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Mr. Hanlon/ Social Studies
World War II Review
1) Describe policy followed by the United States prior to entering the war? Isolationism= U.S. wanted to be left out of
world/ European affairs. (Except trade).
2) How did this policy change? What three programs did FDR implement to “aid” the allies without joining the war?
Describe each: Increasingly U.S. becomes more involved in world affairs:
1) Cash and Carry= sell war supplies to allies (G.B & France) they have to come here, pay up front and transport
2) Destroyers for Bases= give supplies (ships) to G.B. in exchange for land to build bases
3) Lend-Lease Act= “Lend” allies (G.B &U.S.S.R) supplies to help win the war (don’t really expect it back)
3) During the War who where the rulers of the major countries:
United States: FDR, then Truman
Great Britain: Winston Churchill
Soviet Union: Stalin
Germany: Hitler
Italy: Mussolini
4) What political ideology did Mussolini and Hitler share? How is this different then democracy or communism?
Fascism= in which they believed the state is more important than the individual or class; both eliminated all
political opposition and strong “Police State” use of force.
5) Describe how Hitler rose to power, and how did the end of WWI effect this? Tapping into the frustration and hatred
of the Treaty of Versailles with the German people Hitler also perpetuates anti-Semitic feelings including the
dolchstoss myth; appeals to the desire of the German people for order and restoration of honor.
6) How did the leaders of Great Britain and France deal with Hitler’s aggression (re-militarizing the Rhineland and
seizing Czechoslovakia) in the 1930s? Appeasement= feeling that they could avoid war the leaders of G.B and
France gave into Hitler’s demands (like the League of Nations did with Italy and Ethiopia)
7) Describe the “nonaggression” pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany? Why was this good for each country?
Each agreed not to attack the other, benefited the Germans by allowing them to concentrate on one front war with
France and G.B.; and helped U.S.S.R. by giving them time to build up their defenses / military.
8) How did the U.S. react to the Japanese invading Southeast Asia (Indo-china)? Why was this such a big deal to Japan
U.S. imposes an oil embargo on Japan and demands they give up territorial gains including Manchuria
9) Describe the turning point in the war in the Soviet Union? What was a major mistake the Germans made?
Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point; Hitler wouldn’t allow Field Marshall Paulus to retreat and resulted
in German army surrendering. Following the battle Germans forced to retreat from U.S.S.R for the rest of the
war.
10) How where American Women affected by the war? Women were given greater opportunities in the workforce
with greater pay and better treatment, all Americans had to sacrifice through rationing and restrictions on
products available.
11) Describe how each and every American citizen was affected by war? All Americans had to sacrifice through
rationing and restrictions on products available, serving in the military.
12) How were African-Americans affected by the war? Why did they initially struggle with their support for the war?
A.A. were given greater opportunities in factories and the military. Many A.A. struggled with the idea of
supporting the war effort to bring democracy to foreign nations when they didn’t have it at home. Eventually most
support the war because of the concept of “Double Victory” which argued that by proving themselves equal to
whites in helping the war effort they would be given better treatment after the war; (Victory abroad and at home)
13) Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, describe what happened to Japanese-Americans. What was the justification for
this action? Japanese-Americans were put into internment camps away from the West coast. The government felt
that it was impossible to determine the loyalty of Japanese-Americans due to cultural differences and for the safety
of the U.S. must be separated from the general population.
14) What was D-Day? Why was it significant to the war? Operation Overlord= allied (U.S., G.B. etc.) invasion of
Nazi controlled Normandy, France. It was a major defeat for the Nazi’s and leads to the allied liberation of France
and the invasion of Germany.
15) What tactic did the Allies use to fight the Japanese in the Pacific? Island Hopping= attacking strategically
important islands on the way to Japan and “hopping” over less important ones.
16) What was the name of the myth promoted by the Nazi about who really lost WWI? Describe the myth.
Dolschtoss= the belief that the German military didn’t lose WWI but was sold out by the Jews and socialist
controlled government.
17) Why do you think many Germans wanted to believe this myth? It allowed the German people to place the blame
elsewhere (on Jews) and displace the shame they felt over the loss.
18) What was the annexation of Austria called? Anshluss
19) Describe America’s reaction to the Holocaust. What do you think the country could have done differently?
U.S. is very slow to recognize the reality of the Holocaust; U.S. could have done more to accept Jewish refugees,
perhaps bombed the death camps or R.R. lines leading to the camps.
20) Why did Truman decide to drop atomic bombs on Japan? Where did we drop the bombs? Truman’s reason was
that the invasion of Japan would kill many Americans as well as Japanese and the dropping of the bombs was
necessary to save American lives.