| A | B |
|---|
| dictator | a leader who rules with total authority, often in a cruel or brutal manner |
| fascism | a political system, headed by a dictator, that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition |
| anti-Semitism | hostility toward or discrimination against Jews |
| totalitarian | a political system in which the government suppresses all opposition and controls most aspects of people's lives |
| appeasement | accepting demands in order to avoid conflict |
| blitzkrieg | name given to the sudden, violent offensive attacks the Germans used during World War II; "lightning war" |
| disarmament | removal of weapons |
| mobilization | gathering resources and preparing for war |
| ration | to give out scarce items on a limited basis |
| civil defense | protective measures taken in case of attack |
| internment camp | detention center where Japanese Americans were moved to and confined during World War II |
| siege | military blockade |
| genocide | the deliberate destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group |
| Holocaust | the name given to the mass slaughter of Jews and other groups by the Nazis during World War II |
| concentration camp | prison camps used to hold people for political reasons |
| island hopping | a strategy used during WWII that called for attacking and capturing certain key islands |
| kamikaze | during WWII, a Japanese suicide pilot whose mission was to crash into his target |
| Benito Mussolini | won power by appealing to Italians who resented that Italy had won little in the Versailles treaty |
| Joseph Stalin | the Communist leader of the Soviet Union |
| Munich Conference | British and French leaders agreed to give the Sudetenland to Germany |
| Allied Powers | Great Britain and France |
| Axis Powers | Germany, Italy, and Japan |
| Winston Churchill | Prime Minister of Great Britain |
| Atlantic Charter | a pledge that people would be free to choose their own form of government and live free of fear and want |
| Pearl Harbor | an American military base in Hawaii |
| WACs | Women's Army Corps |
| WAVES | Women Appointed for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Navy |
| Tuskegee Airmen | African American fighter group |
| bracero | farm and railroad workers from Mexico |
| Nisei | Japanese American citizens who were born in the U.S. |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | American general who led British and American forces |
| George Patton | American general |
| Operation Overlord | the invasion of occupied Europe |
| D-Day | June 6, 1944, the day of the Allied invasion |
| V-E Day | Victory in Europe, May 8, 1945 |
| Harry S. Truman | vice president who became president after the death of Roosevelt |
| Douglas MacArthur | commanded Filipino and American troops |
| Bataan Death March | a 60 mile forced march of Bataan prisoners of war |
| Battle of Midway | American sea victory northwest of Hawaii |
| Guadalcanal | one of the Solomon Islands |
| Battle of Leyte Gulf | American ships destroyed most of the Japanese fleet |
| V-J Day | Victory over Japan, August 15, 1945 |
| obtain | to gain |
| unify | to join together |
| target | an object of attack |
| fund | source of money |
| shift | to move |
| overseas | across the ocean |
| concentrate | to focus ones effort on something |
| tense | anxious or nervous |
| secure | gain control |
| conflict | disagreement; war or prolonged struggle |
