World War II (1939-1945) — High School U.S. History practice questions

The United Nations (1945) was created mainly to:

1. keep international peace and security
2. rebuild Western Europe's war-torn economy
3. defend Western Europe militarily
4. govern occupied Germany

Answer: A — keep international peace and security

A) Correct — It replaced the failed League of Nations. B) Was the Marshall Plan. C) Was NATO. D) Was the Allied occupation.

The Navajo Code Talkers:

1. designed the atomic bomb
2. sent unbreakable coded messages in the Navajo language
3. built airfields in Europe
4. were interned in camps during the war years

Answer: B — sent unbreakable coded messages in the Navajo language

B) Correct — Japan never broke their code. A) Isn't who they were. C) Isn't who they were. D) Isn't who they were.

In Korematsu v. United States (1944), the Supreme Court:

1. struck down the internment
2. upheld the internment of Japanese Americans
3. ordered the government to compensate internees
4. ended the draft

Answer: B — upheld the internment of Japanese Americans

B) Correct — The Court cited military necessity; the decision is now widely condemned. A) Reverses the ruling. C) Came by law in 1988. D) Isn't the ruling.

Executive Order 9066 (1942) led to:

1. the draft of all men 18 and older
2. the internment of Japanese Americans
3. the end of segregation in the military
4. the Manhattan Project

Answer: B — the internment of Japanese Americans

B) Correct — About 120,000 people, most of them citizens, were forced into camps. A) Isn't what it did. C) Came in 1948. D) Was a separate secret program.

The Holocaust was:

1. the bombing of German cities
2. the forced internment of Japanese Americans in camps
3. the Nazi murder of six million Jews and others
4. the Soviet invasion of Germany

Answer: C — the Nazi murder of six million Jews and others

C) Correct — Roma, disabled people and others were also murdered. A) Isn't the meaning. B) Happened in the U.S. and wasn't genocide. D) Isn't the meaning.

The Lend-Lease Act (1941) let the U.S.:

1. supply the Allies now and settle payment later
2. declare war on Germany
3. intern Japanese Americans
4. sell weapons to any warring nation for cash only

Answer: A — supply the Allies now and settle payment later

A) Correct — It made the U.S. the “arsenal of democracy” before it entered the war. B) Came after Pearl Harbor. C) Was Executive Order 9066. D) Was the earlier cash-and-carry policy.

D-Day (June 6, 1944) was:

1. Japan's surrender
2. the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
3. the Allied invasion of Normandy
4. the Battle of the Bulge

Answer: C — the Allied invasion of Normandy

C) Correct — It opened a western front against Germany, under Eisenhower's command. A) Came in August 1945. B) Was 1941. D) Came that winter.

The “Double V” campaign called for victory:

1. in Europe and the Pacific
2. for both the Allies and the Soviet Union
3. in two presidential elections
4. over fascism abroad and racism at home

Answer: D — over fascism abroad and racism at home

D) Correct — Black newspapers linked the war to civil rights. A) Isn't the meaning. B) Isn't the meaning. C) Isn't the meaning.

“Island hopping” in the Pacific meant:

1. attacking every Japanese-held island in turn
2. taking key islands and bypassing others
3. defending Hawaii only
4. invading Japan first

Answer: B — taking key islands and bypassing others

B) Correct — U.S. forces moved toward Japan while cutting off strongly held islands. A) They skipped many. C) Isn't the strategy. D) Japan was the final goal.

Rationing on the home front was meant to:

1. raise prices
2. end the Depression
3. save scarce materials for the war effort
4. punish people who opposed the war

Answer: C — save scarce materials for the war effort

C) Correct — Gas, sugar, meat and rubber were limited. A) Price controls held them down. B) War production did that. D) Isn't its purpose.

What was D-Day?

June 6, 1944 — Allied invasion of Normandy, France; turning point on the Western Front.

Where were atomic bombs dropped, and when?

Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945). Japan announced its surrender on August 15 and signed it on September 2, ending World War II.

What was the Holocaust?

Nazi Germany's systematic genocide of about six million European Jews, plus millions of Roma, Slavs, disabled, and others.

What was Pearl Harbor?

Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, killing ~2,400 Americans and bringing the U.S. into WWII.