World War II

Question 0

Yalta Conference

Answer 0

Meeting in Yalta, USSR
Between FDR, Churchill, and Stalin in 1945
Made critical des idioms about the future of postwar Europe
Divided Germany into 4 zones, with democracy (USSR’s failure to adhere to this would bring more conflict)
USSR agreed to join the US in war vs. Japan after Germany surrendered (their participation was crucial but in the process they seceded Korea, Manchuria, and parts of Mongolia- beginning of the iron curtain)
-Criticized because:
1. The USSR did NOT promise to go to war with Japan immediately
2. FDR was near death
3. All the countries liberated by the USSR would remain temporarily under USSR control

Question 1

Isolationism

Answer 1

American foreign policy in the 1920s-30s based on the belief that it was in the best interest of the US not to become,involved in foreign conflicts that did not directly threaten American interests
Ex. America First Committee

Question 2

Bataan Death March

Answer 2

After the Japanese landed in the Philippines in 1942
75K Americans and Filipinos forced to endure a 60mi march
10K died
NOT a reason for hatred of Japan during WWII (because most Americans didn’t know about it)

Question 3

Manhattan Project

Answer 3

Secret project to build an atomic bomb
Began in Los Alamos, NM in 1942 and first success was in 1945
Led by J. Robert Oppenheimer
German scientists (Albert Einstein) who fled to America convinced them that the nazis were making one (even thought hey new the had dead-ended)

Question 4

Rosie the Riveter

Answer 4

Figure that symbolized American working women during WWII

After the war, women were expected to return to more traditional roles

Question 5

Double V Campaign

Answer 5

Popularized by American black leaders during WWII

Double victory: 1. Over Germany and Japan 2. Racial prejudice in the US

Question 6

Internment Camps

Answer 6

Mandatory resettlement camps for Japanese-Americans from America’s west coast
Executive order by FDR
Ruled legal by the Supreme Court with the Korematsu vs. the US case

Question 7

Neutrality Acts

Answer 7

1. 1935: US would not trade arms with countries that went to war for 6mo.s; EST. CASH AND CARRY
2. 1939: forbid the sale of arms to countries at war (designed to only help Britain and France- they could “borrow” US destroyers)

Question 8

The Middle East in the interwar era

Answer 8

Preciously minimal involvement by the US because of anti-disillusionment and isolationism and romanticized by Americans like T. E. Lawrence
France aphid Syria and Lebanon
British controlled Iraq, Transjordan, and Palestine
US began to look into oil in the region and gradually increased its dependency- est. ports in Iran after WWII

Question 9

Lend-Lease Act

Answer 9

While US was “neutral”
Promised to lease aid and arms to the allies (but it did state that they could be payed back after the war)
Made the US an “arsenal for democracy”

Question 10

Atlantic Charter

Answer 10

Drawn up by FDR and Churchill off the coast of Newfoundland while the US was still “neutral”
Agreed to fight for democracy
1. Opposed territorial expansion of either country
2. Pro free trade and self-determination
3. Wanted to replace the LN
FDR promised to ship lend-lease products all the way to Iceland

Question 11

Japanese imperialism

Answer 11

Wanted Manchuria
Invasion of China made the US est. an embark against Japan
Japan desperately needed oil but the US wanted them to leave China first
All led up to the invasion of Pearl Harbor

Question 12

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Answer 12

December 7, 1941 “the day that shall live in infamy”
Made the US declare war on Japan the next day and then war of Germany and Italy on 12-11-41 because of Japan’s Tripartite Pact with them
Most of the navy was intact

Question 13

Revenue Act

Answer 13

Greatly expanded the number of Americans who had to pay federal income tax
Funding for WWII
Opposed by the American Liberty League (rich republicans)

Question 14

D-Day

Answer 14

June 6, 1944 on Normandy
Major losses at Omaha Beach
Pushed Germans out of France by August

Question 15

Battle of the Bulge

Answer 15

Last major German offensive battle
At Belgium lines
Gen. Payton’s army forced Germany to retreat
Made Germans realize their defeat was imminent

Question 16

Holocaust

Answer 16

Hitler’s “final solution” to get rid of the Jews
6million Jews were killed
For “lebansraum”
Led to the creation of Israel

Question 17

Battle of the Coral Sea

Answer 17

First decisive American victory over Japan
Used aircraft s for offense and a
Ships for defense (over Australia)
Japan never planned an attack on Australia after that

Question 18

Battle of Midway

Answer 18

Aircrafts were MVP
Turning point for the Americans in the pacific
Demonstrated how American industrialism played as greater and greater role in battle because Americans could simply produce more planes than the Japanese could

Question 19

Island hopping

Answer 19

US attacked key Japanese strongholds by air and sea as marines pushed around them

Question 20

Kamikaze pilots

Answer 20

Japanese suicide bombers
Showed that the Japanese would die before they’d surrender
Reason for Truman to use the atomic bomb

Question 21

Enola Gay

Answer 21

Dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Forced Japan to surrender
Last time nuclear weapons were used

Question 22

Nye commission

Answer 22

Promoted isolationism

Blamed America’s involvement in WWI on greedy “merchants of death”

Question 23

Americans continued to crave diversions during WWII and went in large numbers to see….

Answer 23

Auto racing