Chapter 29—World War II
Reading and Study Guide
(Divide and Conquer)
Taking the time to do a study guide well reduces the time to study well for the exam. As you invest, so shall you
prosper….
BIG QUESTIONS: (as you work through the chapter, keep these questions in mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What were the long-term and immediate causes of World War II?
What were the courses of battles and how was the economy managed during the war? .
How did racism affect the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews?
How did the war impact the people of Europe?
What defined wartime diplomatic relations and what were the plans for the postwar world sponsored by
the victorious United Nations?
Background: The roots of World War I were embedded in the nineteenth century and earlier; those of
World War II lie there as well, and in the events surrounding the 1914–1918 war. It is clear that
conditions in Europe between the wars coupled with aggressive, totalitarian nationalism were major
factors. Real and perceived injustices, the collapse of the concept of collective security, as well as
uncertain, and often indecisive national policies represent additional factors.
1. What did the Nazi’s rail against in the 1920s and 1930s as the source of all of Germany’s problems? (Who
was to blame?)
2. How did the concept of the Volk and Lebensraum enter into Hitler’s goals for Germany?
3. Identify three acts perpetuated by the Japanese and Germans combined that served as omens of future
aggression.
4. What action had both Germany and Japan taken in the early 1930s with respect to the League of Nations?
5. What actions by Britain and France seemingly justified Hitler’s actions in Germany in the 1930s?
6. What action did Mussolini take in 1935, and how did the League of Nations and the Western powers
respond?
7. What was formed in November 1936?
8. Explain what might have happened differently relative to Hitler’s reoccupation of the Rhineland, and why
this “might have been” did not happen.
Mini Dictionary ☺
9. What was France’s Maginot Line?
Avaricious: greedy,
10. What sides squared-off in the Spanish Civil War?
covetous, grasping,
rapacious
11. Identify
Affront: offensive,
a. Falangists
insult, outrage
b. Francisco Franco
c. Anti-Comintern Pact
12. What did Hitler accomplish in the Anschluss?
13. To where did Hitler extend his civil and avaricious grasp after Austria, and why was this territory such an
“affront” to Hitler?
14. What was the Munich Pact of September 1939, and what did Germany do in the following months?
15. Where next did Hitler’s poisonous tendrils reach?
16. What position did the British and French take with regard to this territory?
17. What justifications did the Soviet Union have in entering into the Non-Aggression Pact of 1939?
18. What happened to Poland as a consequence of the above, and what is significant about September 3, 1939?
19. Identify Blitzkrieg. (more than just the meaning of the word)
20. What had the Soviet Russians gained by late 1940, and what, perhaps, did this prompt from the Nazis?
21. What was the Sitzkrieg? (more than jus the meaning of the word)
22. What happened at Dunkirk in May 1940, and what led to this event?
23. Why were the Belgians a key to the success of Hitler’s Blitzkrieg into France, and what had Germany
accomplished by June 1940?
24. How had the United States aided the British cause from 1940 to 1941?
25. What factors combined in leading to Hitler’s failure in the Battle of Britain?
26. What was Operation Barbarossa?
27. What was so critical about the actions of Mussolini with respect to the above?
28. Briefly, what factors combined to lead to the failure of Operation Barbarossa?
29. What plans did Hitler have for European Russia (Russia west of the Urals), as well as those races most
closely akin to the Germans?
30. Identify:
a. Untermenschen
b. Judenrein
c. Holocaust
31. What economic moves were taken in 1941 that forced the hand of the Japanese?
32. Following Pearl Harbor, what additional gains had the Japanese made by the spring of 1942?
33. From where did the first good news in the Allied cause come?
34. Where did the western Allies eventually open a “second front”? Identify three figures important to this
campaign.
35. What was significant about the Italian campaign with respect to eventual Allied success in the rest of
Europe?
36. Why was the Battle of Stalingrad so significant to the overall Allied war effort?
37. Militarily, what was accomplished by the Allies from June to September 1944?
38. What is described as the “last gasp for the Germans in the West”? Why is it known by this name?
39. What is the significance of May 1 and May 8, 1945?
40. Name and describe the basic American strategy against the Japanese in the Pacific.
41. What debate exists over the use of the atomic bombs against the Japanese? What are the arguments
presented against the need for their use? What are the arguments presented in favor for their use?
