Final Exam part 3
Who were the Tuskegee Airmen during the Second World War?
African American pilots trained in Tuskegee, Alabama whose performance in the war helped inspire the eventual desegregation of the armed forces after the war
What was the result of the Battle of Britain in 1940?
Although German air strikes killed many British civilians, the Royal Air Force used new radar technology to win the battle and postpone German invasion plans.
What combination of factors turned the tide and led to the Allied victory?
American industrial productivity and the Soviet Union's ability to absorb and ultimately repel the German invasion
Which of the following statements accurately describes the decision-making process behind the use of atomic bombs against Japan?
American military planners reasoned that use of the bombs would prevent the necessity of a conventional invasion, which they believed would cost more than a million lives.
How did developments in Germany and Japan compare leading up to the Second World War?
At the same time as Adolf Hitler professed his intention to use Germany's supposed racial supremacy to dominate Europe, Japanese leaders purported their intention for their "master race" to direct a resurgent Asia.
How has the public and historical perception of Truman's presidency evolved over time?
During Truman's presidency, many Americans blamed him for issues such as higher taxes and higher prices for consumers brought by the war, but years later, many have come to view him more positively, appreciating that he dealt with a complex set of problems.
By the spring of 1945, the United States and Britain were becoming deeply concerned over Soviet actions in
Eastern Europe.
Which of the following statements correctly describes FDR's attitude toward African Americans?
Even as African Americans were shifting toward the Democratic party, he generally showed little concern for the difficulties facing them.
What did Roosevelt do at the outset of his presidency to deal with the banking crisis?
He declared a bank holiday, shutting the banks down briefly.
Why did President Truman veto the McCarran Internal Security Act?
He felt it promoted thought control.
Which of the following statements describes the role State Department official George Kennan played in the onset of the cold war?
He recommended that the United States contain Soviet expansionist tendencies through efforts to undermine the appeal of Soviet communism.
What is significant about the way Truman got the United States involved in the Korean War?
He was able to do it without a congressional declaration, bypassing a constitutional provision.
Which of the following events was part of Roosevelt's background, and how did it affect his presidency?
He was permanently disabled after contracting polio, which enhanced his ability to identify with people struggling through difficult times.
Who was Richard Wright?
He wrote Native Son, a story of racial prejudice that follows events that transpire after an accidental murder.
The passage of the Lend-Lease bill in 1941 signaled what about American opinion?
Isolationist strength was weakening.
Which of the following is true of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947?
It allowed the president to impose a "cooling-off" period during major strikes.
As a result of the global burdens the United States assumed after the Second World War, how did the federal government change?
It became larger, more powerful, and more secretive, in part due to the actions of both major political parties and the lobbying efforts of the military-industrial complex.
What effect did the German occupation of Czechoslovakia have on Roosevelt?
It caused him to no longer profess impartiality in the impending European struggle.
What was the role of the Truman Doctrine?
It committed the United States to help "free peoples" facing pressure from communism.
What was the role of the Potsdam Declaration?
It demanded that Japan surrender or face "prompt and utter destruction."
Which of the following statements accurately describes the purpose of the Neutrality Act of 1935?
It forbade the sale of arms and munitions to warring nations.
What was the purpose of the Wagner Act?
It guaranteed workers the right to organize unions and bargain directly with management.
What was the role of the Nye Committee?
It investigated and criticized the role that bankers and munitions makers played in America's entry into the Great War.
Which of the following statements about the Social Security Act of 1935 is true?
It involved a federal retirement fund for people over sixty-five and was meant to supplement other sources of income.
Which of the following is true of the Works Progress Administration?
It managed a wide array of jobs, became the nation's largest employer, and included the National Youth Administration.
In what way was Operation Overlord a turning point in the war?
It opened a western front in the war around the same time the Soviets advanced on Germany from the east.
What did the Supreme Court do in the case of Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States?
It overturned the National Industrial Recovery Act, ruling that Congress had given too much power to the president and representing the growing opposition to the New Deal.
What was the role of the GI Bill?
It provided loans to veterans for education, job training, and the building of homes and businesses.
What was one of the main purposes of the Glass-Steagall Banking Act of 1933?
It reduced the chance that another panic would occur by creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure customer bank accounts up to a certain amount of money.
What is one way the Chinese civil war proved significant for the cold war?
It resulted in the victory of Communists over Chinese Nationalists, and the Communists would go on to intervene in the Korean War to aid their North Korean allies.
Which of the following statements accurately describes the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938?
It set a minimum wage of 40¢ an hour.
Why was the attack on Pearl Harbor significant?
