Deck 25: Americans and a World in Crisis, 1933-1945

Question 1

The experiences of E.B. Sledge illustrate

A) the importance of the secretary of war.
B) the complexity of naval operations in the Pacific theatre.
C) the extreme hardships of fighting in the Pacific theatre
D) why U.S. technological superiority was so important.
E) the horrors of fighting in Europe.

Answer 1

the extreme hardships of fighting in the Pacific theatre

Question 2

Which statement best represents the United States' response to reports of the German persecution of Jews?

A) The United States expressed sympathy for the plight of the Jews and liberalized its restrictive immigration laws.
B) The United States refused to liberalize its restrictive immigration laws or seriously consider rescue schemes.
C) Americans overwhelmingly supported legislation to admit twenty thousand German refugee children.
D) The President and Congress were unaware of the reports.
E) The United States sponsored the ship St. Louis to rescue 900 Jews for resettlement in America.

Answer 2

The United States refused to liberalize its restrictive immigration laws or seriously consider rescue schemes.

Question 3

What role did the American scientific community have in World War II?

A) The government insisted that scientific inquiry should not be interrupted by the war.
B) Most of the nation's scientists opposed the war and refused to have anything to do with it.
C) Scientists participated actively in developing new weapons, chemicals, medicines, and medical techniques that would advance the fight against the Axis powers.
D) There was a constant conflict between scientists and the military because the military refused to allow scientists a role in the weapons race.
E) Scientists left the government for better-paying jobs in private industry.

Answer 3

Scientists participated actively in developing new weapons, chemicals, medicines, and medical techniques that would advance the fight against the Axis powers.

Question 4

In 1940 and 1941 President Roosevelt wished to prolong negotiations with the Japanese rather than go to war. Why?

A) The negotiations had been making substantial progress and most of the points of disagreement were being resolved.
B) Roosevelt knew that he did not have a large enough navy to fight both Japan and Germany.
C) The American people were virulently anti-Japanese and therefore the anti-interventionist sentiment regarding Asian affairs was very strong.
D) The Japanese had ended their expansion and were looking forward to a century of coprosperity.
E) All he was concerned about was war in Europe; the situation in the Pacific was unimportant to him.

Question 5

What impact did the wartime economy have on the distribution of American incomes?

A) The proportion of wealth controlled by the richest 5 percent of the population soared to nearly one-third.
B) The proportion of wealth controlled by the poorest 20 percent of the population dropped to about 10 percent.
C) The earnings of the middle class doubled.
D) The middle class stagnated as it found itself caught between wage freezes and soaring inflation.
E) The poor sank deeper into poverty because the focus was on foreign affairs rather than their plight.

Question 6

At the Yalta Conference, Stalin agreed on all the following except

A) entry into the war against Japan.
B) recognition of Mao Zedong as the ruler of China.
C) establishment of "broadly representative" governments in Eastern Europe.
D) created a postwar commission to address reparations.
E) a founding conference for the new United Nations.

Question 7

Which of the following did not occur prior to the formal beginning of World War II?

A) the Anschluss between Austria and Germany
B) the Italian invasion of Ethiopia
C) the Munich Pact, which handed the Sudetenland over to Germany
D) Japanese aggression against China
E) the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor

Question 8

Which of the following was not one of the changes in the American "social topography" that occurred during World War II?

A) Millions of Americans moved to the West Coast states.
B) Many Americans moved far from their hometowns.
C) Some Americans who moved left their traditional values for new attitudes.
D) The family unit was strengthened, and divorce rates dropped, as Americans united in the effort to defend the nation.
E) Some 6 million Americans left farms and moved to cities.

Question 9

Franklin Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy

A) proclaimed, "Speak softly, and carry a big stick."
B) renounced any nation's right to intervene in the affair of another.
C) led to a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union.
D) helped to shape the Yalta agreements at the end of World War II.
E) led to a scrupulous "hands-off" policy in Latin America, even in instances where American interests were threatened.

Question 10

After what event did the Japanese government finally begin to discuss acceptance of surrender terms?

A) the Battle of Iwo Jima
B) the dropping of unconditional surrender as a prerequisite
C) the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
D) the threatened invasion of Japan by the China
E) the collapse of Fascist Italy

Question 11

The various federal agencies created during World War II to coordinate the war effort did all the following except

A) limit or stop the production of civilian goods.
B) impose strict ceilings on corporate profits.
C) mediate disputes between management and labor.
D) impose strict price controls.
E) allocate materials.

