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CHAPTER 26: WORLD WAR II, 1939–1945
Multiple Choice
1. Which is the correct trio of Axis Powers in World War II?
A) Soviet Union, Germany, and Italy
B) Germany, Japan, and Italy
C) Germany, Italy, and France
D) Soviet Union, Japan, and Germany
2. Before 1939, Nazi concentration camps mostly held people who were __________.
A) uneducated
B) foreign prisoners of war
C) Jewish
D) political dissidents and anti-socials
3. What was the earliest event of fascist aggression leading up to World War II?
A) the creation of death camps in eastern Europe by the German military
B) the brutal invasion of China by the Japanese
C) the Italian invasion and overthrow of the government of Ethiopia
D) the German air force raids on Great Britain
4. What finally stalled Nazi aggression between 1940 and early 1941?
A) President Roosevelt secretly sent American pilots to Europe.
B) England steadfastly resisted the Nazis in the Battle of Britain.
C) A British blockade of Germany cut off fascist supply lines.
D) Economic boycotts by the United States damaged the German war effort.
5. Germany’s invasion of __________ on September 1, 1939 marked the start of World War II.
A) Denmark
B) Britain
C) France
D) Poland
6. Which of the following countries was allied with the Axis in 1941?
A) Greece
B) Hungary
C) Spain
D) Denmark
7. In the months leading up to Pearl Harbor __________.
A) relations between the United States and Japan appeared to be getting better
B) Germany withdrew its troops from the Soviet Union
C) Japan signed a non-aggression pact with China
D) FDR froze Japanese assets and increased the U.S. naval presence in the Pacific
8. Which of the following was allowed under FDR’s “lend-lease” program?
A) States could earn block grants from the federal government.
B) The United States could sell military supplies to the Axis Powers.
C) Britain could borrow military equipment from the United States.
D) Racial minorities could obtain land in exchange for military service.
9. The Atlantic Charter of 1941 __________.
A) created further distance between the United States and European involvement
B) provided a political framework for the possibility of American involvement
C) did not express American opposition to territorial change by conquest
D) emphasized the defeat of imperial Japan as the first priority
10. Which statement about Pearl Harbor is true?
A) The attack left the United States with no naval carriers in the Pacific.
B) Japan destroyed all of the oil storage tanks at Pearl Harbor.
C) More than 2,000 Americans were killed in the surprise Japanese attack.
D) Even after the attack, many congressmen voted against a declaration of war.
11. Which of the following countries was an Allied power during World War II?
A) the Soviet Union
B) Greece
C) India
D) Poland
12. In 1942, __________ submarines dominated the North Atlantic.
A) American
B) British
C) Soviet
D) German
13. A turning point on the Eastern Front came when __________.
A) the Americans defeated the Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway
B) Allied forces defeated the Germans at El Alamein
C) the Soviet Union forced a German surrender after the Battle of Stalingrad
D) FDR sent two million troops to the aid of the battered Soviet Union
14. Which of the following areas was most insulated from the fighting in World War II?
A) North Africa
B) North America
C) East Asia
D) southern Europe
15. Which of the following most likely contributed to the ultimate defeat of the German Army?
A) Hitler’s decision to engage in a blitzkrieg attack against Great Britain.
B) Hitler’s decision to invade the Soviet Union.
C) Hitler’s attack on the Jewish people of Europe.
D) Hitler’s support for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
16. Why did the Allies decide to defeat Germany before Japan?
A) because the Japanese could not continue without German support
B) because the Japanese posed no threat to the Soviet Union or Great Britain
C) because Germany was engaged in the systematic extermination of the Jewish people in Europe
D) because an atomic bomb could be used to defeat Japan quickly, but such a bomb would not defeat
Germany
17. Which of the following allowed the Allies to win the Battle of the Atlantic?
A) Disruptions to the supply chain prevented German manufacturers from producing new U-boats.
B) New sonar systems improved the tracking of German U-boats.
C) The United States threatened to use an atomic bomb.
D) The Soviet Union sent naval reinforcements.
18. The first check to Japanese expansion came at the Battle of the Coral Sea when __________.
A) British reinforcements relieved a battered U.S. navy
B) U.S. aircraft carriers halted a Japanese advance toward Australia
C) the Japanese were forced to surrender the island fortress of Corregidor
D) the alliance of the Axis Powers dissolved
19. During World War II, the number of civilian employees in the federal government grew __________
times larger.
A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five
20. Which statement about American support for World War II is true?
A) Officials were surprised that not many men enlisted after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
B) For the first time in U.S. military history, racial equality existed in the army.
C) The support for the war unified Americans across regional, national, and class divisions.
D) Women played no significant role in the Allies’ victory.
21. The War Production Board __________.
A) allocated workers among vital industries
B) invested in new factories and managed war contracts
C) issued ration cards
D) produced military propaganda films
22. The Office of Price Administration fought inflation by __________.
A) intentionally decreasing farm incomes
B) implementing price controls and rationing
C) paying off the entire national debt
D) ordering lower wages for war industry workers
23. By 1943, __________ percent of the world’s military production was coming from the United States.
A) 10
B) 30
C) 40
D) 60
24. What was the most costly scientific development during World War II?
A) antibiotics
B) radar technology
C) aircraft technology
D) weapons systems
25. The Manhattan Project was the code name for __________.
A) the D-Day invasion
B) rationing programs in the United States
C) the project to develop the atomic bomb
D) the American attack at Iwo Jima
26. What prompted J. Robert Oppenheimer to say, “Now I am become death”?
A) viewing the grim remains of the Battle of Saipan
B) observing the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz
C) seeing a nuclear fission bomb tested for the first time
D) watching the Battle of Stalingrad from a barn in the countryside
27. Which statement about Native Americans in World War II is true?
A) The government did very little to assimilate Indians into the war effort.
