Deck 21: America and the Great War, 1914-1920

Question 1

Which of the following descriptions best captures Francisco "Pancho" Villa?

A)a sometime bandit, sometime revolutionary leading an army of peasant insurgents
B)a privileged diplomat with little connection to the plight of regular Mexicans
C)a Latin American "Robin Hood," distributing the wealth of American corporations to Mexican farmers
D)a war criminal and psychopath falsely celebrated as a hero

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following best assesses the outcomes of World War I?

A)The war killed more civilians than military personnel.
B)Although Germany lost the war, it gained a stable and long-lasting democracy.
C)It marked the rise of the Ottoman Empire.
D)It established Japan and the United States as world powers.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In Europe before World War I, competition for trade territory

A)led to cuts in wages.
B)triggered a series of small wars.
C)started an arms race between Great Britain and Germany.
D)prompted Russia and Great Britain to begin disarmament.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

How did World War I begin?

A)The British Navy launched an assault.
B)German forces overran neutral Belgium.
C)Russia invaded Poland.
D)Italy retreated from the Alps.

Question 5

Who introduced poison gas in World War I?

A)Russia
B)Italy
C)the United States
D)Germany

Question 6

How did President Woodrow Wilson react to the outbreak of war in Europe?

A)He promised the United Kingdom his unconditional support.
B)He sent an expeditionary force to Siberia in order to undermine the Russian revolution.
C)He drew up a list of 14 points and sent them to the German Kaiser.
D)He called on Americans to stay neutral in thought as well as in deed.

Question 7

President Wilson believed that the United States had the right to sell to belligerents all of the following, EXCEPT

A)military vehicles.
B)financial services.
C)raw materials.
D)food.

Question 8

Why did Germany's transatlantic purchases dwindle to almost nothing between 1914 and 1916?

A)The British blockade was effective.
B)Foreign demand for German goods declined.
C)Germany lacked the funds to buy abroad.
D)Germany lacked the ships to transport goods across the Atlantic.

Question 9

What was the mission of the National Americanization committee?

A)It sought to keep the United States out of the war.
B)It lobbied Congress to nationalize the nation's major industries.
C)It pushed for the quick assimilation of Southeastern European immigrants.
D)It campaigned for a massive expansion of the draft.

Question 10

The Tax Act of 1916

A)cut taxes on the wealthy.
B)raised taxes on workers.
C)increased levies on the wealthy.
D)established of the nation's first income tax.

Question 11

Why did president Woodrow Wilson order the occupation of the city of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico in April 1914?

A)to protect American sugar interests
B)to prevent the shipment of German weapons to Victoriano Huerta
C)to restore the regime of Porfirio Diaz
D)to claim the nation of Mexico as a U.S. unincorporated territory

Question 12

By the end of 1916 the European conflict

A)had become a total war.
B)had all but died down.
C)took a dramatic turn in favor of the Allies.
D)improved dramatically for the Axis powers.

Question 13

Which of the following best assesses the role of American troops in Europe during World War I?

A)They played a critical role in bolstering the allies and rebuffing the last German offensive.
B)They won the war decisively on the Eastern front.
C)They arrived so late that they made no difference on the military side of the war.
D)They were so inexperienced that the tended to hamper the now-seasoned French and British troops.

Question 14

During World War I, the nation's foremost African-American intellectual,W.E.B. Du Bois

A)called for open black resistance to the draft.
B)feared that the war might mean an end to the civil rights movement.
C)expressed hope that the war overseas would improve race relations at home.
D)urged African-Americans to be the first to volunteer for combat.

Question 15

How did the U.S. Postal Service change during World War I?

A)It introduced a censorship program.
B)It delivered military mail only but offered free letters to service members.
C)It had to suspend its delivery service for several months in 1917.
D)It had to donate its mail trucks to the Office for War Mobilization.

Question 16

Why did the name for sauerkraut change to liberty kraut during the war?

A)A health scandal required producers to rebrand their product.
B)The food was a staple for American soldiers and was renamed as part of a morale campaign.
C)The renaming was part of a campaign that viewed evidence of German culture with hostility.
D)Producers renamed the product to improve sales during the wartime recession.

Question 17

The Woman's Land Army was

A)a socialist underground organization.
B)part of Germany's final counteroffensive.
C)a militant group of separatists.
D)a group that mobilized young American women for farm work.

Question 18

How did the leader of the National Women's Party, Alice Paul, respond to the nation's mobilization for war?

A)She volunteered as a member of the Wilson administration.
B)She traveled to Europe as a member of a group of entertainers for military personnel.
C)She staged vigils in front of the White House that ridiculed Wilson's talk of a war for democracy.
D)She invested heavily to the nation's steel industry and became a leading war profiteer.