Question 12

The America First Committee argued that

A) the United States was endangered by internal subversion, not possible German invasion.
B) the United States had to defend itself by launching a preemptive war against Germany.
C) the United States would assist the British but stay out of the war.
D) the United States had the strength to stand alone and did not need to enter the war.
E) the United States had to defend itself by going to war against Japan before Japan attacked the United States.

Question 13

Japan demonstrated its expansionist policies in 1931-1932 by invading

A) the Philippines.
B) Pearl Harbor.
C) Mongolia.
D) Manchuria.
E) Korea.

Question 14

In an effort to bolster American security and at the same time help England during the Battle of Britain, President Roosevelt concluded an agreement with Prime Minister Churchill that

A) sold American tanks and cruisers to Great Britain on a deferred payment schedule.
B) allowed Britain to use American air bases in exchange for a guarantee of safe Atlantic passage for American merchant vessels.
C) transferred fifty overage American destroyers to Britain in exchange for leases on British air and naval bases in the Western Hemisphere.
D) drew up a timetable for eventual American participation in the war against Hitler.
E) provided $5.2 billion in direct military assistance.

Question 15

The United States government interned over 100,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II for all the following reasons except

A) longstanding racial prejudice and economic rivalry.
B) some politicians and farmers hoped to be able to take over Japanese-American landholdings.
C) after Pearl Harbor, white Californians were worked up into a frenzy about possible Japanese sabotage.
D) FBI and military intelligence had uncovered a Japanese-American espionage network in California.
E) some patriotic organizations and media outlets called for it.

Question 16

The condition of African-Americans improved during World War II through all the following reasons means except

A) jobs were more plentiful because of war production needs.
B) a federal executive order prohibited discriminatory employment practices.
C) a massive march on Washington by 100,000 African-Americans.
D) the average wage for African-Americans increased dramatically.
E) the military ended some exclusionary and segregation policies.

Question 17

Which of the following is not true regarding the government's management of public opinion during World War II?

A) Publishers and broadcasters were allowed to say and report whatever they thought would be in the best interest of the public and the war effort.
B) Government propaganda played up the barbarism of the Axis nations.
C) The Office of Censorship attempted to suppress information that might hinder the war effort.
D) The government initially restricted pictures of dead soldiers on battlefields.
E) Hollywood released films designed to highlight the heroism and unity of the American forces, while inciting hatred of the enemy.

Question 18

How did World War II affect millions of American women?

A) The federal government adopted a policy of gender equality in all federal hiring and in all companies doing business with the government.
B) The proportion of women in the labor force rose from one-quarter to more than one-third, as 19 million women were employed.
C) Because of the importance of their war work, women for the first time achieved equal pay for equal work.
D) The public attitude toward women's employment underwent a transformation, as the majority of Americans began to admit that they approved of married women working outside the home.
E) In order to show the strength of traditional American values, women stayed at home to nurture their children.

Question 19

A. Philip Randolph's call for a massive march on Washington led to

A) an executive order permitting the military to evacuate and intern Japanese living on the West Coast.
B) an executive order prohibiting employment discrimination and creating a Fair Employment Practices Committee.
C) passage of the Smith-Connally Act restricting union strikes and protests.
D) prosecution of the sailors involved in the "zoot suit" riot against the Chicanos.
E) integration of the armed forces.

Question 20

The Manhattan Project was the

A) area in New York City where expatriate German scientists settled during World War II.
B) code name for the Soviet espionage network specializing in secret scientific American projects during World War II.
C) area in New Mexico where navy scientists worked on new sonar devices during World War II.
D) secret plan to move the government to New York City in the event of a Japanese invasion.
E) secret $2 billion project to develop an atomic bomb.

Question 21

How many American men and women ultimately served in the armed forces?

A) Approximately 1 million
B) Approximately 5 million
C) Approximately 10 million
D) Approximately 15 million
E) Approximately 25 million

Question 22

Which of the following actions did the United States not take in preparing for war between September 1, 1939 and December 1, 1941?

