Download World War II US Neutrality In the 1930s Fascism rises in Europe

United States History
EOC Review Packet
World War II
World War II
US Neutrality
 In the 1930s Fascism rises in Europe (Germany and Italy). US responds by passing a series of neutrality laws
 In the 1930s Germany was seeking to dominate the European continent. Great Britain and France followed a policy of
appeasement (avoid war at all costs) when they allowed Germany to expand its territory. WW II started when Germany
went too far and invaded Poland (1939) causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany
 Primary objective of the US foreign policy during the 1930s was to avoid involvement in Asian and European
conflicts (neutrality and isolationism). This was due to disillusionment (disappointment) over the failure to achieve
US goals in the postwar world
 Congress passes Neutrality Acts in mid 1930s in attempt to avoid mistakes that led to WW I
 Lend-Lease Act/Cash and Carry Act/Destroyers for Naval Bases: efforts to help the Allies (Britain/France/Soviet
Union) without formally declaring war. Signaled a shift from neutrality toward more direct involvement
 Japan invades Chinese territory which heightens tensions between US and Japan
US Involvement in World War II
 Bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan brought the US directly into World War II
 US became involved to fight totalitarian aggression (Germany, Italy, Japan) and because Germany and Japan achieved
important military successes in Europe and Asia
 D-Day Invasion June 1944: important to the outcome of WW II because it opened a new Allied front in Europe
(Germany had to fight enemies from the East and West instead of just the East)
 A key challenge faced by the US during World War II was fighting the war on several fronts (Europe and Asia)
 The cooperation between the US and Soviet Union during WW II supports the idea that alliances are built upon mutual
self-interest (the US and Soviet Union were enemies but formed an alliance because they were both enemies with
Germany)
 1944 election of FDR to a fourth term can be attributed to the unwillingness of voters to change leadership during a
major crisis
 The personal diplomacy conducted by FDR during WW II strengthened the President’s role in shaping US foreign policy
The US Home Front during World War II
 Women replaced men in essential wartime industries
 Posters of Rosie the Riveter were used to recruit women into wartime industries
 During the war, economic opportunities expanded for women
 After the end of the war, many working women left their factory jobs because they were forced to give up their jobs to
returning war veterans
 More African Americans migrated to large cities because industry was expanding
 GI Bill (1944): extended educational and housing opportunities to war veterans. Provided federal funds for veterans to
attend college
 US government ordered rationing during WW II to conserve raw materials for the war effort
 To help pay for WW II, the US government relied heavily on the sale of war bonds (lends from citizens to help fund the
war. Also contributed to the national debt)
 WW II impacted the US economically by accelerating its recovery from the Great Depression
 Manhattan Project: US project to develop an atomic bomb
Korematsu vs. United States
 The US government considered Japanese Americans a threat to national security during WW II, causing them to place
Japanese Americans in confinement in internment camps
 Supreme Court said that the removal of Japanese Americans from their homes was constitutional because this type of
action was necessary during a national emergency
 Supreme Court ruled that wartime conditions justified limitations being placed on civil liberties
 Many Japanese lost their homes and businesses
President Harry S. Truman
 Fair Deal: continue reforms begun during FDR’s presidency
 Decided to drop atomic bombs on Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) because the bombs’ destructive power might end the
war quickly
 Decided to use atomic weapons against Japan in order to end the war while limiting the loss of American lives.
 Truman believed that an invasion of Japan would result in excessive casualties
 Advanced the cause of civil rights for African Americans by ordering the desegregation of the Armed Forces (Black
and White troops fight together and are no longer separated)
 Truman Doctrine: originally designed to contain communism by giving aid to Greece and Turkey (later expanded by
Eisenhower)
 Relied General Douglas MacArthur of his command in the Korean conflict because General MacArthur challenged the
concept of civilian control over the military
 Required loyalty checks due to the fear of communist influence in government
End of World War II/ Impact of World War II
 Nuremberg Trials: held to make German leaders accountable for the Holocaust (mass genocide against Jews and other
minorities). Established the principle that leaders of a nation may be held accountable (put on trial) for crimes against
humanity/war crimes
 United Nations: replaced the League of Nations in order to prevent international disputes from escalating into major
wars. Unlike the League of Nations, the US joined the United Nations because it recognized that efforts to achieve world
peace required US involvement
 Marshall Plan (1948-1952): US provided economic aid in order to help Europe’s economic recovery after WWII
 US foreign policy changed following WWII as the US became more involved in world affairs
 Eleanor Roosevelt: helped create the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 In the decade after WWII, rapid growth in personal income contributed to the expansion of the middle class
