W. HIST. UNIT 8B

WWII VOCAB.

THE PLAYERS (Taking Sides in WWII)

• Axis Powers The nations of Germany, Italy, and Japan, which had formed an alliance in 1936.• Allied Powers France, Britain,

USSR, United States, and China as well as 45 other countries that opposed the Axis powers in World War II.• France Part of the Allied Powers.• Germany Part of the Axis Powers.

BROKEN TREATIES: Deals Before WWII

• Dawes Plan A plan to revive the German economy, the United States loans Germany money which then can pay reparations to England and France, who can then pay back their loans from the U.S.

• Anti-Comintern Pact In 1936 Japan signed this with Germany and it was later ratified by Italy. It was in opposition to Communism but actually proved to be the foundation for diplomatic alliance between these three powers. Each now had allies and pushed their demands for individual success. In 1938 Mussolini was willing to accept the German absorption of Austria which he had resisted in 1934.

• Munich Conference 1938 conference at which European leaders attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland to him in exchange for promise that Germany would not expand Germany's territory any further.

• Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact Agreement between Hitler and Stalin that said they would both invade Poland and not attack one another.

The Munich Conference – a policy of appeasement

BAD GUYS: NAZIS & IMPERIAL JAPAN

• Aryan In Nazism, people of northern European descent who were said to possess racially superior traits and capacities for government, social organization, and civilization.

• Tojo Japanese military leader (Army)• Yamamoto Japanese military leader (Navy)• Emperor Hirohito considered a god

& an absolute ruler of Japan. Believed in Jap racial superiority & wanted a world takeover.

Nazis portrayed a standard of racial perfection to their people that even their own leader couldn’t meet

SOME MAJOR BATTLES OF WWII

• Midway Island The last American base in the north Pacific west of Hawaii which was attacked by the Japanese. Huge turning point in the war due to crushing blow dealt to the Japanese Navy after trying to ambush awaiting US Navy.

• D-Day June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II.

“Saving Private Ryan” showed perhaps the most accurate portrayal of what the D-Day beach was like

CONQUERED & RECONQUERED AREAS

• Manchukuo Military takeover of Manchuria by the Japanese. Was not supported by the civilian government, which fell apart in response.

• Soviet Union A Communist nation, consisting of Russia and 14 other states, that existed from 1922 to 1991.

• Vichy France A portion of France that was not occupied with Germany but followed Germany's every command.

• London A city in England (bombed heavily by German V2 rockets)

The Russians fought like crazy to drive the Nazis (& Napoleon earlier) out

THE PSYCHOLOGY/IDEALS OF WWII

• Blitz German for lightning (quick attacks).• Kamikaze Literally, "divine wind". A

Japanese aircraft loaded with explosives and making a deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target.

• Appeasement Satisfying the demands of dissatisfied powers in an effort to maintain peace and stability.

• Isolationism A policy of nonparticipation in international economic and political relations.

Japanese kamikaze pilots were as hated & feared as any suicide terrorist today

THE WEAPONS/FORCES OF WWII

• Luftwaffe German, literally "air weapon". The German air force.

• blitzkrieg German, literally "lightning war.”

• Hiroshima On August 6, 1945, this city was almost completely destroyed by the first atomic bomb dropped on a populated area

• Kamikaze Literally, "divine wind". A Japanese aircraft loaded with explosives and making a deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target.

Fire-bombing Dresden, Germany & dropping an atomic bomb on Japan were 2 major decisions to help end WWII

THE ATTACKS/BATTLES OF WWII

• Mukden Incident A "Chinese" attack on a Japanese railway near the city of Mukden (had actually been carried out by Japanese soldiers disguised as Chinese); used by Japan as an excuse to seize Manchuria.

• Dresden German city ferociously firebombed by the Allies from Feb. 13-5, 1945.

• Romans Bombed in WWII from 1943-4• Hiroshima On August 6, 1945, this city was

almost completely destroyed by the first atomic bomb dropped on a populated area

Dresden, Germany—Allied forces dropping fire bombs on the outskirts of the city caused the fire to implode; destroying it entirely

MAIN WORLD LEADERS DURING WWII• Joseph Stalin Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the

Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition (1879-1953).

• Benito Mussolini Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy. Was a hero of Adolf Hitler.

• Adolf Hitler Dictator and Fascist leader of the Nazi Party. He believed that strong leadership was required to save Germanic society, which was at risk due to Jewish, socialist, democratic, and liberal forces..

• Winston Churchill, and Soviet Leader Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war.

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt 32nd President of the United States. Elected four times, instituted New Deal to counter the great depression, and led country during World War II (1882-1945).

• Neville Chamberlain British statesman who as Prime Minister pursued a policy of appeasement toward fascist Germany (1869-1940).

This pre-WWII cartoon shows England’s Chamberlain having been devoured by Nazis after he tried to satisfy Hitler by giving

him want he wanted—it obviously didn’t work

TERROR & HOLOCAUST DURING WWII

• Einsatzgruppen German, literally "task force". Nazi strike forces that killed innocent Jews with their infamous "death squads".

• Holocaust The Nazi program of exterminating Jews under Hitler.

• Final Solution The Nazi program of exterminating Jews under Hitler.

• Heinrich Himmler German Nazi who was chief of the SS and the Gestapo and who oversaw the genocide of 6 million Jews (1900-45).

• Gypsy A member of a traveling people with dark skin and hair who speak Romany and traditionally live by seasonal work, itinerant trade, and fortune-telling. Many were Jewish too.

Most Germans found out the Holocaust was going on in their very own country

MAKING PEACE AFTER WWII

• Yalta Conference 1945 Meeting with US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister

• Potsdam Conference The final wartime meeting of the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union was held at Potsdam, outside Berlin, in July, 1945. Truman, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the future of Europe but their failure to reach meaningful agreements soon led to the onset of the Cold War.

• United Nations An international organization of countries set up in 1945, in succession to the League of Nations, to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.

• New Order A description of the international system resulting from the collapse of the Soviet Union in which the balance of nuclear terror theoretically no longer determined the destinies of states.

The “Big 3” Allied (good guys) winners from left to right; Churchill, FDR, Stalin