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The Second World War Honors World History Study Guide

Total questions: 81

Worksheet time: 41mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

During World War II, the alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan was known as the

a)

Axis.

b)

Alliance for Progress.

c)

Central Powers.

d)

Comintern.

2.

The Spanish Civil War is called a “dress rehearsal” for World War II because . . .

a)

Germany discovered Britain’s weakness.

b)

the civil war’s results were identical to those of World War II.

c)

Spain prepared for its role in World War II.

d)

Germany and Italy tried out new weapons under battle conditions.

3.

In 1931 Japan invaded the Chinese province of . . .

a)

Formosa.

b)

Manchuria.

c)

Midway.

d)

Mongolia.

4.

Before Germany demanded and received the Sudetenland, the region had been a part of . . .

a)

Austria.

b)

Belgium.

c)

Czechoslovakia.

d)

Denmark.

5.

Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek called a truce in their civil war because

a)

the League of Nations asked them to.

b)

the Japanese invaded China.

c)

Mao renounced his communist beliefs.

d)

they had reached an agreement on sharing power in China.

6.

The world was shocked in August 1939 when Hitler announced that Germany had signed a nonaggression pact with . . .

a)

Britain.

b)

Italy.

c)

Japan.

d)

the Soviet Union.

7.

Hitler’s militarizing the Rhineland violated which treaties?

a)

Locarno and Versailles

b)

Locarno and Warsaw

c)

Versailles and Kellogg-Briand

d)

Warsaw and Potsdam

8.

Hitler was surprised when France and Britain declared war following his invasion of . . .

a)

Austria.

b)

Belgium.

c)

Poland.

d)

Russia.

9.

In 1939 the Soviets easily subdued the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, but they had difficulty breaking the resistance of . . .

a)

Romania.

b)

Poland.

c)

Finland.

d)

Hungary.

10.

After which of the following did a sitzkrieg occur in military operations during World War II?

a)

attack on Pearl Harbor

b)

invasion of Poland

c)

invasion of Italy

d)

invasion of Russia

11.

The Germans defeated France in 1940 because the French . . .

a)

surrendered without a fight.

b)

had abandoned the Maginot Line.

c)

did not expect Hitler to come through the forests of the Ardennes.

d)

were surprised by Spain’s attack on France.

12.

After Hitler conquered France, resistance continued through the Free French movement led by . . .

a)

Édouard Daladier.

b)

Charles de Gaulle.

c)

Henri Pétain.

d)

Pierre Vichy.

13.

Who followed Neville Chamberlain as prime minister of Britain?

a)

Clement Atlee

b)

Winston Churchill

c)

David Lloyd George

d)

Ramsay MacDonald

14.

Which Jewish concentration camp was the largest?

a)

Dachau

b)

Buchenwald

c)

Auschwitz

d)

Bergen-Belsen

15.

What was the turning point of the Pacific War for the Americans?

a)

the Battle of the Coral Sea

b)

the Battle of Midway

c)

Pearl Harbor attack

d)

the landing on Iwo Jima

16.

The Italian army was severely defeated by British forces in . . .

a)

Albania.

b)

Ethiopia.

c)

North Africa.

d)

Switzerland.

17.

What British prime minister believed he had achieved peace by yielding to Hitler’s expansionistic plans in Czechoslovakia?

a)

Neville Chamberlain

b)

Winston Churchill

c)

Bernard Montgomery

d)

Ramsay MacDonald

18.

Blitzkrieg means . . . .

a)

living space.

b)

air force.

c)

standing army.

d)

lightning war.

19.

Which of the following was not a reason that Britain won the Battle of Britain?

a)

Churchill inspired the British people to persevere.

b)

Germans did not bother bombing any civilian targets.

c)

Pilots of the Royal Air Force fought in a heroic fashion.

d)

British people remained tough in the face of hard circumstances.

20.

Which word refers to divisions of German tanks?

a)

sitzkrieg

b)

panzer

c)

blitzkrieg

d)

Luftwaffe

21.

Who was the leader of the Spanish Fascists?

a)

Neville Chamberlain

b)

Simon Bolivar

c)

Francisco Franco

d)

Erwin Rommel

22.

