Appeasement
Policy of giving in to an aggressor's demands in order to keep the peace
Pacifism
Opposition to all war
Neutrality Acts
A series of acts passed by the U.S. from becoming involved in WWII
Axis Powers
Group of countries led by Germany, Italy, and Japan that fought the Allies in World War II
Francisco Franco
A conservative general who led a revolt
Anschluss
Union of Austria and Germany
Sudetnland
A region of western Czechoslovakia
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 in which the two nations promised not to fight each other and to divide up land in Eastern Europe
Blitzkrieg
Lightning war
Luftwaffe
German air force
Dunkirk
Port in France from which 300,000 Allied troops were evacuated when their retreat by land was cut off by the German advance in 1940
Vichy
City in central France where a puppet state governed unoccupied France and the French colonies
General Erwin Rommel
Commander who was sent by Hitler to North Africa
Concentration Camp
Detention center for civilians considered enemies of the state
Holocaust
The systematic genocide of about six million European Jews by the Nazis during World War II
Lend-Lease Act
Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1941 that allowed the president (FDR) to sell or lend war supplies to any country whose defense was considered vital to the United States
"Rosie the Riveter"
Popular name for women who worked in war industries during WWII
Aircraft Carriers
Ships that accommodate the taking off and landing of airplanes, and transport aircraft
Dwight Eisenhower
American general who took command of a joint British and American force in Morocco and Algeria
Stalingrad
Now Volgograd, a city in SW Russia that was the site of a fierce battle during WWII
D-Day
Code name for June 6, 1944, the day that Allied forces invaded France during WWII
Yalta Conference
Meeting between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin in February 1945 where the three leaders made agreements regarding the end of World War II
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945, the day the Allies won WWII in Europe
Bataan Death March
During World War II, the forced march of Filipino and American prisoners of war under brutal conditions by the Japanese military
"Island Hopping"
During World War II, Allied strategy of recapturing some Japanese-held islands while bypassing others
Douglas MacArthur
General who led American forces north towards Japan.
Kamikaze
Japanese pilot who undertook a suicide mission
Manhattan Project
Code name for the project to build the first atomic bomb during WWII
Hiroshima
City in Japan where the first atomic bomb was dropped in August 1945
Nagasaki
A coastal city in southern Japan on the island of Kyushu; city in Japan where the second atomic bomb was dropped in August, 1945
Nuremberg
Germany city where Hitler staged Nazi rallies in the 1930s, and where Nazi war crimes trials were held after WWII
United Nations (UN)
International organization established after World War II with the goal of maintaining peace and cooperation in the international community
Cold War
State of tension and hostility between nations aligned with the United State on one side and the Soviet Union on the other that rarely led to direct armed conflict
Truman Doctrine
United States policy, established in 1947, of trying to contain the spread of communism
Marshall Plan
Massive aid package offered by the U.S. to Europe to help countries rebuild after WWII
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
A military alliance between several North Atlantic states to safeguard them from the presumed threat of the Soviet Union's communist bloc; countries from other regions later joined the alliance
Warsaw Pact
Mutual-defense alliance between the Soviet Union and seven satellites in Eastern Europe set up in 1955