Louisiana State University - HIST 2055

Chapter 30 The Second World War

TRUE/FALSE

1)By the end of World War II, over 6 million women had entered the workforce.

 

                                

2. Black American soldiers generally served in desegregated units during World War II.

                                

 

3. The bracero program mobilized Native Americans to support the war effort.

 

                                

 

4. Large numbers of Americans of German, Italian, and Japanese descent were incarcerated during World War II.

 

                                

 

5. The United States and Britain adopted a Pacific first strategy to World War II in response to Japanese attacks in the Pacific.

 

                                

 

6. At Casablanca, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed that the terms for ending the war must include the “un- conditional surrender” of all enemies.

 

                                

 

7. The strategic bombing of Europe in 1943 and 1944 completely and utterly devastated German industri- al production.

 

                                

 

8. D-day refers to the cross-Channel Allied amphibious invasion of Nazi-occupied France.

 

                                

 

9. The Battle of Leyte Gulf underscored Japan’s ability to continue its defense of the Philippines.

 

                                

 

10. The agreements at Yalta Conference included Stalin’s pledge to enter the war against Japan three months after Germany’s defeat.

                                

 

11. In May 1945, Germany surrendered in exchange for assurances Hitler would not be tried as a war criminal.

 

                                

 

12. The United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

 

                                

 

13. Despite the insistence on “unconditional surrender,” the United States accepted a conditional surrender when it agreed to let the emperor keep his throne.

 

                                

 

14. Despite the length and duration of World War II, total civilian and military deaths miraculously re- mained less than 1 million.

 

                                

 

15. During World War II, presidential authority expanded significantly.

 

                                

 

MULTIPLE CHOICE

 

1. From late 1941 into early 1942, World War II in the Pacific experienced:
   1. a string of American victories that put Japan on the defensive
   2. a succession of Japanese victories that saw numerous Allied outposts fall
   3. the Japanese on the Philippines surrender to General Douglas MacArthur
   4. the Japanese invasion and capture of Australia
   5. China finally surrendering to Japan

                                

 

2. All of the following statements about the Battle of Midway are true EXCEPT that:
   1. it was the turning point of the war in the Pacific that favored the United States
   2. the Japanese lost four aircraft carriers
   3. the battle began with another Japanese surprise attack on American forces
   4. the Japanese navy was forced into retreat less than six months after Pearl Harbor
   5. the battle demonstrated that aircraft carriers were the decisive elements of modern naval warfare

                                

3. In early 1942, the biggest challenge the United States faced in the Atlantic was:
   1. German submarine warfare
   2. German aircraft carrier attacks
   3. German blitzkrieg
   4. German espionage
   5. German-American disloyalty

 

 

4. By late 1942, the United States effectively countered German advantages in the Atlantic with which strategic response?
   1. aerial bombardment
   2. cross-Channel invasion
   3. dropping the atomic bomb
   4. espionage
   5. convoys and escorts

                                

 

5. Following the declaration of war:
   1. a surge of volunteerism allowed the repeal of the Selective Service Act to end the draft
   2. all men and women between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were drafted
   3. women between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were drafted, while men were exempt from the draft due to an excess of volunteers
   4. men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were drafted
   5. the draft was enacted for the first time in American history

                                

 

6. Which agency was created to direct industrial conversion to war production?
   1. the Commerce Department
   2. the War Production Board
   3. the Treasury Department
   4. the Office of Scientific Research and Development
   5. the Office of War Information

                                

 

7. The U.S. government financed the war with all of the following methods EXCEPT:
   1. raising taxes
   2. selling war bonds
   3. borrowing from financial institutions
   4. expanding the number of taxpayers
   5. cutting federal jobs

                                

 

8. A significant economic problem during the war was:
   1. finding enough workers for the essential wartime industries

1. 2. overcoming high unemployment that lingered from the Depression
   3. dealing with deflationary pressures that killed consumer demand
   4. women refusing to work in wartime industries
   5. raising low wages

 

 

9. The Office of Price Administration:
   1. was designed to combat the serious wartime deflation
   2. was designed to raise consumer prices
   3. lacked any authority to set consumer prices or ration any items
   4. set price ceilings on and rationed highly demanded items such as tires, sugar, and gasoline
   5. set price ceilings and directed the rationing of all goods and items for sale in the wartime economy

                                

 

10. During the war, domestic politics were marked by:
    1. the “liberalization” of southern Democrats
    2. expansion of New Deal programs
    3. a growing conservatism
    4. the decline of Republican power in Washington
    5. the total dominance of Democrats over the politics of the war

                                

 

11. Which statement best describes the impact of the war on the Far West?
    1. The Far West’s population and economy shrunk as wartime mobilization shifted industry east.
    2. The war had no significant impact on the Far West.
    3. The wartime demand for food saw the Far West become increasingly dominated by agri- culture.
    4. The Far West experienced the fastest rate of urban growth in the country.
    5. Western cities ceased expanding as the male population was sent off to fight in the war.

