Deck 26: America During the Second World War

Question 1

The tide of the war on the eastern front really turned at the Battle of

A) the Bulge.
B) Moscow.
C) Stalingrad.
D) the Elbe.
E) Berlin.

Answer 1

Stalingrad.

Question 2

Which of the following statements best describes the power of organized labor during the Second World War?

A) Because of the scarcity of workers, the labor movement was weakened.
B) Women's entering the labor market weakened the labor movement.
C) Although there was a scarcity of workers, there was no noticeable change in the labor movement.
D) There was no scarcity of workers since most jobs were filled by women.
E) Because of the scarcity of workers, the labor movement was strengthened

Answer 2

Because of the scarcity of workers, the labor movement was strengthened

Question 3

In World War II, African-American soldiers

A) refused to fight until they received equal rights.
B) deserted in larger numbers than did other ethnic minorities.
C) won more medals than white soldiers.
D) were segregated and usually assigned noncombat, menial but often dangerous jobs.
E) were never drafted.

Answer 3

were segregated and usually assigned noncombat, menial but often dangerous jobs.

Question 4

The economic impact of the war

A) resulted in increased spending by Americans.
B) failed to reach the west.
C) made unions more inclusive.
D) caused a huge gap between the rich and poor.
E) cause family run farms to disappear.

Question 5

The first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of

A) Nagasaki.
B) Hiroshima.
C) Dresden.
D) Kyoto.
E) Tokyo.

Question 6

The turning point of the war on the western front was

A) Operation Torch.
B) Operation Gamut.
C) Operation OVERLORD.
D) Operation Husky.
E) Operation Hun.

Question 7

Sensitive U.S. military communications about operations in the Pacific were kept secret because of the use of

A) sophisticated computing systems for transmitting messages.
B) the German language when transmitting messages.
C) the code named SECRET.
D) Morse Code.
E) Navajo instead of English when transmitting messages.

Question 8

The war benefited which of the following most?

A) small businesses
B) family run farms
C) business partnerships
D) large corporations
E) over 80% of American businesses

Question 9

The Luftwaffe refers to

A) the German lightning war against Poland.
B) the German sitting war against France.
C) Hitler's "final solution" to the Jewish problem.
D) Hitler's plan to destroy the Soviet Union.
E) the German air force

Question 10

During World War II, more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were

A) guilty of sabotage and espionage.
B) denied their constitutional rights and imprisoned without trial.
C) not allowed to join the military or to work in factories.
D) deported by the U.S. government.
E) executed.

Question 11

Which of the following was not declared by the Atlantic Charter?

A) disavowal of territorial expansion
B) endorsement of free trade
C) call for an end to the Communist threat
D) creation of a world organization to ensure "general security"
E) support for common principles

Question 12

The successor to President Franklin Roosevelt was

A) Dwight Eisenhower.
B) Thomas Dewey.
C) Lyndon Johnson.
D) Henry Wallace.
E) Harry Truman.

Question 13

The Republican candidate who opposed Roosevelt in the 1940 election was

A) Alf Landon
B) Wendell Willkie.
C) John Dewey.
D) Robert Taft.
E) Herbert Hoover.

Question 14

The governmental office devoted to coordinating policies related to wartime propaganda was called the

A) Office of Propaganda.
B) Office of War Information.
C) Office of Information.
D) Propaganda and Information Office.
E) Office of Communication.

Question 15

The so-called "cash and carry" legislation was all of the following except

A) a requirement that belligerents pay cash for their arms purchases and carry them away on their own ships.
B) an effort on the part of the Roosevelt administration to help Great Britain.
C) an attempt to revise and soften the Neutrality Act of 1937.
D) a way for the United States to strengthen its defenses.
E) a means of broadening arms sales to belligerents.

Question 16

The government agency that oversaw the conversion of factories to wartime use was the

A) War Labor Board.
B) War Production Board.
C) War Commodities Board.
D) Office of Public Information.
E) Office of War Production.

