Deck 25: The United States and the Second World War, 1939-1945

Question 1

About how many soldiers and sailors served in the U.S. armed forces by the end of World War II?

A) 2 million
B) 8 million
C) 16 million
D) 50 million

Answer 1

16 million

Question 2

What was the conclusion of the Nye committee's 1933 report on World War I?

A) Fascist regimes the world over had worked in league from the very beginning to undermine democracy.
B) The greed of American munitions makers, bankers, and financiers was responsible for the nation's entry into World War I.
C) The nations that still owed money to the United States because of World War I would probably never pay.
D) The United States had made the wrong decision when it decided to back Allies rather than the Central Powers in World War I.

Answer 2

The greed of American munitions makers, bankers, and financiers was responsible for the nation's entry into World War I.

Question 3

What factors made it possible for dictators to gain and maintain power in Nicaragua and Cuba after the implementation of the good neighbor policy?

A) The federal government could not afford to mount military efforts to defeat and remove them.
B) They had private support from U.S. businessmen and tacit support from the Roosevelt administration.
C) They received overt support from European business interests, who depended on the imports of their products.
D) They received open military support from the Roosevelt administration and the British diplomatic corps.

Answer 3

They had private support from U.S. businessmen and tacit support from the Roosevelt administration.

Question 4

Which nation, in an effort to increase its global power, invaded the northern Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931?

A) Germany
B) Italy
C) Japan
D) The Soviet Union

Question 5

What was the significance of the Battle of Britain in 1940?

A) The British victory handed Hitler his first major defeat.
B) It ended with England's occupation by Germany.
C) It proved that Great Britain no longer needed U.S. assistance.
D) It emboldened the French to expel occupying German forces.

Question 6

Why did President Roosevelt authorize the roundup and internment of all Americans of Japanese descent in 1942?

A) The government had evidence that Japanese Americans were a threat to national security.
B) A large number of people believed that Japanese Americans were potential sources of espionage and subversion.
C) The government wanted to use strategically placed prison camps to prevent Japan from launching an air attack on the West Coast.
D) Any male members of their families had refused to register for the draft.

Question 7

Why did Roosevelt fail to support the League of Nations' attempts to keep the peace by condemning Japanese and German aggression?

A) He did not feel that Japanese and German aggression yet threatened world peace.
B) He feared jeopardizing isolationists' support for New Deal measures.
C) He opposed the actions of Japan but not of Germany.
D) He supported Germany's withdrawal from the League of Nations.

Question 8

What was the objective of the Neutrality Act of 1937?

A) To end the Great Depression in the United States and Europe
B) To prevent increasing American involvement in European affairs
C) To encourage the aggression of German and Japanese militarists in Europe and the Pacific
D) To stop German and Japanese aggression in Europe and the Pacific

Question 9

Which of the following occurred as a result of the Nazi-Soviet treaty of nonaggression in August 1939?

A) Hitler's invasion of Poland
B) The U.S. declaration of war against Germany
C) The end of Hitler's aggression in Europe
D) England's confirmation of the effectiveness of appeasement

Question 10

What event sparked the beginning of World War II?

A) Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931
B) Germany's invasion of the Sudetenland in 1938
C) Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935
D) Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939

Question 11

A reluctant isolationist, President Roosevelt believed during the 1930s that

A) the United States should stay out of Europe's internal affairs.
B) the United States should cease trading with Latin America.
C) international amity was the key to ending the Depression.
D) free trade was necessary for America's domestic prosperity.

Question 12

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, was part of the Japanese plan to

A) knock out a significant portion of American naval bases in the Pacific.
B) demonstrate that the United States could not possibly win a war against an Asian nation.
C) demonstrate to the Germans that Japan had its own objectives in the Pacific.
D) retaliate against the United States for the incarceration of Japanese citizens.

Question 13

Who offered Adolf Hitler terms of appeasement in hopes of getting the German dictator to leave Czechoslovakia alone?

A) Joseph Stalin
B) Franklin Roosevelt
C) Francisco Franco
D) Neville Chamberlain

Question 14

How did the U.S. government respond to the Spanish Civil War?

A) It funded Republican Loyalists.
B) It offered support to Spanish Nationalists.
C) It joined Great Britain in declaring war on Francisco Franco.
D) It offered no help to the Loyalists, despite sympathy for their cause.

Question 15

How did President Roosevelt justify the proposed Lend-Lease Act in January 1941?

A) He appealed to Americans' fiscal conservatism and pro-business ethos.
B) He appealed to Americans' long-held belief that the nation should avoid alliances with European powers.
C) He cited the need to defend democracy and human rights around the world.
D) He chastised Americans for the isolationism in the 1920s and 1930s and illustrated its consequences.