B) The average cash income of Indians experienced a decrease during the war.
C) They often served as effective code-talkers by using Native American languages.
D) There was an increase in the number of Native Americans who lived in urban areas.
28. During the war years, the number of __________.
A) marriages increased
B) divorces increased
C) marriages decreased
D) divorces decreased
29. Which of the following statements about women workers on the home front is true?
A) The majority of women contributed to the war effort through victory gardens and other domestic labor.
B) Women played vital roles in the shipyards and in the aircraft industry.
C) Employment of women was discouraged during the war years.
D) The percentage of women working in manufacturing jobs was the same as before the war.
30. The war greatly facilitated the assimilation of which of the following groups?
A) Native Americans
B) Mexican Americans
C) African Americans
D) Japanese Americans
31. Under the bracero program, more than 200,000 __________ worked on U.S. farms and railroads.
A) Mexicans
B) Puerto Ricans
C) Cubans
D) Native Americans
32. FDR’s issuance of Executive Order 8802 __________.
A) allowed women to join the Army-Air Corps
B) required participation in scrap drives and victory gardens
C) gave approval for the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan
D) banned racial discrimination in employment for defense industries
33. Which of the following experienced the greatest financial advances during the war years?
A) Native American men
B) African American men
C) Native American women
D) African American women
34. During World War II, riots in Harlem and Detroit revealed that __________.
A) the Communist Party had a strong foundation in urban areas
B) antiwar sentiment was on the rise as the war continued
C) labor unions were not following FDR’s no-strike appeals
D) racial divisiveness was still a social problem in America
35. Of the following groups, which was most likely to be interned without any evidence that the
individual posed a threat to the United States?
A) German Americans
B) Italian Americans
C) Chinese Americans
D) Japanese American
36. Japanese Americans in __________ were treated most leniently.
A) California
B) Washington
C) Oregon
D) Hawaii
37. Who replaced Henry Wallace as FDR’s running mate in 1944?
A) John Kennedy
B) Harry Truman
C) Harry Hopkins
D) Dwight Eisenhower
38. After the fall of Mussolini __________.
A) the Axis Powers withdrew all of their troops from central Europe
B) the British shifted their focus back to North Africa
C) bitter fighting for the control of Italy took place between the Allies and Germany
D) George Patton was able to invade eastern France
39. Meetings of Allied leaders at Casablanca and Tehran revealed that __________.
A) China would not continue to aid the Allies’ cause
B) Japan was on the verge of surrender
C) the Soviet Union was no longer experiencing significant casualties
D) the Allies possessed differing views of the world after the war
40. Where did the United States win its first major victories in World War II?
A) North Africa
B) the South Pacific
C) the Eastern Front
D) the Western Front
41. What was the largest battle of World War II?
A) the Battle of Britain
B) the Battle of Stalingrad
C) the Battle of Kursk
D) the Battle of the Bulge
42. What was the most important result of the Allied landing at Normandy?
A) the toppling of Mussolini’s government in Italy
B) the retreat of the Germans out of France
C) it proved Harry Truman’s skills as a military leader
D) it contributed to the Americans’ victory at Kasserine Pass
43. “Operation OVERLORD” was the code name for the __________.
A) reelection strategy of FDR
B) project to build the atomic bomb
C) entire campaign across northern France
D) Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad
44. __________ had the highest number of total dead in World War II.
A) The Soviet Union
B) China
C) Germany
D) Japan
45. During the Holocaust, the Germans murdered __________ million Jews and __________ million
Poles, Gypsies, and others who failed to meet the Nazi vision of a “master race.”
A) three; two
B) six; one
C) six; six
D) four; three
46. Japan surrendered to the United States __________.
A) the day after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
B) because they feared the entry of the Soviet Union into the war in the Pacific
C) as a result of the destructive fire bombings of Tokyo
D) after the United States dropped a second atomic bomb
47. What was the American strategy in the Pacific?
A) blitzkrieg
B) beach combing
C) island hopping
D) lightning war
48. The bitter intensity of the war in the Pacific was magnified by __________.
A) Japan’s lack of any fighter planes
B) racial hatred and cultural differences between both sides
C) the defeat of the Americans at Leyte Gulf
D) the Americans’ inability to cut off supplies to Japan
49. What did the United States hope to achieve with the Potsdam Declaration of 1945?
A) complete German surrender
B) withdrawal of all U.S. troops from western Europe
C) complete Japanese surrender
D) a demilitarized Soviet Union
50. The main reason behind Harry Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb was __________.
A) American scientists wished to see if the bomb would actually work
B) U.S. intelligence knew that Japan was close to developing its own atomic bomb
C) Josef Stalin urged the United States to use the weapon to quickly end the war
D) American officials believed the Japanese would fight up to the point of annihilation
Essay Questions
51. How did American unity provide a foundation for success in World War II? Give examples of
Americans on the home front that illustrate the importance of that unity.
52. What evidence reveals the brutal nature of the war in the Pacific? What factors contributed to
President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb? Of those factors, which one do you think was
most influential in his mind?
53. Analyze the wartime experiences of three of the following groups: women, African Americans,
Mexican Americans Japanese Americans, and Native Americans. Did these experiences help or hinder
progress toward equality in America?
54. Respond to this statement: “American entry into World War II was a vital factor in the defeat of the Axis
powers.”
55. What factors combined to produce the defeat of Germany? Use specific examples to support your
answer.
