power is given to a

dictator and individual freedoms

are denied.

Ex: Hitler took away the right to protest or speak out against the government, eliminated the “free press,” and took the lives of over 6 million men, women, and children thought to be “inferior” in his eyes.

5. Appeasement

Accepting demands in order to avoid

conflicts. Ex: Britain and France

thought that they could avoid war by accepting Germany’s demands. In 1936, they signed a treaty allowing Hitler to take Austria & part of Czechoslovakia.

6. Communism

A government in which all

economic and social activity is

controlled by totalitarian

leaders and one powerful

political party.

7. Allies (of WWII)

Great Britain,

the USA, the USSR,

and France.

8. Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, and

Japan.

9. Pearl Harbor

Site of Japanese surprise attack on

December 7, 1941

Caused USA to enter WWII

10. Lend-Lease Policy

The U.S. helped Great Britain by

supplying ammunition & old warships in exchange for

several military bases in

Bermuda & the Caribbean.

11. Rationing Consumers could

buy only certain number of goods

so that the majority of these goods could be

sent abroad to aid in the war effort.

i.e. shoes, gasoline, tires, sugar, and

meat.

12. “Rosie the Riveter”

A fictional character

appearing on government

posters encouraging

women to help in the war effort.

“She” symbolized the many women working in war-

time jobs.

13. Japanese Internment Camps

Fearful of Japanese spies, more than

100,000 West Coast Japanese -

Americans were sent to detention

centers.

Located mostly in desert areas, these camps were

crowded, harsh, uncomfortable, and stripped

American citizens of their civil liberties.

14. PrejudiceAn often negative

preconceived opinion or

feeling towards someone due

to race, gender, religion, or

anything else.

15. HolocaustHitler’s “Final Solution.”

Genocide* (systematic killing) of European Jews and others by the Nazis

during World War II.

Over 6 million people including Jews, Soviet prisoners of war, Poles, Gypsies, and people with handicaps – were ruthlessly killed.

*Genocide - The systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group

16. Concentration Camps

Prison and work camps for civilians.

Thousands were made virtual slaves and were

forced to work until they became sick or died.

Most who entered these camps never made it out

alive.

17. Anti-Semitism

Hatred, hostility, and discrimination toward and against Jews.

Hitler and the Nazis

party portrayed the German people as superior to all others. Much of their anger was directed against Jews. Unspeakable horrors were done to these people.

18. Aryan Supremacy

The belief that a “pure”

blood German with blonde-hair and blue

eyes was superior to all other races.

19. Poland and the Baltic Nations

This country borders the Soviet Union

and Germany. On September 1, 1939,

Hitler’s armies attacked this country and claimed it for Nazi

Germany. Official start of WW II.

20. Normandy Invasion

(D-Day)June 6, 1944: the largest combined

land-sea-air invasion in history to begin the liberation of

France from German occupation.

The turning point on the western front

and the beginning of the end war in

Europe. Code name: Operation

Overlord.

21. Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Two Japanese cities where

the U.S. dropped atomic bombs ending WWII.

22. Stalingrad

February 1943, Soviet victory (ousting

Germans) marked a major turning point in the war for the Allies on the eastern front.

Thousands died in this long and bloody battle. Germans were out-gunned due to the United States constant supply of weapons to the Soviets. German supplies were cut off. German troops were starving, and suffering the effects of the harsh Soviet winter.

23. Battle of Midway

This was the first major Japanese defeat and the turning point of the war in the

Pacific. The U.S. navy

destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and hundreds of airplanes.

24. Battle of Britain

August – October 1940: Germans bombed British

shipyards, industries, & cities, destroying

entire neighborhoods,

killing many civilians.

British Royal Air Force defense forced Hitler to

end the air attacks resulting in a British

victory.

WWII LEADE

RS

25. Adolf HitlerHe used the anger over

the Treaty of Versailles and the depression in Germany to grab power in the 1920s. He wanted an all-powerful German Empire, believed in Aryan supremacy, and blamed the Jewish people for the loss of WWI. His evil reign of power lasted 12 years.

26. Benito Mussolini

He used unrest and economic instability in Italy to grab power in the 1920s. Opposed to democracy, because he felt it “divided” the nation, this fascist dictator allowed no criticism of his government and controlled the army and the schools.

27. Hideki TojoHe was military

general and Prime Minister of Japan from 1941 – 1944. In order to secure new territories and natural resources for Japan, the country invaded Nanking, China and killed around one million unarmed citizens.

28. Winston Churchill

Great Britain – urged Britain to re-arm

after Hitler’s election in 1933. In

1939 said Britain and France should

form a military alliance with the

Soviet Union. Was appointed Prime Minister in 1940

and led Britain with great courage.

29. Franklin Roosevelt

He pushed for economic support of the Allies with the

Lend Lease program, while trying to keep

his campaign promise to neutral. After the Japanese

bombed Pearl Harbor, he urged

Congress to declare war on Japan.

30. Harry Truman

President FDR was elected to serve a 4th term and chose

this man as his vice president.

After Roosevelt’s sudden death, he became President and the decision

to drop the atomic bomb on Japan fell

to him.

31. Joseph StalinThe tyrannical

dictator of the Soviet Union

(USSR) who first supported the

Axis Powers. His country joined the

Allies in 1941 after a non-

aggression pact with Germany was

violated by a German invasion.