Question 16

In the Tripartite Pact of 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan agreed to

A) form a defensive alliance among imperial powers.
B) cooperate in an attack against the United States.
C) advance the principles of democracy in Europe and Asia.
D) establish the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Question 17

In the Atlantic Charter in August of 1941, the United States and England agreed to

A) declare the Atlantic Ocean off limits to the Third Reich and its allies.
B) suspend all shipping between the two countries and only let naval vessels through foreign waters.
C) protect the freedom of the seas, free trade, and the right of national self-determination.
D) take over leadership of the League of Nations for the duration of the wars in Europe and Asia.

Question 18

What was the immediate consequence of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941?

A) Proponents of neutrality in the United States stepped up their appeals in Congress to keep the nation out of war.
B) Congress endorsed President Roosevelt's call for a declaration of war.
C) Hitler and Mussolini offered to negotiate a peace on behalf of Japan.
D) Japan's emperor issued an official apology and a pledge to stay out of American territory.

Question 19

What was the goal of Roosevelt's "good neighbor" policy?

A) To form a less belligerent, more cooperative relationship with Latin America
B) To acknowledge that the United States had damaged Latin American economies and to repay those countries billions of dollars
C) To buy property and raw materials from Latin American nations instead of sending in troops to take those resources
D) To drop restrictions on immigration to the United States from Latin America

Question 20

What was the purpose of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941?

A) To lend France enough money to defeat the Germans
B) To make arms, munitions, and other supplies available to Britain
C) To lend large sums of money to Latin American countries
D) To give arms, munitions, and supplies to Canada

Question 21

Which of the following statements describes the relationship between American ethnic minorities and the armed forces during World War II?

A) They were largely uninterested in serving in the armed forces.
B) The government discouraged them from serving in the armed forces.
C) They fought in large numbers in the armed forces despite discriminatory treatment.
D) They were barred from serving in the armed forces during the first two years of the war.

Question 22

What did African Americans who migrated to take jobs in defense industries during World War II experience in their new locations?

A) Equal employment opportunities
B) Equal pay for equal work
C) Widespread racial violence
D) The nation's gratitude

Question 23

The Double V campaign called for both victory in the war and victory for

A) Thomas Dewey in the presidential election of 1944.
B) Republicans in Congress.
C) African Americans fighting racial prejudice at home.
D) Franklin D. Roosevelt in the presidential election of 1944.

Question 24

At their meeting in Casablanca in January 1943, Allied leaders Roosevelt and Churchill

A) announced that Germany, when it lost the war, would again be forced to pay reparations.
B) vowed that they would soon open a second front in Russia.
C) announced that they would accept nothing less than the unconditional surrender of Germany and Italy.
D) decided not to launch a significant attack anywhere in the Mediterranean region.

Question 25

What explained the reluctance of the United States to accept Jewish refugees from Nazi oppression?

A) Anti-Semitism
B) Overpopulation
C) Pro-German sympathies
D) Anti-immigrant sentiment

Question 26

How did American labor unions respond to the production demands of World War II?

A) They agreed to disband temporarily in order to focus on production.
B) They demanded increases in overtime pay for the duration of the war.
C) They volunteered to enlist one-half of their workers in the armed forces.
D) They granted the government's request that they pledge not to strike.

Question 27

Who headed the War Production Board, which set production priorities and pushed for maximum output during World War II?

A) Business leaders who were paid enormous amounts for their efforts
B) Members of Roosevelt's Brain Trust
C) Business leaders who were paid almost nothing for their efforts
D) High-ranking military officials who knew the needs of the military best

Question 28

How many American women saw combat duty during World War II?

A) 5 million
B) 900,000
C) 100,000
D) 0

Question 29

What technological development ultimately led Hitler to withdraw the infamous U-boats from the North Atlantic?

A) B-52 bomber
B) H-bomb
C) Radar detector
D) Apache helicopter

Question 30

How did women who remained at home contribute to the American war effort?

A) They planted Victory Gardens of home-grown vegetables.
B) They conserved electricity and coal in order to fuel defense plants.
C) They maintained and ran Catholic and Protestant churches.
D) They provided meals for soldiers at nearby army bases.

Question 31

Which of the following describes the majority of American women who entered the labor force during World War II?

A) They were not married.
B) They were married without children.
C) They were married with children.
D) They were widowed or divorced.

Question 32

Which group was forced to train in segregated camps, live in segregated barracks, and serve in segregated units during World War II?

A) African Americans
B) Native Americans
C) Homosexuals
D) Chinese Americans

Question 33

The Battle of Midway signaled to the American military that

A) the Japanese force in the Pacific was almost unbeatable.
B) the current Japanese strategy was working.
C) the war in the Pacific was ending.
D) Japanese domination of the Pacific was weakening.