                                

 

12. The mobilization of women in the labor force during World War II:
    1. was opposed by many men who feared changes in women’s traditional roles
    2. enjoyed the nearly unanimous support of all Americans
    3. has been greatly overexaggerated and distorted beyond its real significance
    4. impacted only minorities and immigrants
    5. occurred in all Allied nations except in the United States

 

 

13. The Fair Employment Practices Committee, established by executive order in 1941, had what object- ive?
    1. to permit women to be employed in defense work
    2. to desegregate the armed forces

1. 3. to end “right-to-work” laws
   4. to prohibit racial discrimination in defense work
   5. to allow women to serve in the armed forces

                                

 

14. The bracero program:
    1. led to the forced evacuation of over 100,000 Japanese Americans
    2. was a reaction to the “zoot-suit” riots
    3. allowed most recent immigrants to join the American armed services after a thorough background check
    4. sought to mobilize Indian reservations in support of the American war effort
    5. brought some 200,000 Mexican farmworkers into the western United States

                                

 

15. The zoot-suit riots of 1943 refer to:
    1. the violent conflict that erupted in Japanese American internment camps
    2. uprisings on Navajo Indian reservations in the Southwest protesting the draft
    3. the violent conflict in Los Angeles that pitted white civilians and servicemen against Mex- ican Americans
    4. A. Philip Randolph’s march on Washington
    5. a race riot that erupted in Detroit pitting whites against blacks

                                

 

16. Which statement best describes the Native American experience in the armed forces during World War II?
    1. Indian servicemen fought in segregated units with African Americans.
    2. Indian servicemen were integrated into regular units.
    3. Native Americans were ineligible for service in the armed forces.
    4. Native Americans refused to serve in the armed forces.
    5. Native Americans served but were exempt from fighting on the front lines.

                                

 

17. “War relocation camps”:
    1. housed over 100,000 Japanese Americans during the war
    2. were actually prisoner-of-war camps for captured Germans
    3. was the German euphemism for Nazi concentration camps
    4. helped the families of American servicemen cope with the absence of husbands and fath- ers
    5. were the bases that housed American servicemen before being sent to the front lines

 

 

18. Which of the following statements accurately describes the overall approach the British and Americans adopted to fighting the war?
    1. They prioritized the battle in Asia since Japanese expansion was the greatest global threat.
    2. They could not agree on priorities and never adopted an overarching strategy.

1. 3. They prioritized the war in Europe since Germany posed the greatest threat to the Western Hemisphere.
   4. They agreed to devote equal resources to the wars in Asia and Europe since both Germany and Japan threatened the Allies equally.
   5. Britain agreed to fight the war in Europe, while the United States did the fighting in Asia.

                                

 

19. When Roosevelt and Churchill met to draft a joint war plan in early 1942, they made all of the follow- ing commitments EXCEPT:
    1. an agreement not to seek a separate peace with common enemies
    2. an affirmation of the Atlantic Charter
    3. a pledging of full resources to fight the war
    4. making a cross-Channel invasion into Europe the first priority of the combined war effort
    5. appointing Allied war commanders for each theater who were subject to orders from the British-American Combined Chiefs of Staff

                                

 

20. British and American differences over where to attack Germany first were resolved with the decision to launch an offensive:
    1. across the English Channel
    2. against Japan
    3. in the Middle East
    4. on the Eastern front
    5. in North Africa

                                

 

21. At the Casablanca Conference, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to all of the following EXCEPT:
    1. a demand for the “unconditional surrender” of their enemies
    2. an immediate launching of a cross-Channel invasion into France
    3. the stepped-up bombing of Germany
    4. a prioritizing of the anti-submarine campaign in the Atlantic
    5. increased shipments of military supplies to the Soviet Union

                                

 

22. What helped the Allies gain the advantage in the Battle of the Atlantic?
    1. The Allies decoded German messages that indicated where the U-boats were.
    2. The Allies had a submarine advantage over the Germans.
    3. The Allies’ aircraft-carrier superiority countered the German U-boat advantage.
    4. The Allies utilized aerial precision bombing of German targets.
    5. The Allies bypassed the Atlantic to confront the Germans directly in Europ

 

 

23. Which statement best describes the Allied invasion against Sicily in July 1943?
    1. The fight for Sicily became known as “the Mediterranean’s Okinaw”
    2. The well-fortified island proved too difficult for the Allies to capture.

