Term Definitions- World War II

1. Invasion of Poland- This was the event that started World War II. It is when German forces invaded Poland and it was a brutal since they used their military. This made Poland's allies mad and therefore the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939.
2. Blitzkrieg- This is a word that describes a military tactic that the Germans used in WWII. It means lightening war in German and it included surprise attacks.
3. Nazi-Soviet Non Aggression Pact- In 1939, Hitler was getting ready for war, but did not want to make the same mistakes that Germany did in WWI so he signed a pact with the Soviets. This agreement that was between Stalin and Hitler was important because it made Germany and Russia neutral between each other.
4. Tripartite Pact- This was an agreement signed on September 27, 1940 in Berlin, Germany. Saburo Kurusu of Japan, Adolf Hitler of Germany, and Galeazzon Ciano of Italy signed it and it made the Axis Powers of WWII.
5. Anti Comintern Pact- It was signed on November 25, 1936 between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It was directed to go against the Soviet Union.
6. Operation Barbarossa- Code name for Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union that took place on June 22, 1941.
7. Winston Churchill- British Politician and Prime minister of the United Kingdom. He was known for leading the United Kingdom during World War II.
8. Atlantic Charter- It was the blueprint for the world after WWII. It is also used for the foundation of many treaties in the world today.
9. Pearl Harbor- This is a harbor on the island of O'ahu where the Americans took on a surprise attack by the Japanese. It took place on December 7, 1941 and this is what caused the Americans to get militarily involved in WWII. This is also where the headquarters for the U.S. Pacific Fleet is.
10. D-Day- Took place on June 6, 1944 when the Allied forces landed on French coastline called the Normandy coast to fight Nazi Germany.
11. Stalingrad- A battle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in order to gain control of Stalingrad, Russia. This was the bloodiest battles in modern history and a turning point of WWII.
12. Midway- This is a major naval battle that took place between June 4-7, 1942. The Americans destroyed four aircraft carriers of the Japanese and this is what destroyed Japan's military strength.
13. Hiroshima & Nagasaki- The United States's nuclear attacks on the Empire of Japan at the end of WWII. They took place on August 6th and 9th in 1945. The nuclear weapon, "Little Boy", was dropped on Hiroshima and the nuclear weapon, "Fat Man", was dropped on Nagasaki.
14. Robert Oppenheimer- He was an American physicist and he is best known for his role in the Manhattan Project, which is the effort to try and create the first nuclear weapon for World War II. He is also called "The Father of the Atomic Bomb."
15. Yalta Conference- It was a wartime meeting involving Franklin Roosevelt from the United States, Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Stalin from the Soviet Union to discuss what to do with the nations from Germany. It took place between February 4th to February 11th in 1945.
16. F.D.R- These are the initials of Franklin D. Roosevelt who was the 32nd president of the United States. He was the president during WWII and is the only president to have been elected more than two terms.
17. Dwight D. Eisenhower- He was the 34th president of the United States and during WWII he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe. He became the first Supreme Commander of NATO in 1951.
18. NATO- It stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is a military alliance from the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949. The headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.
19. Warsaw Pact- This was an organization of communist states in Europe's central and Eastern parts. The treaty was signed on May 14, 1955 in Warsaw, Poland and it was in response of West Germany joining the NATO.