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The purpose of the 1938 Munich Conference was to settle Germany's territorial dispute over the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia and prevent another world war through the policy of appeasement. -
The Treaty of Versailles was the peace agreement that officially ended World War I in 1919, forcing Germany to accept blame for the war. -
Japan invaded Manchuria primarily to secure vital natural resources like coal and iron for its industrial economy, to expand its imperial power and create a buffer against the Soviet Union. -
The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. While Jews were the primary victims, the Nazis also targeted other groups for persecution and murder, including Roma (Gypsies), people with disabilities, Polish and Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and political opponents -
Italy invaded Ethiopia in October 1935 under Benito Mussolini's fascist regime, seeking to expand its colonial empire. -
The purpose of Germany's re-militarization of the Rhineland was to reclaim sovereign control over the demilitarized zone. -
The Battle of the Atlantic was a World War II campaign where German U-boats tried to sink Allied merchant ships to starve Britain, but the Allies countered with convoys, radar, and code-breaking to secure their supply lines and project power across the ocean. -
In 1934, Hitler ordered the Austrian Nazis to create havoc in Austria. This turned into an attempt to overthrow the government. -
The primary purpose of the Evian Conference in July 1938 was to address the growing crisis of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in Germany and Austria, but it ultimately failed to find solutions as most nations, including the US, Britain, and France, were unwilling to change their immigration policies or accept large numbers of refugees. -
The Nazi-Soviet Pact, signed in August 1939, enabled the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, which began World War II. -
Implemented through the Neutrality Act of 1939, this measure allowed the U.S. to support allies, especially Great Britain and France, while maintaining a stance of official neutrality and stimulating American industry. -
Hitler fabricated pretexts, such as Polish mistreatment of ethnic Germans, and staged a false attack on a German radio station to justify the invasion. -
The bill, supported by various humanitarian groups and public figures, ultimately failed and was never brought to a vote due to strong opposition from anti-immigration groups, nationalist sentiment, and economic concerns, including fears that the children would become a public burden. -
The MS St. Louis was a German ocean liner that, in 1939, carried over 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Denied entry to Cuba and the United States, the ship was forced to return to Europe. -
Blitzkrieg, or "lightning war" in German, was a World War II German military tactic involving a fast, concentrated, and mobile attack using armored tanks, mechanized infantry, artillery, and close air support to achieve. -
The "Destroyers-for-Bases" deal was significant because it marked a major shift in U.S. foreign policy from neutrality toward supporting the Allies. -
The Battle of Britain was a 1940 air campaign where the Royal Air Force (RAF) defeated the German Luftwaffe, preventing a German invasion of Britain. -
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet, allowing Japan to expand its empire in Southeast Asia and secure vital natural resources like oil from colonies in the region -
The Battle of Midway in June 1942 was a decisive U.S. naval victory that turned the tide of the war in the Pacific by destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers and crippling their offensive capabilities, while the U.S. lost only one carrier, the Yorktown. -
The operation involved a massive Allied effort, including the deployment of ground troops, paratroopers, and air and naval power, to secure a foothold on the continent and begin the costly advance across France and into Germany. -
In exchange, recipients would return the materials or provide other benefits, such as leases on military bases, without immediate payment. -
The charter outlined principles such as no territorial gains by the victors, free trade, self-determination for all peoples, freedom from fear and want, and the establishment of a system of collective security and disarmament. -
The Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 was the first naval battle in history fought entirely by aircraft carriers, resulting in a strategic Allied victory by halting the Japanese invasion of Port Moresby, despite both sides suffering heavy losses, including the U.S. carrier USS Lexington. -
The operation involved a massive Allied effort, including the deployment of ground troops, paratroopers, and air and naval power, to secure a foothold on the continent and begin the costly advance across France and into Germany. -
The War Refugee Board was a U.S. government agency established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1944 to coordinate efforts to rescue and provide relief to Jews and other victims of Nazi oppression during World War II. -
The Battle of Okinawa occurred to secure a strategic base for the final invasion of mainland Japan, establish forward air bases for bombing campaigns, and blockades, all part of Operation Iceberg, the concluding major battle of the Pacific campaign in World War II. -
The bombings led to Japan's surrender, the conclusion of the war, and ushered in a new era of warfare and international relations marked by the fear of nuclear capabilities and the subsequent arms race. -
V-J Day, or Victory over Japan Day, marked the end of World War II when Japan surrendered to the Allies, though the exact date celebrated varies by country, with the United States recognizing September 2, 1945, the date of the formal surrender ceremony on the USS Missouri, while countries like the UK and Australia celebrate on August 15, 1945, the day Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender. -
The Fat Man was a plutonium-cored, implosion-type atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945, with an explosive yield of about 21 kilotons of TNT. -
The liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945 by the U.S. Army revealed the horrific conditions of the camp, where prisoners had been subjected to forced labor, starvation, and mass executions. Allied commander Dwight D. Eisenhower visited a subcamp, witnessing firsthand the evidence of the atrocities committed against the 280,000 prisoners who had passed through the camp system. -
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of courts, starting in 1945, established by the Allied powers to prosecute high-ranking Nazi German officials for their crimes during World War II. Held in Nuremberg, Germany, the first and most famous International Military Tribunal tried 22 major war criminals on charges of crimes against peace. -
The United Nations is the world's foremost international organization, founded in 1945 by 51 countries to prevent future wars and maintain global peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development. -
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights aims to establish a global standard for human rights, serving as a common goal for "all peoples and all nations" to uphold the fundamental freedoms and dignity inherent in every human being, regardless of their background. -
The Truman Doctrine was a U.S. foreign policy, announced by President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947, that pledged American support to "free peoples" resisting subjugation by authoritarian forces or "outside pressures". -
NATO was created to provide collective security and deterrence against Soviet expansionism after World War II, based on the principle of collective defense where an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. -
The Marshall Plan was a U.S. foreign aid program from 1948–1951 that provided over $13 billion to help Western European countries rebuild after World War II, aiming to stabilize economies, restore industries, and counter the spread of communism. Named after Secretary of State George C. Marshall