Question 34

The Allied assault against the German army on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, is commonly known as

A) VE Day.
B) D Day.
C) VJ Day.
D) DE Day.

Question 35

How did President Roosevelt respond to A. Philip Randolph's plans to organize a march of 100,000 on Washington, D.C., in 1941?

A) He made equal rights for women his top priority.
B) He authorized the Committee on Fair Employment Practices.
C) He promised not to seek a fifth term as president.
D) He promised to limit the number of minorities in top government positions.

Question 36

What was the significance of the U.S and British landing in Sicily in July 1943?

A) It was a disastrous defeat for the Allies.
B) It was the first Allied encounter with Italian armed forces.
C) It was the start of what would become the French campaign.
D) It marked the end of Mussolini's fascism.

Question 37

By the summer of 1942, the Japanese had conquered which of the following?

A) Hawai'i
B) Dutch East Indies
C) Australia
D) New Zealand

Question 38

What happened in the naval battle at Coral Sea in May 1942?

A) The American fleet and warplanes defeated a Japanese armada.
B) Japanese warships decisively defeated Australian troops.
C) The Japanese defeated American soldiers.
D) Australian troops defeated the Japanese before American reinforcements arrived.

Question 39

Why did the United States fail to act on reports of Hitler's genocidal atrocities?

A) American military officials believed it was Stalin's job to address the issue.
B) The American public and its officials believed the reports were exaggerated.
C) Stalin threatened to withdraw from the fight against Germany if the United States addressed the issue.
D) The United States did not believe it was fighting the war to protect human rights.

Question 40

Why did Roosevelt choose Senator Harry S. Truman as his running mate for the election of 1944?

A) Truman was viewed as a civil rights activist.
B) Roosevelt believed that many Americans had soured on liberal reform.
C) Truman came from New York and would appeal to urban Democrats.
D) Roosevelt believed Truman would appeal to progressive labor leaders.

Question 41

How did American military casualties in Europe in World War II compare to Soviet military casualties?

A) The United States had about 1 million casualties and the Soviets had about 3 million.
B) The United States had about 2 million casualties and the Soviets had about 5 million.
C) The United States had about 250,000 casualties and the Soviets had about 2.5 million.
D) The United States had about 136,000 casualties and the Soviets had about 9 million.

Question 42

As the Allies closed in on him in December 1944, Hitler ordered a desperate counterattack through Belgium known as

A) the final solution.
B) Blitzkrieg II.
C) Lebensraum.
D) the Battle of the Bulge.

Question 43

What was demonstrated during the six-month battle to force the withdrawal of Japanese forces from Guadalcanal in February 1943?

A) The United States could not win a decisive military victory against Japan.
B) It would be extremely costly and difficult to defeat Japan.
C) The marines in the Pacific lacked coordination.
D) The United States needed the British navy to win an all-out military campaign in the Pacific.

Question 44

In February 1945, the Big Three met at Yalta to discuss

A) postwar self-determination for the people of Eastern Europe.
B) Allied support for Mao Zedong as the leader of China.
C) strengthening the League of Nations.
D) plans to prosecute Adolf Hitler for international war crimes.

Question 45

Who succeeded President Roosevelt in the White House after his death on April 12, 1945?

A) Henry Wallace
B) Harry Truman
C) Dwight Eisenhower
D) Richard Nixon

Question 46

What occurrence made April 30, 1945, a turning point in the war?

A) Allied bombers leveled Hamburg.
B) Allied bombers leveled Berlin.
C) Adolf Hitler killed himself in his underground bunker.
D) Adolf Hitler surrendered to the Allied military forces.

Question 47

Why was the capture of Okinawa in 1944 especially crucial to Allied forces?

A) The Japanese were forced to abandon a huge supply depot.
B) The Allies planned to make it the launching site for an attack on the Japanese mainland.
C) Okinawa was the training center for all new Japanese kamikaze pilots.
D) Thousands of U.S. prisoners of war were being held there.

Question 48

The primary mission of Japanese kamikaze pilots was to

A) demonstrate the bravery of Japanese airmen at a crucial point in the war.
B) fly supplies to Japanese battleships throughout the Pacific.
C) defend Okinawa from U.S. troops.
D) serve as decoys for Japanese bombers.

Question 49

What did President Roosevelt mean when he went on the radio in 1940 and told the American people that the United States must be the great arsenal of democracy? How did the nation accomplish that goal?

Question 50

How did the U.S. government deal with issues of race, gender, and sexual orientation in the armed forces during World War II?

