PEOPLE

Winston Churchill

. Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1940-45, again from 1951-55

. Led Britain through period of lonely resistance to Hitler's expansion before U.S. and U.S.S.R. entered war in 1941

. Frequently met with U.S. President Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Stalin to plan Allied war strategy

Dwight D. Eisenhower

. Republican elected President of the U.S. in 1952 and again in 1956

. Served as Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe during WWII

. Oversaw successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, 1944

Adolf Hitler

. Nazi Party leader who became German dictator in 1933

. Unchecked militarism pushed Europe into war

. Authorized the Holocaust, mass murder of 6 million Jews

. Committed suicide in 1945, one day before Germany surrendered to Allies

Benito Mussolini

. Fascist Prime Minister of Italy from 1922 until 1943

. Adopted the title "Il Duce," which meant "the noble leader"

. Promised to fight alongside Hitler in war against Allies, but his armies were poorly led and ill-prepared and were easily defeated

. Overthrown in 1943 by Italian insurgents and assassinated two years later

Franklin D. Roosevelt

. Democratic President of the U.S., first elected in 1932 during Great Depression; reelected in 1936, 1940, and 1944

. Served as President for all but 4 months of World War II

. Died of a stroke in office, April 1945; succeeded by his vice president, Harry S. Truman

Josef Stalin

. Powerful Soviet Communist dictator who rose to power in the 1920s

. During WWII, was an uneasy ally of U.S. and Britain in fight against Nazis

. Felt (not without cause) that his nation bore the brunt of the war against Nazi Germany

. Quickly became Cold War enemy of U.S. after WWII's end

Harry S. Truman

. Democratic Vice President under President Franklin D. Roosevelt

. Became President upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945, during last months of war

. Under his command, U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan

EVENTS

1938 Kristallnacht Pogrom

. "Night of Broken Glass"

. Two-day outbreak of anti-Semitic violence and persecution throughout Germany

. Encouraged by the Nazi government

. Many historians now view Kristallnacht as the beginning of the Holocaust

1939 German Invasion of Poland

. Act that led France and Great Britain to declare war against Germany

. In 1938, Hitler had made a deal with France and Great Britain, promising no further territorial expansion if they allowed him to annex part of Czechoslovakia

. Hitler broke his promise by invading Poland

1940 Selective Training and Service Act

. Made all American men between ages of 18 and 45 eligible for military draft

. Signed by President Franklin Roosevelt 1.5 years before the U.S. joined in World War II

1941 German Invasion of USSR

. In June, Hitler's armies invaded Soviet Union, opening Eastern Front in war

. Most WWII deaths occurred on Eastern Front; 30 million Soviets would die in war

. Marked beginning of uneasy anti-Nazi alliance between Communist Russia, U.S. and Britain

1941 Pearl Harbor

. Japanese bombers attacked U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 7 December

. Attack killed thousands and destroyed much of U.S. Pacific fleet

. One day after attack, U.S. declared war on Japan, then Germany and Italy (allied with Japan) declared war on U.S.

1944 D-Day

. On 6 June, some 3 million Allied troops with thousands of planes and ships attacked Nazi positions on Normandy beaches in northern France

. Largest amphibious invasion in history

. After fierce fighting, Allied forces succeeded in establishing beachhead, began pushing toward Germany

. Major turning point in the war, marked beginning of end for Nazi Germany

1945 German Surrender

. Hitler committed suicide as Allied troops approached Berlin, 1 May

. Germany officially surrendered one day later

. Officially ended European war, but did not end World War II, as Japan kept fighting

1945 Hiroshima

. U.S. bomber Enola Gay dropped atomic bomb on city of Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August

. Atomic bombing authorized by President Harry S. Truman

. Resulted in destruction of the city and the instant death of estimated 100,000 people

. First of two nuclear attacks that effectively ended World War II

1945 Nagasaki

. U.S. bomber Bockscar dropped atomic bomb on Nagasaki in southern Japan, 9 August

. Unlike Hiroshima, Nagasaki was old city with wooden buildings packed closely together

. Total destruction more far-reaching than in Hiroshima; instantly killed one-third of total population in Nagasaki

. Post-attack landscape described by Japanese report as "a graveyard with not a tombstone standing"

. Second of two nuclear attacks that effectively ended World War II

GROUPS

National Socialist German Workers Party

. Better known as Nazi Party; led by Adolf Hitler from 1920s until his suicide in 1945

. Controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945

. Its government is referred to as the Third Reich

CONCEPTS

Allied Powers

. During World War II, the alliance of nations that fought against the Axis powers

. Included Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the U.S., China

. Also included France before it was defeated and occupied by Germany

Axis Powers

. During World War II, the alliance of fascist nations that fought against the Allied powers

. Included Germany, Italy, and Japan

Blitzkrieg

. German word that means "Lightning Warfare"

. Military strategy used by Hitler's armies to overwhelm enemies; bombardment by air, followed immediately by rapid ground attacks

"The Good War"

. Romanticized phrase used to refer to World War II

. Calls to mind the meaning of Allied victory: defeat of fascism, new inclusion of blacks and women in American economy, new powerful role for U.S. in world

. Tainted by extreme destruction, particularly in Nagasaki and Hiroshima

The Holocaust

. Nazi genocide of European Jews

. Built machine-like bureaucratic system to murder 6 million innocent people

. Only ended with German defeat in war

. Allies took little special action to stop it during war

"Jap"

. Derogatory term for Japanese

. Commonly used by Americans during World War II

. Came to be associated with animalistic, savage features and behavior

. Helped justify racist government policies such as Japanese internment and extreme violence on the Pacific front

Kamikaze Fliers

. Japanese military pilots who were given suicide missions during WWII

. These pilots few bomb-filled planes into American ships, terrorizing American crews

. Responsible for many of the American military deaths in Okinawa and Iwo Jima

Lend-Lease

. Government program that supplied weapons, military vessels, and other supplies to other Allied powers in the early years of World War II

. Authorized by President Roosevelt in the years before the U.S. entered the war

. Seemed to contradict FDR's promise of American neutrality and hinted at future U.S. military involvement

"Little Boy"

. Nickname for atomic bomb dropped by Americans on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945

. First nuclear weapon ever used in war

PLACES

Auschwitz, Poland

. Site of largest Nazi concentration camp in Holocaust

. More than 1 million Jewish prisoners killed at Auschwitz, many in gas chambers

Hiroshima, Japan

. Large city in western Honshu, Japan

. Headquarters of Japanese Second Army during WWII

. First city in world to suffer atomic bomb attack, August 1945

Normandy, France

. Northwestern region of France, borders English Channel

. Site of largest amphibious invasion in history, 6 June 1944

. 3 million Allied troops landed on Normandy beaches, overwhelming German defenders

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

. Location of primary naval base of U.S. Pacific fleet

. Suffered surprise attack by Japanese aircraft, 7 December 1941