Deck 31: World War II

Question 1

The text blames what failures by the Western democratic powers for helping to contribute to the coming of World War II? (Global Perspective, pp. 776-777)

A) failures of judgment for choosing the political path of isolationism
B) failures of will to stop the encroachment of the Nazis
C) failures to adjust the peace treaties from World War I
D) All of these answers are correct.

Answer 1

All of these answers are correct.

Question 2

In Mein Kampf (Document, pp. 778-779), what was Hitler's primary objective for Germany?

A) for Germany to expand into lands that he believed it was rightly entitled to
B) to see France and Britain humiliated as revenge for the Treaty of Versailles
C) to form an alliance with Russia and France to become the greatest power in Europe
D) to shut itself off from the rest of Europe and consolidate its power within its current borders

Answer 2

for Germany to expand into lands that he believed it was rightly entitled to

Question 3

Picasso's painting Guernica depicts (Image, p. 779)

A) the chaos that resulted from the bombing of a Spanish town.
B) the Spanish resistance to Fascist rule.
C) the victory of the Falangist party.
D) the manipulation of literary images during the Spanish Civil War.

Answer 3

the chaos that resulted from the bombing of a Spanish town.

Question 4

Motives for Britain's conduct at the Munich Conference included

A) the desire to uphold the Versailles Treaty.
B) a desire to avoid the horror of war.
C) hostility to Czechoslovakia.
D) hopes for an alliance with Italy.

Question 5

Which of the following was the most important turning point in British public opinion regarding Hitler''s foreign policy?

A) the German occupation of Prague
B) the Munich agreement
C) the remilitarization of the Rhineland
D) the Anschluss

Question 6

What benefits did the Soviet Union receive from its support of the invasion of Poland?

A) the annexation of Baltic states and Bessarabia
B) a financial settlement from the Germans
C) a warm water port
D) the capitulation of France

Question 7

As compared to World War I, Germany in World War II (Map 29-3, p. 740 and Map 31-2, p. 784)

A) conquered or was in alliance with more territory.
B) conquered or was in alliance with less territory.
C) conquered or was in alliance with more in the west, less in the east.
D) conquered or was in alliance with about the same amount of territory.

Question 8

Explain why the text presents the Second World War not as one continuous conflict with the First World War but as a separate failure of diplomacy by the Western powers. Do you agree with this perspective? Why or why not?
Conceptual

Question 9

What were Hitler's foreign policy aims? Was he bent on conquest in the east and dominance in the west, or did he simply want to return Germany to its 1914 boundaries?
Conceptual

Question 10

Why did Britain and France adopt a policy of appeasement in the 1930s? What were its main features? Did the appeasers buy the West valuable time to prepare for war by their actions at Munich in 1938?
Conceptual

Question 11

How did the Spanish Civil War affect world politics? What role did it play in leading toward World War II?
Conceptual

Question 12

How was Hitler able to defeat France so easily in 1940? Why was the air war against Britain a failure? Why did Hitler invade Russia? Why did the invasion fail? Could it have succeeded?
Conceptual

Question 13

What were Hitler's plans for the Jews? To what extent were his plans carried out and who besides the Nazis deserves to share the blame for this tragedy?
Conceptual

Question 14

Why did Japan attack the United States at Pearl Harbor? What was the significance of American intervention in the war?
Conceptual

Question 15

What was the turning point of the war in the Pacific and why?
Conceptual

Question 16

Why did the United States drop the atomic bombs on Japan? Did it make the right decision to do so? Why or why not?
Conceptual

Question 17

Pick one campaign or battle of World War II that you feel to be the most important turning point in ending the war. Where and when did it occur? Who were the combatants? What happened there? Why was this campaign important in ending the war?
Conceptual

Question 18

What did Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union, respectively, contribute to the defeat of Hitler? Support your answer with examples for each nation.
Conceptual

Question 19

Compare and contrast the strategy and tactics of World War I and World War II. What new technologies or techniques were involved in World War II? What lessons were learned from World War I?
Conceptual

Question 20

Compare and contrast the roles women played on the home fronts in Germany and the United States. What can we learn about these two societies from this contrast?
Conceptual

Question 21

"As organizations devoted to peace, the League of Nations and the United Nations were powerless and worthless." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
Conceptual

Question 22

Compare and contrast the Treaty of Versailles with the peace settlements that followed World War II. What were the major differences in territorial changes, treatment of defeated powers, and reconstruction? What lessons did the Allies learn from World War I? What lessons did they not learn?
Conceptual

Question 23

What was the outcome of the meetings of Allied leaders at Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam? How did these conferences affect the postwar world? What mistakes were made by the Western Allies?
Conceptual

Question 24

Could Hitler have won World War II or at least reached a favorable settlement? What decision or decisions could have changed the outcome of the war? Could he have made a separate peace with the Western Allies?
Conceptual

Question 25

What was the significance of the separate nonaggression pacts between the Soviet Union and Japan and Germany? Who gained military advantage from these treaties?
Conceptual

Question 26

What role did industrial production and logistics have in the outcome of World War II? Which country enjoyed the advantage in this field? Why was Germany able to sustain production until late in the war?
Conceptual

Question 27

Imagine yourself as the one of the four heads of state at the Munich Conference. What would you have tried to accomplish? What would have been the best outcome for your country?
Conceptual