Chapter 36
New Conflagrations: World War II and the Cold War
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1.World War II began with
a. the assassination of Francis Ferdinand.
b. Japanese attacks on China.
c. a Russian invasion of Poland.
d. the Nazi invasion of Poland.
e. the German takeover of Czechoslovakia.
Answer: b
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2.The height of Japanese atrocity in China was reached at the Rape of
a. Beijing.
b. Shanghai.
c. Hong Kong.
d. Nanjing.
e. Manchukuo.
Answer: d
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3.The Guomindang, during World War II, was
a. an Asian economic organization.
b. a Japanese government that ruled the Philippines.
c. the resistance government of the Chinese versus Japan’s invasion of China.
d. the resistance government of Korea versus Japan’s invasion of Korea.
e. an Asian political action group in the United States that campaigned against discrimination versus Asians.
Answer: c
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4.The Tripartite Pact brought together
a. England, France, and the Soviet Union.
b. China, England, and the United States.
c. Germany, Italy, and Japan.
d. England, the Soviet Union, and the United States.
e. Germany, Italy, and Austria.
Answer: c
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5.The Italian fascists used which war as an excuse to intervene and gain valuable military experience?
a. Russian civil war
b. Ethiopian civil war
c. Czechoslovakian civil war
d. Algerian civil war
e. Spanish civil war
Answer: e
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6.The weakness of the League of Nations was revealed in its inability to take any substantial action in response to the Italian invasion of
a. Czechoslovakia.
b. Ethiopia.
c. Austria.
d. Egypt.
e. Switzerland.
Answer: b
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7.Adolf Hitler always spoke of the “November crime,” which was the
a. election of Franklin Roosevelt.
b. Bolshevik takeover in Russia.
c. signing of an alliance between England and the Soviet Union.
d. Japanese takeover of China.
e. signing of the 1918 armistice.
Answer: e
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8.In 1938, Germany sent troops into what country and forced its leaders to accept the Anschluss?
a. the Rhineland
b. Poland
c. France
d. Austria
e. Czechoslovakia
Answer: d
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9.The high point of appeasement was
a. the Munich Conference.
b. the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
c. the German invasion of Poland.
d. Germany sending troops into the demilitarized Rhineland.
e. the Washington Conference.
Answer: a
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10.In the wake of the Munich Conference, what leader proposed that the meeting had ensured “peace in our time”?
a. Winston Churchill
b. Adolf Hitler
c. Benito Mussolini
d. Joseph Stalin
e. Neville Chamberlain
Answer: e
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11.While the Russian-German Treaty of Nonagression was on the surface a nonaggression treaty, it had secret stipulations that spelled out
a. the division of eastern Europe.
b. a plan for the eventual invasion of the United States.
c. the plans for the “final solution.”
d. the division of China into spheres of influence.
e. the expansion of the treaty to include the British.
Answer: a
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12.The European part of World War II began with the
a. Soviet invasion of Romania.
b. Polish invasion of Germany.
c. German invasion of Poland.
d. German takeover of Austria.
e. Munich Conference.
Answer: c
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13.The German Blitzkrieg referred to
a. an elaborate series of concrete bunkers built on the experiences of World War II.
b. the Nazi plan for a “final solution” to the “Jewish question.”
c. the living space in the east that was necessary for an expanding Germany.
d. a lightning war.
e. the German representative assembly that voted Hitler into power.
Answer: d
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14.After the fall of France in 1940, the only country left to fight Germany was
a. Britain.
b. the United States.
c. the Soviet Union.
d. Italy.
e. Norway.
Answer: a
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15.In the Battle of Britain, the Germans hoped to defeat the English
a. through a massive naval invasion of Scotland.
b. through their secret alliance with the Irish.
c. almost solely through air attacks led by the Luftwaffe.
d. through simultaneous attacks launched from Norway and France.
e. using their vast advantage in submarine warfare.
