Second Front
The second Front was the invasion of western Europe by the US ,British, and French in 1944. This invasion was to take pressure off the Russians and divide the Germans. It was established by the D-Day Invasion.
D-Day
D-day was the first day of the Normandy landings which started the invasion of western Europe and liberated France from the Germans.
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day. The German government surrendered unconditionally during WWII on May 7, 1945
Potsdam Conference
Held near Berlin in 1945 with Truman, Stalin and Clement Atlee who issued an ultimatum to Japan to surrender or be destroyed. This is where Truman learned about the Atomic Bomb.
V-J Day
Victory in Japan Day was celebrated on August 15, 1945 after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. The celebrations continued through the official end of World War II on September 2, 1945 when Japan officially surrendered.
War Production Board (WWII)
This board halted the manufacture of nonessential items such as passenger cars. It assigned priorities for transportation and access to raw materials. It imposed a national speed limit and gasoline rationing because, due to the Dutch East Indies ending their exports of natural rubber to the U.S., they wanted to conserve rubber. They also built fifty-one synthetic rubber plants.
Office of Price Administration
FDR created this in order to prevent inflation in the economy during WWII.
Fair Employment Practice Commission
Roosevelt established this initially to give fair employment to blacks. Eventually, and to this day, its purpose is to protect and serve all races, sexes, ages, and ethnicities involving employment.
Harry S. Truman
He took over the presidency during World War II with the death of Roosevelt. He was called by many the "average man's average man" for his appearance and personality, and he was one of the only presidents without a college education. He was an artillery officer in World War One. He was responsible for the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II..
Albert Einstein
A German-born scientist who encouraged Roosevelt and America to build the first atomic bomb.
Chester Nimitz
Nimitz served as an Admiral in the Battle of Midway in 1942. He commanded the American fleet into in the Pacific Ocean and learned the Japanese plans through "magic" decoding of their radio messages. With this intercepted information, Nimitz headed the Japanese off and defeated them.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
He was the U. S. general who led the attack in North Africa in Nov. of 1942.He was the master organizer of the D-Day invasion in Europe (June 6, 1944). He ran for the Republican ticket in the 1952 and the1956 elections and won. He was very well liked by the public.
Stalin
Soviet Dictator during WWII and the beginning of the Cold War. In 1943 regained two-thirds of Soviet motherland taken from him by Hitler. Leader of Soviet Union against Hitler, allied with United States. Met with Churchill and Roosevelt at Teheran from November 28 - December 1, 1943 and agreed to attack Germany from all sides.
George S. Patton
"Blood 'n' Guts"; commanded lunges across France by American armored tank division; commander during WWII
Thomas E. Dewey
The Republican presidential nominee in 1944, Dewey was the popular governor of New York. Roosevelt won a sweeping victory in this election of 1944. Dewey also ran against Harry Truman in the 1948 presidential election. Dewey, arrogant and wooden, seemed certain to win the election, and the newspapers even printed, "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN" on election night. However, the morning results showed that Truman swept the election, much to Dewey's embarrassment.
Dust bowl
A region in South-central US that had a harsh changing climate for farmers during the Great Depression. (Successive years of drought destroyed farms.)
A. Philip Randolph
He was the black leader of The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. He demanded equal opportunities in war jobs and armed forces during WWII.