Hitler’s main reason for attacking Russia was . . .

a)

to honor a pledge made to the Japanese.

b)

a disagreement over the division of Poland.

c)

the belief that Stalin was preparing to attack Germany.

d)

to acquire lebensraum and needed natural resources.

23.

What new invention gave a real advantage to the Royal Air Force as it fought against Germany in the Battle of Britain?

a)

ballistic missiles

b)

long-range bomber planes

c)

anti-aircraft guns

d)

radar

24.

During the Battle of Britain, the United States . . .

a)

tried to ignore the war.

b)

remained isolationist.

c)

held a policy of appeasement.

d)

offered Britain all types of aid short of declaring war.

25.

What French World War I hero ruled for the Germans in Vichy France?

a)

Marshal Henri Pétain

b)

Ferdinand Foch

c)

Charles de Gaulle

d)

Marquis de Lafayette

26.

Who was the Japanese military leader during World War II?

a)

Hideki Tojo

b)

Sun Yat-sen

c)

Chiang Kai-shek

d)

Mao Zedong

27.

The term fifth columnists refers to . . .

a)

traitors working within a country to help an invader.

b)

nationals who provide propaganda for a war effort.

c)

those who refuse to answer questions before government committees.

d)

the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War.

28.

The miracle at Dunkirk was . . .

a)

the victory of French troops over the Germans.

b)

a battle between American and Japanese aircraft carriers.

c)

the retreat to safety of Allied soldiers.

d)

the American victory that followed D-day.

29.

When Winston Churchill said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” he was referring to the . . .

a)

flotilla of ships that saved British soldiers at Dunkirk.

b)

American invasion of the Philippines.

c)

Americans who died at Pearl Harbor.

d)

pilots of the Royal Air Force.

30.

“A date which will live in infamy” refers to an attack on . . .

a)

London.

b)

Paris.

c)

Pearl Harbor.

d)

the Philippines.

31.

Where was the second atomic bomb dropped?

a)

Nagasaki

b)

Hiroshima

c)

Tokyo

d)

Yamaha

32.

According to the text, what has prevented the outbreak of another world war?

a)

direct intervention of the United Nations

b)

threat of nuclear war

c)

stronger alliances between UN member nations

d)

international focus on solving worldwide humanitarian problems

33.

Where were the first two invasions by the Americans against the Germans?

a)

Algeria and Sicily

b)

Normandy and Italy

c)

Philippines and Morocco

d)

Norway and Ireland

34.

The island-hopping technique was successful because . . .

a)

American troops simply bypassed Japanese troops on islands that would not make good airbases.

b)

American troops bypassed all islands by using only aircraft carriers for their attack.

c)

when Americans landed on a small island, they surrounded the Japanese and forced them to surrender immediately.

d)

American troops could land on islands by air rather than by taking the more dangerous sea route.

35.

The term D-day refers to the . . .

a)

Allied invasion of France.

b)

Allied invasion of Germany.

c)

Allied evacuation at Dunkirk.

d)

end of the war in Europe.

36.

Much like the League of Nations before it, the United Nations’ main weakness is a lack of . . .

a)

money.

b)

good intentions.

c)

military force.

d)

authority.

37.

The Russians were allowed to enter Berlin first because of an agreement made at . . .

a)

Tehran.

b)

Munich.

c)

Potsdam.

d)

Yalta.

38.

What happened on June 6, 1944?

a)

Victory Europe Day (V-E Day)

b)

Victory Japan Day (V-J Day)

c)

D-Day

d)

bombing of Pearl Harbor

39.

Who ordered the dropping of the atomic bomb?

a)

Franklin Roosevelt

b)

Harry Truman

c)

Douglas MacArthur

d)

Erwin Rommel

40.

Victory Europe Day (V-E Day) took place on . . .

a)

December 7, 1941.

b)

May 8, 1945.

c)

August 6, 1945.

d)

September 2, 1945.

41.

How did the U.S. Marines prevent the Japanese from breaking their code?

a)

They used a complicated super computer.

b)

They changed the code so frequently that it stayed unbroken.

c)

They used Navajos speaking their own language.

d)

They used a special code that transposed letters for numbers.

