Download Document

World War II
Vocabulary
Totalitarian Government
Definition:
 A political system in
which the government
has complete control
over the people.
Dictator
Definition:
 A ruler with complete
power in a country.
Communism
Definition:
 A system of government
in which a single party
controls state-owned
means of production
with the aim of
establishing a stateless
society.
Fascism
Definition:
 A political system headed
by a dictator in which the
government controls
business and labor and
opposition is not
permitted.
Reparations
Definition:
 Money that a country or
group that loses a war
pays because of the
damage, injury, deaths,
etc., it has caused
Nazi
Definition:
 A member of the
National Socialist Party.
A Fascist political party
led by Adolf Hitler.
Persecute
Definition:
 To treat (someone)
cruelly or unfairly
especially because of race
or religious or political
beliefs
Militarism
Definition:
 The opinions or actions
of people who believe
that a country should use
military methods, forces,
etc., to gain power and to
achieve its goals.
Axis Powers
Definition
 The alliance between
Germany, Italy, and
Japan.
Annex
Definition:
 To incorporate (a
country or other
territory) within the
domain of a state
Concentration Camp
Definition:
 A type of prison where
large numbers of people
who are not soldiers are
kept during a war and are
usually forced to live in
very bad conditions.
 During WWII, the Nazis
kept millions of Jews in
concentration camps.
Many of them were killed
in the camps.
Anschluss
Definition:
 The name given to the
1938 union of Germany
and Austria.
Appeasement
Definition:
 The Policy of giving in to
someone’s demands in
order to keep peace.
The Munich Conference
Definition:
 A conference held in Munich,
Germany in September 1938
between Britain, France,
Germany, and Italy.
 At the meeting, Britain and
France allowed Germany to
annex the Sudetenland in
exchange for a promise from
Hitler to not invade any other
European nations.
 The actions of France and
Britain are an example of
appeasement.
Sovereign
Definition:
 An independent nation.
Non-Aggression Pact
Definition:
 An agreement made
between Germany and
the Soviet Union.
 The agreement stated
that neither country
would attack each other
for a period of ten years.
Neutral
Definition:
 Not helping or
supporting either side in
a conflict, disagreement,
etc.
Cash and Carry Policy
Definition:
 A policy that let nations
at war buy military
supplies and weapons
from the United States.
As long as they paid for
them in advance and
provided transportation.
Lend-Lease Act
Definition:
 A policy that allowed the
United States to lend,
lease, sell, exchange, or
transfer military supplies
to any country whose
defense was vital to the
defense of the United
States.
The Allies (Allied Powers)
Definition:
 The name given to the
alliance of nations
against Germany, Japan,
and Italy.
 Members of this alliance
included, the United
States, the Soviet Union,
Britain, and France.
The Big Three
Definition:
 The Big Three were the
United States, the Soviet
Union, and Britain.
 These three nations led
the attack against the
Axis Powers in WWII.
Mobilize
Definition:
 To prepare a nation
and/or it’s economy for
war.
Rationing
Definition:
 Allowing each person to
have only a fixed amount
of a particular
commodity.
Internment Camp
Definition:
 A prison camp for the
confinement of enemy
aliens, prisoners of war,
political prisoners, etc.
 During WWII, the United
States government placed
over 100,000 Japanese
American citizens in
internment camps to
protect the security of the
United States.
Ghetto
Definition:
 A section of a city in
which all Jews were
required to live.
Genocide
Definition:
 The planned murder of
an entire group of
people.
Amphibious Landing
Definition:
 A military action of
coordinated land, sea,
and air forces organized
for an invasion
The Manhattan Project
Definition:
 The codename given to
the secret government
project to create an
atomic bomb before the
Axis.