It was a surprise attack that immediately caused the United States to enter the war and brought the isolationist movement to an abrupt end.
Why was the episode surrounding the "Court-packing" plan significant?
It was among Roosevelt's most humiliating moments and fractured the Democratic party.
What was the role of the Marshall Plan?
It was an international economic recovery program that also sought to reduce socialist influence in Europe and reestablish a strong Western Europe rooted in American values.
Which of the following statements accurately describes the German blitzkrieg?
It was centered on speed and stunned defenders who faced coordinated air and land forces in western Europe.
Which of the following statements about the Battle of Okinawa is true?
It was the largest amphibious operation of the war in the Pacific and the staging area for a planned invasion of Japan.
Which of the following occurred in Asia with the end of the Second World War?
Korea became divided into northern and southern halves, with the Soviets organizing a Communist government in the north and the Americans then helping to establish a democratic government in the south.
Which of the following accurately describes wartime opportunities of American women during the Second World War?
Many women served in the armed forces as well as in the civilian workforce, in part thanks to recruitment efforts by the government.
Which of the following is true of Truman's Fair Deal proposals by and large?
Most of them were simply extensions or enlargements of New Deal programs, and a bipartisan conservative coalition in Congress successfully stopped their passage.
Authored by Paul Nitze, ________ endorsed a massive militarized version of containment that guided American foreign policy for decades.
NSC-68
Which of the following organizations sought to set workplace standards, such as child labor restrictions?
National Recovery Administration
Which of the following reorganized the American defense and intelligence establishment in 1947, creating the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of Defense, National Security Council and Central Intelligence Agency?
National Security Act
Which of the following statements accurately describes the role of the federal government under Roosevelt?
National economic planning, restoring prosperity, and ensuring social security for all fell under the responsibility of the federal government.
Germany's invasion of what country triggered the beginning of the Second World War in Europe?
Poland
In response to Truman's actions and policies up to that point, the 1946 congressional elections resulted in
Republican control of Congress.
What was the significance of the 1945 Yalta Conference?
Roosevelt yielded to some of Stalin's territorial desires in order to secure Soviet help to defeat Japan and Soviet participation in the United Nations.
Which of the following statements about Eleanor Roosevelt is accurate?
She was especially supportive of women, African Americans, and youth.
An impact of the Korean War was that Truman authorized increased assistance for French troops fighting a Communist independence movement in a French colony in ________, beginning U.S. military involvement there.
Southeast Asia
Why did the Supreme Court declare the NRA unconstitutional in 1935?
The NRA had assumed lawmaking powers that were constitutionally only granted to Congress.
Which of the following was a result of the Second World War?
The United States became more deeply committed to international affairs.
Which of the following statements is true in regard to Israel's founding in 1948?
The United States became the first country to recognize the Jewish state.
Why was the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) significant to American foreign policy?
The commitment to NATO as a mutual defense alliance against the Soviet Union marked an end to isolationism in the United States.
The global scope and scale of the Second World War ended America's ________ during the previous two decades.
The global scope and scale of the Second World War ended America's ________ during the previous two decades.
Which of the following occurred during the Tehran Conference where Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt all met together for the first time?
They discussed the planned invasion of France and Russian offense across eastern Europe as well as made early plans for the United Nations.
What was the stance of the Dixiecrats in the 1948 campaign?
They supported states' rights and racial segregation.
What was the result of the invasion of Manchuria, China by Japanese troops in the 1930s?
They took advantage of China's weakness during a civil war by proclaiming Manchuria's independence.
What were "war relocation camps"?
They were essentially internment camps for over 100,000 Japanese Americans during the war due to racial and fear-based prejudice.
Which of the following statements accurately describes the political climate as the 1948 election approached?
Truman had not yet successfully cast away the widespread impression that he was not up to the role of president, and most political analysts assumed he would lose the next election.
Which agency was created to direct industrial conversion to war production?
War Production Board
Which of the following was one of the ironies of the Second World War?
While fighting racism celebrated by fascism abroad, the United States tolerated racism at home, continuing to racially segregate the military.
What were among the main U.S. foreign policy concerns following the Second World War and why?
With the elimination of German Nazism, the United States and the Soviet Union no longer seemed to share a united goal; the power vacuums in Europe and Asia due to the defeat of the Germans and Japanese left the Americans and Soviets competing for global influence.
What was the Atlantic Charter?
a joint British-American statement of anti-Axis war aims
UN forces reaching the Yalu River brought about
a massive Chinese intervention
The 1937 economic slump was caused in part by
a sharp decrease in government spending
From late 1941 into early 1942, the Second World War in the Pacific included
a succession of Japanese victories that saw numerous Allied outposts fall.