1. 3. Sicily had fallen entirely into the Allied hands in just over a month.
   4. The fight for Sicily became the first outright defeat for the Allied war effort.
   5. The Allies captured Mussolini and forced him to surrender.

                                

 

24. How did Germany respond to Italy’s decision to switch sides in September 1943?
    1. Germany slowed the Allied advance by pouring its own reinforcements into Italy.
    2. Hitler had Mussolini assassinated.
    3. Germany abandoned Italy and focused on defending France.
    4. Hitler offered to surrender to the Allies with conditions.
    5. Germany diverted its former Italian forces to fight the Soviets.

 

 

25. All of the following statements about the Allied bombing of Germany during 1943 and 1944 are true EXCEPT:
    1. American strategic bombers were full-fledged partners of the Royal Air Force
    2. the bombings caused widespread damage
    3. the strategic offensive failed to devastate German industrial production
    4. the Allied bombing indisputably shattered civilian morale in Germany
    5. the Allies had secured air supremacy over Germany

                                

 

26. What did the 1943 Declaration of Cairo state?
    1. Egypt would gain independence after the war.
    2. The war against Germany would continue until its unconditional surrender.
    3. A cross-Channel invasion into France was the top priority of the Allies.
    4. Japan had to surrender unconditionally.
    5. The Holocaust was a crime against humanity.

                                

 

27. What was the main purpose of the 1943 meeting among Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin at Tehran?
    1. to discuss the use of atomic bombs to end the war
    2. to consider inducing the Axis powers to lay down their arms by abandoning the insistence on “unconditional surrender”
    3. to reconsider the strategies in the Battle for the Atlantic
    4. to reprioritize the war in Asia as more important than the war in Europe
    5. to plan the invasion of France and a Russian offensive across eastern Europe

                                

 

28. D-day refers to the:
    1. top-secret work of American cryptanalysts (code breakers)
    2. day the atomic bombs were to be dropped on Japan
    3. Allied invasion at Normandy
    4. Allied invasion of North Africa
    5. joint American-Russian effort to free Poland

                                

 

29. All of the following Pacific engagements helped turn the tide of war against Japan in 1943 and 1944 EXCEPT the:
    1. Battle of the Bulge
    2. Battle of Leyte Gulf
    3. Battle of the Philippine Sea
    4. Battle of the Bismarck Sea
    5. invasion of the Marshall Islands

 

 

30. What was the most significant consequence of the Battle of Leyte Gulf?
    1. Germany entered the war in the Pacific and fought alongside Japan.
    2. The Allied forces secured a foothold on the Japanese home islands.
    3. The Chinese earned their first substantive victory against the Japanese.
    4. This Japanese surprise victory caused Allied losses so severe it nearly ended the war.
    5. The Japanese lost their remaining sea power and ability to defend the Philippines.

                                

 

31. In the presidential election of 1944:
    1. Franklin Roosevelt was defeated in his run for a fourth term as president
    2. Franklin Roosevelt won a fourth term as president
    3. Franklin Roosevelt chose not to run for a fourth term because of his health problems and progress toward winning the war
    4. Harry Truman was elected president
    5. Republican Wendell Willkie opposed Democrat Franklin Roosevelt

                                

 

32. Following their quick sweep across France, the Allies:
    1. were forced to retreat to their pre-1944 lines
    2. lost momentum in the fall of 1944
    3. just as quickly captured most of Germany
    4. accepted a conditional German surrender
    5. were surrounded and nearly defeated in Normandy

                                

 

33. At the Battle of the Bulge:
    1. the British repelled the German invasion force seeking to conquer Britain
    2. German forces pushed the Allied amphibious invasion back into the English Channel
    3. ended the war in Europe when Hitler committed suicide
    4. Germany’s victory once again threatened an overall Allied defeat
    5. the destruction of Germany’s last reserve units left open the door to Germany’s heartland from the west

                                

34. The Soviet advance toward Germany from the east in 1945:
    1. alarmed Winston Churchill, who had become suspicious of Soviet intentions
    2. demonstrated how strong and unified the Alliance remained in the last year of the war
    3. halted after a devastating defeat at Warsaw
    4. occurred while fighting alongside British and American forces
    5. is known as the Battle of the Bulge

 

 

35. At the Yalta Conference of 1945, the Allies did all of the following EXCEPT:
    1. call for a conference to create a new world security organization
    2. agree to Soviet territorial demands in Eastern Europe
    3. make arrangements for the postwar governance of Germany
    4. restore the original Polish government to power in Poland
    5. reaffirm the principles of the Atlantic Charter

                                

 

36. Which statement best describes the Soviets and the Yalta accords?
    1. The Soviets were given more than they ever asked for.
    2. The Soviets violated many of the agreements they made at Yalta.
    3. The Soviets rejected signing any of the Yalta accords.
    4. The Soviets had little leverage at Yalta to fulfill their objectives.
    5. The Soviets rejected the request to join the war against Japan.

