APUSH WWII IDs and Essay – Flashcards

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Pan American Conference
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Conference called by James Blaine that created an organization of cooperation between the US and Latin American countries
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Benito Mussolini
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Fascist Dictator of Italy that at first used bullying to gain power, then never had full power.
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Fascism
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A political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition
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Adolf Hitler
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Austrian-born founder of the German Nazi Party and chancellor of the Third Reich (1933-1945). His fascist philosophy, embodied in Mein Kampf (1925-1927), attracted widespread support, and after 1934 he ruled as an absolute dictator. Hitler's pursuit of aggressive nationalist policies resulted in the invasion of Poland (1939) and the subsequent outbreak of World War II. His regime was infamous for the extermination of millions of people, especially European Jews. He committed suicide when the collapse of the Third Reich was imminent (1945).
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Nazi Party
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German political party joined by Adolf Hitler, emphasizing nationalism, racism, and war. When Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi Party became the only legal party and an instrument of Hitler's absolute rule.
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General Francisco Franco
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In 1936 the Spanish Civil War began. Franco led the Fascists, fighting republican forces. In 1939, the Fascist forces won (with help from Italy and Germany). Franco ruled until his death in 1975.
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Spanish Civil War
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In 1936 a rebellion erupted in Spain after a coalition of Republicans, Socialists, and Communists was elected. General Francisco Franco led the rebellion. The revolt quickly became a civil war. The Soviet Union provided arms and advisers to the government forces while Germany and Italy sent tanks, airplanes, and soldiers to help Franco.
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Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis
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The three countries of Italy, Germany, and Japan allied together
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Sudetenland
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an area in western Czechoslovakia that was coveted by Hitler
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Invasion of Poland
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Germany invaded, breaking their agreement, so Britain and France declared war, starting World War II
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Neutrality Acts
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4 laws passed in the late 1930s that were designed to keep the US out of international incidents
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German Blitzkrieg
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"Lightening War" Depended on surprise and overwhelming force.
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Battle of Britain
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(FDR) 1940, German air forces invaded Britain but the British Royal Air Force drove them out with the help of the new invention radar that let them know where the German planes were
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Dunkirk
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A city in northern France on the North Sea where in World War II (1940) 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk in a desperate retreat under enemy fire.
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Wendell Willkie
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He led the opposition of utilities companies to competition from the federally funded Tennessee Valley Authority. His criticism of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt led to his dark-horse victory at the 1940 Republican Party presidential convention. After a vigorous campaign, he won only 10 states but received more than 22 million popular votes, the largest number received by a Republican to that time.
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Lend-Lease
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Approve by Congress in March 1941; The act allowed America to sell, lend or lease arms or other supplies to nations considered "vital to the defense of the United States."
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Joseph Stalin
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Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Communists after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953. He led the Soviet Union with an iron fist, using Five-Year Plans to increase industrial production and terror to crush opposition
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Atlantic Charter
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1941-Pledge signed by US president FDR and British prime minister Winston Churchill not to acquire new territory as a result of WWII amd to work for peace after the war
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Holocaust
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A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.
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The Final Solution
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Nazi Germany's plan and execution of its systematic genocide against European jews during World War II.
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Auschwitz
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Nazi extermination camp in Poland, the largest center of mass murder during the Holocaust. Close to a million Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and others were killed there.
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Iwo Jima
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One of the Bloodiest battles in the war, a fight to the death for Japanese soldiers, as the Americans were coming closer to Japan --> a bloody and prolonged operation on the island of Iwo Jima in which American marines landed and defeated Japanese defenders (February and March 1945)
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Okinawa
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A campaign in the closing days of World War II in the Pacific (April to June 1945) THE LAST OFFENSIVE BATTLE OF WWII.
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The Manhattan Project
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A secret research and development project of the US to develop the atomic bomb. Its success granted the US the bombs that ended the war with Japan as well as ushering the country into the atomic era
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George S. Patton
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Allied Commander of the Third Army. Was instrumental in winning the Battle of the Bulge. Considered one of the best military commanders in American history.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
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leader of the Allied forces in Europe then was elected to be Pres. of the USA
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Winston Churchill
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A noted British statesman who led Britain throughout most of World War II and along with Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West.
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Emperor Hirohito
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emperor of Japan during WWII. his people viewed him as a god
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V-J Day
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"Victory over Japan day" is the celebration of the Surrender of Japan, which was initially announced on August 15, 1945
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Potsdam
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July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction. (1945) a meeting of Allied leaders in the German city of Potsdam to address issues about the post-World War II Europe
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Invasion of Manchuria
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(1931) The Japanese, motivated by the need for raw materials and a desire to take over Chinese territory, invaded the province of Manchuria and held the territory until the end of the war, when they were forced to give it up. This is considered the start of WWI.
