Paige Womack

Ch 24 Vocab

26. Blitzkrieg / Luftwaffe – “Lightning War”, a German warfare tactic of quick and decisive attacks
that blindsided surprised enemies, giving the German army the upper hand / The German air force
27. “Phony War” – A winter long pause in the war on the side of Germany
28. Dunkirk evacuation / the Battle of Britain – Germany drove through France and caused the British
and French to evacuate. The British evacuated a total of 330,000 allies. / After Britain attacked Berlin,
Germany launched air raids on British cities. Britain fought them and beat them back.
29. The Grand Alliance – With the entry of the US into the Allied powers, they became the grand
alliance.
30. “unconditional surrender” – The agreement among the Allied powers that they would not stop until
Germany surrendered without any conditions
31. Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 – Japan launched an attack on America at the Pearl Harbor naval
base in Hawaii.
32. Erwin Rommel / El Alamein – Led the Afrika Korps to break through British defenses in Egypt,
advancing toward Alexandria. / British forces stop Rommel’s army at El Alamein
33. Battles of Stalingrad / Battle of Kursk – German army in Stalingrad was surrounded and forced to
surrender / Greatest tank battle of WWII, Germans are defeated by Soviets
34. Battles of the Coral Sea / Battle of Midway – America defeated Japan and temporarily relieved
Australia from the threat of invasion / Americans establish naval superiority in the Pacific
35. Douglas MacArthur – Commanded the “island hopping” troops through the Dutch East Indies
36. Dwight D. Eisenhower and June 6, 1944 – American general who commanded the Allied invasion
of Normandy’s beaches in France on June 6th (D-Day)
37. Harry S. Truman – Took over the US Presidency after the death of Franklin Roosevelt. Approved
deployment of atomic bombs on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
38. the “Final Solution” / the Holocaust – Germany’s plan and execution of the systematic genocide of
European Jews / The removal of Jews throughout Europe through killing and imprisoning.
39. Auschwitz – Birkenau – The largest and most famous extermination center built for the purpose of
killing jews.
40. Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere – set up by the Japanese to provide organizational structure
in the areas taken over by Japan in the war.
41. Vichy France – puppet government created by the Nazis in occupied France.
42. women and the war – Women in many countries were given new responsibilities. Soviet women
became workers, drivers, miners, and even soldiers in the war.
43. the Blitz / the Dresden raid – German air raids / Excessive bombing of the German city of Dresden
for 3 days which created a firestorm reported to have killed as many as 100,000 inhabitants.
44. Hiroshima / Nagasaki – Two Japanese cities that were destroyed by US deployment of Atomic
bombs.
45. Japanese-Americans – Were treated with much animosity in America during the war. They were
submitted to interrogations to discern where their allegiances lied.
46. Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam conferences – The conference of the Big Three Grand Alliance leaders
where Stalin and Roosevelt successfully decided on an American-British invasion of the continent
through France / Soviet Russia was taking control of East Europe, America sought Soviet military aid
against Japan, declaration signed to give Europe democratic institutions of their choosing / coldness
and mistrust between western leader (Truman succeeded Roosevelt) and Soviet leaders. Soviets argued
against free election because they would not risk the adversity towards Soviet governments.
47. “spheres of influence” vs. “Self-determination” – Influence of central powers on politics and
economics of countries vs. countries governments run by citizens of said country.
48. United Nations (UN) – Postwar international organization proposed by Roosevelt
49. Winston Churchill and “the Iron Curtain” – This guy was awesome / Speech he gave to an
American audience on his perspective view of the current state of Europe, and how its postwar
situation was still one of bitter separation of powers.
50. the Cold War – America and Russia REALLY wanted to kick each other’s –withdrawn- , but were
both attempting to keep their cool for the sake of peace.