In early 1937, Roosevelt proposed to reform the Supreme Court by
adding up to six additional members.
At what point did Congress revise the 1935 Neutrality Act to do more to stop "aggressor" nations?
after the invasion of Poland
Drawing on the assumptions of the "domino theory," Truman believed the Soviet and Communist activities in Greece would
allow for the fall of the other nations in eastern Mediterranean, followed by those in Western Europe, if unchecked.
To what did Winston Churchill compare the boundary between Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe and Western Europe?
an iron curtain
What is a chicken?
animal
What is a dog?
animal
In 1935, Hitler, in flagrant violation of the Versailles Treaty, began rebuilding Germany's
armed forces.
The new tactic of the "sit-down strike" was used successfully in 1937 by ________ and inspired other workers to ________.
automobile workers; join unions
Which of the following factors helped stall the development of the New Deal in the late 1930s?
conservative southern Democrats joining with Republicans to block proposed New Deal programs
Through the Lend-Lease bill, passed in January 1941, "any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States"
could receive military equipment, supplies, and other necessary materials even if that country lacked the funds to pay for those items.
The goal of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was to raise farm income mainly through
cutbacks in production.
On the domestic front, President Truman soon made clear his intention to
enlarge the New Deal.
Senator McCarthy was very effective in
exploiting public fears.
Why did Truman fire General MacArthur?
for insubordination
One of Truman's strengths as he assumed the presidency was his
genuine demeanor and ability to arise above his limitations.
Which of the following contributed to Hitler's rise to power?
his use of showmanship and organization of a police state employing tyranny, terrorism, and propaganda to impose absolute control
Which of the following appears to have led to the cold war in retrospect?
ideological competition between democratic capitalism and totalitarian communism and their opposing views of what the postwar world should become
British and American differences over where to attack Germany first were resolved with the decision to launch an offensive
in North Africa.
Labor's new direction in the late 1930s was toward
industrial unions.
In June 1941, Germany widened the war by ________ as part of Operation Barbarossa.
invading the Soviet Union
General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz developed the ________ strategy to defeat the Japanese in the Pacific war.
island-hopping
What was the greatest triumph of the New Deal?
its role in demonstrating that American democracy could cope with the collapse of capitalism
Truman's response to the Soviet blockade of West Berlin in 1948 was to
launch a massive airlift of supplies into West Berlin.
Which of the following eventually proved the MOST effective answer to the sluggish economy, unemployment, and the plight of farmers?
national mobilization for the Second World War
The Soviet acquisition of the atomic bomb in 1949 inspired Truman to
order the development of a hydrogen bomb.
The Tennessee Valley Authority employed thousands in order to
produce cheap electric power.
One major reason that the Second World War inspired postwar changes in race relations in the United States was the
racist nature of opponents of the United States, such as the Nazis, during the war.
During the summer of 1941, the United States attempted to restrain Japanese expansion by
restricting oil exports to Japan and freezing Japanese assets in the United States.
Truman viewed the results of the 1948 election as a mandate for
social welfare programs.
During his presidential campaign, what did Huey Long propose as an alternative to the New Deal?
the Share-the-Wealth Society to raise taxes on the wealthy and redistribute money to "the people"
Following the conclusion of the Second World War, the two most powerful nations in the world were
the United States and the Soviet Union.
In late summer 1940, President Roosevelt agreed to send fifty "overaged" destroyers to Britain in return for
the ability to build U.S. naval and air bases on British islands in the Caribbean.
What significant objective motivated Japanese expansion into Southeast Asia and the Pacific during 1940-1941?
the expansion's provision of access to vitally needed raw materials
In 1947, President Truman took actions to banish Communists from ________ by issuing an executive order known as the Loyalty Order.
the federal government
What was the Second New Deal?
the more radical phase of the New Deal that included projects such as Social Security
What was Hitler's "Final Solution"?
the wholesale extermination of the Jews, who Hitler blamed for most of Germany's problems
What was the main purpose of the Civilian Conservation Corps?
to provide work relief for young men through the preservation of national resources
What was the role of the Office of Price Administration?
to ration and set price ceilings on high-demand items such as tires, sugar, and gasoline
Economic distress in the 1930s fed the growth of what in Europe?
totalitarian regimes
The Yalta pledges of democratic elections in Eastern Europe were
violated by the Soviet Union.
By November 1941, the United States insisted it would reopen trade with Japan only after that country
withdrew completely from China.
