1. Chapter 15 Vocab World War II 1941-1945

2. Battle of Midway June 4-7, 1942 Turning point of the war in the Pacific This battle put an end to the Japanese advance in the Pacific.

3. Island Hopping The process of capturing some Japanese- held islands, and ignoring others in a steady path towards the Japanese mainland.

4. Kamikaze Pilots who would deliberately crash their planes into American ships, killing themselves, but also inflicting severe damage.

5. Dwight Eisenhower Commander of US forces in WWII Supreme Allied Commander in European Theater

6. George Patton Commander of US forces in North Africa

7. Tuskegee Airmen African American fighter squadron that played a key role in the saturation bombing of Germany. In more than 1500 missions, the Tuskegee Airmen didn’t lose a single bomber

8. D-Day/ Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord June 6, 1944 Massive allied invasion of France

9. Battle of the Bulge Surprise German counterattack against allied forces in Belgium Last ditch attempt by Germany to win the war

10. V-E Day May 7 1945, the day that Germany surrendered. Stands for Victory in Europe Day

11. War Production Board Created to oversee the conversion of peacetime industry to war industry. Had the authority to set priorities and production goals and to control the distribution of raw materials and supplies.

12. Office of War Information Created to raise morale in the US during the war and to convince people to help with the war effort. Propaganda!!

13. A. Philip Randolph African American leader who was part of the “double V” campaign. (victory against fascism abroad and discrimination at home).

14. Executive Order 8802 Assured fair hiring in any job funded with government money.

15. Korematsu v US Fred Korematsu protested that his relocation into a Japanese internment camp was unconstitutional. The case went to the Supreme Court, where it was ruled that the relocation was constitutional because it was based, not on race, but on “military urgency.”

16. Manhattan Project Code name for the American program to build an atomic bomb.

17. Harry S. Truman 33 rd President of the United States upon the death of FDR Makes the decision to use atomic bomb on Japan

18. Albert Einstein World’s most famous scientist Urges FDR to develop an atomic program

19. J. Robert Oppenheimer Physicist who ran the scientific component of the Manhattan Project “Father of the Atomic Bomb”

20. Hiroshima/ Nagasaki The two cities where American forces dropped atomic bombs in 1945. These remain the only two atomic bomb targets in history.

21. Nuremburg Laws Laws enacted by Hitler that denied German citizenship to Jews.

22. Nuremburg Trials Trials in which Nazi leaders were tried with war crimes.

23. Holocaust The systematic murder by the Nazis of European Jews and other “undesirables” West knew about the persecution, few believed the stories of “death camps”. Immigration and quota laws prevented many from escaping to the US.

24. War Refugee Board US government agency founded in 1944 to save Eastern European Jews

25. Genocide Annihilation of a racial, political, or cultural group.

26. Yalta Conference 1945 Strategy meeting between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. Stalin promises free elections for countries of eastern Europe…at some point

27. Potsdam Conference Meeting between US, UK, and USSR to decide postwar Europe Germany to be divided into 4 zones. Truman learns of successful test of atomic bomb

28. United Nations Organization founded in 1945 to promote peace.

29. G.I. Bill of Rights Helped soldiers returning from the war resettle back into their lives. Provided job and education assistance. Most took the educational opportunity to go to college.