Social Studies Quiz
World War II & the Cold War
Name______________________
Date _______________________
Read each of the following questions/statements carefully and circle the letter representing the best
answer choice.
1. Which was an effect of World War II on the
home front?
A. new roles for women in the workforce
B. migration of city workers to rural areas
C. manufacturing plants and factories closing
D. surpluses of food and fuel
6. Which answer correctly identifies the major
Axis Powers?
A. Poland, Bulgaria, Soviet Union
B. France, Spain, Manchuria
C. Italy, United States, Japan
D. Germany, Italy, Japan
2. Franklin Roosevelt called December 7, 1941
“a date which will live in infamy (evil
fame).” What happened on that day?
A. the Germans began unrestricted
submarine warfare in the Atlantic
B. Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of
Normandy
C. the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
D. the stock market crash caused the
Great Depression
7. Which wartime leader is incorrectly
matched with his country?
A. Benito Mussolini - Italy
B. Franklin Roosevelt – United States
C. Joseph Stalin – Soviet Union
D. Winston Churchill - France
3. What caused Britain and France to declare
war on Germany in 1939?
A. Germany violated the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles
B. the Holocaust began in Nazi Germany
C. Germany dropped the atomic bomb on
Paris, France
D. the German army invaded Poland
4. What role of women did “Rosie the
Riveter” symbolize during WWII?
A. fighting on the front lines in the army
B. working in factories making military
supplies
C. serving as nurses in military hospitals
D. making motion pictures in Hollywood
5. Which of the following best describes the
approach taken by dictators of the Axis
Powers?
A. isolationism
B. self-determination
C. totalitarianism
D. humanitarianism
8. What statement best describes Germany’s
intention during the Holocaust?
A. control the world’s gold supply
B. exterminate an entire race of people
C. rule the continent of Europe
D. establish a new world power
9. Which statement best describes why the
Treaty of Versailles is a cause of WWII?
A. German leaders were angry they weren’t
asked to be one of the Big Four
B. Japan had suffered tremendously when
the atomic bombs were dropped
C. Germany wanted revenge for being
punished after WWI
D. Benito Mussolini assassinated Archduke
Ferdinand in Versailles
10. Which of the following was not a tactic
used by the Nazis to persecute the Jewish
people during the Holocaust?
A. sent to internment camps in remote,
desert locations in western America
B. imprisonment and killing of Jews in
concentration camps
C. boycotting Jewish stores
D. forced to wear yellow Star of David on
clothing as Jewish identification
11. Which of the following was part of the
United States strategy to win the War in
the Pacific?
A. trench warfare
B. tank attacks in north Africa
C. island hopping
D. attacking supply lines in Manchuria
16. Which United States president made the
decision to drop atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
A. Harry S. Truman
B. Franklin D. Roosevelt
C. Dwight D. Eisenhower
D. Douglas MacArthur
12. Which of the following does not accurately
identify a major Axis Power and its leader?
A. Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin
B. Japan, Hideki Tojo
C. Germany, Adolf Hitler
D. Italy, Benito Mussolini
17. Why is this deadliest war also called the
“good war?”
A. the use of air raids caused much less
bloodshed than in WWI
B. many ordinary citizens became involved at
home to help the war effort
C. nations banded together to defeat
aggressive dictators in Europe and Asia
D. anti-Semitism celebrated the
accomplishments of Japanese Americans
during the war
13. Which of the following correctly sequences
major WWII events?
A. Soviet Union defeats Germany at
Stalingrad, Germany invades Poland,
Japan surrenders, U.S. enters the war
B. Germany invades Poland, Japan attacks
Pearl Harbor, U.S. enters the war,
D-Day Invasion, Atomic bombs dropped
on Japan
C. Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Great Britain
and France declare war on Germany,
D-Day Invasion
14. What were the fates of Benito Mussolini
and Adolf Hitler?
A. Both surrendered in late 1945. They were
imprisoned, tried, and put to death.
B. Mussolini was hanged by his countrymen;
Hitler committed suicide in his bunker.
C. Both escaped capture and, it is believed,
fled to Argentina.
D. Both surrendered, were tried, and were
imprisoned for life.
15. Which was a major Allied victory over
Japan in the Pacific?
A. Battle of the Atlantic
B. Stalingrad
C. Battle of Midway
D. D-Day
18. Which group of American citizens was sent
to internment camps (wartime jails) for fear
they were spies during WWII?
A. Polish Americans
B. Native Americans
C. African Americans
D. Japanese Americans
19. All of the following were major battlefronts
in WWII except?
A. China
B. North Africa
C. Pacific
D. Europe
20. Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and military
rule in Japan are all examples of what?
A. total control by dictators which deny
individual freedoms
B. very powerful economic systems ruled by
supply and demand
C. democracy in action
D. system of checks and balances so no one
person has complete power
21. Which event in 1941 caused the
United States to enter World War II?
A. Germany’s invasion of Poland
B. Japan’s attack on Hawaii
C. Hitler’s killing of Jewish people
D. the sinking of American ships by
German U-boats
22. The president defended his decision to
drop the atomic bomb by arguing that it
would
A. prolong (lengthen) the war.
B. avoid huge U.S. troop casualties.
C. punish the Japanese.
D. reduce civilian deaths.
23. Which famous battle fought on Russian soil
halted the German advance in WWII?
A. Alamein
B. Gallipoli
C. Normandy
D. Stalingrad
24. After World War II, the Marshall Plan
provided
A. economic aid to European countries
recovering from the war.