Question 19

The American Expeditionary Force entered the war at a critical time, just as

A)Japan seem to willing to surrender.
B)Josef Stalin had assumed power.
C)Germany launched a massive offensive on the Western front.
D)All of Germany's submarines had been destroyed.

Question 20

During World War I, French officials found it bizarre that United States officials were obsessed with all of the following, EXCEPT

A)sex.
B)alcohol.
C)segregation.
D)casualties.

Question 21

By the end of the war about 100,000 American soldiers were admitted to field hospitals suffering from

A)head trauma.
B)gas poisoning.
C)bayonet wounds.
D)shell shock.

Question 22

President Woodrow Wilson's call for self-determination and readjustment of colonial arrangements challenged

A)Republicans.
B)American capitalists.
C)Allied soldiers in Europe.
D)Europe's empires.

Question 23

Which group or groups did the flu epidemic of 1918 strike most seriously?

A)the elderly and sick
B)middle-aged women
C)healthy young adults
D)children in poverty

Question 24

How many Republicans did president Woodrow Wilson bring along on his mission to Europe?

A)0
B)2
C)5
D)15

Question 25

At Versailles, President Wilson proposed that the League of Nations should

A)administer the reparations payments.
B)assume full governance over former colonies.
C)forma provisional government for Germany.
D)serve a as a diplomatic forum to prevent future wars.

Question 26

How did President Wilson handle the Allied demands for German reparations?

A)He found their demands difficult to resist.
B)He didn't think their demands were high enough.
C)He fought them on this point tooth and nail.
D)Reparations had been part of his own Fourteen Points.

Question 27

Why did unions in Seattle call for a general strike in 1919?

A)Employers were cutting workers' wages and hours.
B)Unions were protesting the presence of Japanese workers.
C)Workers wanted to show solidarity with imprisoned radicals Sacco and Vanzetti.
D)They wanted businesses to resume wartime production levels.

Question 28

Who did Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer appoint to lead the Justice Dpeartment's intelligence division against radicals?

A)Franklin Delano Roosevelt
B)Herbert Hoover
C)Calvin Coolidge
D)J. Edgar Hoover

Question 29

What was the target of the terrorist bombing attack on Wall Street in September 1920?

A)the New York Times building
B)a Jewish law-firm
C)J.P. Morgan and Company
D)a German investment bank

Question 30

How did President Wilson try to convince the Senate to ratify the treaty of Versailles?

A)He did a cross-country speaking tour to bolster popular support for Senate approval.
B)He invited a select group of Senate leaders to a weekend on Martha's Vineyard.
C)He threatened Republican senators to reveal their sexual escapades and other immoralities.
D)He promised Republican senators major tax cuts for the wealthy in return for their support.

Question 31

How did his personal experience with the carnage of World War I change John Reed's world view?

A)He became a passionate advocate for the League of Nations.
B)He joined the women's suffrage movement.
C)He lost all faith in capitalism and democracy.
D)He became a cynical war profiteer.

Question 32

What was the Great Illusion that English journalist Norman Angell was referring to in his book from 1910?

A)that peace was possible
B)that there could be an end to poverty
C)that war could benefit nations
D)that Europeans could ever get along

Question 33

Which nation or polity was part of the Allies?

A)Russia
B)Germany
C)The Ottoman Empire
D)Austria-Hungary

Question 34

Why did Gavril Princip assassinate the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914?

A)He was mentally unstable.
B)He was the jealous lover of the Archduke's mistress.
C)He wanted Serbia to become part of the Austrian monarchy.
D)He was a Serbian nationalist who wanted Bosnia under Serbian control.

Question 35

Which of the following is true about trenches on the frontlines in World War I?

A)They surrounded all of Germany.
B)They could get incredibly dusty.
C)They ran in straight, monotonous lines.
D)They were often polluted with sewage and corpses.

Question 36

What percentage of battlefield deaths were caused by gas?

A)3
B)10
C)25
D)40

Question 37

Why did Japan join the war on the side of the Allies?

A)It hoped toe expand its holdings in Africa and Asia.
B)It had strong cultural ties to France, its former colonial power.
C)It was hoping to defeat Russia and win the Manchurian peninsula.
D)Japan depended on British oil exports and could not risk souring that relationship.

Question 38

Which of the following immigrant groups was most likely to side with the French and British during World War I?

A)the Irish
B)the Polish
C)the Canadians
D)Eastern European Jews

Question 39

How did the British navy dominate the Atlantic Ocean during World War I?

A)It imposed a blockade on all shipments to Germany.
B)It bombed German harbors with naval artillery.
C)It had destroyed the German navy in a series of devastating naval battles.
D)It had chased down all of Germany's poorly equipped U-Boats.

