Deck 28: The Nightmare: World War II

Question 1

Which is NOT a reason why the Nazi regime ultimately lost the war?

A)Nazi atrocities sparked resistance movements throughout the conquered territories.
B)Nazi policies of extermination diverted resources from the war.
C)Among the first nations to mobilize totally for war, the German people were exhausted sooner.
D)American productivity surpassed anything Germany and her allies could match.
E)The Nazis alienated the peoples they conquered.

Answer 1

Among the first nations to mobilize totally for war, the German people were exhausted sooner.

Question 2

Following the ouster of Mussolini, Italy

A)was more firmly entrenched in the German camp.
B)welcomed Nazi forces of occupation.
C)had peace within her borders.
D)joined the Allied side.
E)negotiated neutral status.

Answer 2

joined the Allied side.

Question 3

What role did the United States play in the European conflict before December 7, 1941?

A)totally isolationist
B)fully committed military ally
C)supplier of loans and war materials to the Allies
D)leader of the Allied forces
E)supporter of the Communist regime of the Soviet Union

Answer 3

supplier of loans and war materials to the Allies

Question 4

Discuss the policy of appeasement.Why was it so hard for the democratic governments of Europe to respond to Hitler's foreign policy initiatives?

Question 5

Which area did NOT gain independence from European control before 1950?

A)India
B)Burma
C)Indonesia
D)French Indochina
E)Sri Lanka

Question 6

The last offensive mounted by the Germans was

A)the Battle of the Bulge.
B)the invasion of Italy.
C)Crimea.
D)Normandy.
E)Sicily.

Question 7

Among the issues faced by the government of the fourth French Republic was

A)instability.
B)class conflict.
C)cold war polarization.
D)de Gaulle.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 8

The efforts to root out fascism after the war included

A)summary executions.
B)the Nuremberg trials.
C)public prosecutions.
D)both the Nuremberg trials and public prosecutions.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 9

What were Hitler's plans with regard to the Jewish and Slavic peoples of Europe? How was he able to get the support of the German people in carrying out these plans?

Question 10

In 1942 the tide of World War II began to turn in favor of the Allies because

A)of the huge costs of the campaign in Russia.
B)landing of Allied forces in France diverted German resources from the Eastern front.
C)Germany had to divide its war effort in order to give aid to Japan.
D)the German people were losing faith in the war effort.
E)of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Question 11

The decision of the United States to give the fight against Germany priority over the war in Asia

A)acknowledged the bonds of Western culture.
B)acknowledged the importance of European industrial power.
C)recognized the possibility that Soviet Russia might not survive without help.
D)both acknowledged the bonds of Western culture and recognized the possibility that Soviet Russia might not survive without help.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 12

President Harry Truman

A)helped outline the future of Germany and peace terms for Japan at the Potsdam meetings.
B)brought the U.S.into war with the Soviet Union.
C)proclaimed U.S.willingness to commit American troops to UN military actions.
D)warned the Soviet Union not to take Czechoslovakia.
E)intended to stimulate Europe's postwar economic recovery.

Question 13

The Big Three were

A)Russia, Britain, and France.
B)Japan, Germany, and Italy.
C)Germany, Poland, and Austria.
D)Russia, Britain, and the U.S.
E)Italy, Ethiopia, and Spain.

Question 14

Between 1939 and the U.S.entry into the war in 1941, the Germans occupied

A)most of France, most of the Balkans, and all of Scandinavia.
B)the Low Countries, Spain, and the Balkans.
C)most of the Balkans, most of France, Denmark, Norway, and the Low Countries.
D)Denmark, Norway, Spain, and most of France.
E)Spain, France, and Great Britain.

Question 15

In Yugoslavia, Marshal Tito

A)acquiesced to Soviet demands.
B)broke with Western allies.
C)resisted Soviet directives.
D)took Soviet direction on foreign and domestic policies.
E)both acquiesced to Soviet demands and broke with Western allies.

Question 16

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union

A)was held in check by the fact that the Soviets did not have atomic weapons until the late 1950s.
B)found the U.S.'s only allies, France and Britain, wishing to remain neutral.
C)began in Europe but quickly moved to confrontation throughout the world.
D)was characterized by a major commitment of Soviet land forces in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
E)was isolated behind the Iron Curtain.

Question 17

Which best describes the role of Western European governments in the economy as those countries recovered from World War II?

A)minimal government activity as the free market was allowed to develop
B)government responsibility for welfare, but minimal activity in business
C)governments slow to pursue welfare legislation, while actively encouraging business
D)governments responsible for welfare policies and working with large business to direct economic development
E)the privatization of most national industries and banking

Question 18

The Soviet Union controlled the nations of

A)Estonia.
B)Latvia.
C)Romania.
D)Poland.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 19

The International Monetary Fund and the precursor to the World Bank were created to

A)administer the funds allocated by the Marshall Plan.
B)prevent inflation.
C)organize food and medical relief supplies.
D)supervise the maintenance of the peace.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 20

Before 1950, European recovery was hindered by

A)millions of refugees from Eastern Europe flooding into the Soviet Union.
B)unwillingness of Europeans to hunt out fascist collaborators.
C)massive destruction of factories and transport systems.
D)U.S.reluctance to advance aid for recovery.
E)communist economic plans.

