| A | B |
|---|
| Axis Powers | alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII |
| Allied Powers | alliance made up of United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union during WWII |
| totalitarianism | government control over every aspect of life; no individual rights; often assosciated with a dictatorship |
| dictator | a ruler who has unlimited power |
| Treaty of Versailles - 1919 | peace treaty ending WWI. The Germans were forced to claim responsibility for WWI and to pay high reparations (payments to cover costs of war); a cause of WWII |
| Nazi Party | National Socialist Workers Party; party led by Adolph Hitler which eventually exercised unlimited power in Germany |
| Adolph Hitler | leader of the Nazi Party; dictator of Germany |
| fascism | extreme form of patriotism and nationalism - often associated with racism; Italy and Germany established fascist states in the 1930's |
| Benito Mussolini | fascist leader of Italy; dictator |
| blitzkreig | German for 'lightning war'; German method of quick and powerful surprise attacks |
| Lend-Lease Act | law which allowed the US to give aid to the allied nations (money, weapons, and supplies) before the US entered the war |
| neutrality | not taking sides; the US followed a policy of neutrality until the Japaneses attack on Pearl Harbor |
| Pearl Harbor | American naval base in Hawaii that was surprise- attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941; led to US entering war |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | American president during WWII |
| Winston Churchill | Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII |
| Battle of Britain | battle fought in the skies over Great Britain between Germany and Britain; Britain refuses to surrender and it is the first major victory for the allies |
| D-Day invasion | allied invasion of German-controlled France on June 6, 1944; allied forces: 3 million American, British, and Canadian forces; the 'beginning of the end' for the axis powers |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | American general who oversaw the D-Day invasion and went on to become President of the US |
| Battle of the Bulge | battle between the axis powers and the allied powers in northern France during December of 1944 (following D-Day); fierce battle eventually won by the allies |
| island-hopping | American strategy of capturing certain key islands in the Pacific until the allies were close enough to Japan to attack |
| Hiroshima | Japanese city that the US dropped the first atomic (nuclear) bomb on in history on August 6, 1945 |
| Nagasaki | Japanese city that the US dropped the 2nd atomic (nuclear) bomb on on August 9, 1945; led to the Japanese surrender and the end of the war |
| atomic bomb | first nuclear bomb in history developed in secret by the US and used on Japan in August, 1945 |
| Harry S. Truman | FDR's vice-president; Truman became president in April of 1945 when FDR died unexpectedly; Truman had to decide whether or not to use atom bomb on Japanese |
| Cold War | period of extreme tension between the USSR and the USA with no actual fighting between the 2; 1945 - 1991 |
| United Nations | international governing body formed at end of WWII in order to avoid future wars |
| War-crimes trials | internationally sponsored trials held after the war in which individuals were put on trial for committing "crimes against humanity" (holocaust,etc.) |
| Marshall Plan | American plan which offered $15 billion to the countries of western Europe to re-build after WWII provided the countries worked to stop the spread of communism |
| Truman Doctrine | plan which promised financial aid to countries who would fight the spread of communism (e.g. Greece and Turkey) |
| NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization; military alliance of the US and our allies in western Europe |
| Warsaw Pact | military alliance formed by the USSR and their allies in response to the formation of NATO |
| Korean War | 1950 - 1953; fought between Communist North Korea (backed by communist China) and South Korea (backed by the United States) |
| Space Race | competition between the US and the USSR to see who could put a man in space first (part of the "arms race") |
| Arms Race | competition which involved building up the supply of Nuclear Weapons between the US and the USSR |
| Cuban Missile Crisis | 1962; developed when the USSR started to build nuclear missile bases in Cuba; an American blockade ordered by President Kennedy led to the eventual Soviet removal of the bases; a cold-war stand-off between the US and the USSR |
| 2nd Red Scare | wave of anti-communist hysteria in the US during the 1950's during which rumors led to the ruination of many people's lives; led by Senator Joseph McCarthy (sometimes called "McCarthyism") |
| communism | economic system (used by USSR) in which the government owns the 'means of production' (businesses,factories, farms, etc.) |
| capitalism | economic systmem (used by USA) in which means of production (businesses, factories, farms, etc.) are owned by private citizens |
| Josef Stalin | dictator who controlled the USSR |
| internment camps | American relocation camps that Japanese American citizens were sent to during WWII |
| rationing | conserving supplies (food, etc.) by issuing a limited amount to each family during the war |
| the War effort | everything done by civilians to support the war |
| Rosie the Riveter | nickname given to women who worked in factories during the war |
