A presentation for 8th Grade Georgia Studies covering vocabulary associated with SS8H9, World War II.

2. Dictator
 A ruler with complete power over a country. These leaders often take
control by force. Many dictators were popular with their people because
they offered easy answers and seemed to be able to get things done.

3. Dictator
 Unlike leaders in democracies, dictators didn’t have
to deal with all of the problems and confusion of the
political process to get things done. This appealed to
many people who had lost faith in the ability of
democratic governments to deal with all of the
political and economic problems.

4. Dictator
Josef Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1953

5. Dictator
Adolph Hitler ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945

6. Dictator
Benito Mussolini ruled Italy from 1922 until 1945

7. Totalitarianism
 A system of government in which there is one
political party, few political rights, and many aspects
of a person’s life are controlled by the government.
 In a totalitarian government, the government usually
controls employment, health care, education, the
media, and many other things

8. Fascism
 Fascism was the name for the totalitarian system of
government in Germany, Italy, and Japan during
World War II

9. Nazis
 The ruling party in Germany was known as the
Nazis, which was an abbreviation of “National
Socialism”
 They believed in racial superiority of the German
people and persecuted the Jews and other groups of
people they deemed inferior.

10. Democracy: a system of government controlled by the people, usually
through their elected representatives

11. Democracy
 Because people can’t always agree on the best laws
or policies, it can take a long time to get things done
in a democracy. This is why some people liked
dictatorships.

12. Democracy
 Even though the democratic countries did not
become dictatorships, the government and its
leaders were given much more power to solve
economic and political problems than they had been
given in the past.
 Franklin Roosevelt was elected 4 times and his New
Deal programs gave government a lot of authority to
solve problems.

13. The Allies
 The Allies included Great Britain, France, the Soviet
Union, and the United States.

14. Axis Powers
 Germany, Italy, and Japan fought together during
World War II. They were known as the Axis Powers.

15. Treaty of Versailles
 This treaty ended World War I. By blaming Germany
for starting the war and forcing the German
government to pay damages to the winning
countries, this treaty humiliated the German people
and ruined the German economy. This in turn
caused the Germans to find the ideas of Adolph
Hitler more appealing.

16. Treaty of Versailles
 The treaty prohibited the Germans from rebuilding
their military and took land away from the Germans.
 Adolf Hitler used the anger over this treaty as a
means of building popularity.

17. Nationalism
 Most people love their own country. However, when
this feeling is taken to an extreme, it is often referred
to as nationalism. Nationalism is the belief that one’s
own country is superior to all others.

18. Pacifism
 Pacifism is the belief that disputes between
countries should never be settled by war.

19. Isolationism
 Isolationism is the belief that a nation should not get
involved in the political affairs of other nations.
 Prior to World War II, most Americans believed that
World War I was a mistake and that we should not
get involved in European wars.

20. Appeasement
 When Hitler started building up his military and
demanding that land be given back to Germany,
most Europeans did not wish to fight another war, so
they gave in to Hitler’s demands as he took over a
lot of land in Europe.
 Appeasement is the policy of giving in to an
aggressor’s demands in hopes of avoiding conflict.

21. Appeasement
 As the Allies gave in to Hitler’s demands, he kept
taking more land. Hitler knew the European leaders
had no appetite to go to war again, so he continued
to take land. Only after he invaded Poland in 1939
and France in 1940 did the Allies decide to fight
against him.

22. Blitzkrieg
 Literally “lightning war”. Blitzkrieg was a style of
warfare perfected by the Germans. It was sudden
and intense invasion designed to bring about quick
victory.

23. Lend Lease Act
 The Lend Lease Act allowed the United States to
loan war equipment to the Allies on credit.
 Once the Allies decided to fight Hitler, they needed
supplies.
 The United States didn’t want to get directly involved
in the war, but wanted to help the Allies.

24. Pearl Harbor
 The American people didn’t want to get involved in
the war. Most thought World War I had been a
mistake and didn’t want to sacrifice American lives in
another European War.
 That changed when the Japanese bombed Pearl
Harbor on December 7th 1941 in a surprise attack
 Americans now clamored for war.