HIST 1493 – World War II: Fighting the Good Fight (1941-1945)

30 question-and-answer flashcards covering key people, events, policies, and battles from the World War II lecture notes, designed to aid exam review.

What political ideology did Benito Mussolini promote in Italy, emphasizing totalitarian control and national unity?

Fascism

Which 1935 laws in Nazi Germany stripped Jews of citizenship and civil rights?

The Nuremberg Laws

What 1938 agreement allowed Hitler to occupy the Sudetenland in hopes of preventing war?

The Munich Pact (policy of appeasement)

What term describes Hitler’s fast, coordinated attacks that began with the 1939 invasion of Poland?

Blitzkrieg (“lightning war”)

What U.S. policy (Nov. 1939) let belligerents buy arms if they paid cash and used their own ships?

Cash-and-Carry

Which 1941 program let the United States sell, lease, or transfer arms to nations vital to its defense?

Lend-Lease

What event on December 7, 1941, brought the United States formally into World War II?

Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor

Which agency, created in 1941, set price ceilings and rationed goods to fight wartime inflation?

Office of Price Administration (OPA)

How did the U.S. government primarily finance the war, raising over $185 billion from citizens?

War bond drives

What iconic propaganda character encouraged American women to work in defense factories?

Rosie the Riveter

What 1942 African American campaign sought “victory over fascism abroad and racism at home”?

The Double V Campaign

Which 1942 executive order authorized the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps?

Executive Order 9066

What was the highly decorated all-Japanese-American unit nicknamed “Go For Broke”?

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Who were the “Big Three” Allied leaders?

Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin

What June 6, 1944, operation opened a second front in Europe by landing Allied troops in Normandy?

D-Day (Operation Overlord)

Which December 1944–January 1945 offensive was Nazi Germany’s last major attempt in the West?

The Battle of the Bulge

What Allied discovery revealed the extent of Nazi genocide against Jews and others?

Liberation of Holocaust concentration and extermination camps

Which May–June 1942 naval clash marked the first Japanese defeat and a turning point in the Pacific?

The Battle of Midway

What forced march in 1942 led to thousands of American and Filipino POW deaths under Japanese control?

The Bataan Death March

What U.S. strategy involved capturing key islands to move steadily toward Japan?

Island hopping

Which bloody February-March 1945 battle provided an air base for bombing Japan and raised the famous flag on Mount Suribachi?

The Battle of Iwo Jima

What secret U.S. project developed the atomic bomb?

The Manhattan Project

On which city was the first atomic bomb, “Little Boy,” dropped on August 6, 1945?

Hiroshima

Which city was devastated by the second atomic bomb, “Fat Man,” on August 9, 1945?

Nagasaki

What 1943 Casablanca decision stated the Allies would accept nothing less than complete enemy capitulation?

Doctrine of unconditional surrender

What 1941 battle stopped Japanese expansion toward Australia, preceding Midway?

The Battle of the Coral Sea

Which two 1945 battles showed Japan’s fierce resistance, costing massive U.S. and Japanese casualties just before the atomic bombings?

Iwo Jima and Okinawa

What 1931 puppet state did Japan create from northern Chinese provinces, signaling early aggression?

Manchukuo (in Manchuria)

Which 1937 atrocity saw mass rape and murder by Japanese troops, intensifying U.S. anti-Japanese sentiment?

The Nanjing (Nanking) Massacre