Coming of War (World War II)

Who was the founder of the fascist party?

Benito Mussolini.

What was one of the major ways Mussolini maintained his power in Italy?

outlawing political parties.

Italy and Japan were dissatisfied with the peace settlements provided in the Treaty of Versailles because both countries expected more...

territory in exchange for their sacrifices during World War I.

What piece of U.S. legislation was perceived as being equivalent to declaring economic war against the Axis powers?

the Lend-Lease Act (1941).

Which political party rose to power in Germany during the 1930s?

the Nazi Party.

What goal did President Roosevelt hope to achieve when he enacted the embargo on Japanese naval and aviation supplies in 1940?

to stop Japanese expansion.

After declaring war, the United States government...

transformed peacetime industries to wartime industries.

What does blitzkrieg mean?

"Lightning War"

What was the Battle of Coral Sea and why is it significant?

(May 1942) Japanese and U.S. aircraft carriers engaged in battle (the ships never saw one another). Technically a draw, strategically was a victory for the U.S. because it stopped Japanese attack on New Guinea.

Approximately how many American and Filipino troops died during the Bataan Death March?

7,000.

What was the Atlantic Charter?

A document signed by Churchill and Roosevelt signed during a covert meeting on a boat off the coast of Newfoundland in August 1941. It endorsed national self-determination and an international system of "general security". Its signing signaled the deepening alliance between the U.S. and Britain.

What is totalitarianism?

A theory of government in which one person or party controls all aspects of life.

Who was the dictator who wanted to unite all Germanic people into one state?

Adolf Hitler.

Which ships survived the attack on Pearl Harbor?

Aircraft carriers.

What was the Doolittle Raid and why is it significant?

America struck back in April 1942 when the USS Hornet, under the command of Colonel James Doolittle, attacked Tokyo with a force of 16 B-25 bombers. The raid killed 50 Japanese people and damaged 100 buildings. The raid had minimal positive military gain, but bolstered American morale for the long fight ahead.

How did interventionists feel about Axis aggression?

Axis aggressions were wrong and threatened American interests (democracy).

Who was the commander of the United States Army forces in Asia?

Douglas MacArthur.

How did the Great Depression eventually change Germany politically?

Germans eventually believed that Hitler would solve their economic problems.

Who appeared to be winning the war by the end of 1940?

Germany and Italy.

What was Anschluss?

Germany's peaceful union with Austria.

How did Adolf Hitler explain the problems facing Germany in his book "Mein Kampf"?

He blamed the problems on Jewish people and the great threat they caused Germany.

How did Roosevelt's response to German aggression toward Britain differ from his response to Japanese aggression in toward China?

He condemned both acts of aggression but provided support to Britain.

Which general staged the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor?

Hideki Tojo.

How did support for hte Allies change following Roosevelt's reelection in 1940?

Support increased; Congress approved the Lend-Lease Act.

What did interventionists believe?

Interventionists believed that providing Britain with aid would keep the United States out of war.

Between 1941 and 1942, how did the size of the United States Navy change?

It doubled in size.

What impact did the appeasement policy of the United States, Britain, and France have on German aggression?

It encouraged further aggression.

What role did the Office of War Mobilization (OWM) play during the war?

It supervised use of industry resources.

What actions did Japan take in an attempt to recover from the Great Depression?

Japan seized control of resources in other nations.

How did MacArthur combat Japanese expansion into the Philippines in December of 1941?

MacArthur positioned his forces to repel the invasion, but he badly miscalculated the strength of the enemy and was forced to retreat. U.S. forces fell back from Manila to the Bataan peninsula. Even after MacArthur was ordered to evacuate Australia, some troops remained behind, and when those 75,000 soldiers surrendered, they were forced to march 55 miles up the peninsula to reach a railway that took them inland to walk another 8 miles.

The Neutrality Act of 1939 allowed nations at war to buy arms and other supplies from the United States so long as those nations what?

Paid cash and transported the materials themselves.

Interventionists claimed that the United States could avoid war if it what?

Sent aid to Britain.

Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941?

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor because they wanted to destroy ships and planes that could potentially thwart their expansion efforts.

What document formally created the alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan?

The Tripartite Act.

Why did the United States initially follow a policy of appeasement toward Germany?

The United States wanted to focus on its own economic troubles.

What board oversaw the conversion of peacetime industry to wartime industry?

The War Production Board, or WPB.

What was the WAC, and what did it do?

The Women's Auxiliary Corps provided clerical workers, truck drivers, instructors, and lab technicians for the United States Army. More than 150,000 women volunteered for the service.

How did the attack on Pearl Harbor change the political divisions between the isolationists and the interventionists?

The attack ended political divisions between interventionists and isolationists; it was a definitive indicator that we could not avoid war any longer.

Who was the British leader who said that Nazi aggression threatened all democracies?

Winston Churchill.

The League of Nations did not prevent German and Italian aggression against other nations because it...

had no standing army and no real power to enforce its decrees.

After the United States declared war, the nation's economic situation...

improved.

Roosevelt delivered his "Four Freedoms" speech to Congress in January 1941 to...

increase economic support for Britain.