Question 17

Roosevelt's proposal to lend munitions to the Allies was known as the ____ plan.

A) "lend-lease"
B) "cash and carry"
C) "Atlantic Charter"
D) "Four Freedoms"
E) "borrow and return"

Question 18

The congressional act that allowed the president to seize plants or mines if strikes interrupted war production was the

A) Taft-Hartley Act.
B) Sherman Antitrust Act.
C) Washbourne Act.
D) Smith-Connally Act.
E) Interstate Commerce Act.

Question 19

In regard to China, the United States hoped that it would

A) stay out of the war.
B) play a larger role in fighting the Japanese.
C) break its communist ties with the Soviet Union.
D) allow the United States to control its foreign policy.
E) open its markets to U.S. trade.

Question 20

The organization founded during the war years devoted to nonviolent resistance to segregation was the

A) Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
B) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
C) Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
D) Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
E) National Urban League (NUL).

Question 21

The Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1936

A) prohibited American investment in foreign countries.
B) offered loans and credit to belligerents.
C) cut off trade with Asia.
D) cut off all trade between the United States and Europe.
E) outlawed U.S. weapon sales to nations at war.

Question 22

The most powerful wartime economic agency was the

A) War Production Board.
B) Maritime Commission.
C) War Labor Board.
D) Office of Price Administration.
E) Railroad Administration.

Question 23

American foreign policy in the early and mid-1930s was basically

A) interventionist.
B) expansionist.
C) isolationist.
D) jingoistic.
E) militaristic.

Question 24

The January 1942 conference at Rio de Janeiro resulted in all of the Latin American countries breaking diplomatic relations with the Axis governments except

A) Brazil and Peru.
B) Colombia and Guatemala.
C) Chile and Argentina.
D) Paraguay and Uruguay.
E) Ecuador and Chile.

Question 25

Poland was a point of great dissension between the Allies in 1945 because of all of the following except

A) the Soviets failed to hold free elections.
B) the Soviets did not relinquish control.
C) the Allies were unclear in their communications with Stalin about their desires for Poland.
D) Americans of Polish descent wanted open immigration for their fellow Poles.
E) The Soviets considered Poland in their sphere of influence.

Question 26

All of the following statements regarding the Holocaust are not true except

A) only Jews were persecuted by the Germans.
B) no one outside of Germany knew about the death camps until after the war ended.
C) the United States turned away Jewish refugees who could have been saved from the camps.
D) about 500,000 people died in the Nazi concentration camps.
E) only adults were killed.

Question 27

In which of the following were Japanese Americans not subject to internment?

A) Oregon
B) Washington
C) California
D) Hawaii
E) none of these choices

Question 28

According to the Senate Committee headed by Gerald Nye in the 1930s,

A) Jews caused World War I.
B) bankers and munitions makers manipulated the U.S. into entering World War I.
C) the Depression was caused by bankers and businessmen.
D) World War I was fought to defend the American way of life.
E) the press forced the United States into World War I.

Question 29

The worldwide economic instability of the 1920s and 1930s

A) brought super nationalistic military governments to power in Europe and Asia.
B) promoted international economic cooperation.
C) caused disastrous trade conflicts.
D) stimulated the growth of centralized democracies.
E) did not significantly impact political systems.

Question 30

The minority group that suffered the most during World War II were

A) African Americans.
B) Mexican Americans.
C) Native Americans.
D) Japanese Americans.
E) German Americans.

Question 31

In China, the United States supported Jiang Jieshi instead of Mao Zedong because

A) Jiang was a capitalist while Mao was a communist.
B) Jiang's government was honest, competent, and democratic.
C) the Chinese peasants supported Jiang.
D) Jiang's troops were determined and effective in fighting the Japanese.
E) Mao had the support of Japan.

Question 32

Which of the following would bridge racial differences and became the basis for the postwar struggle against discrimination?

