World War II

Learn about the conflict between the Allies and the Axis powers by studying these words related to World War II. This vocabulary list covers topics such as the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, appeasement and isolationism, and the use of the atomic bomb.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. Adolf Hitler
    German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945)
  2. air raid
    an attack by armed planes on a surface target
  3. alliance
    an organization of people involved in a pact or treaty
  4. Allies
    the alliance of nations that fought the Axis in World War II and which (with subsequent additions) signed the charter of the United Nations in 1945
  5. annex
    take territory as if by conquest
  6. anti-Semitism
    the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people
  7. appeasement
    the act of acceding to demands
  8. Ardennes
    a wooded plateau in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France
  9. armistice
    a state of peace agreed to between opponents
  10. Aryan
    a Caucasian person of Nordic descent
  11. atomic bomb
    a nuclear weapon in which enormous energy is released by nuclear fission (splitting the nuclei of a heavy element like uranium 235 or plutonium 239)
  12. Auschwitz
    a Nazi concentration camp for Jews in southwestern Poland during World War II
  13. Axis
    in World War II the alliance of Germany and Italy in 1936 which later included Japan and other nations
  14. Bataan
    the peninsula and island in the Philippines where Japanese forces besieged American forces in World War II; United States forces surrendered in 1942 and recaptured the area in 1945
  15. Battle of Britain
    the prolonged bombardment of British cities by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and the aerial combat that accompanied it
  16. Battle of Guadalcanal
    a battle in World War II in the Pacific
  17. Battle of Midway
    naval battle of World War II
  18. Battle of the Bulge
    a battle during World War II
  19. battle of the Coral Sea
    a Japanese defeat in World War II
  20. beachhead
    an initial position on a shoreline taken by an invading army
  21. Benito Mussolini
    Italian fascist dictator (1883-1945)
  22. blackout
    darkness resulting from the extinction of lights
  23. blitzkrieg
    a military offensive with intensive aerial bombardment
  24. Brownshirt
    a member of the Nazi SA which wore brown uniforms
  25. chancellor
    the person who is head of state (in several countries)
  26. Charles de Gaulle
    French general and statesman who became very popular during World War II as the leader of the Free French forces in exile (1890-1970)
  27. Chester Nimitz
    United States admiral of the Pacific fleet during World War II who used aircraft carriers to destroy the Japanese navy (1885-1966)
  28. codetalker
    a secret agent who was one of the Navajos who devised and used a code based on their native language; the code was unbroken by the Japanese during World War II
  29. collaboration
    the act of cooperating traitorously with an enemy
  30. communism
    a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership
  31. concentration camp
    a place where persecuted groups are forcibly confined
  32. convoy
    a collection of merchant ships with an escort of warships
  33. Corregidor
    the peninsula and island in the Philippines where Japanese forces besieged American forces in World War II; United States forces surrendered in 1942 and recaptured the area in 1945
  34. D-day
    date of the Allied landing in France, World War II
  35. Der Fuhrer
    German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945)
  36. dictator
    a ruler who is unconstrained by law
  37. disarmament
    the act or process of reducing or depriving of weapons
  38. Douglas MacArthur
    United States general who served as chief of staff and commanded Allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II; he accepted the surrender of Japan (1880-1964)
  39. draft
    compulsory military service
  40. Dunkirk
    an amphibious evacuation in World War II (1940) when 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches in northern France in a desperate retreat under enemy fire
  41. Dwight D. Eisenhower
    United States general who supervised the invasion of Normandy and the defeat of Nazi Germany; 34th President of the United States (1890-1961)
  42. El Alamein
    a pitched battle in World War II (1942) resulting in a decisive Allied victory by British troops under Montgomery over German troops under Rommel
  43. Elie Wiesel
    United States writer (born in Romania) who survived Nazi concentration camps and is dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the Holocaust (born in 1928)
  44. emigration
    moving from one place in order to settle in another
  45. Erwin Rommel
    German field marshal noted for brilliant generalship in North Africa during World War II (1891-1944)
  46. fascism
    a political theory advocating an authoritarian government
  47. final solution
    the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime
  48. Francisco Franco
    Spanish general whose armies took control of Spain in 1939 and who ruled as a dictator until his death (1892-1975)
  49. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
    32nd President of the United States
  50. genocide
    systematic killing of a racial or cultural group
  51. George Marshall
    United States general and statesman who as Secretary of State organized the European Recovery Program (1880-1959)
  52. Georgi Zhukov
    Soviet general who during World Warr II directed the counteroffensive at Stalingrad and relieved Leningrad and captured Berlin (1896-1974)
  53. Gestapo
    the secret state police in Nazi Germany
  54. ghetto
    the restricted quarter of European cities where Jews lived
  55. Great Depression
    the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s