World War II Review Questions
1. How did methods of warfare in World War II differ from those in World War I?
a. Soldiers spend most of their time in trenches to avoid machine-gun fire
b. Because of a shortage of manpower, women fought overseas in combat roles
c. German submarines frequently attacked British and American shipping
d. Airplane, tank, and troop movements were coordinated for rapid advances
2. Which of the following shows sequence of events in World War II?
a. Pearl Harbor; Battle of Midway; D-Day; VE Day; VJ Day
b. Pearl Harbor; Battle of Midway; VJ Day; D-Day; VE Day
c. Battle of Midway; D-Day; VE Day; Pearl Harbor; VJ Day
d. D-Day; VE Day; Pearl Harbor; Battle of Midway; VJ Day
3. Prior to the start of World War II, Great Britain and France followed a policy of appeasement when they
a. rejected an alliance with the Soviet Union
b. allowed Germany to expand its territory
c. signed the agreements at the Yalta Conference
d. opposed United States efforts to rearm
4. In the 1930s, Congress attempted to avoid the situations that led to United States involvement in World War I by
a. Enacting a peacetime draft law
b. Passing a series of neutrality acts
c. Authorizing the deportation of American Communist Party members
d. Relocating Japanese Americans to internment camps
5. What was one result of World War II?
a. the arms race ended
b. the Cold War ended
c. communism was eliminated
d. two superpowers emerged
6. Which statement BEST explains the rise of totalitarianism governments in Europe during the 1930s?
a. Many European nations were desperate for help in recovering from the depression and saw leaders like Hitler
and Mussolini as the answer to their problems
b. There was no United Nations or League of Nations to prevent a Communist takeover and as a result Joseph
Stalin and his Soviet regime came to dominate the region
c. The philosophy of fascism as espoused by Leon Trotsky was sure to spread across war-ravaged Europe due to
the heavy infusion of jingoism in the post-Cold War era
d. The people such as Marcos and Tito demonized democracy because the United States was prospering in the
1930s while every other country was languishing
7. What was a primary goal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin when they met at the Yalta
Conference in 1945?
a. setting up postwar aid for Great Britain
b. sharing the development of atomic weapons
c. protecting the colonial empires of the warring nations
d. settling major wartime issues of the Allied powers
- Cash and Carry (1937)
- Destroyers for Naval Bases Deal (1940)
- Lend-Lease Act (1941)
8. Which change in United States foreign policy is demonstrated by the passage of these acts prior to World War II?
a. a shift from neutrality toward more direct involvement
b. an effort to become more neutral
c. a movement from isolationism to containment of communism
d. a desire to provide aid to both Allied and Axis powers
9. What was the intention of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Lend Lease proposal? (SS.912.A.6.2)
a. To give aid to German minorities stuck behind enemy lines without officially entering the war
b. To forgive the WW I debts of Great Britain, Russia, & France and help the allies without officially entering the war
c. To allow United States companies the right to sell supplies to any Allied country without officially entering the war
d. To provide arms for the Allies to use against the Germans without officially entering the war
10. The policy of Cash and Carry, the Destroyers for Naval Bases Deal, and the Lend-Lease Act were all designed to
a. contribute to the success of the Axis powers
b. relieve unemployment caused by the Great Depression
c. guarantee a third term to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
d. aid the Allies without involving the United States in war
11. Why the United States was called the “arsenal of democracy” in 1940?
a. The leaders in the democratic nations of Europe were educated in the United States
b. Most of the battles to defend worldwide democracy took place on American soil
c. The United States supervised elections in European nations before the war
d. The United States provided much of the weaponry needed to fight the Axis powers
12. The quote below comes from the Supreme Court ruling in Korematsu v. United States, handed down in 1944: “The
properly constituted military authorities feared an invasion of our West Coast and felt constrained to take proper security
measures…Congress, reposing its confidence in this time of war in our military leaders-as inevitably it must- determined
that they should have the power to do just this.”
What security measures are being referred to in this case?
a. internment of Japanese Americans
b. dropping of atomic bombs on Japan
c. deportation of all recent immigrants from Japan
d. exclusion of Japanese Americans from the draft
13. In the 1944 case Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that wartime conditions justified the
a. use of women in military combat
b. ban against strikes by workers
c. limitations placed on civil liberties
d. reduction in the powers of the president
14. Which factor contributed to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II?
a. labor shortages during the war
b. influence of racial prejudice
c. increase of terrorist activities on the West Coast
d. fear of loss of jobs to Japanese workers
15. During World War II, the federal government used rationing to
a. hold down prices of military weapons
b. increase educational benefits for veterans
c. increase imports of scarce products
d. provide more resources for the military