All Flashcards
Compare the US and British strategies in the European theater.
The US favored a direct invasion across the English Channel, while the British preferred a perimeter approach, starting with Africa and Italy.
Compare the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Both bombings aimed to force Japan's surrender, but Nagasaki was bombed after Japan did not respond to the demand for unconditional surrender following Hiroshima.
Compare the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences.
Yalta focused on post-war Europe and Soviet entry into the war against Japan, while Potsdam focused on Japan's surrender and war crime trials.
What is the Holocaust (Shoah)?
The systematic killing of over 6 million Jews and 11 million overall by the Nazis.
What is island hopping strategy?
A military strategy of selectively attacking specific enemy-held islands and bypassing others.
What was the Manhattan Project?
The US's secret project to develop the atomic bomb during WWII.
What does unconditional surrender mean?
Surrender without any guarantees granted to the surrendering party.
What were kamikaze attacks?
Suicide attacks by Japanese pilots, crashing their planes into enemy ships.
Define economic sanctions.
Trade restrictions and embargoes imposed by one country on another to force policy change.
What is meant by 'declaration of war'?
A formal announcement by a nation that a state of war exists with another nation.
Define 'war crimes'.
Actions carried out during a war that violate accepted international rules of war.
What is a 'perimeter approach' in military strategy?
A strategy of attacking the enemy's periphery before moving towards the center.
Define 'occupation zone'.
A region controlled by a foreign military force.
What happened on December 7, 1941?
Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, leading to the US entry into WWII.
What was D-Day?
The Allied invasion of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944.
What was the North Africa Campaign?
A series of battles in North Africa, where General Patton led troops to drive Germany out by May 1943.
What was the Bataan Death March?
The forced march of American and Filipino prisoners of war by the Japanese, resulting in many deaths.
When were Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombed?
Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945, and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.
What was the significance of the Casablanca Conference (January 1943)?
Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to invade Sicily and Italy and demand unconditional surrender from the Axis powers.
What was the significance of the Tehran Conference (1943)?
The Big Three agreed that Britain and America would liberate France, and the Soviets would invade Germany.
What was agreed at the Yalta Conference (February 1945)?
Germany would be divided into occupation zones; free elections would be held in liberated Eastern European countries; the Soviets would enter the war against Japan; a new world peace organization (the United Nations) would be formed.
What was agreed at the Potsdam Conference (July 1945)?
Truman, Stalin, and Attlee demanded Japan's unconditional surrender and agreed to hold war-crime trials of Nazi leaders.
When did Germany surrender unconditionally?
May 7, 1945.