Deck 27: The Deepening of the European Crisis: World War II

Question 1

Which of the following was the chief reason for Japanese expansion in the 1930s?

A)An expanding population and severe lack of natural resources on the island nation
B)Intense hatreds for the Chinese and Chinese culture
C)Desires by ruling military leaders to test their newly developed and newly organized armed forces

Answer 1

An expanding population and severe lack of natural resources on the island nation

Question 2

Which of the following is one reason President Truman and his advisers chose to use the atomic bombs against Japan?

A)They became convinced that American troops would suffer heavy casualties in an invasion of Japan.
B)They wanted to test the bombs in a combat situation.
C)They were unaware of how deadly the bombs would truly be.

Answer 2

They became convinced that American troops would suffer heavy casualties in an invasion of Japan.

Question 3

A major source of resistance to the Nazis came from which of the following groups?

A)The German people, who became effective at internal sabotage of Nazi plans
B)Communists throughout Europe, especially after the German invasion of Russia in 1941
C)The Vichy regime in France

Answer 3

Communists throughout Europe, especially after the German invasion of Russia in 1941

Question 4

Hitler's "Diplomatic Revolution" between 1933 and 1936 included all EXCEPT which of the following?

A)Seizing leadership of the League of Nations in 1933
B)Withdrawing from the Geneva Disarmament Conference in 1933
C)Publicly announcing the creation of a new air force in 1935

Question 5

How is the Battle of Stalingrad best described?

A)Stalin's forces suffered their most devastating defeat.
B)Hitler demonstrated the unstoppable force of Blitzkrieg.
C)The German high command realized that they could not defeat the Soviet Union.

Question 6

How is the turning point of the North African campaign best described?

A)It occurred at El Alamein, where the British stopped Rommel in the summer of 1942.
B)It occurred when South African troops crossed the Sahara and overwhelmed Rommel.
C)It occurred with the revolt of the Vichy French in North Africa.

Question 7

The Nazi rule of Europe was most ruthless in which of the following regions?

A)Eastern Europe, because Nazi officials considered Slavs to be racially inferior
B)France, because of the long rivalry between France and Germany
C)Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, because of their close proximity to Germany

Question 8

The Grand Alliance was cemented by the agreement of the Allies to do which of the following?

A)Divide their resources between the war in Europe and the war in the Pacific equally
B)Fight until the Axis powers surrendered unconditionally
C)Find ways to resolves their political and ideological differences while they pursued their military operations against the Axis powers

Question 9

Why is the Battle of Midway considered the turning point of the war?

A)American victory there destroyed a large portion of the Japanese fleet, establishing U.S. Naval supremacy in the Pacific
B)For the first time, the United States and Britain were able to field a combined fleet that allowed them to finally retake the island.
C)It was the first major battle in which the United States used ships repaired after the Pearl Harbor attack.

Question 10

Hitler's plan for defeating Britain relied on which of the following?

A)The support of Vichy French troops in a massive amphibious invasion
B)Germany's Luftwaffe gaining control of the skies
C)V-2 rockets to destroy British industrial power

Question 11

War broke out between Russia and Germany in 1941 after which of the following events?

A)Germany launched a surprise attack on Russia.
B)Russia launched a surprise attack on Germany.
C)Russian agents assassinated Hitler's nephew.

Question 12

Who among the following was the Nationalist leader of China in the 1930s?

A)Mao Zedong
B)Chiang Kai-shek
C)Sun Yat-Sen

Question 13

In order to open up a "second front" in Western Europe, the Allies chose which of the following strategies?

A)They quickly advanced through Italy into France in 1943.
B)They invaded Normandy in June 1944, carrying out the greatest naval invasion in history.
C)They landed on the Iberian peninsula and advanced through southern France.

Question 14

In the Nazi New Order, the Germans established a civil administration (instead of a military government)in which of the following states?

A)Norway
B)France
C)Poland

Question 15

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, which of the following was the main priority for the United States?

A)Defeating Japan as quickly as possible
B)Recovering the Hawaiian Islands
C)Defeating Germany first and then turning its great naval war machine against Japan

Question 16

Which of the following decisions made early in the war by Adolf Hitler probably made the defeat of Germany inevitable?

