Question 1

Even more popular than Catch-22,The Lord of the Rings,a set of novels by _________,gave young romantics who rebelled against postwar Western culture a fantasy world to which they could escape.

Accepted Answer

The mention of "The Lord of the Rings" narrows down the possible authors to J. R. R. Tolkien, making option B the correct answer.

Question 2

The Volkswagen was an attempt by Hitler to make an affordable "people's car" for Europe.

Accepted Answer

This is true. The Volkswagen or "VW" was created as part of Hitler's plan to provide an affordable car for the German people that would be able to compete with the American-made Ford automobiles. The project was led by engineer Ferdinand Porsche and the car was given the name "KdF-Wagen" (Kraft durch Freude, or "Strength through Joy" car). However, the outbreak of World War II delayed production and the car was eventually used for military purposes instead of being sold to the public. After the war, the company was reformed and the Volkswagen Beetle became a popular car around the world.

Question 3

Some intellectuals in the decades following World War II attempted to determine how such phenomena as Nazism and Stalinism could take root in societies.Many,such as Hannah Arendt,refused to demonize the political systems themselves and instead explored what she termed:

Accepted Answer

Hannah Arendt coined the phrase "the banality of evil" to describe how ordinary people in Nazi Germany could participate in horrific crimes without feeling any sense of malice or hatred. She argued that the bureaucracy and everyday routine of the Nazi regime created an environment in which people could commit terrible acts without fully realizing the consequences of their actions. Arendt's work on the nature of evil has had a profound influence on political and moral philosophy.

Question 4

Members of the "Frankfurt school" sought to understand the emergence of Nazism:

Accepted Answer

Members of the Frankfurt school, such as Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, saw the emergence of Nazism as a result of the depoliticization of citizens by the modern culture industry. They argued that mass media and entertainment had commodified culture, reducing art and politics to marketable products and creating a passive consumer mentality among the public. This, in turn, made people susceptible to authoritarianism and mass manipulation by political forces such as the Nazis.

Question 5

After the war,anti-Semitism was still rampant across Europe,and many blamed the Jews for bringing about the war.

Accepted Answer

Anti-Semitism continued even after the end of World War II and many people still blamed the Jews for various issues, including the war. The Holocaust had also taken place during the war, which further fueled anti-Semitic sentiments.

Question 6

The Berlin Wall was built as a direct response to the West's refusal to make Berlin a free city in a permanently divided Germany.

Accepted Answer

The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 by the Soviet Union to prevent citizens from East Germany from fleeing to the West. The West's refusal to make Berlin a free city was a contributing factor, but not the direct cause of the wall's construction.

Question 7

One of the wildly popular books of Joseph Heller,Catch-22,represented a form of popular existentialism and was concerned with the absurdity of:

Accepted Answer

Catch-22 is primarily concerned with the absurdity of war and the irrationality of bureaucracy, as seen through the experiences of soldiers in World War II. The novel portrays a world where logic and reason are twisted and turned upside down, and where individuals are trapped in a never-ending cycle of Catch-22 situations. While the book touches on themes of modern life and religion, war is its primary focus.

Question 8

Superpower rivalry was brought to the far corners of the globe as newly emancipated nations,freed from the holds of imperialism,were fought over as allies.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. During the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union competed for influence and power in various parts of the world, particularly in newly independent nations that had previously been colonized by European powers. These nations often became battlegrounds for ideological and political struggles between the two superpowers.

Question 9

The COMECON ensured that the Soviet Union could sell its exports at prices well above the world level and compelled other members to trade with the Soviet Union,but to their disadvantage.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. The COMECON, or Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, was established by the Soviet Union in 1949 as an economic bloc to coordinate the economies of its satellite states. One of the goals of COMECON was to ensure that Soviet exports were sold at high prices to member countries, while also compelling those countries to trade with the Soviet Union even if it was not beneficial to them. This contributed to economic inefficiencies and disparities within the bloc.

