·  Franklin Roosevelt was the President of the United States at the start of World War II

·  Harry Truman was the President of the United States at the end of World War II

·  Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II

·  Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union during World War II

·  Adolf Hitler was a fascist leader who seized control of German

·  Benito Mussolini was a fascist leader who seized control of Italy

·  Dwight D. Eisenhower was the leader of U.S. troops in the Atlantic (Europe) during WWII

·  Douglas MacArthur was the leader of U.S. troops in the Pacific (Asia) during WWII

·  Fascism, totalitarianism and Nazism are all forms of government control – typically a single leader – that took over much of Europe during World War II

·  Nazi invasion of Poland was the event that led to the start of World War II in Europe

·  The bombing of Pearl Harbor caused United States to enter the war

·  The Treaty of Versailles from World War I made Germany pay war reparations (debt) of $33 billion, accept the war guilt clause and demilitarize. This made Germany resentful and allowed Hitler to rise to power easily.

·  The United States used the strategy of Island Hopping to deal with the Japanese in the Pacific. Strategy employed by the United States to gain military bases and secure areas in the Pacific. Led by General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. The US troops targeted the areas that were not as strongly defended by the Japanese. They took control of those small areas, and quickly constructed landing strips and small military bases. Then they proceeded to attack other islands from the bases they had established. Slowly the US army moved closer to Japan, taking control of many of the surrounding islands.

·  United States were isolationist before the war and had the neutrality acts in place to ensure they stayed out of the war

·  The Lend Lease Provision of the Neutrality Acts and the Cash and Carry Provision (countries could buy U.S. materials as long as they paid in cash and used their own ships to transport) were steps away from isolationism even though the United States was not actively fighting in the war at this point.

·  The purpose of FDR’s Four Freedoms speech was to list the rights all countries should have (countries should have a democracy like the United States) and to lay the groundwork for U.S. entry into the war

·  Il Duce means “the leader” in Italian. Der Fuhrer means “the leader” in German

·  When Hitler rose to power, he replaced the German Republic with his own empire of government called the Third Reich

·  In the Munich Agreement, France and Great Britain allowed Germany to have Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia if he agreed to not take over any other countries. This is an example of appeasement because it is giving in to someone to avoid conflict. Hitler quickly broke this agreement

·  Mein Kempf (My Struggle) was Hitler’s book that laid out the Nazi philosophy

·  While Germany was trying to expand their empire in Europe, Japan was doing the same in the Pacific.

·  The first country taken over by Germany in World War II was Austria, the country Hitler was from

·  Germany invaded France in 1940 and forced the French government into exile. Great Britain was able to fight Germany off.

·  The Jewish people were Hitler’s main target because of anti-Semitism and because Hitler blamed the Jewish people for Germany’s problems after World War I

·  Kristallnacht was the “Night of the Broken Glass” when Nazi storm troopers attacked Jews in their businesses, homes and synagogues.

·  Genocide is the deliberate and systematic killing of an entire population

·  Hitler’s final solution was his official policy of genocide. This was based on the idea that Aryans were superior and the purity of this “master race” must be preserved. He declared any “inferior” group enemies of the state and condemned them to slavery and/or death.

·  Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This attack was deceiving because for an entire month before, Japan had been in peace talks with the U.S.

·  After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war and began mobilizing for war. Propaganda posters were used to create support for the war effort and to get people away from the isolationist mindset

·  The goals of World War II propaganda posters were to: encourage U.S. citizens to help finance the war effort, encourage U.S. citizens to create victory gardens and ration food, encourage U.S. citizens to ration various supplies deemed essential to the war effort, create hatred and fear towards the enemy, encourage U.S. citizens to support our Allies, empower women as a means of motivating to join the workforce

·  D-Day: The American led Allies invaded Omaha Beach at Normandy, France on June 6, 1944. The Allies secured the beach and eventually took France back from the Nazis and eventually France, Belgium and Luxembourg were all freed

·  Battle of Stalingrad: First turning point of the war. Germans enter Soviet Union (oil fields) and head to Stalingrad. During weeks- long attack, cold and starvation forced Germans to surrender. The Soviets lost 1.1 million soldiers

·  Battle of the Atlantic: Battle caused because Hitler turned to US east coast to prevent USSR and GB from getting supplies. German “wolf packs” sunk 87 unprotected ships before Allies used convoys and began to attack U-boats and get supplies across the Ocean.

·  North Africa Campaign: Allied forces used a plan called Operation Torch and encircled several thousand German and Italian personnel in northern Tunisia and finally forced their surrender in May 1943

·  Battle of Midway: This is widely considered a turning point in the Pacific War. It was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific of World War II. Japanese planned an attack of the US fleet on at Island ½ way between them and the United States (strategic point in the Pacific) similar to Pearl Harbor. The United States Navy, Led by Admiral Chester Nimitz decisively defeated an attacking Japanese Navy. This battle has been called “the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare." After this battle Japan could not cope with mounting casualties and losses of materials and the United States' massive industrial and training capabilities hurt Japan

·  Battle of Okinawa: Was an 82-day-long battle for a large island only 340 miles away from mainland Japan. The US took over this island and would use this island as launching point to attack Japan. More than 7,600 Americans were killed in this battle.

·  Once the Japanese was depleted of their weapons and supplies, they sent their kamikaze pilots on suicide missions to keep fighting.

·  The Manhattan Project was the experiment of the atomic bomb by Dr. Oppenheimer. The atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The purpose of this was to bring a swift and decisive end to World War II

·  The Nuremberg Trials were the trials of Nazi leaders after World War II

·  The Yalta Conference was the conference where the allies (winners of the war) met to decide the fate of the axis countries (losers of the war). The result of this conference was that Germany was divided into four occupational zones