Deck 27: World War II and Its Aftermath, 1933-1950

Question 1

Who among the following was NOT part of the 1940 tripartite alliance often known as the Axis?

A) Germany
B) Italy
C) Japan
D) Spain

Answer 1

Spain

Question 2

The puppet state Japan erected in Manchuria was called

A) Manchukuo.
B) Nanjing.
C) Heilongjiang.
D) Ningxia.

Answer 2

Manchukuo.

Question 3

As Japan's industrial power grew, what major factor motivated it to seize territories abroad?

A) resources, especially oil
B) a strong belief in anti-communism
C) the need for more territory for a growing population
D) pressure from other industrialized nations to establish colonies

Answer 3

resources, especially oil

Question 4

During Hitler's twelve-year rule of Germany, how often did he call the parliament into session?

A) once
B) twice
C) annually (twelve)
D) never

Question 5

Hitler set forth his worldview in the partly autobiographical work,

A) Nazi Deklaration.
B) Herrchen Rasse.
C) Drittes Reich.
D) Mein Kampf.

Question 6

What, proclaimed in 1935, began the systematic project to "isolate" the Jews in Germany?

A) kristallnacht
B) the Solution
C) the Nuremberg Laws
D) the Ghetto Resolutions

Question 7

Like both Mussolini and Stalin, Hitler believed that national strength and independence must be achieved through ________, also known as economic self-reliance.

A) oligarchy
B) autarky
C) autocracy
D) isolationism

Question 8

Hitler believed the German nation needed "living space" and had designs on ________ to provide it.

A) western Europe
B) the Iberian Peninsula
C) eastern Europe
D) central Europe and the low countries

Question 9

The British prime minister who declared that the Munich conference had achieved "peace in our time" was

A) Stanley Baldwin.
B) Winston Churchill.
C) Clement Attlee.
D) Neville Chamberlain.

Question 10

The League of Nations once again failed to take any concrete steps in the wake of Italy's 1935 invasion of what African nation?

A) Libya
B) Ethiopia
C) Tunisia
D) Egypt

Question 11

The politics of what European nation was a microcosm of European ideological struggles between the political right and left?

A) Germany
B) France
C) Italy
D) Spain

Question 12

What action taken by Germany in August 1939 filled the British and French with dismay?

A) the signing of a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union
B) the annexation of the Sudetenland
C) the invasion of Poland
D) the halting of reparations payments

Question 13

Why did the Japanese redirect their military operations from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia?

A) military losses to the Russian army
B) the large oil reserves discovered in Southwest Asia
C) the onset of a harsh winter
D) conditions of the Axis nonaggression pact

Question 14

Retreating British and French troops converged on ________ on the northern coast of France and were hastily ferried across the English Channel to safety.

A) Calais
B) Dunkirk
C) Le Havre
D) Dover

Question 15

Who led a collaborationist government that administered the southern provinces of France from the small city of Vichy?

A) General de Gaulle
B) Félix Éboué
C) Maréchal Tassigny
D) Marshall Pétain

Question 16

What U.S. congressional program effectively freed the president to offer Britain, and later Russia, billions of dollars in military aid?

A) Lend-Lease
B) Neutrality Act
C) Cash and Carry
D) Selective Service Act

Question 17

What event signaled that the Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact was no longer going to be honored?

A) the Soviet Union's invasion of German-occupied Yugoslavia
B) the buildup of both Nazi and Soviet forces along the pact's DMZ line
C) the "sunset" provision of the nonaggression pact
D) Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union

Question 18

In late 1941, Japan nearly simultaneously attacked all of the following EXCEPT

A) Taiwan.
B) Hong Kong.
C) Malaya.
D) Hawaii.

Question 19

Why did Italy's offensive campaign against Egypt fail?

A) the spirited defense offered by Egyptian forces
B) the flooding of the Nile, which halted the offensive short of the capital
C) inept planning and leadership by the Italians
D) the failure of the Italians in the arid and dusty environment

Question 20

How did the Soviets ultimately protect their industrial plants from German aerial attack?

A) They developed the 23 mm anti-aircraft gun.
B) The plants were moved underground.
C) The plants were hidden by camouflage netting and periodically moved.
D) The plants were moved to Inner Eurasia.

Question 21

What was the main Nazi source of oil to fuel their mechanized army and air force?

A) Romania
B) Iran
C) the Caucasus
D) Iraq

Question 22

Where did the first major engagement between U.S. and Japanese carrier-based planes occur?

A) Hawaii
B) the Coral Sea
C) northeast of New Zealand
D) the Philippine Sea

Question 23

The German advance into the Soviet Union was finally halted at

A) the Caucasus.
B) Moscow.
C) Stalingrad.
D) Volgodonsk.

Question 24

Who controlled most of the cities, industries, and transportation networks of eastern China in 1939?

A) Mao's Communists
B) Jieshi's Nationalists
C) Japan's army
D) Control was about evenly divided between the Communists and the Nationalists.

Question 25

Mao's vision of communism differed from that of most of his comrades. In Mao's view,

A) the revolution should be rural-based.
B) farms should not be collectively owned.
C) the revolution should be urban-based.
D) communism is evolutional, not revolutionary.

Question 26

The first of the Axis powers to fall was

A) Germany.
B) Italy.
C) Japan.
D) Spain.

Question 27

Which of the following was NOT an innovation in maritime warfare used to help thwart German U-boat attacks in the North Atlantic?

A) proximity torpedoes
B) radar
C) sonar
D) HF/DF equipment

Question 28

How did the U.S. economy during the war years differ from Germany's and Japan's?