Answer: c
Page: 841
16.Operation Barbarossa was the
a. British plan for a counter invasion of Germany.
b. German plan for an invasion of France through Belgium.
c. Polish operation designed to steal the secret German code machine.
d. German plan for an invasion of the Soviet Union.
e. American plan for a landing at Normandy in northern France.
Answer: d
Page: 841
17.Hitler’s comment “You only have to kick in the door, and the whole rotten structure will come down” was a reference to which of the following powers?
a. Great Britain
b. France
c. Italy
d. Poland
e. the Soviet Union
Answer: e
Page: 841
18.By December 1941, the Soviets gained two new allies in their struggle to defeat the German invasion of their country: a severe winter and
a. China.
b. India.
c. the United States.
d. Finland.
e. Romania.
Answer: c
Page: 841-842
19.The Japanese goal in the bombing of Pearl Harbor was to
a. take the first step in a planned invasion of the United States.
b. draw the Americans away from fighting the Germans in Europe.
c. permanently add Hawai`i to the Japanese empire.
d. weaken the United States’ naval capacity.
e. implement the “final solution.”
Answer: d
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20.“Asia for Asians” was the slogan of the
a. Japanese.
b. Chinese.
c. Indians.
d. Vietnamese.
e. Koreans.
Answer: a
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21.The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was designed by
a. the United States.
b. Germany.
c. China.
d. England.
e. Japan.
Answer: e
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22.The key to the Allied victories in Europe and Asia was
a. industrial capacity.
b. the creation of the atomic bomb.
c. a better group of generals.
d. the complete agreement on all issues among the British, Soviets, and Americans.
e. convincing Japan to change sides.
Answer: a
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23.The Normandy invasion
a. failed, and Hitler was not able to conquer Britain.
b. allowed Hitler to surprise the French and enter Paris with relative ease.
c. failed because of stiffening Russian resistance and the onset of winter.
d. freed Italy.
e. led to the end of German resistance in western Europe.
Answer: e
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24.The U.S. victory in the Pacific that turned the tide against the Japanese was
a. Pearl Harbor.
b. Guam.
c. Midway.
d. Iwo Jima.
e. Okinawa.
Answer: c
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25.The U.S. secret weapon in the Pacific campaign was
a. an almost three-to-one advantage in aircraft carriers.
b. its alliance with the Soviets.
c. its possession of the atomic bomb from 1941 on.
d. massive military aid from Korea and Vietnam.
e. a code-breaking operation known as Magic.
Answer: e
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26.In the Battle of Okinawa, the Japanese introduced
a. their own unsuccessful atomic weapon.
b. the V-1 rocket.
c. a new and particularly lethal poison gas.
d. kamikaze pilots.
e. a new, more devastating model of submarine that effectively ended the U.S. policy of island-hopping.
Answer: d
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27.During the battle of Okinawa,
a. the people of Okinawa took the opportunity to rebel against their Japanese oppressors.
b. the United States suffered a devastating defeat that almost cost them the entire war.
c. the United States introduced its own variety of the V-1 rocket.
d. the United States was able to seize 90 percent of Vietnam.
e. roughly 110,000 Okinawan civilians died refusing to surrender.
Answer: e
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28.The Japanese finally surrendered in August 1945
a. in response to the surrender of Germany.
b. after the emperor resigned and a republic was established.
c. after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
d. after the American landing at Kyushu.
e. after the Soviet landing at Okinawa.
Answer: c
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29.At the Wannsee Conference,
a. the British agreed to hand over the Sudetenland to Hitler.
b. Germany officially surrendered and signed the peace treaty.
c. the United Nations was founded.
d. the Nazis put in place the “final solution.”
e. differences among the former Allies helped lead to the cold war.
Answer: d
Page: 850
30.The largest of the Nazi death camps was
a. Treblinka.
b. Kulmhof.
c. Belzec.
d. Majdanek.
e. Auschwitz.