A) Catholicism
B) democracy
C) Protestant Christianity
D) assimilation
E) eugenics

Question 33

All of the following demonstrated the preeminence of the military in the Washington power structure in the 1940s except the

A) creation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
B) building of the Pentagon complex to house the War Department.
C) creation of dozens of new agencies and bureaucracies to coordinate the war effort.
D) decision to institute the draft.
E) development of radar technology.

Question 34

Harry Truman's motives for using the atomic bomb against Japan included his

A) hatred for the Japanese and his desire to totally destroy them.
B) desire to end the war quickly to save American lives.
C) mistaken belief that civilians would not be killed.
D) intelligence reports that asserted Japan was close to completing an atomic bomb of their own.
E) belief that Japan planned an attack on California.

Question 35

In 1939 and 1940, Franklin Roosevelt tried to halt Japanese aggression in China and Indochina by

A) sending troops to mainland China.
B) threatening to invade Japanese holdings in the Pacific.
C) imposing economic sanctions to limit Japanese access to raw materials.
D) offering most-favored nation trade status to Japan in return for an end to hostilities.
E) bombing Japanese cities.

Question 36

In response to the Spanish Civil War, all of the following occurred except

A) Germany and Italy sent weapons and soldiers to help the rebels.
B) the United States, Britain, and France pursued a policy of noninvolvement.
C) the Soviet Union assisted the republican government of Spain.
D) American conservative groups opposed General Franco and urged help for republican forces.
E) the American left supported republican Spain.

Question 37

All but which one of the following were a part of Adolf Hitler's political agenda?

A) compliance with the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
B) assertion of the superiority of the "Aryan" race
C) establishment of an expanded German empire
D) condemnation of the "Jewish conspiracy"
E) rebuilding the German military.

Question 38

The United States was unprepared for the attack at Pearl Harbor because

A) coded messages intercepted by U.S. agents indicated that an attack on Southeast Asia was planned.
B) American military leaders were overconfident and believed that no nation would dare attack.
C) Franklin Roosevelt deliberately exposed the fleet to destruction in order to bring the United States into the war.
D) the United States and Japan were on friendly terms.
E) Germany had assured the U.S. that Japan would not attack.

Question 39

Which of the following best describes Japanese internment camps?

A) lavish
B) spacious
C) urban
D) well built
E) prison-like

Question 40

As wartime production systems created more jobs in cities such as Los Angeles and Detroit, black(s)

A) moved by the hundreds of thousands from the rural south to the north and west.
B) generally proved unwilling to move from the south in pursuit of such jobs.
C) were prevented from moving out of the south by Jim Crow laws.
D) men moved into northern and western cities, but women generally stayed in the south.
E) almost completely abandoned the rural south.

Question 41

During World War II, average weekly earnings

A) rose by nearly 70 percent.
B) fell in the South and rose in the North.
C) rose for white men but fell for African Americans.
D) rose for women but fell for men.
E) fell across the nation.

Question 42

The East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere was

A) the Allies plan for restructuring China after World War II.
B) Mao Zedong's plan for rebuilding China.
C) Jiang Jieshi's plan for rebuilding China.
D) The U. S. plan for reconstructing Japan after the war.
E) Japan's proposal for liberating Asia from Western imperialism.

Question 43

The American people united behind President Roosevelt's decision to ask for a declaration of war when

A) they learned of the death camps in Europe.
B) Japan attacked the Philippines.
C) London fell to the Germans.
D) France fell to the Germans.
E) Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Question 44

When he became President, Harry Truman

A) was well prepared for the office because he had been among Roosevelt's closest advisors.
B) had been a leading critic of Roosevelt's policies for fighting the war.
C) had been vice president for three terms.
D) prided himself on his ties to America's business leaders.
E) was poorly prepared for the office, having seldom met with Roosevelt or been included in the decision-making process

Question 45

During World War II, Congress

A) abolished the job-creation programs of the New Deal era.
B) extended government subsidies to businesses.
C) saw Republicans gain seats.
D) reduced the budget for national planning
E) all of these choices.