A)Abandoning the Battle of Britain
B)Dividing France into a zone of German occupation and a French national puppet government at Vichy
C)Immediately declaring war on the United States after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

Question 17

Following the Allied evacuation at Dunkirk, France followed which of the following policies?

A)It soon surrendered, and the Vichy government was set up as a German puppet state.
B)It went on the offensive and bogged Germany down in Normandy.
C)It recruited Italian forces to assist Allied defenses, giving France time to regroup.

Question 18

Who among the following became the new prime minister of Great Britain in May 1940?

A)Neville Chamberlain
B)David Lloyd George
C)Winston Churchill

Question 19

By 1941, the Japanese Empire included all EXCEPT which of the following?

A)Korea
B)Manchuria
C)Australia

Question 20

Which among the following was a factor that led to World War II?

A)The aggressive foreign policy of the United States following World War I
B)The inability of Britain and France to agree on the terms of the Versailles treaty
C)The failure of efforts of collective security such as the League of Nations and treaties

Question 21

Bombing raids against civilian targets was carried out for which of the following reasons?

A)To reduce the number of people available to participate in war
B)To exact revenge on the people
C)To break the will of a people to resist

Question 22

Why did Britain and France pursue appeasement?

Question 23

Allied bombing raids on German civilians had what effect?

A)Contrary to expectations, they produced stubborn resistance from the German people.
B)They destroyed the average German's will to fight.
C)They decimated most military infrastructure, severely reducing Germany's ability to defend itself.

Question 24

Following World War II, Germany experienced which of the following?

A)It was divided into two zones of occupation: east and west.
B)It was separated into twenty small security districts policed by the United Nations.
C)It was divided into four zones of occupation under U.S., British, French, and Russian administrations.

Question 25

Hitler's "Final Solution" to the Jewish problem called for which of the following?

A)The mass murder of all European Jews
B)The forced deportation of the Jews to Madagascar
C)The resettlement of Jews in ghettos, isolated from other Europeans

Question 26

At the conference at Yalta in 1945, Roosevelt called for postwar policy to be guided by which of the following?

A)A system of unilateral action
B)Spheres of influence
C)Exclusive alliances

Question 27

Which of the following nations experienced the greatest losses in World War II?

A)The Soviet Union
B)Nazi Germany
C)The United States

Question 28

How are the Nazi Einsatzgruppen best described?

A)Corrupt German journalists who worked to fill European newspapers with pro-Nazi propaganda
B)Special commando units sent to infiltrate Britain
C)Special strike forces used in Eastern Europe that proceeded to round up and kill Jewish men, women, and children

Question 29

What percentage of the Jewish population of Poland, the Baltic countries, and Germany were murdered in death camps?

A)90
B)60
C)30

Question 30

What were Hitler's beliefs about Eastern Europeans?

Question 31

British statesmen who followed a policy of appeasement believed Germany served as a powerful bulwark against which of the following countries and ideologies?

A)France and the spread of socialism
B)Italy and the spread of fascism
C)The USSR and the spread of communism

Question 32

Describe Germany's advances throughout Europe by 1940.

Question 33

Describe German advances into the Soviet Union.

Question 34

Why was Japan subject to embargoes by 1939?

Question 35

In the Allied bombing strategy in Europe, Americans participated in which capacity?

A)Primarily in the nighttime saturation bombing civilian populations
B)Only when British bomber wings needed reinforcements
C)Primarily in daytime, precision bombing German strategic targets

Question 36

Hitler settled on acquiring German Lebensraum in the east in Russian territory in part because of which of the following beliefs?

A)The Slavs were an "inferior" people now governed by impotent Jews among the Bolsheviks and worthy of enslavement.
B)The weakened Aryan "race" could only be rejuvenated and made better through war against the ancient enemies of the Fatherland.
C)The Anglo-Saxons were a decadent race and would never come to the aid of Eastern Europeans.

Question 37

All are true for the home front in the United States EXCEPT which of the following?

A)The Great Depression continued, although the worst effects of it were alleviated.
B)Massive amounts of government money financed new industries.
C)The chemicals and electronics industries developed significantly.

Question 38

Which of the following countries was the only country to use women as combatants in World War II?

A)Germany
B)The Soviet Union
C)Japan

Question 39

The chief argument between Truman and Stalin at Potsdam in July of 1945 was over which of the following?

