Kevin Beadle

Mr. Haskell

World History

8 May 06

WWII Study Guide

appeasement – policy of giving in to an aggressor’s demands in order to keep peace

blitzkrieg – is lightning warfare

cold war – It was a war against the United States and The Soviet Union two of the worlds

Superpowers at the time. For 4 decades the Two countries were in an arms race to develop more dangerous and more nuclear weapons then each other.

collaborator - person who cooperates with an enemy

containment (policy) – cold war policy of limiting communism to areas already under soviet control

genocide – deliberate attempt to destroy an entire religious or ethnic group

kamikaze – Japanese pilot who undertook a suicide mission

pacifism – opposition to all war

Winston Churchill – prime minister of England after Chamberlain and he had been a lone voice against the Nazi threat for many year before he became prime minister

Francisco Franco – A General you led a revolt that finish a Civil War in Spain. It caused different European nations to choose sides

Dwight Eisenhower – he was made the supreme Allied commander of the invasion of France. He and other allied leaders faced the enormous task of planning the operation and assembling troops and supplies

Haile Selassie – Was Ethiopia’s king, he appealed the League of Nations for help against the invading Italians.  The Italian’s conquered Ethiopia and proved the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations.

Harry Truman – The President of the United States that after Roosevelt’s unexpected death. He was the President that made the decision to drop the Atomic Bomb on the Japanese

Dunkirk – is a beach in France across the English channel. It is where the miracle of Dunkirk happened when the british sent every available naval vessel, and merchant ship to pluck the stranded troops off the beach

El Alamein – It was a battle that was one by the British against Romel a Axis forces leader.

Guernica – It was a German air raid during the Spanish Civil War on a Small Spanish market town. The German’s used the town to test out new airplanes

Hiroshima – Where on of the Atomic Bombs was dropped, the city was completely leveled and killed about 700,000 people instantly.

Nagasaki – this is where the second of the atomic bombs where dropped which caused the emperor of Japan to force the cabinet to surrender, it was the first time that the Emperor had ever done that.

Pearl Harbor – This is where the Japanese attack the united states unexpectedly on December 7, 1941. the attack destroyed 19 ships, and smashed airplanes on the ground

Operation Barbarossa – Hitler’s plan of entering Russia. Even though the Germans had the Russians by surprise the ended up loosing the War because the entered Russia

D-Day – The name the was picked for the day the allies would invade France. They landed on the beaches of France and worked their way up and through the Germans and their wall

Battle of Midway - This occurred six months after Pearl Harbor, American warships and airplanes would severely damage Japanese battle fleets at Midway Island.  It would later be used as a stepping stone for the Americans in their island hopping campaign.

Holocaust – Hitlers plan of kill all Europeans Jews, and people that he thought were racially inferior to him such as the Slavs, Gypsies, and the mentally ill.

Cold War rivals (which nations) – The United States and Soviet Union where cold war rivals, They were both very influencal in their part of the world, and the United States wanted to stop the Soviets From control Europe so they tried to stop the Russians communist influence

Francisco Franco - was a right wing general who led a revolt that started a civil war.  He called his followers the Nationalists and got conservatives to follow his fascist dictatorship like those of Hitler and Mussolini.

Benito Mussolini – He was an Italian fascist leader who took control of Italy in 1922.  He allied himself with Hitler and the Axis powers during World War II, he would later be overthrown and left with no power.

Adolph Hitler – He was the Nazi Germany leader, he order the killing of many Jews and racially inferior to him.

Tojo Hideki – He was a Japanese General that was the brains behind the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Neville Chamberlin – The English prime minister that was tricked by Hitler because he thought that Hitler would follow the guidelines of the Munich Pact, and told the Czechs to surrender without a fight

Franklin Roosevelt – The President of the United States When Pearl Harbor was attack and is known mainly for his speech the day after the Attack “ A day that will live in Infamy.”

Stalingrad - The battle of Stalingrad was fought over a two week period in a single building, it was one of the costliest battles. In the end around 300,000 were killed or wounded and the Germans lost this battle, partly due to supply shortages.

Explain 2 reasons why the US used the atomic bomb against Japan.-  The first reason was because the Japanese soldiers were prepared to fight to the death and the amount of US casualties alone would have been over a million men. The second is that it was a much quicker way to end the war while it killed less people people that would have been killed anyway.