Question 10

Even with Nikita Khrushchev's desire to improve relations with the West and reduce tensions,military events occasionally escalated almost to the point of war,as in 1962,when:

Accepted Answer

In 1962, the Soviet Union attempted to install intermediate-range ballistic missiles and other offensive military equipment in Cuba. This event led to the Cuban Missile Crisis and brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before. The United States responded by setting up a naval blockade of Cuba, which led to a standoff between the two superpowers that lasted for several tense days. Ultimately, Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a promise from the US not to invade Cuba and to remove US missiles from Turkey.

Question 11

Solzhenitsyn's autobiographical stories of The First Circle and The Gulag Archipelago told the stories of Stalin's regime,including the imprisonment of scientists doing research for the secret police and the memories of prisoners of the Stalinist camps.

Accepted Answer

Solzhenitsyn's The First Circle and The Gulag Archipelago are indeed autobiographical stories that discuss Stalin's regime and the experiences of prisoners in the Stalinist camps.

Question 12

President Dwight D.Eisenhower delivered a farewell address to the United States in which he warned that:

Accepted Answer

In his farewell address, President Eisenhower warned about the growing influence of a military-industrial complex, which he described as the "conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry." He expressed concern that this complex would exert undue influence on government decision-making, potentially leading to an over-reliance on military solutions to problems and a loss of democratic values.

Question 13

The leading feminist theorist of the mid-twentieth century,Simone de Beauvoir,wrote in The Second Sex that:

Accepted Answer

Simone de Beauvoir's famous assertion is "One is not born a woman, one becomes one." This suggests that gender is a social construct rather than a biological destiny, and that women are not inherently different from men but are conditioned by society to behave and think in certain ways. This statement is a starting point for understanding the oppression of women and the need for feminist activism. Options A, B, C, and E are incorrect because they all imply that men and women are fundamentally different in some way, which is contrary to de Beauvoir's philosophy of gender.

Question 14

Many Western intellectuals sought to revive humanism and democratic values after the horrors of World War II; a group of writers,one of them being _________,pointed out that colonialism made their task ever more difficult.

Accepted Answer

Franz Fanon was a prominent writer and intellectual who criticized the colonial system and its impact on humanism and democratic values. His work, including "The Wretched of the Earth," pointed out that colonialism dehumanized colonized people and prevented the establishment of true democracy. Therefore, he is the best choice for this question.

Question 15

The Soviets were excluded from the Marshall Plan.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The Soviets were excluded from the Marshall...

Question 16

Jean-Paul Sartre was the leading proponent of the twentieth-century philosophy of existentialism,which held that:

Accepted Answer

Jean-Paul Sartre was a leading proponent of the existentialist philosophy, which held that existence precedes essence. This means that individuals have no inherent nature or predetermined purpose, but instead create their own meaning and identity through their choices and actions.

Question 17

The COMECON was established as an Eastern European version of the Marshall Plan.

Accepted Answer

The COMECON (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) was established by the Soviet Union in 1949 as a response to the Marshall Plan, aiming to facilitate economic cooperation among socialist countries in Eastern Europe.

Question 18

After World War II,governments continued rationing,although there was an ample supply of food,in an effort to remain self-sufficient.

Accepted Answer

Rationing continued after World War II due to shortages and economic recovery needs, not because there was an ample supply of food.

Question 19

De Gaulle created the First Republic in France in 1958 by insisting on a new constitution for the nation.

Accepted Answer

The answer of De Gaulle created the First Republic in...

Question 20

Although many intellectuals wanted to investigate the mentality of Nazism,others simply wanted people to remember.Many survivors of the concentration camps,such as _________,wanted others to know what had happened and to not forget.

Accepted Answer

Primo Levi was a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, and he became a writer after the war to share his experiences and ensure that people did not forget the atrocities committed by the Nazis. Klaus Barbie was a Nazi war criminal, Günter Grass was a German novelist, Adolph Eichmann was a key figure in organizing the Holocaust, and Hermann Hess was a prominent Nazi politician. None of these individuals were concentration camp survivors who sought to remember and raise awareness about the horrors of the Holocaust.

Quiz 27: The Cold War World: Global Politics,Economic Recovery,and Cultural Change