| A | B |
|---|
| appeasement | Giving someone or another country whatever they desire in order to keep the peace |
| Axis power | Italy, Germany, Japan |
| Allies | Great Britain, U.S., Soviet Union |
| Sept. 1, 1939 | Invasion of Poland. Starts WWII |
| Non-aggression pact (Nazi-Soviet Pact) | Hitler and Stalin's agreement to not attack each other at the start of WWII. |
| Luftwaffe | German Air Force. Commanded by Hermann Goering. |
| RAF | Royal Air Force of Great Britain. |
| Charles De Gaulle | Head of the French Resistance. |
| Blitzkrieg | "Lightning War". Airplanes led the attack, followed soldiers and then tanks (mechanized units) |
| Maginot Line | Major defensive wall meant to protect France from invasion. Germany just went around it to invade them. |
| Evacuation of Dunkirk | Massive evacuation of British and French troops from Europe after German troops had completely surrounded them. Allies left a lot of supplies behind. |
| Vichy France | Nazi controlled half of France. A puppet leader was put in place to rule |
| Winston Churchill | Prime Minister of Great Britain during the war. |
| Radar | new invention during the Battle of Britain. Helped the British win the battle. |
| Battle of Britain | German Luftwaffe vs. the RAF in Britain. Won by the invention of the radar |
| Operation Barbarossa | German invasion of the Soviet Union. This is where Hitler violates the Nazi-Soviet pact and betrays Stalin |
| Battle of Stalingrad | This was the last stronghold of the Soviets. The Germans were defeated and had to retreat all the way to Germany. |
| General Erwin Rommel | "The Desert Fox". Main Nazi commander in Africa and was in charge of the Atlantic wall in France. |
| Describe the fall of France and the Battle of Britain. | After Hitler violates peace, he invades France by surprise and goes around the Maginot Line. France is defeated very quickly. Hitler then turns to attack Britain but cannot land any troops and tries to eliminate them by continuous bombing but is defeated by the RAF. |
| Why did the Axis and Allies fight? | Axis wanted total world domination to expand into large empires by any means necessary. Allies wanted to stop that and all of the violence and senseless killing |
| Conflicts in the Mediterranean and Eastern Front | Sicily, Italy and Greece. Sicily was won by the Americans (Patton). This was because the Allies wanted to attack Germany and France from the South. Eastern Front was mainly fought between the Soviets and Germans. Germany was fighting a two front war. |
| Summarize the events that led to war and U.S aide to Allies | Germany starts WWII in Sept. 1939 by invading Poland. Japan had already taken land and invaded China before that. The U.S. gives help to Britain (Lend- Lease Act) and other Allies in order to help, but still stay out of the war. |
| D-Day | June 6th, 1944. Allies invade German controlled France on 5 major beaches. |
| Benito Mussolini | Fascist dictator of Italy during WWII |
| Operation Overlord | Code name for D-Day |
| Pearl Harbor | December 7th, 1941. "A day that will live in infamy." Japanese attacked the naval base to bring America into WWII |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | President of the United States During WWII. Elected to 4 terms, and dies in his 4th term. |
| Kristallnacht | 1938. Nazis go and destroy windows, glass, and property of Jewish business owners. "Night of the Broken Glass." |
| Jewish ghettos | Areas where Jewish people where forcibly sent to live. Terrible conditions and little to no food. |
| Final Solution | Hitler's solution to answering, "The Jewish Question" |
| Joseph Mengele | "Doctor Death." Completed horrible experiments on Jewish people in Auschwitz. |
| Extermination camps | Concentration camps that were made to carry out mass executions. |
| Concentration camps | camps where "undesirables" were sent. They were often beaten, tortured, experimented on, or killed. |
| Genocide | killing off people based on race, religion, culture, or norms in society that were not accepted |
| Battle of the Buldge | Major battle where Hitler attempts his last major counter-offensive. After the Nazi offensive is contained, they are defeated and lose so much, they cannot recover |
| Douglas MacArthur | Commander of Allied troops in the Pacific Theater |
| V-E day | Victory in Europe Day. May 8th, 1945 |
| Kamakazi | Suicide fighters. Japanese used this especially with planes to attack naval ships |
| Island hopping campaign | Sole purpose was to gain land in order to build or take airfields to get our planes within reach of Japan |
| Hiroshima & Nagasaki | August 6th, and August 9th ,1945. Where the United States dropped the first atomic bombs. Lead to Japan's ultimate surrender |
| Battle of Iwo Jima | Very hard fought battle because it was one of the last islands in vicinity of Japan. Very bloody battle for both sides. |
| Battle of Okinawa | Largest amphibious assault in the Pacific. Last major battle fought for the Japanese |
| Battle of Midway | Japan vs. U.S. 1942. Major naval battle over a VERY small island. This battle uses planes launched from aircraft carrier. The U.S. sinks 4 Japanese carriers, which does a HUGE blow to their navy. |
| Manhattan Project | Led by Harry J. Oppenheimer. Secret project to develop the atomic bomb |
| V-J day | Victory in Japan day. Finalized after Japan surrenders after the attacks using the atomic bombs |
| Significance of Berlin | Capital of the Third Reich. Falls in 1945 after the Russian seize Reichstag. |
| Battle of Guadalcanal | This battle begins the major Allied assault through the Pacific. |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | Supreme Allied Commander in Europe |
| Soft underbelly of the Axis | Once Mussolini and Italy are defeated, no one in Europe is left to help Hitler |