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Non-Aggression Pact
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1939-Secret agreement between German leader Hitler and Soviet Leader Stalin not to attack one another and to divide Poland
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Pearl Harbor
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(FDR) , 1941 United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941.
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Battle of the Coral Sea
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A battle between Japanese and American naval forces that stopped the Japanese advance on Australia.
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Battle of Midway
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U.S. naval victory over the Japanese fleet in June 1942, in which the Japanese lost four of their best aircraft carriers. It marked a turning point in World War II.
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War Production Board
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During WWII, FDR established it to allocated scarce materials, limited or stopped the production of civilian goods, and distributed contracts among competing manufacturers
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America First Committee
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A committee organized by isolationists before WWII, who wished to spare American lives. They wanted to protect America before we went to war in another country. Charles A. Lindbergh (the aviator) was its most effective speaker.
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Office of Price Administration
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Instituted in 1942, this agency was in charge of stabilizing prices and rents and preventing speculation, profiteering, hoarding and price administration. The OPA froze wages and prices and initiated a rationing program for items such as gas, oil, butter, meat, sugar, coffee and shoes in order to support the war effort and prevent inflation.
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Smith-Connally Act
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This authorized the federal government to seize industries and made strikes against government operated industry a criminal offense
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Rosie the Riveter
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A propaganda character designed to increase production of female workers in the factories. It became a rallying symbol for women to do their part.
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Bracero's
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Mexican workers that were brought to America to work when so many men and women were gone from home during World War II that there weren't enough workers.
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"Code-Talkers"
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Navajo troops who used their language to send messages in a code the Japanese were never able to break
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Internment
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Confinement during wartime
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North Africa Campaign
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Attempt to get Germans out of North Africa; Patton vs. Rommell; pushed Germans out of Tunisia back up into Italy. Known as operation torch.
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Conference at Casablanca
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FDR and Churchill agree to help GB, drive back the Nazi using the soft underbelly of Europe (Italy), Unconditional Surrender
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Conference at Tehran
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Big Three attended: Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. Discussed/planned the invasion of Normandy,known as D-day, also the partition of Germany
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D-Day
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(FDR) , June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which "we will accept nothing less than full victory." More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day's end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy.
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Island-Hopping Strategy
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WWII strategy of conquering only certain Pacific islands that were important to the Allied advance toward Japan
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Guadalcanal
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site of the US's first invasion of japanese-held territory. in august 1942, the japaense attacked the american forces with four savage attacks and were repulsed, with horrendous losses on both sides.
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Douglas McArthur
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Commander of the U.S. armed forces in the Pacific, fought to recapture the Phillipines, but lost his command in the Korean War
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Chester Nimitz
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United States admiral of the Pacific fleet during World War II who used aircraft carriers to destroy the Japanese navy (1885-1966)
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Leyte Gulf
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Largest naval battle of World War II; Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion, but failed to achieve its objective, suffered very heavy losses, and never afterwards sailed to battle in comparable force; first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks
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Bataan Death March
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Japanese forced about 60,000 of americans and philippines to march 100 miles with little food and water, most died or were killed on the way
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Battle of the Bulge
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December, 1944-January, 1945 - After recapturing France, the Allied advance became stalled along the German border. In the winter of 1944, Germany staged a massive counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg which pushed a 30 mile "bulge" into the Allied lines. The Allies stopped the German advance and threw them back across the Rhine with heavy losses.
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Battle of Stalingrad
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(1942) World War II battle between invading German forces and Soviet defenders for control of Stalingrad; each side sustained hundreds of thousands of casualties; Germany's defeat marked turning point in the war
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Yalta Conference
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1945 Meeting with US president FDR, British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and and Soviet Leader Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war
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Neville Chamberlain
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1938; gullible British Prime Minister; declared that Britain and France would fight if Hitler attacked Poland.
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V-E Day
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May 8, 1945; victory in Europe Day when the Germans surrendered
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Hiroshima & Nagasaki
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Nuclear attacks during World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States of America at the order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman First and second cities to be hit by atomic bombs, they were bombed after Japan refused to surrender and accept the Potsdam Declaration. Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki was bombed on August 9, 1945.
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Harry S. Truman
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Became president when FDR died; gave the order to drop the atomic bomb
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