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Definition
| An agreement between Britain & the U.S. developed at a conference in Washington D.C. between January 29-March 27, 1941, that should the U.S. enter World War II, the two nations & their allies shall coordinate their military planning, making a priority of protecting the British Commonwealth. That would mean "getting Germany first" in the Atlantic & European theater & fighting more defensively on other military fronts. |
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| Order of President Roosevelt to authorize the War Department to remove Japanese "enemy aliens" to isolated internment camps. Immigrants & citizens alike were sent away from their homes, neighbors, schools, & businesses. The Japanese internment policy was held to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Korematsu v. U.S. |
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Term
| War Production Board (WPB) |
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Definition
| Established in 1942 by executive order to direct all war production, including procuring & allocating raw materials, to maximize the nation's war machine. The WPB had sweeping powers over the U.S. economy & was abolished in November 1945 soon after Japan's defeat. |
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| Office of Price Administration (OPA) |
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Definition
| A critically important wartime agency charged with regulating the consumer economy through rationing scarce supplies, such as automobiles, tires, fuel, nylon, & sugar, & by curbing inflation by setting ceilings on the price of goods. Rents were controlled as well in parts of the country overwhelmed by war workers. The OPA was extended after World War II ended to continue the fight against inflation, but was abolished in 1947. |
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| National War Labor Board (NWLB) |
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Definition
| Established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to act as an arbitration tribunal & mediate disputes between labor & management that might have led to war stoppages & thereby undermined the war effort. The NWLB was also charged with adjusting wages with an eye to controlling inflation. |
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Term
| Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act |
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Definition
| Passed amidst worries about the effects labor strikes would have on war production, this law allowed the federal government to seize & operate plants threatened by labor disputes. It also criminalized strike action against government run companies. |
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| WAACs (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps), WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), & SPARs (U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve) |
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Definition
| The women's branches of the army, navy, and coast guard established during World War II to employ women in noncombat jobs. Women now participated in the armed services in ways that went beyond their traditional role as nurses. |
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| Program established by agreement with the Mexican government to recruit temporary Mexican agricultural workers to the U.S. to make up for wartime labor shortages. The program persisted until 1964, by when it had sponsored 4.5 million border crossings. |
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| Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) |
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Definition
| Threatened with a massive "Negro march on Washington" to demand equal job opportunities in war jobs & the military, FDR's administration issued an executive order forbidding racial discrimination in all defense plants operating under contract with the Federal government. The FEPC was intended to monitor compliance with the executive order. |
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Term
| Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) |
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Definition
| Nonviolent civil rights organization founded in 1942 & committed to the "Double V"-victory over fascism abroad & racism at home. After World War II, CORE would become a major force in the Civil Rights Movement. |
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| Native America men who served in the military by transmitting radio messages in their native languages, which were undecipherable by German & Japanese spies. |
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| A pivotal naval battle fought near the island of Midway June 3-6, 1942. The victory halted Japanese advances in the Pacific. |
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| A massive military operation led by American forces in Normandy beginning on June 6,, 1944. The pivotal battle led to the liberation of France & brought on the final phases of World War II in Europe. |
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| From July 17 to August 2, 1945, President Harry S. Truman met with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin & British leaders Winston Churchill & later Clement Attlee (when the Labour Party defeated Churchill's Conservative Party) near Berlin to deliver an ultimatum to Japan: surrender or be destroyed. |
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| Code name for the American commission established in 1942 to develop the atomic bomb. The first experimental bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945 in the desert of New Mexico. Atomic bombs were then dropped on two cities in Japan in hopes of bringing the war to an end: Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 & Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. |
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| V-J (Victory in Japan) Day |
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Definition
| August 15, 1945 heralded the surrender of Japan & the final end to World War II. |
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| General of island hoppers; fulfilled his promise of returning to the Philippines. |
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| Admiral who brilliantly commanded American forces to a victory at Midway. |
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| Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower |
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| Leader of Allied forces in North Africa; later became president. |
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| Substitute Vice President in Roosevelt's 1945 campaign but quickly whisked into office upon his death. Dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki. |
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| German-born scientist who exiled to American & worked on the Manhattan Project. |
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