All Flashcards
Compare the US and British strategies in the European theater.
The US favored a direct invasion across the English Channel, while the British preferred a perimeter approach, starting with Africa and Italy.
Compare the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Both bombings aimed to force Japan's surrender, but Nagasaki was bombed after Japan did not respond to the demand for unconditional surrender following Hiroshima.
Compare the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences.
Yalta focused on post-war Europe and Soviet entry into the war against Japan, while Potsdam focused on Japan's surrender and war crime trials.
What caused the US to impose economic sanctions on Japan?
Japan's expansionist ambitions in China and Southeast Asia.
What was the effect of the US economic sanctions on Japan?
They escalated tensions and were a major cause of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
What was the cause of the Bataan Death March?
The Japanese conquest of the Philippines in early 1942.
What caused the US to develop the atomic bomb?
The need to end the war quickly and avoid a costly invasion of Japan.
What was the effect of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Japan surrendered three weeks later on the USS Missouri.
What caused the US to prioritize the European theater?
Germany was seen as the greater threat.
What was the effect of the Allied air forces firebombing German cities?
It weakened German infrastructure and morale, contributing to their eventual surrender.
What caused the US to use the island-hopping strategy?
To advance towards Japan without retaking all of Southeast Asia.
What was the effect of the US government's isolationist sentiment and limited immigration policies?
It hindered the US response to the Holocaust.
What caused the US to enter World War II?
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
What is the Holocaust (Shoah)?
The systematic killing of over 6 million Jews and 11 million overall by the Nazis.
What is island hopping strategy?
A military strategy of selectively attacking specific enemy-held islands and bypassing others.
What was the Manhattan Project?
The US's secret project to develop the atomic bomb during WWII.
What does unconditional surrender mean?
Surrender without any guarantees granted to the surrendering party.
What were kamikaze attacks?
Suicide attacks by Japanese pilots, crashing their planes into enemy ships.
Define economic sanctions.
Trade restrictions and embargoes imposed by one country on another to force policy change.
What is meant by 'declaration of war'?
A formal announcement by a nation that a state of war exists with another nation.
Define 'war crimes'.
Actions carried out during a war that violate accepted international rules of war.
What is a 'perimeter approach' in military strategy?
A strategy of attacking the enemy's periphery before moving towards the center.
Define 'occupation zone'.
A region controlled by a foreign military force.