Social Science Flashcards by Mackenzie Wolfe

Which president ultimately decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan?

Harry Truman

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Within 24 hours of the Pearl Harbor attack, Japan attacked this country with American military bases

Philippines

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Who did Hitler appoint to command all Axis troops in their occupation of North Africa and the Mediterranean?

Albert Kesselring

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After securing the island of Iwo Jima, American forces were now prepared to invade this island

Okinawa

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The Works Progress Administration started under President

Roosevelt

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Approximately how many years after the sinking of the USS Panay in China did Japan launch an attack on a naval base at Pearl Harbor?

Four

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Which president signed an executive order establishing the Office of War Information?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Approximately how long after the start of the Allied forces’ invasion of Sicily was Benito Mussolini ousted as prime minister of Italy?

Two weeks

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What is the name of the range of mountains that is situated between the borders of France and Spain?

Pyrenees

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In 1945, scientists in America successfully test detonated the first atomic bomb in a place in New Mexico called

Alamogordo

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The capital of Romania

Bucharest

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The North African campaign was comprised of

Three phases

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Civilian fear of being captured by American forces and policy for military servicemen led many Japanese to

Suicide

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An investigation by this organization led Stalin to sever the relations between the Polish government-in-exile and the Soviet Union

International Red Cross

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During the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, how many days did the defense of those accused of war crimes run?

255

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Comprised mostly of women from this country, “comfort women” were women forced into prostitution for the use of imperial troops stationed throughout Asia

Korea

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This was an American and British struggle against German forces to keep important shipping lanes open

Battle of the Atlantic

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As a result of the Holocaust, the United Nations adopted the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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The city of Hiroshima is part of which island chain?

Honshu

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special SS paramilitary units, performed cleaning up operations in the rearguard following invasion of Poland (1939) and Soviet Union (1941); largely responsible for mass killing of Jews and other ethnic minorities

Einsatzgruppen

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in Belgium, central battleground between German and American forces during the Battle of the Bulge

Bastogne

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public non-aggression pact between Germany/Soviet Union, Aug 23, 1939

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

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originally built in 1940 to hold Polish prisoners, because the largest extermination camp, 1.1 million people died

Auschwitz-Birkenau

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1933 amendment to Weimar Constitution, granted Hitler as chancellor the power to enact laws without the German Parliament or Reichstag

Enabling Act

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agreement between American and British military/gov. March 29, 1941, that defeating Nazi Germany has to have the highest priority in the war

Europe First Strategy

radical right-wing movement first in Italy and later in Germany during interwar period, response to perceived threat of Communism

Fascism

name given to Polish government-in-exile, recognized by Allies as legitimate gov. of Poland after fall to Nazis

London Poles

pro-Soviet government installed by Stalin in Poland that he said was legitimate gov. of Poland

Lublin Poles

confrontation between Japanese troops/Chinese forces near Marco Polo Bridge outside Peking, July 7, 1937; provides Japan with excuse to invade China

Marco Polo Bridge incident

use of air power to destroy an enemy nation's morale and material capability to carry out war-related activities

strategic bombing

codename given to deciphering of high-level German military communications first by Polish Cipher Bureau and then British military intelligence at Bletchley Park

Ultra program

abbr. for American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, est. early 1942 for defense of the Dutch East Indies against Japan

ABDACOM

political agreement between Germany and Japan, Nov. 24, 1936, and later Italy, opposed the activities of the Communist International (Comintern)

Anti-Comintern Pact

British/French strategy designed to avert war by granting concessions to aggressor states (Germany, Italy, Japan)

Appeasement

heavily forested, hilly terrain along borders of France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany

Ardennes Forest

statement of postwar aims of the Allies, issued Aug 14, 1941, included right of self-determination for peoples

Atlantic Charter

colloquial name for Fascist action squads (Squadre d'Azione) formed in Italy 1919

Blackshirts

popular name for Nazi Party Sturmabteilung (SA) in 1920s and early 1930s; later replaced by SS

Brownshirts

policies/action carried out by Nazi Germany to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe

Final Solution

systematic targeting and extermination of a particular group of people based on racial/ethnic ideals

genocide

military strategy used by Allied forces in Pacific Theater, focused on bypassing strongly fortified islands held by Japanese in order to focus on most important strategic islands

island hopping

Japanese term meaning "divine wind," applied to Japanese suicide pilots, first used Oct 1944 during Battle of Leyte Gulf

Kamikaze

Nov 9-10, 1938, Jewish homes/ businesses/synagogues were attacked by SA and German civilians

Kristallnacht

American government act, Mar 11, 1941, US provides war materials to Great Britain/any country whose defense was "deemed vital" to US

Lend-Lease

codename for American program that deciphered Japanese diplomatic/military codes prior to/during WWII

Magic

codename given to join American, British, Canadian program to research/develop atomic weapons

Manhattan Project

mass public demonstration of Italian Fascist Party, Oct. 22-29, 1922. Mussolini named as Prime Minister of Italy

March on Rome

staged attack on Japanese railway in Manchuria, Sept 18, 1931, to give Japan excuse to invade Manchuria

Mukden Incident

speech by FDR, Oct 5, 1937, in response to Japanese invasion of China, called for international quarantine of aggressor nations

Quarantine Speech

misapplication of Charles Darwin's ideas of natural selection in the biological world to human society

Social Darwinism

complete control of all aspects of society, both public and private, by the gov. in power

Totalitarianism

a surrendering power is offered no guarantees, announced by FDR in 1943 during Casablanca Conference

unconditional surrender

authoritarian government that became ruling power in unoccupied France following French surrender to Germany, June 1940; collaborated with Nazi Germany

Vichy France

forced march of American and Filipino prisoners taken by the Japanese after conquest on the Philippines, April 1942; Allied prisoners subjected to intense physical abuse, nearly 3,000 Allied prisoners died

Bataan Death March

failed coup attempt by Hitler against state government of Munich, Nov 8-9, 1923

Beer Hall Putsch

union of Austria and Germany, forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles (1919)

Anschluss

hatred/prejudice against Jews as an ethnic/racial group

anti-Semitism

German term for "lightning war"; emphasized coordination between armor units and close-air support

Blitzkrieg

German cipher machine used by German military

Enigma

Adolf Hitler's autobiography, political manifesto of Nazi Party

Mein Kampf

territory in western Poland that provided Poland with Baltic Sea access, cut Germany off from its territory in East Prussia

Polish Corridor

German term for "living space"; used by Hitler in Mein Kampf, territorial expansion = national greatness

Lebensraum

political philosophy - importance of military power to state's well-being

militarism