Question 40

How did former President Theodore Roosevelt respond to the European War and American neutrality?

A)He supported Wilson's caution and urged bipartisanship.
B)He demanded compulsory Americanization programs.
C)He reached out to the nation's immigrant groups to bolster national unity.
D)He called on Americans to be wary of militarism in their own nation.

Question 41

What position did Samuel Gompers of the AFL take on the war and American neutrality?

A)He called for strict limits on immigration.
B)He expressed sympathy with the plight of German-Americans.
C)He asked unions of the AFL to seize the moment and demand wage increases.
D)He stepped down from his position and joined the Wilson administration.

Question 42

Some progressives reacted to the call for a military buildup by organizing the

A)National Civic Federation.
B)Civil Liberties Union.
C)American Union Against Militarism.
D)Committee for Public Information.

Question 43

How did President Woodrow Wilson react to the House-Grey Memorandum which urged the U.S. to join the Allies and call for peace talks on pre-war boundaries?

A)He endorsed it enthusiastically.
B)He chastised the British emissary Grey for manipulating Colonel House.
C)He rejected it right away as a ploy against American neutrality.
D)He responded evasively, knowing that a commitment meant entry in the war.

Question 44

The Republican presidential candidate in 1916 was

A)Calvin Coolidge.
B)Charles Evans Hughes.
C)Theodore Roosevelt.
D)Warren Harding.

Question 45

How did General Francisco Pancho Villa respond to Wilson cutting off aid to his troops in the Mexican revolutionary war?

A)He sent a telegram to German ambassador Zimmerman, suggesting an anti-American alliance.
B)He pleaded with U.S. diplomats in Tijuana, where he died of illness.
C)He barricaded himself in the coastal town of Vera Cruz where U.S. forces captured him.
D)He attacked the town of Columbus in New Mexico, killing nineteen.

Question 46

In January 1917, Germany announced to the U.S. that it would

A)sink all American ships supplying the Allies.
B)respect international law and leave American ships untouched.
C)extend its submarine warfare to the U.S. Atlantic coast.
D)pay reparations for the victims of the Lusitania sinking.

Question 47

How did progressive muckraker George Norris respond to Wilson's request for a declaration of war?

A)He called him a dupe of British imperialism.
B)He expressed his gratitude for Wilson's determination.
C)He publicly denounced Wilson as a traitor.
D)He made Wilson a heroic character in his subsequent novel on progressive politics.

Question 48

How did psychologist Robert M. Yerkes contribute to the war effort?

A)He developed a treatment for shell-shock.
B)He trained soldiers in psychological warfare.
C)He developed an intelligence test to identify gifted recruits.
D)He designed most of the campaign of the Committee for Public Information.

Question 49

Why did Eugene Debs criticize the draft?

A)It discriminated against blacks.
B)It killed workers and enriched capitalists.
C)It did not include women.
D)It tended to disqualify working-class men.

Question 50

During World War I, the American Protective League was

A)a regiment of highly trained soldiers.
B)the President's new security service.
C)a group of volunteers in the American Expeditionary Force.
D)a network of volunteers that aided in censorship and surveillance.

Question 51

In 1917, the vast majority of states that granted women the right to vote were in the

A)Northeast.
B)South.
C)West.
D)Midwest.

Question 52

Which was the first national election in which women participated?

A)1918
B)1920
C)1922
D)1924

Question 53

World War I, predicted African American leader W.E.B. Du Bois, would

A)create an independent China.
B)completely destroy Germany.
C)lead to the creation of Israel.
D)prove the superiority of socialism.

Question 54

During World War I, all of the 400,000 African Americans in uniform served

A)in segregated units only.
B)in combat units only.
C)with the French only.
D)next to white "doughboys."

Question 55

General Pershing declared that ___________ were as vital for the American troops in Europe as bullets.

A)condoms
B)cigarettes
C)beer
D)chewing gum

Question 56

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in the spring of 1918

A)resulted in the defeat of Bolsheviks in the Russian civil war.
B)marked the end of Czar Nicholas.
C)pulled Russia out of the war and freed German troops for the Western front.
D)meant the defeat of German troops at the hands of the Red Army.

Question 57

When President Wilson received German peace feelers in October-November of 1918, he

A)responded with his Fourteen Points.
B)announced his trip to Versailles.
C)rejected a cease fire until the Kaiser abdicated.
D)readily made a separate peace with Germany.

Question 58

What was the effect of the Allies and the United States rebuffing most African and Asian demands for national independence?

A)It radicalized many of those who had hoped that Wilson would promote their independence.
B)It forever shifted these colonies toward socialism.
C)It encouraged nationalist groups to cooperate better with their colonial powers.
D)It prompted the death of the Pan-African movement.

