Unit 7- Reading Guide 2
Vocab: Define each of the following terms
“Cash & Carry” policy
The Destroyer Deal
Selective Training & Service Act
Axis Powers
“The Great Arsenal of Democracy”
Lend-Lease Act
Atlantic Charter
Allies
George Marshall
Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps
A. Phillip Randolph
Manhattan Project
Office of Price Administration (OPA)
Name_________________________
Rationing
War Production Board
National War Labor Board
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act
Operation Torch
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Operation Overlord
Omar Bradley
George Patton
Battle of the Bulge
Majdanek
Harry S. Truman
V-E Day
Guided Reading Questions: Provide comprehensive answers, in complete
sentences, to each of the following questions.
1. Starting with the Cash and Carry policy, the U.S. undertook a series of steps
away from neutrality and to prepare for possible entry into war. List the
steps (4 of them) and state why each is an important escalation for the U.S..
2. Why was the forming of the Axis Powers a dangerous development for the
U.S.?
3. Explain FDR’s call to be “the Great Arsenal of Democracy.” Why was this
necessary? What law helped facilitate this?
4. How did Hitler react to the Lend-Lease Act, from May 1941 through fall of
that year?
5. What language of the Atlantic Charter was considered hypocritical by some?
Why? What successor to the League of Nations did the Atlantic Charter play a
role in?
6. Provide a timeline of dates/ships attacked by the Germans in the fall of 1941
(you can add this to question 4 if you’d like).
7. How did FDR appease the Japanese during their period of expansion?
8. What territories did Japan conquer and how did the U.S. react to those
acquisitions? Explain the developments that occurred during the U.S.Japanese negotiations in the fall of 1941. What led FDR to conclude “This
means war.”?
9. So…describe the destruction of the attack that led the U.S. to declare war on
Japan. How was the U.S. fortunate despite its losses?
10. Describe the vote in Congress to declare war against Japan. How did the Axis
powers react to our declaration of war?
11. Describe, in numbers, how America both volunteered and was enlisted into
service. How many women served during WWII?
12. Describe the experience for minority enlistees. What roles did Japanese and
Native Americans play during the war?
13. How did America’s industry retool for war. Provide examples.
14. Describe the success and shortfalls for women in the wartime economy.
15. What was the result of the actions of A. Phillip Randolph and the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters during the war?
16. What role did the Office of Scientific Research and Development play during
the war?
17. What effects did the actions of the Treasury Department and the Revenue Act
of 1942 have on the war effort?
18. What strategies came out of the ABC-1 agreement and the FDR/Churchill
meeting in Dec. of 1941? How was America able to win the battle of the
Atlantic?
19. How was the Battle of Stalingrad significant to the war on the Eastern front of
Europe?
20. Where did Axis troops surrender in North Africa? Describe the fighting for
the “Soft Underbelly” in the Italian campaign. When do German troops finally
surrender in Italy (*Remember this date)?
21. Explain the “heroes of North African and European combat.”
22. Explain the strategy of Operation Overlord. Who led this invasion?
23. Provide a timeline for taking back control of Western Europe.
24. What was the significance of the Battle of the Bulge for the Germans? What
about for the Allies?
25. Describe what the Soviet troops discovered at Majdanek.
26. Provide a timeline of tragedy and triumph from April 12, 1945 through May
8, 1945.