Answer: e
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31.“Comfort women” were
a. members of the WAVES (Women Appointed for Volunteer Emergency Service).
b. American women who took over men’s work during the course of World War II.
c. Korean and Chinese women forced into prostitution by the Japanese.
d. German spies sent to infiltrate Allied nations.
e. wealthy women who received the title as an insult because of their refusal to assist in the war effort.
Answer: c
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32.The majority of the “comfort women” in World War II were from China and
a. Japan.
b. Russia.
c. the United States.
d. the Philippines.
e. Korea.
Answer: e
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33.The German Democratic Republic
a. was formed out of the British, French, and American zones of occupation.
b. was sealed off from its eastern half by the construction of the Berlin Wall.
c. prospered under American leadership.
d. was really under direct Chinese control.
e. was formed out of the Soviet zone of occupation.
Answer: e
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34.In the wake of the Berlin blockade and airlift, the U.S., British, and French zones of occupation in western Germany were
a. combined into one large American zone of occupation.
b. evacuated by the countries occupying them in order to prevent a wider conflict.
c. combined to form the Federal Republic of Germany.
d. occupied by the Soviet Union after a treaty was signed between the Soviets and the west.
e. None of these answers is correct.
Answer: c
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35.The Warsaw Pact
a. was under the leadership of Lech Walesa.
b. was formed in response to NATO.
c. was designed to contain the spread of communism.
d. was a free trade organization designed to foster greater economic expansion in western Europe.
e. monitored the treaty that ended World War II.
Answer: b
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36.An active policy of de-Stalinization was begun in 1956 by
a. Dwight Eisenhower.
b. Harry Truman.
c. Marshall Tito.
d. Mikhail Gorbachev.
e. Nikita Khrushchev.
Answer: e
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37.Alexander Dubček’s “Prague Spring”
a. was a literary account of his years in a Soviet labor camp.
b. promised “socialism with a human face.”
c. was a pejorative term for his ruthless crackdown on anticommunists.
d. inspired Czechoslovakia to switch to communism.
e. was a controversial musical piece that expressed the freedom in eastern Europe in the late 1960s.
Answer: b
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38.The “Brezhnev doctrine”
a. called for economic and political liberalization in eastern Europe.
b. was a policy of containment to stop the spread of communism.
c. offered billions of dollars in aid to combat the spread of capitalism.
d. reserved the right of the Soviet Union to invade any socialist country that was deemed to be threatened by forces hostile to socialism.
e. forbade changes in the basic communist economic structure but allowed for some local political freedom.
Answer: d
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39.The “policy of détente” means
a. a reduction in hostility between nations.
b. a gradual increase in hostility between nations, as one power tries to force the other to bend to its will.
c. an economic program between two powers designed to create a trading bloc.
d. a commitment to allowing the international body of the United Nations to lead the world community.
e. a French plan to greatly increase their arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Answer: a
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TRUE/FALSE
40.Japan, Germany, and Italy—known as the Axis powers—squared off against the Allied powers of France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and the United States.
Answer: True
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41.In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after it condemned Japan for its conquest of Manchuria.
Answer: False
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42.Benito Mussolini promised to bring glory to Italy through acquisition of territories; Ethiopia, Libya, Albania were acquired through conquest and annexation.
Answer: True
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43.In March 1938, Hitler forced Anschluss with Austria, justifying the annexation as an attempt to reintegrate all Germans into a single homeland.
Answer: True
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44.On 1 September 1939, the German military invaded Poland; the world was stunned with the German Blitzkrieg and sudden victory.
Answer: True
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45.On 7 December 1941, Japanese pilots attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawai`i, with the hope of destroying American naval capacity in the Pacific, which would clear the way for conquest of southeast Asia for Japan.
Answer: True
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46.German and Japanese war production matched that of the Allied powers during World War II.
