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America in World War I and World War II

How the United States entered, fought and was changed by the two world wars.

73 cardsGrades 6–8, Grades 9–12#world war i#world war ii#home front#pearl harbor

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73 cards
  • World War ITerm or event
    Global war from 1914 to 1918 among the Allies and the Central Powers
  • Allied PowersTerm or event
    Britain, France, Russia and later the US and Italy
  • Central PowersTerm or event
    Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria
  • Archduke Franz FerdinandTerm or event
    Austrian heir whose 1914 assassination set off the war
  • NeutralityTerm or event
    Not taking sides in a war; the US stayed neutral until 1917
  • Lusitania (1915)Term or event
    British passenger ship sunk by a German submarine, killing 128 Americans
  • Zimmermann TelegramTerm or event
    Secret 1917 German message proposing an alliance with Mexico, which angered Americans
  • US enters WWI (April 1917)Term or event
    Congress declared war on Germany after submarine attacks
  • Woodrow WilsonTerm or event
    President during World War I who proposed the Fourteen Points
  • Fourteen PointsTerm or event
    Wilson's plan for peace, including a League of Nations
  • American Expeditionary ForcesTerm or event
    US troops sent to Europe, led by General John Pershing
  • John J. PershingTerm or event
    Commander of US forces in Europe in WWI
  • Trench warfareTerm or event
    Fighting from long ditches, common on the Western Front
  • Armistice (Nov. 11, 1918)Term or event
    Cease-fire that ended the fighting in World War I
  • Treaty of VersaillesTerm or event
    1919 peace treaty with Germany
  • League of NationsTerm or event
    International group meant to keep peace; the US Senate refused to join
  • Liberty bondsTerm or event
    War bonds citizens bought to lend money to the government
  • Selective ServiceTerm or event
    System for drafting people into the military
  • 19th Amendment (1920)Term or event
    Gave women the right to vote
  • Great MigrationTerm or event
    Millions of Black Americans moved from the South to northern cities, starting around 1916
  • Rise of dictatorsTerm or event
    In the 1930s Hitler, Mussolini and others took power in Europe and Japan expanded in Asia
  • World War IITerm or event
    Global war from 1939 to 1945
  • Axis PowersTerm or event
    Germany, Italy and Japan
  • Allies in WWIITerm or event
    Britain, the Soviet Union, the US, China and others
  • Adolf HitlerTerm or event
    Nazi dictator of Germany who started the war
  • Neutrality ActsTerm or event
    1930s laws trying to keep the US out of foreign wars
  • Lend-Lease Act (1941)Term or event
    Let the US supply weapons and goods to Allies
  • Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941)Term or event
    Japan's surprise attack on the US naval base in Hawaii
  • Infamous dateTerm or event
    FDR called December 7, 1941 'a date which will live in infamy'
  • Franklin D. RooseveltTerm or event
    President during most of the Depression and World War II
  • HolocaustTerm or event
    Nazi Germany's murder of six million Jewish people and millions of others
  • D-Day (June 6, 1944)Term or event
    Allied landing in Normandy, France, the largest sea invasion ever
  • Dwight EisenhowerTerm or event
    Supreme Allied commander in Europe; later president
  • NormandyTerm or event
    Region of France where the D-Day landings occurred
  • Battle of the Bulge (1944-45)Term or event
    Germany's last big attack in the West, in Belgium
  • V-E Day (May 8, 1945)Term or event
    Victory in Europe: Germany surrendered
  • Battle of Midway (1942)Term or event
    Naval battle that turned the Pacific war toward the US
  • Island hoppingTerm or event
    US plan to take key Pacific islands and skip others
  • Iwo JimaTerm or event
    Pacific island taken by US Marines in 1945; famous flag-raising photo
  • Douglas MacArthurTerm or event
    General who led US forces in the Pacific
  • Chester NimitzTerm or event
    Admiral in charge of the US Pacific Fleet
  • Manhattan ProjectTerm or event
    Secret US program that built the first atomic bombs
  • Atomic bombs (Aug. 1945)Term or event
    Dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, before Japan's surrender
  • V-J Day (Aug. 14-15, 1945)Term or event
    Japan announced surrender; formal signing on September 2
  • United NationsTerm or event
    International organization formed in 1945 to keep peace
  • Home frontTerm or event
    What people did at home to support the war
  • RationingTerm or event
    Limiting how much of items like sugar, gas and rubber people could buy
  • Victory gardenTerm or event
    Home vegetable garden planted to ease food shortages
  • Rosie the RiveterTerm or event
    Symbol of women who worked in factories during the war
  • War bondsTerm or event
    Savings bonds sold to help pay for the war
  • Scrap drivesTerm or event
    Families collected metal, rubber and paper for the war effort
  • Tuskegee AirmenTerm or event
    Black fighter pilots who trained in Alabama and served with honor
  • Navajo Code TalkersTerm or event
    Marines who used the Navajo language to send unbreakable messages
  • 442nd Regimental Combat TeamTerm or event
    Japanese American unit that became the most decorated for its size
  • Japanese American incarcerationTerm or event
    Over 100,000 Japanese Americans were forced from their homes to camps; it is now seen as a grave injustice
  • Executive Order 9066Term or event
    1942 order that allowed the removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast
  • Women's Army CorpsTerm or event
    Created in 1942 so women could serve in the Army
  • WASPTerm or event
    Women Airforce Service Pilots, who flew military aircraft within the US
  • G.I. Bill (1944)Term or event
    Gave veterans help with college, loans and housing
  • Yalta Conference (1945)Term or event
    Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin planned the end of the war
  • Winston ChurchillTerm or event
    British prime minister during most of the war
  • Joseph StalinTerm or event
    Leader of the Soviet Union
  • Harry TrumanTerm or event
    Became president when FDR died in April 1945
  • Marshall Plan (1948)Term or event
    US aid that helped rebuild Western Europe
  • Nuremberg TrialsTerm or event
    Courts that tried Nazi leaders for war crimes
  • Anne FrankTerm or event
    Jewish girl whose diary describes hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam
  • Code breakingTerm or event
    Allied codebreakers broke Axis codes and helped win key battles
  • RadarTerm or event
    Technology using radio waves to find aircraft and ships
  • Sgt. Alvin YorkTerm or event
    WWI soldier famed for bravery in the Argonne Forest
  • Harlem HellfightersTerm or event
    369th Infantry, a Black regiment that fought with French forces in WWI
  • Spanish flu (1918)Term or event
    Worldwide flu outbreak that killed millions near the end of WWI
  • Red Cross in wartimeTerm or event
    Helped wounded soldiers and war refugees
  • Total warTerm or event
    When a country uses all its resources, including factories and citizens, for war

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