                                

 

37. Less than a month before the surrender of Germany:
    1. President Roosevelt lost his reelection bid
    2. the war in Asia ended with the Japanese surrender
    3. Hitler was captured by advancing Allied forces
    4. atomic bombs were dropped on Japan
    5. President Roosevelt died in office

                                

 

38. The Axis’s defeat and Germany’s surrender included all of the following EXCEPT:
    1. Hitler’s suicide
    2. Italian partisans capturing and killing Mussolini
    3. the Allied capture of Hitler’s mistress, Eva Braun
    4. the surrender of German forces in Italy
    5. the signing of a treaty in which Germany agreed to unconditional surrender

                                

 

39. Following the defeat of Germany:
    1. came the shocking realization of the full extent of the Holocaust
    2. Hitler was executed after his conviction of war crimes
    3. the Prussian monarchy was restored to the German throne

1. 4. the Allies established a liberal democratic government with its capital in Berlin
   5. Franklin Roosevelt died in office

 

 

40. The American assault on Okinawa:
    1. failed at great loss of life for the U.S. forces
    2. was a success but with tremendous loss of life for both the United States and Japan
    3. was postponed with the development of the atomic bomb
    4. resulted in the surrender of the Japanese Imperial Army
    5. prompted the emperor to give up his throne

                                

 

41. The Potsdam Declaration:
    1. accepted the Japanese surrender and allowed the emperor to remain on the throne “subor- dinate to the authority of the Allied occupation”
    2. is the formal name for the Soviet Union’s declaration of war against Japan
    3. threatened that Hiroshima and Nagasaki faced an “atomic holocaust” if Japan did not sur- render
    4. presented Japan’s terms for surrendering to the Allied powers
    5. demanded that Japan surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction”

                                

 

42. The use of atomic bombs against Japan had what significance?
    1. They prevented the Soviets from entering the war in Asi
    2. They shocked Germany into surrendering before facing the same fate.
    3. They killed the Japanese emperor and paved the way for surrender.
    4. They allowed the Americans to avoid an amphibious invasion of Japan.
    5. They rendered the entire island of Honshu inhabitable for twenty-three years.

                                

 

43. After dropping two atomic bombs on Japan, the United States:
    1. accepted Japan’s surrender, albeit with the condition that the emperor could keep his throne
    2. accepted Japan’s unconditional surrender
    3. launched the amphibious invasion of Japan, the final operation of World War II
    4. returned its attention to fighting the war in Europe
    5. dropped a third one on Tokyo to force the Japanese to surrender

 

 

44. The country that suffered the most deaths in the fighting of World War II was:
    1. the United States
    2. Germany
    3. Japan
    4. Britain
    5. the Soviet Union

                                

 

45. As a result of World War II:
    1. Franklin Roosevelt became a dictator
    2. the Depression ended
    3. unemployment increased
    4. economic growth stagnated
    5. racial and gender discrimination disappeared in the United States

                                

 

46. As a result of World War II, presidential authority in the United States:
    1. declined as that of Congress increased
    2. increased dramatically at the expense of congressional and state power
    3. suffered as the power of the states increased
    4. contracted as New Deal agencies disappeared
    5. experienced no substantive change

                                

 

47. Following the conclusion of World War II, the two most powerful nations in the world were:
    1. the United States and Britain
    2. Japan and Germany
    3. the United States and the Soviet Union
    4. Germany and Britain
    5. the United States and Japan

                                

 

MATCHING

 

1 Match each description with the item below.

1. 1. was the Democratic presidential candidate in 1944
   2. headed Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
   3. headed Operation Overlord
   4. was an American admiral in the Pacific
   5. was the sitting vice president removed from the 1944 ticket
   6. lost presidential election in 1944
   7. was elected vice president in 1944
   8. was the American general who refused to surrender during the Battle of the Bulge
   1. said, “People of the Philippines: I have returned”
   10. directed construction of atomic bombs