42.

What did Hitler order regarding the Jews early in the war?

a)

He ordered them out of the country.

b)

He ordered them to live in ghettos.

c)

He ordered them into concentration

d)

He ceased persecution of them.

43.

How did many of his generals view Hitler’s military judgement or strategy at the beginning of his rule?

a)

They questioned it.

b)

They thought he learned good lessons in WWI.

c)

They felt they could make it better.

d)

They believed it was cutting-edge.

44.

Match the following with the correct answer choice.


appointed Tojo to serve as a virtual dictator

a)

Emperor Hirohito

b)

Vidkun Quisling

c)

Erwin Rommel

d)

Winston Churchill

e)

Bernard Montgomery

45.

Match the following with the correct answer choice.


Norwegian traitor

a)

Emperor Hirohito

b)

Vidkun Quisling

c)

Erwin Rommel

d)

Winston Churchill

e)

Bernard Montgomery

46.

Match the following with the correct answer choice.


Desert Fox

a)

Emperor Hirohito

b)

Vidkun Quisling

c)

Erwin Rommel

d)

Winston Churchill

e)

Bernard Montgomery

47.

Match the following with the correct answer choice.


British prime minister during World War II

a)

Emperor Hirohito

b)

Vidkun Quisling

c)

Erwin Rommel

d)

Winston Churchill

e)

Bernard Montgomery

48.

Match the following with the correct answer choice.


British commander in North Africa

a)

Emperor Hirohito

b)

Vidkun Quisling

c)

Erwin Rommel

d)

Winston Churchill

e)

Bernard Montgomery

49.

Match the following with the correct answer choice.


supreme Allied commander in Europe

a)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

b)

Douglas MacArthur

c)

Erwin Rommel

d)

Winston Churchill

e)

Bernard Montgomery

50.

Match the following with the correct answer choice.


American commander in the Pacific

a)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

b)

Douglas MacArthur

c)

Erwin Rommel

d)

Winston Churchill

e)

Bernard Montgomery

51.

Which Chinese leader sought to drive the Communists out of China?

(a)  

52.

Who was the founder of the Kuomintang?

(a)  

53.

What is the German term for “living space”?

(a)  

54.

What nations were members of the Pact of Steel?

(a)  

55.

What is the policy of making concessions to an aggressor to avoid conflict with that aggressor?

(a)  

56.

Operation Barbarossa was Germany’s invasion of what country?

(a)  

57.

What conference awarded the Sudetenland to Germany?

(a)  

58.

What term means forbidding the sale of certain materials to a country?

(a)  

59.

Give the date for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

(a)  

60.

Who led the Axis forces in North Africa?

(a)  

61.

Which Chinese leader orchestrated the Long March?

(a)  

62.

At which port city were Allied troops evacuated by almost anything from Britain that could float?

(a)  

63.

Who said, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight in the fields. . . . We shall never surrender”?

(a)  

64.

Who said, “I shall return”?

(a)  

65.

The invasion of which country signified the official beginning of World War II?

(a)  

66.

Name the two strategic Pacific islands that were targeted in 1945 and provided air bases for the United States.

(a)  

67.

What was the last major German offensive of the war?

(a)  

68.

List the Big Three that concluded the conference at Potsdam.

4 lines
69.

Give the date for the German invasion of Poland.

(a)  

70.

What type of military campaign did the United States adopt in the Pacific?

(a)  

71.

Hitler took Poland in a fast-moving attack, or lightning war, called what?

(a)  

72.

In which division of the United Nations are all member nations represented?

(a)  

73.

What was the German air force called?

(a)  

74.

What was the reasoning behind Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor?

4 lines
75.

What body serves as the administrative arm of the United Nations?

(a)  

76.

What is the term associated with the horrors and atrocities committed by the Third Reich in numerous concentration camps?

(a)  

77.

What was the code name for the Normandy invasion by the Allies?

(a)  

78.

Give the date for the Allied invasion of the French coast.

(a)  

79.

What were Japanese suicide pilots called?

(a)  

80.

On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on what city?

(a)  

81.

What was Truman’s reasoning for dropping the atomic bomb on Japan?

4 lines