Question 21

Review the Historical Issues feature entitled "The Historians' Debate on German Genocide" in this chapter.Cite specific parts in Wehler's passage that maintain the Holocaust "had distinctly German roots." What stance do you think Friedlander would take on this issue?

Question 22

Compare the destruction seen in the photos in this chapter.Was the extent of the damage justified?

Question 23

Explain why the Allies would not believe reports of Nazi concentration camps during the war.

Question 24

How did World War II alter life on the home front in Britain, Germany, and Soviet Russia?

Question 25

Review the Historical Issues feature entitled "The Historians' Debate on German Genocide" in this chapter.Which of the three authors do you find most convincing and why?

Question 26

Why did American forces require German civilians to see the Lansberg concentration camp, pictured in this chapter?

Question 27

What does the photo of the Normandy invasion seen in this chapter indicate about Allied resources in winning the war?

Question 28

Why did the United States become so fearful of the Soviet Union after 1945? Why was the Soviet Union so fearful of the United States?

Question 29

Discuss why the Allies refused to negotiate with the Axis meetings in early 1943.

Question 30

How was the strategic balance of power altered in Europe by the end of World War II? Given these realities, how do you assess the importance of the Yalta Conference and its decisions about the postwar fate of Europe?

Question 31

How did the United States and the Soviet Union utilize the emerging Third World and newly independent countries during the Cold War?

Question 32

Review the Historical Issues feature entitled "The Historians' Debate on German Genocide" in this chapter.Nolte's thesis seems to absolve partially the Nazis and blame the Communists.Wehler's argument seems to absolve partially the Communists and blame the Germans.How can these two divergent arguments be reconciled?

Question 33

Review the feature entitled "Churchill Sees an Iron Curtain" in this chapter.Why do you think the Western Allies (Britain, France, and the United States) had refused to recognize the political situation for over a year?

Question 34

Whereas World War I had been a catastrophe for fighting forces, World War II proved equally or more devastating for civilians.Why was this the case?

Question 35

Review the feature entitled "A Gas Chamber" in this chapter.Why do you think André Lettich, the French doctor, was in Birkenau?

Question 36

Why did newly independent countries sometimes resort to economic aid, technological and educational expertise as well as political support from their former colonial overlords?

Question 37

How do the photos found in the chapter illustrate the effects of the war on civilian populations?

Question 38

Review the feature entitled "Churchill Sees an Iron Curtain" in this chapter.How does Churchill define the Cold War?

Question 39

Review the Historical Issues feature entitled "The Historians' Debate on German Genocide" in this chapter.Friedlander's argument contends that German elite education combined with German nationalism to produce the Holocaust.Why then did the Holocaust not occur in European countries such as England and France?

Question 40

Review the feature entitled "A Gas Chamber" in this chapter.Genocide occurred sporadically before World War II throughout history and the world.However, what made twentieth-century genocide unique?

Question 41

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Holocaust.

Question 42

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Guadalcanal.

Question 43

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Anschluss.

Question 44

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Maginot Line.

Question 45

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Teheran Conference.

Question 46

Review the feature entitled "Churchill Sees an Iron Curtain" in this chapter.Is Churchill actually making a distinction between the "Russians" and the "Soviets"? If so, what is the distinction and why is Churchill making it?

Question 47

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Vyacheslav Molotov.

Question 48

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Nuremberg trials.

Question 49

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Hitler-Stalin Pact.

Question 50

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: General Rommel.

Question 51

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Vichy France.

Question 52

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Potsdam.

Question 53

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Battle of the Bulge.

Question 54

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Yalta Conference.

Question 55

Review the feature entitled "Churchill Sees an Iron Curtain" in this chapter.Describe the "Liberated Europe [the Western Allies] fought for." Could Stalin make the same charges against the Western Allies?

Question 56

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Churchill.

Question 57

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Royal Air Force.

Question 58

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Hiroshima.

Question 59

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Truman.

Question 60

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Cold War.

Question 61

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Nagasaki.

Question 62

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Rome-Berlin Axis.

Question 63

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: refugees.

Question 64

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Battle of Britain.

Question 65

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: General de Gaulle.

Question 66

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: communist bloc.

Question 67

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Munich Agreement.

Question 68

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Pétain.

Question 69

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Iwo Jima.

Question 70

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: blitzkrieg.

Question 71

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Stalingrad.

Question 72

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: General Eisenhower.

Question 73

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: atomic bomb.

Question 74

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: genocide.

Question 75

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: French resistance.

Question 76

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Roosevelt.

Question 77

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: United Nations Organization.