World War II

Why did Great Britain and France finally declare war on Germany in September 1939?

• Hitler signed a non aggression pact with Stalin, threatening the Allies.
• Hitler signed an alliance with Mussolini, forming the Axis Powers
• They had pledged to defend Poland against Hitler, who attacked it from the west.
• They had formed an international army to fight Hitler,whose forces trapped thousands of soldiers in Czechoslovakia.

What was significant about America's Selective Training and Service Act in 1940?

• It oversaw the conversion of factories to war production.
• It was the first peacetime draft in the country's history.
• It allowed Americans to serve in foreign countries.
• It required both men and women to serve in the army.

Why did Hitler direct his anger towards intellectuals, Communists, and Jews in the 1930s?

• He felt they threatened his authority.
• He blamed them for Germany's economic problems and its defeat in World War I.
• They opposed the National Socialist Party, keeping it from winning a majority in Parliament.
• He was fearful they would band together and start another world war.

Harry Truman took over as president Roosevelt

• died ofa stroke in April 1945.
• lost his re-election bid in 1944.
• chose not to run for a fourth term in 1944.
• focused his efforts on aid to war-torn European countries rather than on domestic issues.

The first priority of President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill to defeat the Axis Powers was to

• place Asia first.
• defeat the Germans.
• attack Italian forces in West Africa.
• aid Japan in the fight against China.

Why did Japan plan a large-scale attack against the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor?

• it wanted to give itself time to secure control of East Asia before the U.S. military could respond.
• it wanted to retaliate against the U.S. for freezing Japanese bank accounts.
• It wanted to punish the U.S. for sending billions of dollars in aid to Chinese Nationalists.
• It wanted to defend its German and Soviet allies against a U.S. invasion.

The Bataan Death March caused the death of

• soldiers in the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong.
• thousands of U.S. soldiers in the Pacific Fleet led by Chester Nimitz.
• 600 Americans and thousands of Filipinos.
• General Douglas MacArthur

What Tuskegee Airman later became the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force?

• A. Philip Randolph
• Benjamin O. Davis
• Dorie Miller
• Daniel Inouye (optional)

The United States was expected to be responsible for most of the postwar rebuilding because it

• had to make reparations for dropping bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• escaped much destruction and was then the strongest power in the world.
• was given millions of dollars by Germany after Germany surrendered.
• had promised to help European countries at the beginning of the war.

The Allied Powers included

• the U.S., Germany, and Italy
• the U.S. France, and Japan
• the U.S. Great Britain, and Poland
• the U.S., Great Britain, China, France, and Soviet Union