World War II Index/Glossary of Terms
Munich Pact
- An agreement signed by Germany, Britain, France, and Italy on September 29, 1938 giving Germany permission to invade the Sudeten territories of Czechoslovakia. This effort at appeasement was soon proved futile when Germany ignored the terms of the Munich Pact and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.
Benito Mussolini
- Leader of fascist Italy. Killed by Italian anti-fascists on April 28, 1945 while attempting to escape into Switzerland.
Nagasaki
- The Japanese city that the U.S. dropped the "Fat Man" atomic bomb over on August 9, 1945. Approximately 70,000 people in the area will die by the end of the year.
NATO
- North African Theater of Operations. The more modern acronym is for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Nazi Party
- The National Socialist German Workers Party. Adolph Hitler became the leader of the Nazi Party on July 29, 1921. On June 14, 1933 the Nazis make all other political parties in Germany illegal.
The Netherlands (Holland)
- A small Western European nation that surrendered to Germany in May 1940.
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- An island in the central Solomons in the Pacific. U.S. Army and Marine forces landed here in June 1943 with the principal goal of taking the Japanese air base at Munda. The air base fell after nearly six weeks of hard fighting on August 5, 1943.
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- An island nation in the Southwest Pacific. General MacArthur with American and Australian forces seized the island from the Japanese in April 1944
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- U.S. Navy Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was the commander of the Pacific Fleet.
Noemfoor Island
- An island in the southwest Pacific about 90 miles beyond Biak Island. Taken from the Japanese by MacArthur's and Nimitz' forces in July 1944.
Nordwind (Operation NORDWIND)
- A secondary German offensive paired with the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944 and early 1945. After their failures, German victory in World War II was virtually impossible.
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