Question 51

What was the good neighbor policy? Why was it so important to the United States?

Question 52

What motivated the U.S. government to place Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II?

Question 53

The United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki only three days after the attack on Hiroshima

A) because it wanted to kill as many Japanese civilians as possible.
B) because the first bomb did not lead to a Japanese surrender to the United States.
C) to demonstrate America's power to Chinese Communists and stop their aggression.
D) because Nagasaki was the center of Japan's wartime military and government operations.

Question 54

In what ways was President Roosevelt an isolationist?

Question 55

What factors motivated the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941? Was the attack a victory for, or a miscalculation on the part of, Japan's leaders?

Question 56

Why did American scientists begin to develop a superbomb in 1942?

A) Roosevelt was planning an attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
B) The United States planned to attack the Soviet Union after the war.
C) Japan was working on a similar weapon.
D) They didn't want the Germans to develop one first.

Question 57

What factors likely motivated President Truman to authorize the use of atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945?

Question 58

Describe the Allied leaders' conflict over the question of when and where to open a second front against the Nazis in Europe. Why did Roosevelt and Churchill make the decisions they did?

Question 59

Identify specific ways in which U.S. entry into World War II improved the national economy and ended the Great Depression.

Question 60

Describe the changes experienced by American families during World War II.

Question 61

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
Makeshift prison camps, to which Americans of Japanese descent were sent as a result of Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, issued in February 1942. In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld this blatant violation of constitutional rights as a "military necessity."

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 62

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
American effort during World War II to attack racism at home and abroad. It pushed the federal government to require defense contractors to integrate their workforces. In response, Franklin Roosevelt authorized a committee to investigate and prevent racial discrimination in employment.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 63

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
The June 6, 1944, Allied invasion of northern France, the largest amphibious assault in world history. The invasion opened a second front against the Germans and moved the Allies closer to victory in Europe.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 64

What economic, strategic, and technological factors best account for the U.S. victory over the Axis powers in World War II?

Question 65

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
British strategy aimed at avoiding a war with Germany in the late 1930s by not objecting to Hitler's policy of territorial expansion.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 66

How did Franklin D. Roosevelt's approach to the United States' relationship with Europe change over the course of his presidency? In your answer, consider the ways his own position on isolationism informed the policies he pursued. What factors accounted for his policy changes between 1937 and 1945?

Question 67

Compare the consequences of World War II for the United States with those experienced by both its allies and enemies.

Question 68

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
Legislation passed in 1944 authorizing the government to provide World War II veterans with funds for education, housing, and health care, as well as loans to start businesses and buy homes.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 69

What domestic and international factors finally led the United States to declare war on Japan and Germany and to become fully engaged in World War II?

Question 70

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
Legislation passed in 1935 and 1937 that sought to avoid entanglement in foreign wars while protecting trade. It prohibited selling arms to nations at war and required nations to pay cash for nonmilitary goods and to transport them in their own ships.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 71

World War II inspired Americans to sacrifice and come together for a common cause-the defeat of fascism and militarism in Europe and Asia. To what extent did America's fight for democracy abroad translate into more democracy and equality in the United States?

Question 72

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
Law enacted in 1940 requiring all men who would be eligible for a military draft to register in preparation for the possibility of a future conflict. The law also prohibited discrimination based on "race or color."

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 73

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
German effort during World War II to murder Europe's Jews, along with other groups the Nazis deemed "undesirable." Despite reports of the ongoing genocide, the Allies did almost nothing to interfere. In all, some 11 million people were killed, most of them Jews.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 74

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
Top-secret project authorized by Franklin Roosevelt in 1942 to develop an atomic bomb ahead of the Germans. The thousands of Americans who worked on the project at Los Alamos, New Mexico, succeeded in producing a successful atomic bomb by July 1945.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 75

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
Legislation in 1941 that enabled Britain to obtain arms from the United States without cash but with the promise to reimburse the United States when the war ended. The act reflected Roosevelt's desire to assist the British in any way possible, short of war.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 76

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
June 3-6, 1942, naval battle in the Central Pacific in which American forces surprised and defeated the Japanese, who had been massing an invasion force aimed at Midway Island. The battle put the Japanese at a disadvantage for the rest of the war.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act

Question 77

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; others may not be used at all.
Announced by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, this foreign policy promised the United States would not interfere in the internal or external affairs of another country, thereby ending U.S. military interventions in Latin America.

A)appeasement
B)Battle of Midway
C)D Day
D)Double V campaign
E)GI Bill of Rights
F)good neighbor policy
G)Holocaust
H)internment camps
I)Lend-Lease Act
J)Manhattan project
K)neutrality acts
L)Selective Service Act