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WWII
Vocabulary for WWII
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Pearl Harbor | naval base in Hawaii attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941 and led the US to enter WWII |
D-Day | largest sea invasion in history, led by US General Eisenhower and pushed Germans out of France |
Holocaust | time when millions of Jews were killed by Hitler’s Nazis |
concentration camps | place where Nazi troops sent people (mostly Jews) to be killed during WWII |
VE Day | day that Americans and Europeans celebrated Germany’s surrender (Victory in Europe Day) |
Iwo Jima | Pacific island where Japanese put up a fierce battle but lost to US Marines, part of the island hopping campaign |
atomic bomb | bomb that gets its power from the release of nuclear energy |
Hiroshima | Japanese city where the 1st atomic bomb ever used in war was dropped |
Nagasaki | Japanese city where the 2nd atomic bomb was dropped, causing Japan to surrender |
kamikaze | Japanese word that means divine wind, an attack where Japanese pilots would crash into Allied ships |
VJ Day | day when Japan surrendered (Victory in Japan Day) |
Allied Powers | the alliance of the US, Soviet Union, and Great Britain during WWII |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | US president during most of WWII, died in office in April of 1945 (Alllies) |
Harry Truman | became US president when Roosevelt died, made the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan and desegregated the military in 1948 (Allies) |
Joseph Stalin | dictator of the Soviet Union during WWII (Allies) |
Winston Churchill | prime minister of Great Britain during WWII (Allies) |
Axis Powers | the alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII |
Adolph Hitler | dictator of Germany that was responsible for starting WWII and the Holocaust (Axis) |
Nazi Party | a political party in Germany led by Adolph Hitler |
Benito Mussolini | dictator of Italy during WWII (Axis) |
Hirohito | leader of Japan during WWII, wanted an East Asia Empire (Axis) |
rationing | most Americans had to limit their consumer goods during WWII (gas, coffee, sugar, etc.) |
Rosie the Riveter | government poster that represented women going to work in factories while the men were away at war |
Tuskegee Airmen | famous African-American pilots who protected bomber planes during WWII |
Eleanor Roosevelt | FRD’s wife, traveled the world to promote human rights, helped write the Declaration of Human Rights |
United Nations | international peace-keeping organization that was created as a result of WWII |