Answer: False
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47.With the Soviets attacking from the east and with U.S. and British forces attacking Germany from the west, the Allies forced a conditional surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945.
Answer: False
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48.The combination of the Soviet Union declaring war on Japan in August 1945 and the devastation caused by nuclear bombs persuaded Emperor Hirohito to surrender unconditionally on 15 September 1945.
Answer: False
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49.Sometime during 1941, the Nazi leadership committed to the “final solution” of the Jewish question, a solution that entailed the attempted murder of every Jew living in Europe.
Answer: True
Page: 850
50.The Soviet blockade of Berlin (1948-1949) failed to force the British, French, and Americans to vacate Berlin.
Answer: True
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51.In 1961 the communists reinforced their fortification along the border between East and West Germany, following the construction of a wall dividing the city of Berlin.
Answer: True
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52.The Korean War began when the communist government of North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950.
Answer: True
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53.The Bay of Pigs was an invasion of Cuban nationals trained by the United States; itwas a failure, but it weakened Castro’s position in Cuba.
Answer: False
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54.During the early days of the cold war, the USSR and China grew closer because leaders of both nations felt threatened by the United States.
Answer: True
Page: 857
ESSAY
55.Yamaoka Michiko reported that right after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a friend told her “Miss Yamaoka, you look like a monster!” How devastating was the atomic bomb? Why did the United States drop the bomb? Did they have a choice?
56.When defending the “final solution,” Heinrich Himmler said, “We had the moral right, we had the duty towards our people, to destroy this people that wanted to destroy us.” What did Himmler mean? Relate this passage to German nationalism. Why did the Germans decide on the “final solution” to the “Jewish question”?
57.Examine the early German successes in World War II. Why was Hitler so successful? What was Germany’s high point? How close was Hitler to total victory? What were the turning points in World War II? What mistakes did Hitler make? How quickly did the tide turn against Germany? Discuss the end of the war.
58.What were the consequences of World War II? How destructive was the war? How was the postwar world shaped by the war?
59.Discuss the Pacific theater of World War II. What led to the bombing of Pearl Harbor? What were the Japanese goals? What was the height of Japan’s power? What were the turning points?
60.Compare and contrast the origins of World War I and World War II. Were there any similarities? Discuss the nature and size of the conflict. Why has World War II been called the “good war”?
61.Examine the role of women in World War II. In what ways did women on the Allied side contribute to the war effort? Discuss the fate of “comfort women.”
62.Examine the origins of the cold war. What were the essential problems? What events and leaders were crucial in this movement?
63.What were the east Asian roots of World War II? What were Japan’s goals? How successful would Japan be in achieving these goals? What were the roots of the antagonism between Japan and the United States?
64.What role did the Soviet Union play in the course of World War II and the origins of the cold war? Why did the Soviet-American partnership collapse so quickly? What were the main Soviet goals at the end of World War II?
65.Discuss the Rape of Nanjing. What were the wartime goals of the Japanese? Why are these atrocities less well known than those perpetrated by the Germans in Europe?
66.One of the old complaints about the origins of World War II is that if only the British and French hadn’t “appeased” Hitler, then the whole conflict could have been avoided. Is this theory justified? Could the war have been avoided?
67.Examine Map 36.1, High tide of Axis expansion in Europe and north Africa, 1942-1943. How had the Germans reached this point? How close was Hitler to complete victory at this point? What mistakes would he make?
68.Examine Map 36.2, World War II in Asia and the Pacific. When did Japan have its greatest advantage? Why was it necessary to attack the United States? What battles were most important in the Pacific theater of the war?
69.Examine the picture of concentration camp victims on page 850. What was the “final solution”? How did it represent the philosophy of Hitler?
70.Read the section from Yamaoka Michiko’s account of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (see Textbook: Sources from the Past: A Hiroshima Maiden’s Tale). What were the reasons behind the decision to drop the bomb? Were there other options? What role would the existence of the atomic bomb play in the cold war?