World War II Chapters 35-36 Quiz Study Guide

Honors Ch.27-Ch.28 World War II Exam Study Guide

1. What action taken by FDR during his first term would suggest that he was an “internationalist?” 2. What was the reasoning behind Roosevelt’s recognition of the Soviet Union? 3. Explain FDR’s reasons for embarking on the Good Neighbor policy. 4. Throughout the 1930s, what reaction was given by the American people as they heard of the aggressive actions of Germany, Italy, and Japan? 5. Where were the fascist aggression of Hitler and Mussolini centered? 6. What were the Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937? How did FDR “get around” these policies in order to aid the British? 7. What was the transition of America’s arms sales from 1925-1940? Embargo, lend- lease, and cash-and-carry, destroyers- for-base: 8. What did America’s neutrality mean to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)? 9. What major meeting took place in September 1938 in Munich, Germany? What was established from that meeting? 10. What action of Hitler’s started World War II? 11. What factors contributed to the weakness and lateness of America’s efforts to aid Europe’s threatened Jews? 12. Why did the U.S. military refuse to bomb Nazi gas chambers? 13. How did Americans/FDR respond to the unexpected fall of France in 1940? 14. Explain the deal struck between the U.S. and the British dealing with old American destroyers. 15. The election of 1940: Who ran for what party? On what platform? Who won? Why? 16. What motivated Roosevelt to run for a third term? 17. What was America’s (FDR) response to the German invasion of the Soviet Union? 18. Atlantic Charter – what, when, where, who, why? 19. Greer, Kearny, and Rueben – importance of these three? 20. Why did Japan believe that it was forced into war with the United States? 21. Why was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor such a surprise? 22. What position did most Americans take concerning the possibility of war prior to Pearl Harbor? After? 23. What happened to the Japanese-Americans living in the United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor? 23. What was the biggest challenge for America once committed to war? (Think about what shape the Allies were in at this time in the war) 24. Japanese Internment: what, when, where, who, why? 25. War Production Board, Office of Price Administration, War Labor Board, and Fair Employment Practices Commission – responsibilities of each? 26. When the unions decided to strike during the war, how did the government react and what act did they use to justify their decision? 27. What was the effect of having more than 6 million women in American industry during World War II? 28. Role of African Americans during World War II (“Double V”, segregated units, CORE, migration, A. Philip Randolph) 29. How did the U.S. finance most of the war? 30. Where was the first naval battle in history in which all the fighting was done by carrier-based aircraft? 31. Where had the tide of Japanese conquest in the Pacific turned? (When did they stop dominating?) 32. What was the main American strategy when fighting Japan? 33. What was important about the Battle of Leyte Gulf? 34. How did the United States continue to destroy Japan after the battle for Okinawa? 35. At what point did Hitler’s advance in the European theater stall and crest in late 1942? 36. What battle did the Allies free France and then eventually defeat the German’s at the Battle of the Bulge? 37. Why did some criticize the Allied demand for unconditional surrender of the Axis powers? 38. Potsdam, Casablanca, and Teheran: what, when, why, who? 39. What was announced by FDR and Churchill at the wartime conference at Casablanca? 40. What was the major consequence of the Allied conquest of Sicily in August 1943? 41. Election of 1944: Who ran for what party? On what platform? Who won? Why? 42. What was the belief behind spending enormous sums of money on the original bomb project? 43. Explain in what way (a) the fall of France, (b) Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, and (c) the attack on Pearl Harbor mark the most important turning points in American foreign policy between 1935 and 1942.

44. Explain how in the 1930s “the American people were overwhelmingly anti-Nazi and anti- Hitler, …but they were desperately determined to stay out [of war].”

45. Compare and contrast the views of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies with those of the America First Committee. Had you been there at the time, which would you have supported? Why?

46. At what point do you think American entry into the war in Europe became inevitable? Explain.

48. Present arguments for and against using the A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Had it been your decision, what would you have done? Why?

49. In terms of defending America’s national interests, which do you think was the most critical front in World War II, the European theater or the Pacific? Why?