  56. Haile Selassie
    emperor of Ethiopia; worshipped by Rastafarians (1892-1975)
  57. Harry Truman
    33rd President of the United States
  58. Hirohito
    emperor of Japan who renounced his divinity and became a constitutional monarch after Japan surrendered at the end of World War II (1901-1989)
  59. Hiroshima
    a port city on the southwestern coast of Honshu in Japan
  60. Holocaust
    the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime
  61. Il Duce
    Italian fascist dictator (1883-1945)
  62. internment
    confinement during wartime
  63. island hop
    travel from one island to the next
  64. isolationism
    a policy of nonparticipation in international relations
  65. Isoroku Yamamoto
    Japanese admiral who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 (1884-1943)
  66. Iwo Jima
    a bloody and prolonged operation on the island of Iwo Jima in which American marines landed and defeated Japanese defenders (February and March 1945)
  67. Joseph Goebbels
    German propaganda minister in Nazi Germany who persecuted the Jews (1897-1945)
  68. kamikaze
    a fighter plane used for suicide missions by Japanese pilots
  69. League of Nations
    an international organization formed in 1920 to promote cooperation and peace among nations; although suggested by Woodrow Wilson, the United States never joined and it remained powerless; it was dissolved in 1946 after the United Nations was formed
  70. lebensraum
    new territory thought to be necessary for a nation
  71. lend-lease
    the transfer of aid to an ally in a common cause
  72. Leslie Richard Groves
    United States general who served as military director of the atomic bomb project (1896-1970)
  73. Luftwaffe
    the German airforce
  74. Maginot Line
    a fortification built before World War II to protect France's eastern border; initially considered to be impregnable, it was easily overrun by the German army in 1940
  75. Manhattan Project
    code name for the secret United States project set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II
  76. Maquis
    a guerrilla fighter in the French underground in World War II
  77. Marshall Plan
    a United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952); named after George Marshall
  78. mobilize
    get ready for war
  79. Nagasaki
    a city in southern Japan on Kyushu
  80. nationalism
    the doctrine that your country's interests are superior
  81. national socialism
    a form of socialism featuring racism and expansionism and obedience to a strong leader
  82. Nazi
    a German member of Adolf Hitler's political party
  83. Nazism
    a form of socialism featuring racism and expansionism and obedience to a strong leader
  84. neutrality
    nonparticipation in a dispute or war
  85. Neville Chamberlain
    British statesman who as Prime Minister pursued a policy of appeasement toward fascist Germany (1869-1940)
  86. Nisei
    a person born in the United States of parents who emigrated from Japan
  87. Normandy
    a former province of northwestern France on the English channel; divided into Haute-Normandie and Basse-Normandie
  88. panzer
    an armored vehicle or tank
  89. Pearl Harbor
    a harbor on Oahu to the west of Honolulu
  90. Potsdam Conference
    a conference held in Potsdam in the summer of 1945 where Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill drew up plans for the administration of Germany and Poland after World War II ended
  91. prime minister
    head of government, especially of a parliamentary democracy
  92. propaganda
    information that is spread to promote some cause
  93. radar
    measuring instrument using pulses of microwave radiation
  94. rationing
    restricting the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity
  95. refugee
    an exile who flees for safety
  96. resistance
    group action in opposition to those in power
  97. Robert Oppenheimer
    United States physicist who directed the project at Los Alamos that developed the first atomic bomb (1904-1967)
  98. Royal Air Force
    the airforce of Great Britain
  99. scapegoat
    someone who is punished for the errors of others
  100. shortage
    an amount that is less than expected or required
  101. SS
    special police force in Nazi Germany founded as a personal bodyguard for Adolf Hitler in 1925; the SS administered the concentration camps
  102. Stalingrad
    a city in the European part of Russia on the Volga
  103. swastika
    the official emblem of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich
  104. Third Reich
    the Nazi dictatorship under Hitler (1933-1945)
  105. Tojo Hideki
    Japanese army officer who initiated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and who assumed dictatorial control of Japan during World War II; he was subsequently tried and executed as a war criminal (1884-1948)
  106. totalitarian
    of a government with an authority exerting absolute control
  107. Treaty of Versailles
    the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans
  108. U-boat
    a German submarine used during World War I and World War II
  109. United Nations
    an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security
  110. V-E Day
    the date of Allied victory in Europe, World War II
  111. Vichy
    a town in central France noted for hot mineral springs
  112. V-J Day
    the date of Allied victory over Japan, World War II
  113. WAC
    a women's army corps that was organized in World War II but is no longer a separate branch of the United States Army
  114. Winston Churchill
    British statesman and leader during World War II
  115. Yalta Conference
    a conference held in Yalta in February 1945 where Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill planned the final stages of World War II and agreed to the territorial division of Europe
Created on Tue Jan 31 11:27:29 EST 2017 (updated Tue Apr 11 10:00:29 EDT 2017)

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