B pardons to all former spies.
C. reparations to formerly interned
Japanese.
D. United States military protection for
Japan’s emperor.
25. The two superpowers that emerged after
World War II were
A. Japan and Germany.
B. the United States and Great Britain.
C. the Soviet Union and India.
E. the United States and Soviet Union.
26. Which economic system rewards individual
achievement and competition?
A. Socialism
B. Capitalism
C. Communism
D. Fascism
27. What is the primary goal of the United
Nations?
A. to stop communism
B. to stop the Far East from building
weapons
C. to prevent future wars
D. to replace all nation’s governments
with a single world government
28. The Cuban Missile Crisis began when
A. the Soviet navy ran the United States
blockade of Cuba.
B. a United States spy plane was shot
down over Cuba.
C. the Soviets began to build missile
launching sites in Cuba.
D. the Cubans began an invasion of the
United States missile site.
29. The Cuban Missile Crisis ended when
A. the Soviets agreed to remove missiles
from Cuba.
B. the United States bombed Soviet
missile sites.
C. the United States negotiated with
Castro to destroy missile sites.
D. the United Nations forced the two sides
to compromise on missiles.
30. The purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization was to
A. help Europe rebuild after the damage
of WWII.
B. find peaceful uses for nuclear energy.
C. promote democracy in European
countries.
D. protect member countries from Soviet
aggression.
31. The United States policy to hold
communism within the Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe is known as
A. the Domino Theory.
B. the Open Door Policy.
C. mutual assured destruction.
D. containment.
32. Which event in 1950 made the Cold War
“hot?”
A. Vietnam War
B. Korean War
C. Cuban Missile Crisis
D. World War II
33. The Viet Cong were
A. South Vietnamese who were
sympathetic to the communist cause.
B. North Vietnamese who were
sympathetic to the communist cause.
C. United States soldiers fighting for the
communists.
D. South Vietnamese who were fighting
with the Americans.
34. The Warsaw Pact was
A. a branch of NATO.
B. a branch of the United Nations.
C. the Soviet answer to NATO.
D. a treaty signed between Russia and
Poland.
35. What was not true about the Cold War?
A. it divided the world into two camps
B. it resulted in an armed conflict between
the U.S. and the Soviet Union
C. It was based on differences in
ideologies—the U.S, democratic and
capitalist; the Soviet Union, dictatorial
and communist.
D. It was characterized by a state of
tension between the U.S. and Soviet
Union
36. One reason for United States involvement
in Vietnam was to
A. force the Soviet Union to remove
missiles from Vietnam.
B. get Vietnamese raw materials for use in
American industry.
C. keep communists from taking control of
the Vietnamese government.
D. bring in fuel and supplies after the
Soviet Union cut the country off from
the outside world.
37. The fall of the Berlin Wall signaled the
collapse of
A. fascism in Eastern Europe.
B. socialism in Western Europe.
C. monarchy in Western Europe.
D. communism in Eastern Europe.
38. Who was president during the Cuban
Missile Crisis?
A. Harry S. Truman
B. Ronald Reagan
C. Lyndon B. Johnson
D. John F. Kennedy
Use the map on the next page to answer
questions # 39 - 43.
39. Which numbers label two major Axis
Powers?
A. 3 and 5
B. 1 and 5
C. 3 and 7
D. 7 and 4
40. Which numbers label two major Allied
Powers?
A. 3 and 5
B. 1 and 5
C. 3 and 7
D. 7 and 4
41. Which number labels the country Germany
invaded starting World War II?
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 9
42. Which number labels the country where
the D-day invasion took place?
A. 2
B. 1
C. 6
D. 5
43. Which number labels the country of Benito
Mussolini?
A. 3
B. 4
C. 10
D. 7
It’s time for a bit of “old stuff.”
44. What was granted in 1920 by passing the
19th amendment to the Constitution?
A. Women’s suffrage
B. Abolition of slavery
C. Prohibition repealed
D. Right to bear arms
45. The fifty states can be grouped into regions
based on specific characteristics. In which
geographic region is Virginia located?
A. Northeast
B. Midwest
C. Southwest
D. Southeast
46. Which labor union was founded by Samuel
Gompers in 1886 during the Gilded Age?
A. United Auto Workers (UAW)
B. American Federation of Labor (AFL)
C. Knights of Labor
D. Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
47. Which of the following groups gained
power by helping the poor in exchange for
votes?
A. Monopolies
B. Political machines
C. Reformers
D. Political activist
48. Armed resistance of Native Americans to
white settlement of their lands in the West
ended __________________________.
A. when Geronimo was captured by the U.S.
army
B. with the Massacre at Wounded Knee
C. at the Battle of Little Bighorn
D. when the Nez Perce fled to Canada
49. New railroads helped to stimulate
economic growth the most
A. after the Civil War
B. during World War I
C. before the Civil War
D. during the Great Depression
50. Which of the following was one reason for
the failure of Prohibition?
A. Unpopularity of the restriction
B. Passage of the Twenty-first
C. The start of World War I
D. An increase in public drunkenness
51. Negative effects of industrialization
included ________________.
A. formation of unions
B. reduced work hours
C. restrictions on child labor
D. unsafe working conditions
52. Which U.S. president expanded the Monroe
Doctrine to include the right to use force in
Latin America?
A. William McKinley
B. Woodrow Wilson
C. Franklin Roosevelt
D. Theodore Roosevelt
You are finally finished! Take a
break, then go back and check
your work carefully! 