Question 59

Why were the Allies interested in the national independence of Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania?

A)These nations were an important part of the Western European trade network.
B)These nations served as anti-communist buffers against communist Russia.
C)These nations promised to curb the outmigration of their citizens to the U.S.
D)These nations served as examples of American-style democracy in Europe.

Question 60

What made Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge a national celebrity in the fall of 1919?

A)He bravely stood by the striking policemen of Boston.
B)His swift response to the flu epidemic saved thousands of lives.
C)He replaced all striking police officers in Boston with the National Guard.
D)He reached across the aisle and endorsed Wilson's Fourteen Points.

Question 61

Identify who, what, where, when, and/or why the following are important:
1. sappers
2. Francisco "Pancho" Villa
3. blockade
4. Charles Evans Hughes
5. Zimmerman Telegram
6. Schenck v. U.S.
7. Vladimir Lenin
8. pandemic
9. the Inquiry
10. J. Edgar Hoover

Question 62

Which of the following was an Axis Power?

A)Japan
B)Italy
C)Russia
D)The Ottoman Empire

Question 63

What was the role of airplanes in World War I?

A)bombing civilian populations
B)targeting military headquarters only
C)moving troops to and from the front lines
D)conducting reconnaissance

Question 64

Why were Eastern European Jews in the United States not enthusiastic supporters of the Allies in World War I?

A)Many of them had fled anti-Semitic policies in Imperial Russia.
B)They empathised with the plight of the Irish under British imperial rule.
C)Many of them had strong ties to Germany and considered that nation their cultural home.
D)There were strong supporters of an independent Serbia that included Bosnia.

Question 65

Which of the following best describes the position of the United States regarding World War I from August 1914 to spring 1917?

A)U.S. officials desperately tried to negotiate the peace.
B)The U.S. maneuvered to stay out of the war while benefiting from it.
C)The American government and the public remained aloof of the conflict.
D)Americans suffered quietly as their ships were sunk in the Atlantic.

Question 66

Liberty Loans made up what amounts of the $24 billion cost of the war?

A)$4 billion
B)$10 billion
C)$16 billion
D)$20 billion

Question 67

How did the United States government respond to Robert Goldstein's movie about the American Revolution, called "Spirit of '76"?

A)It lobbied aggressively for an Oscar nomination.
B)It made required viewing for US troops.
C)It sentenced Goldstein to 10 years in prison for depicting the British as the enemy.
D)It criticized Hollywood for wasting precious resources that could be used for war materials.

Question 68

Black-oriented newspapers such as the Chicago Defender called the great migration of African-Americans from the South to the North during World War I

A)a crusade.
B)a diaspora.
C)an Odyssey.
D)an Exodus.

Question 69

What aspect of World War I revived the momentum for the prohibition movement?

A)the need to preserve alcohol for war uses
B)the need to keep workers sober
C)the lack of demand for liquor during the war
D)the anti-immigrant sentiment towards German-Americans

Question 70

Nearly half of all 116,000 US military deaths in Europe resulted from

A)trenchfoot.
B)shell-shock.
C)fragging.
D)the flu.

Question 71

What were the results of the election of 1918?

A)Republicans won control of both the House and the Senate.
B)Congress was split, with Republicans controlling the Senate and Democrats controlling the house.
C)The election was a Democratic landslide, giving Wilson enormous support.
D)The election gave Republican Warren Harding a resounding victory over Wilson.

Question 72

Explain how trench warfare contributed to the war of attrition.

Question 73

Why did Americans from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Ford see the War as an occasion to curb immigration and enfore assimilation?

Question 74

What did the intelligence tests of American service members reveal?

Question 75

What impact did the flu epidemic of 1918 have on the American population?

Question 76

In your assessment, why did the author John Reed get so disillusioned after reporting on World War I? What was it about the war experience that shattered his faith in democracy and capitalism?

Question 77

How did the United States government respond to the possibility of dissent during World War I? Was this a just and necessary restriction of constitutional freedoms or an over-reaction? Discuss.

Question 78

Identify who, what, where, when, and/or why the following are important:
1. John Reed
2. alliance system
3. "over the top"
4. contraband
5. Colonel Edward M. House
6. General John J. Pershing
7. "undesirables"
8. doughboys
9. "the French Way"
10. trenchfoot

Question 79

During World War I, the bulk of troops on all sides was drawn from the ranks of

A)colonials.
B)paid mercenaries.
C)middle-class volunteers.
D)workers and farmers.

Question 80

The most important ties between the United States and the British during World War I were

A)historical.
B)cultural.
C)linguistic.
D)economic.