A) It cut off diplomatic relations with Germany and Japan.
B) It instituted the "Cash-and-Carry" program.
C) It created the Lend-Lease program to provide supplies and equipment to the allied countries.
D) It instituted the first peacetime draft in American history.
E) It dramatically increased its military defense budget.

Question 23

Approximately how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust?

A) 6,000
B) 60,000
C) 600,000
D) 6 million
E) 60 million

Question 24

Congress created the Office of Price Administration to

A) control inflation during the war.
B) preserve uranium production.
C) raise money to pay for the war.
D) lower prices to help American families survive the economic hardships of the war.
E) decrease the national debt.

Question 25

Which 1942 battle was a decisive victory for the United States in the Pacific theatre of World War II?

A) Battle of Tarawa
B) Battle of Midway
C) Battle of the Philippines
D) Battle of New Guinea
E) Battle of Iwo Jima

Question 26

How did the "Cash and Carry" Policy work?

A) It prohibited Americans during the Great Depression from buying on credit.
B) It required nations at war in 1939 and 1940 to pay for U.S. goods in cash and to carry them in their own ships.
C) It forced the American government to pay cash for all purchases and to carry them in its own ships.
D) It eliminated capitalism by destroying the credit system.
E) It insisted that nations wanting to trade with the United States would have to buy the goods on credit.

Question 27

What did the "Double V" campaign represent?

A) the American campaign to defeat both Germany and Japan.
B) the Allied campaign to defeat Germany on land as well as at sea.
C) the Allied campaign to defeat Nazism and Fascism.
D) the African-Americans' campaign to defeat their enemies at home and abroad.
E) the Mexican-American campaign of to defeat the Axis powers and to loosen immigration restrictions at home.

Question 28

President Franklin Roosevelt encouraged the passage of the Lend-Lease Act because he wanted to

A) provide aid to Great Britain in its struggle with Germany
B) help the American economy.
C) aid France in its struggle against Germany.
D) get Congress involved in the European crisis.
E) persuade Germany that the American military was strong.

Question 29

Why was the United States called the "Arsenal of Democracy"?

A) It produced 300,000 airplanes, 2.6 million machine guns, 6 million tons of bombs, and numerous other war materials.
B) It symbolized how democratic nations should fight a war
C) It manufactured 1,000 ships, 500,000 rifles, and 10,000 airplanes during the war.
D) It provided all the war materials that the allies needed.
E) It supplied the allies with all necessary natural resources.

Question 30

Which of the following factors was not a reason why President Harry Truman decided to use the atomic bomb in 1945?

A) He was concerned about the high potential casualty figures from an American invasion of the Japanese home islands.
B) He wanted to prove to the world that the United States hated the Japanese and wanted them to suffer because of their attack on Pearl Harbor.
C) The Japanese had suffered terrible destruction from American bombing attacks but were still not willing to surrender.
D) Japanese soldiers and sailors almost always refused to surrender even when it was clear that their cause was lost
E) He hoped to intimidate the Soviet Union.

Question 31

Which of the following leaders is not match correctly with the right country?

A) Benito Mussolini, Italy
B) Winston Churchill, France
C) Joseph Stalin, Soviet Union
D) Franklin Roosevelt, United States
E) Hideki Tojo, Japan

Question 32

Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?

A) Since it believed a war with the U.S. was inevitable, it decided upon a preemptive strike.
B) It wanted to use Pearl Harbor as a base for attacks against the United States.
C) It believed that the United States was planning an attack on Japan from Pearl Harbor.
D) To protect its eastern flank, Japan wanted to seize the Hawaiian Islands.
E) It thought the United States was developing the atomic bomb there.

Question 33

Which country suffered the greatest number of casualties in World War II?

A) United States
B) France
C) Poland
D) Great Britain
E) Soviet Union

Question 34

The World War II War Production Board was created to

A) regulate production of military equipment.
B) insure that the military branches were producing military equipment efficiently.
C) regulate the railroad system and airplane industries.
D) ration vital materials like rubber and gasoline.
E) allocate materials, limit the production of civilian goods, and distribute contracts among workers.

Question 35

Which of the following statements best describes warfare between the Japanese soldiers and American Marines?

A) They respected each other's dead, wounded, and prisoners.
B) They utterly hated each other and committed numerous atrocities.
C) They both fought desperately, but surrendered when it was clear that they could not prevail.
D) all of these choices.
E) none of these choices.