42. Explain the significance of the following dates:
a. April 12, 1945
b. September 2, 1945
43. What general trend occurred on the German home front from 1939 to 1944?
44. What roles did Albert Speer and Josef Goebbels play in the above?
45. What dual state of affairs existed in France from mid-1940 to mid-1944? Identify the
following:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Vichy France
Charles de Gaulle
Free French
Fourth Republic
Passive: tending
to submit or
obey without
arguing or
resisting
46. What led many of the French to positions of active or passive collaboration?
47. Explain the manner in which British war mobilization actually improved the quality of life for many
Britons.
48. By what title did the Soviets refer to WWII?
49. IN what sense do the authors suggest that the Soviets were both initially ill-equipped to fight the war, then
later able to carry on an efficient war effort?
50. Who were the partisans, and how did the Soviets and Stalin benefit from their presence?
51. Ultimately, how did the war effort work toward the advantage of Stalin and the Communists?
52. When did the United States formally recognize the USSR?
53. What was the Atlantic Charter?
54. What decision was made at Tehran in 1943, and why would this decision become important by the
conclusion of the war and during the post-war era?
55. What centuries-old desires had the Soviets realized by 1944?
56. What Teheran agreement regarding Eastern Europe did Stalin eventually violate?
57. What military realities affected the decisions made at the Yalta Conference (particularly with respect to the
position of the Western Allies)?
58. What factors made the Potsdam Conference different from Yalta, and what key agreements were reached?
59. What is suggested by referring to WWI and WWII as the “Second Thirty Years’ War”?
60. Why was the post-war trend toward de-colonization hastened by the emergence of the super-power
structure following the war?
61. What was different about the treatment of the defeated powers of WWII as compared to those of WWI, and
what reality encouraged this different treatment?
62. What ironic state of affairs now exists with respect to two of the former enemy powers of WWII?
Quickie Quiz
1. The massive Anglo-American aerial bombardment of Germany
a. Was a great success in nearly all respects
b. Did significant damage to selected industrial targets
c. Undermined German morale severely through firebombing
d. Had little effect on the course of the war
2. The Battle of Stalingrad
a. Was crucial, because the Germans needed access to nearby oil fields
b. Saw the death of more Russians than all Americans lost in the entire war
c. Marked the turning point of the war on the eastern front
d. All of the above
3. The Battle of Britain resulted in
a. The collapse of the Chamberlain government
b. The German abandonment of invasion plans
c. A great loss of morale among the British
d. The virtual abandonment of London
4. Which of the following best characterizes Hitler’s foreign policy?
a. He wanted to restore Germany to its 1914 borders.
b. He said Germany was a satisfied power and he meant it?
c. He carefully followed a prepared blueprint for vast conquests set down early in his career
d. He used opportunistic tactics to attain a preconceived goal of vast conquests.
5. The secret provision of the Nazi-Soviet Pact was
a. Military equipment supplied to Germany by the Soviet Union
b. Soviet intelligence information facilitating a German invasion of France
c. The division of Czechoslovakia between Russia and Germany
d. The division of Poland between Russia and Germany
6. What benefits did the Soviet Union receive from their support of the invasion of Poland?
a. The surrender of France
b. A warm-water porty
c. The ability to take control of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
d. A financial settlement from the Germans
Key:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
7. Through the winter of 1939-1940 there was
a. A German air war conducted against Britain
b. A “Sitzkrieg” in which little happened
c. An Italian invasion of north afrrica
d. A great deal of fighting in the Balkan region
8. Lebensraum refers to
a. The superiorty of the Aryan race
b. The annexation of France
c. The name for the policy or remilitarization of the Rhineland
d. Living space for the growing German nation
b
d
b
d
d
c
b
d
d
a
9. The “Great Patriotic War” was a phrase used by
a. Winston Churchill in his speeches to the British people\
b. America to recruit men fo the war effort
c. Nazi propagandists to stiffen German resolve against allied bombing
d. Soviet leaders to encourage their people to resist Nazi invasion
10. The policy of appeasement was based on the assumption that Germany
a. Had legitimate grievances and that Hitler’s goals were limited
b. Sincerely intended to live by the terms of the Weimar constitution
c. Was guilty as charged in the Treaty of Versailles, but should be pardoned
d. None of the above
Label this map of post
WWII Europe with countries
and their capitals
I LOVE MAPS!!! (and so
do you…..)