Download Unit 7 Vocabulary

World War II VocabularyTerms:
1.
Appeasement - belief that it is best to let an aggressive nation have what they want in hopes that this will
satisfy its leader and stop the aggression
2.
Munich Conference - Meeting between Germany, France, Britain, and Italy. British PM Chamberlain gave in
to Hitler’s demands believing it would prevent war and establish a lasting peace
3.
Nonaggression pact- Hitler & Stalin’s agreement to not attack each other at the beginning of WWII; Hitler
would violate its terms 2 years later
4.
Allies- An alliance between United States, Great Britain, USSR (Russia); also known as “The Big Three”
5.
Axis Powers- An alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan
6.
Third Reich - New German Empire created by Hitler
7.
Aryans – To the Nazis, the Germanic peoples who formed a “master race.”
8.
Blitzkrieg - using fast moving airplanes and tanks, followed by massive infantry forces, to take an
enemy by surprise
9.
Holocaust- the killing of over 6 million Jewish people; Hitler and the Nazi Party were responsible
10. concentration camps- area that housed thousands of starving and tortured prisoners (mostly Jews) during
WWII; most were tortured and then murdered
11. anti-Semitism – prejudice against Jews
12. Final Solution - Hitler’s plan to protect racial purity by eliminating groups he viewed as inferior, such as
people that were Jewish, Roma (gypsy), Polish, Russian, homosexual, the insane, the disabled, and the
incurably ill.
13. ghettos – segregated areas of a city where Jews were forced to live
14. genocide – the systematic killing of an entire people
15. Demilitarization- disbanding armed forces at the end of the war
16. Nuremburg Trials- Military Tribunal put the Nazi war criminal on trial for waging a war of aggression,
violating the laws of war and committing “crimes against humanity” through the murder of 11 million people.
17. United Nations- formed to maintain peace between countries and make sure nations obeyed international laws
and human rights
Leaders:
18. Franklin D. Roosevelt- president of US for most of WWII, part of the Allied powers.
19. Joseph Stalin- leader of the Soviet Union during WWII. He initially was allied with Hitler, but changed after
1941 to be a part of the Allied powers.
20. Winston Churchill- Great Britain’s Prime Minister during WWII, part of the Allied powers
21. Emperor Hirohito- Emperor of Japan during WWII
22. Harry Truman- Became president after FDR died, responsible for dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, Japan
23. Benito Mussolini- leader of Italy, became leader of puppet government under Hitler (Axis)
24. Adolf Hitler- leader of Germany and Nazi Party; preached hatred of the Jews and is responsible for the
Holocaust (Axis)