A)Free elections in Eastern Europe
B)The numbers of tanks Americans and Russians could keep in Europe
C)What to do with German prisoners of war

Question 40

Describe the doctrine of Blitzkrieg.

Question 41

Describe U.S. policy toward Japan. How did this shape U.S.-China relations?

Question 42

At the Munich Conference in 1938, Hitler demanded the right to annex the German-speaking area of which of the following countries?

A)Poland
B)Austria
C)Czechoslovakia

Question 43

Why did the United States drop two atomic bombs on Japan?

Question 44

Why did Japan feel the need to go to war with the Allies?

Question 45

What motivations underpinned the policy of appeasement? Did Britain and France have another feasible alternative? Why or why not?

Question 46

Why did the Nazis perpetrate the Holocaust?

Question 47

What was the focus of Japanese occupation governments?

Question 48

Why is 1942 regarded as a turning point in the European war?

Question 49

What was the objective of allied bombing offensives?

Question 50

What was the human cost of World War II?

Question 51

Describe important allied victories achieved in 1944.

Question 52

Why was the German home front never totally mobilized during the war?

Question 53

Why is 1942 regarded as a turning point in the Pacific war?

Question 54

Why did Japan attack the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor?

Question 55

Hitler's first act of aggression took place in 1936 when the Germans occupied which of the following regions?

A)Austria
B)The Sudetenland
C)The Rhineland

Question 56

Why were German armies so effective in their attacks from 1939 to 1941? Discuss more than two examples in your response.

Question 57

How did the U.S. home front help Allies achieve victory?

Question 58

How was racial policy at the heart of the Nazi empire?

Question 59

Describe German expansion into Austria and Czechoslovakia. In what ways were they similar, and how did they rely on collaboration for their success?

Question 60

Describe the relations between the three major allied powers throughout the war.

Question 61

Why were Allied armies able to turn back axis armies in Europe and the Pacific in 1942? What key advantages did they possess at that point in the war?

Question 62

What role did mass internment, violence, and extermination play in the Nazi agenda? How did Germans participate in this scheme, and to what extent did it rely on collaboration by ordinary Germans and others?

Question 63

Which of the following best describes Blitzkrieg doctrine?

A)Powerful armored columns supported by air power punched small holes in an enemy's front lines, attacking the rear, causing panic, and encircling large numbers of enemy troops trying to retreat.
B)Massed infantry assaulted defensive positions after extensive bombardment by air and artillery units.
C)Paratroopers landed far behind enemy lines to cut communications and issue fake orders creating chaos while infantry and tanks advanced on enemy front lines during nighttime.

Question 64

Was the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan principally motivated by wartime needs or concerns about postwar strategy? Use examples and evidence to support your argument.

Question 65

Why did World War II result in so many more civilian deaths than military deaths?

Question 66

Between April and June 1940, Nazi Germany successfully invaded all EXCEPT which of the following countries?

A)The Soviet Union
B)Norway
C)France

Question 67

What were Japan's ultimate war aims in Asia and the Pacific? Why did that involve declaring war on the United States and Britain? What results did their initial attacks have for all three powers?

Question 68

Immediately following the fall of Poland, how did Britain and France respond?

A)France and Britain declared war and started an offensive against Germany.
B)France and Britain decided to continue to appease Hitler.
C)France and Britain declared war but remained relatively inactive militarily.

Question 69

How did Allied home fronts respond to wartime conditions? In what ways were their experiences similar, and in what ways were they different? Discuss at least two countries in your response.

Question 70

How did Japanese occupation differ to German occupation? What similarities existed?

Question 71

Which one of the following did NOT occur after Hitler's unilateral 1935 announcement of German rearmament?

A)France condemned Germany and warned against future aggression.
B)Britain condemned Germany and warned against future aggression.
C)Italy praised Germany and counseled more such behavior in the future.

Question 72

Why did the United States and Britain fall out with the Soviet Union toward the end of World War II? What effect did this have on the conduct of the war itself?

Question 73

How did the war end in Europe and the Pacific? What similarities and differences existed between the downfall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan?

Question 74

How did axis home fronts respond to wartime conditions? In what ways were their experiences similar, and in what ways were they different?