Deck 10: America During the Second World War 1939-1945

Question 1

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 1

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

Question 2

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

Answer 2

call for an end to the Communist threat

Question 3

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"

Answer 3

"lend-lease"

Question 4

During the war years,women

A)continued to fight for equal wages.
B)found jobs in industries and fields that were previously male dominated.
C)saw increased discrimination against married women.
D)experienced the end of sex-segregated workplaces.
E)increased consumer spending to keep the economy going strong.

Question 5

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 6

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 bypass earlier neutrality declarations. 
D)a way for the United States to strengthen its defenses.
E)a means of broadening arms sales to belligerents.

Question 7

The successor to President Franklin Roosevelt was

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

Question 8

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 9

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 10

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 11

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

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

Question 12

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.

Question 13

Why did the U.S.choose Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the sites for dropping the first atomic bombs?​

A)They were conveniently located.​
B)They were military installations.​
C)There was likely to be little loss of civilian life there.​
D)The bomb's impact on a large number of inhabitants would have a key psychological impact on the Japanese.​
E)They were key commerce centers in Japan.

Question 14

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 15

The proposed East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere was designed to

A)create better trade relations between Asian nations.
B)forge a stronger  economic alliance with the West.
C)create a self-sufficiency economic zone,led by Japan.
D)establish a union of Asian nations,led by China.
E)None of these choices.

Question 16

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 17

The worldwide economic stagnation in the decade or so before World War II 

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 18

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 19

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 20

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 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

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 23

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 24

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 25

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 26

What was the main reasons unions advocated equal pay for women workers during the war?​

A)​They wanted to maintain wage levels for men who would return to jobs after the war.​
B)​They wanted to encourage more women to fill jobs left by men going off to war.​
C)​They came to recognize women workers as vital to war production.​
D)​Once they saw that women could work as hard as men,they thought they should be paid as men.​
E)​They realized that many women had become primary breadwinners for their families.​

Question 27

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 28

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 29

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 30

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 31

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 32

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 33

Roosevelt's 1944 proposed Second Bill of Rights included all of the following except​

A)​measures to guarantee the right to employment.
B)​affordable healthcare.
C)​equal pay for equal work.
D)​access to educational opportunities.
E)​adequate food and shelter.

Question 34

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 35

Which of the following is a true statement regarding the Holocaust? 

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 Allied nations declined to help Jews escape and emigrate before and during the war 
D)about 500,000 people died in the Nazi concentration camps.
E)the number of Jews in Europe after the Holocaust was a third of the pre-war total. 

Question 36

The "Zoot Suit Riots" were​

A)an attack on African American men who had migrated to jobs in Detroit.​
B)an attack on flamboyantly dressed black and Mexican youth by soldiers and sailors.​
C)a labor protest at a garment factory during the war.​
D)a public uprising against wartime clothing and other shortages of consumer goods.​
E)None of these choices.

Question 37

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 willing 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 38

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 39

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 40

The ruling in Korematsu v.United States

A)denounced Japanese internment.
B)upheld the rights of the Japanese to retain their property during internment.
C)upheld the right of the U.S.government to intern the Japanese
D)apologized to Japanese Americans for their internment.
E)validated the military drafting of interned Japanese Americans.

Question 41

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 42

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

Question 43

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

Question 44

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 45

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

Question 46

The Yalta agreement on Poland was clear and unambiguous.

Question 47

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

Question 48

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 49

The code name for Allied activity in North Africa was

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

Question 50

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 51

President Roosevelt's vision for the post-war homefront featured​

A)​a desegregated military.
B)​equal pay for women.
C)​government programs to enhance people's daily lives.
D)greater ​government control of manufacturing.
E)​discontinuing New Deal labor initiatives.​

Question 52

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

Question 53

In 1944,President Franklin Roosevelt proposed a Second Bill of Rights that would limit the role of government.

Question 54

To counter Roosevelt's proposals to expand the role of government in enhancing the quality of people's lives,insurance companies offered improved healthcare and other benefits.

Question 55

Japanese internment was not controversial.

Question 56

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

Question 57

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

Question 58

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 59

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

Question 60

Only Japanese Americans were subject to internment.

Question 61

Democrats and Republicans supported the work of the Office of War Information.

Question 62

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

Question 63

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

Question 64

The atomic bombs were viewed as simply bigger,more effective firebombs.

Question 65

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

Question 66

In 1939,Japan abrogated its Treaty of Commerce and Navigation with the United States.

Question 67

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

Question 68

The economic impact of the war was huge.

Question 69

On the national level,the commitment of organized labor to female workers was weak.

Question 70

The War Labor Board upheld the practice of paying black and white workers differently.

Question 71

During the war,unions fought for contracts that would pay men and women equally for the same jobs.

Question 72

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

Question 73

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

Question 74

Zoot suits were flamboyant fashions worn by women.

Question 75

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

Question 76

World War II concentrated power in the largest corporations.

Question 77

Unions adhered strictly to wartime no-strike pledges.

Question 78

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

Question 79

Because the United States remained officially uninvolved,the Spanish Civil War did not affect the political debate over U.S.foreign policy.

Question 80

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