Question 46

Some 130,000 people of Japanese ancestry were interned in barbed-wired concentration camps during the war.

Question 47

The code name for Allied activity in North Africa was

A) TORCH.
B) OVERLORD.
C) BARBAROSA.
D) MOROCCO.
E) ROMMEL.

Question 48

Soon after the U.S. formally entered the war, President Roosevelt moved to integrate the U.S. armed forces.

Question 49

Opponents of President Roosevelt's pro-Allied policy included

A) those who sympathized with Hitler's anti-Semitism.
B) those who feared that war would centralize the government's power.
C) those who sympathized with the Fascists' anticommunism.
D) members of religious groups committed to nonviolence.
E) all of these choices

Question 50

For the most part, the war brought an end to most of the New Deal agencies concerned with the problems of low-income people.

Question 51

Japanese internment was not controversial.

Question 52

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, its leaders were confident that Japan could win a prolonged war against the U.S.

Question 53

The America First Committee

A) opposed U. S. involvement in the war in Europe.
B) supported President Roosevelt's efforts to aid the Allies.
C) opposed Communist expansion in Asia.
D) opposed Stalin's regime in the Soviet Union.
E) opposed efforts to expand international trade.

Question 54

Britain and France declared war on Germany when

A) Germany bombed London.
B) Czechoslovakia fell.
C) Hitler invaded Poland.
D) Hitler declared union with Austria.
E) Hitler militarized the Rhineland.

Question 55

The most publicized "zoot suit" disturbances took place in Los Angeles between young Chicano men and police officers.

Question 56

Only Japanese Americans were subject to internment.

Question 57

In the mid-1930s, Gerald Nye headed U.S. Senate committee hearings that charged that bankers and munitions makers had maneuvered the United States into World War I.

Question 58

The most virulent acts of racial discrimination came from the government during World War II.

Question 59

The Yalta agreement on Poland was clear and unambiguous.

Question 60

During World War II, U.S. refugee policy

A) increased the number of Jews who were admitted to the country.
B) increased the number of Germans who were admitted to the country.
C) did not increase its immigration quota to admit 20,000 Jewish children into the U.S..
D) allowed Jewish children, but not adults, to enter the country as refugees.
E) allowed Japanese refugees to enter the country.

Question 61

No Japanese Americans were allowed to fight in the war.

Question 62

Unions adhered strictly to wartime no-strike pledges.

Question 63

Mobilization for World War II brought the United States out of the Depression.

Question 64

The economic impact of the war was huge.

Question 65

Before Pearl Harbor, the United States and Germany were already engaged in an undeclared naval war in the North Sea.

Question 66

Roughly 25,000 Native Americans served in the armed forces in World War II.

Question 67

William Allen White headed the America First Committee.

Question 68

FDR let stand the policy of segregation of the armed forces.

Question 69

World War II concentrated power in the largest corporations.

Question 70

The United States and Great Britain agreed on the unconditional surrender principle to assuage Soviet concerns about delays in launching the second front.

Question 71

Spain's General Francisco Franco was a popularly-elected leader who abhorred fascism.

Question 72

In a period of only six weeks, the German blitzkrieg conquered eastern Europe and Greece.

Question 73

It took only six weeks for Hitler's army to seize control of Europe's entire Atlantic coastline.

Question 74

The Hoover-Stimson Doctrine of nonrecognition of Manchukuo had no effect on Japan.

Question 75

The 1944 conference that created the International Monetary Fund sought to create stability in the global monetary system.

Question 76

Banning the sale of aviation fuel and high-grade scrap metal to Japan failed to halt Japan's advance in Southeast Asia.

Question 77

Gerald P. Nye, who led the Senate investigation into American entry into World War I, was a Democrat.

Question 78

The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.

Question 79

For the Japanese, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an act of desperation.

Question 80

Japan suffered its first naval defeat at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942.