CHAPTER REVIEW
Rapid Review Guide
To achieve the perfect 5, you should be able to explain the following:
• War production for World War II pulled America out of the Great Depression.
• World War II turned American into one of the two major world powers.
• America continued to pursue a foreign policy of isolationism throughout the 1930s.
• Lend-lease and other measures by Franklin Roosevelt brought America into the war on the side of England one year before America actually entered the war.
• The Pearl Harbor attack was part of an overall Japanese strategy, and it mobilized American public opinion for war.
• Battles fought by American GTs in Africa, Italy, and Western Europe were crucial in creating a “second front” and important in the eventual defeat of Hitler.
• Decision made at the Yalta Conference did much to influence the postwar world.
• Superior American air and sea power ultimately led to the defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific.
• The decision to drop the atomic bomb was based on the calculations of the human cost of an American invasion of Japan and as retaliation for Japanese actions during the war.
• Americans sacrificed greatly during the war and contributed through rationing, extra work, and the purchase of war bonds to the Allied victory.
• American women contributed greatly to the war effort, especially by taking industrial jobs that had been held by departed soldiers.
• Blacks continued to meet discrimination both in and out of the armed services, as did the Japanese. Japanese citizens front the West Coast were forced to move to internment camps. The America government in 1988 issued a formal apology for these actions.
Time Line
1933: Hitler comes to power in Germany
1935: Neutrality Act of 1935
1938: Hitler annexes Austria, Sudetenland
1939: Nazi-Soviet Pact
Germany invades Poland/beginning of World War II
1940: Roosevelt reelected for third term
American Selective Service plan instituted
1941: Lend-lease assistance begins for England
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor/United States officially enters World War II
Germany declares war on United States
1942: American troops engage in combat in Africa
Japanese interment camps opened
Battle of Coral Sea, Battle of Midway
Casablanca released
1943: Allied armies invade Sicily
United Mine Workers strike
1944: D-Day Invasion
Roosevelt defeats Thomas Dewey, elected for fourth term
Beginning of Battle of the Bulge
1945: Yalta Conference
Concentration camps discovered by Allied forces
FDR dies in Warm Springs, Georgia; Harry Truman becomes president
Germany surrenders unconditionally
Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Japan surrenders unconditionally
Review Questions
1. The internment of Japanese-America ns began for all of the reasons listed except
A. large numbers of Japanese lived near Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and some were suspected of being spies
B. it was felt that Japanese living in California had divided loyalties when war began
C. newspapers on the West Coast reported incidents of Japanese- Americans aiding the Japanese military effort
D. Japanese-Americans needed protection, and the camps would provide it for them
E. the portrayal of the Japanese in American films and magazines
(Correct Answer: D. Although this was the official reason given at the time, the other reasons listed were the actual reasons. California newspapers reported fabricated stories of Japanese-Americans assisting the Japanese war effort.)
2. Which was not a reason for the hatred many felt toward the Japanese during the war?
A. The bombing of Pearl Harbor
B. The fact that they were physically different in appearance from most Americans
C. The outrage over the Bataan Death March as soon as Americans first learned of it in late 1941
D. The portrayal of the Japanese in American films, magazines, and newspapers
(Correct Answer: C. The Bataan Death March did not occur until 1942, and most Americans did not know about it until 1945.)
3. Many observers would later be critical of the Yalta Conference for all of the following except
A. at the conference the Soviet Union was given control over more of Germany than the other Allied powers
B. the Soviet Union did not promise to join the war against Japan immediately
C. Franklin Roosevelt was near death at the time of the conference
D. all of the countries liberated by the Soviet Union would remain at least temporarily under Soviet control.
(Correct Answer: A. At the conference, the Soviet Union, England, France, and the United States were all to administer parts of Germany; the Soviets did not get more than anyone else. Criticism existed because by the decisions made at Yalta, the Soviet Union joined the war against Japan only days before Japan was defeated. In addition, “temporary” Soviet control over Eastern Europe allowed communist governments to be set up there. Other historians question the decisions Franklin Roosevelt made at Yalta; many wonder if his physical and mental condition were adequate for such a conference.)
4. The United States did little to stop the spread of Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1930s because
A. the League of Nations promised to take an active diplomatic and military role beginning in 1935 15. the United States was much more concerned with diplomatic and political affairs in the Pacific than in Europe in the 1930s
C. the United States was more interested in solving domestic problems in the 1930s
D. the findings of the Nye commission did much to sour Americans on future military involvement
E. C and D above
(Correct Answer: E. American policies in the 1930s were largely concerned with solving the problems of the Depression, and the Nye commission reported that arms manufacturers, looking for profits, were largely responsible for pushing America into World War I.)
5. Americans continued to crave diversions during World War II and went in large numbers to see all but which of the following:
A. Auto racing
B. Professional baseball
C. Movies
D. Big band concerts
(Correct Answer A. Because of shortages of gasoline and rubber for tires, auto racing was almost totally eliminated for much of the war.)