A) It was not fully mobilized.
B) Market forces continued to operate in it.
C) It created numerous state-owned manufacturing enterprises.
D) Market forces such as prices and wages were strictly regulated.

Question 29

During World War II, who in the U.S. emblemized national fortitude and sacrifice in image and song?

A) the women pilots known as WASPS
B) Rosie the Riveter
C) Mrs. Roosevelt
D) Ronnie, the Bren Gun Girl

Question 30

Approximately what percentage of Europe's Jewish population was killed by the Nazis?

A) 10 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 65 percent

Question 31

Why did more than 80 percent of the Jewish community in Axis-allied Bulgaria survive the war?

A) They were hidden by the Orthodox Church.
B) The community was small and not easily identified.
C) Bulgarian leadership stopped cooperating with Nazi deportations.
D) They were evacuated to British-controlled mandates in the Middle East.

Question 32

In 1945, the firebombing of what German city killed between 120,000 and 150,000 people, mostly civilians?

A) Berlin
B) Hamburg
C) Stuttgart
D) Dresden

Question 33

What effect did World War II have on Latin American economies?

A) It forced the economies into depression.
B) It caused the economies to retract, but the working poor realized substantial improvement.
C) It had very little effect, since Latin America was not involved in the war.
D) It served the economies well and benefitted the middle and wealthy classes.

Question 34

Who was the governor of Chad that declared that the French colony's loyalty was to the Free French versus the Vichy French?

A) General de Gaulle
B) Félix Éboué
C) Maréchal Tassigny
D) Marshall Pétain

Question 35

In what countries did Germany clear-cut huge areas of forest to get lumber for wartime construction?

A) Denmark and France
B) France and Poland
C) Poland and Norway
D) Norway and Denmark

Question 36

Chinese communist forces drove the Nationalist government of President Jiang Jieshi off the Chinese mainland and onto the island of

A) Taiwan.
B) Okinawa.
C) Guam.
D) Hainan.

Question 37

The German capital of Berlin was in what Allied nation's military zone?

A) Britain
B) France
C) the Soviet Union
D) the United States

Question 38

In 1953 the Central Intelligence Agency helped overthrow the elected government of

A) Iraq.
B) Greece.
C) Iran.
D) Turkey.

Question 39

After World War II the American public favored continued international engagement much more than they had after World War I. Why?

A) They feared an economic crisis similar to the one that occurred after WWI.
B) There was an opportunity for huge corporate profits from foreign investment.
C) As the wealthiest nation on earth, Americans felt it was their duty to help.
D) All these answers are correct.

Question 40

How did the UN differ from the League of Nations?

A) The UN was restricted to economic issues.
B) The UN had the power to deploy troops.
C) The UN recognized the Communist Chinese government.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 41

The Soviets had special influence in postwar Eastern Europe, and they also made claims to special influence over

A) Iraq.
B) Greece.
C) Iran.
D) Turkey.

Question 42

What was the name of the U.S. policy that supported free people who resisted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures?

A) the Cold War
B) the Kennan Plan
C) the Truman Doctrine
D) the Exclusion Program

Question 43

Why did the U.S. generally encourage nationalist independence movements in the wake of WWII?

A) It was a way to counter the imperialist advances of the Soviet Union.
B) It was a mandate in the UN charter.
C) It was in the nation's interests, aiding in advancing its commercial interests abroad.
D) It was part of the U.S. national character to favor independence over colonialism.

Question 44

Which of the following independent Middle East states held pro-British sympathies after the war?

A) Iraq and Egypt
B) Egypt and Syria
C) Syria and Lebanon
D) Lebanon and Iraq

Question 45

What had the British government's position on a Jewish "homeland" in Palestine been since World War I?

A) They were against it.
B) They reluctantly supported it after heavy pressure from the U.S.
C) They were in favor, but did almost nothing to help build national institutions.
D) They were in favor, and promoted a detailed plan to help the population to work together.

Question 46

Who was the English-educated lawyer and committed socialist who helped lead the Indian National Congress?

A) Jawaharlal Nehru
B) Mohandas K. Gandhi
C) Lord Mountbatten
D) Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Question 47

________ advanced the idea that India consisted of two "nations," one Hindu and the other Islamic.

A) Jawaharlal Nehru
B) Mohandas K. Gandhi
C) Lord Mountbatten
D) Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Question 48

A ________ extremist assassinated Mohandas K. Gandhi.

A) Sikh
B) Hindu
C) Muslim
D) Buddhist

Question 49

Tensions between native Malays and what other ethnic minority group(s) in Malaya hindered nationalist unity?

A) Chinese
B) Indian
C) Burmese
D) Chinese and Indian

Question 50

Why did the Soviet Union move forces into the northern half of Korea?

A) as an occupation force after the defeat of Japan
B) to reinforce the Chinese Communist forces fighting against the Nationalists
C) to reinforce the Chinese Nationalist forces fighting against the Communists
D) to fulfill treaty obligations

Question 51

What political changes occurred similarly in Germany, Japan, and Italy during the interwar decades?

Question 52

In 1936, who made up the shaky coalition that constituted the Popular Front of the political left in Spain?

Question 53

List the states in Europe that remained neutral. Of those neutral states, which was the sole state that did not suffer Nazi intimidation?

Question 54

What specific action did U.S. oil companies take to reduce dependence on oil tankers?

Question 55

Why did some countries, Argentina and Chile for example, enter the war near its end?

Question 56

Why did the American public favor continued international engagement in the aftermath of World War II?

Question 57

Briefly recount the role of the United States in the Chinese civil war. Which side did the U.S. support? Who won the war?