World War II and Aftermath — Practice Quiz

A World History cheat sheet for World War II and Aftermath — every key formula with its symbols defined — plus a medium-level practice quiz to test recall.

Formulas & key concepts

Economic crisis and fear helped dictators seize power, including Mussolini in Italy and Hitler's Nazis in Germany.

Rise of Fascism

Where: Hitler's book: 'Mein Kampf'

The failed policy of giving in to Hitler's demands, such as at the Munich Conference, in hopes of avoiding war.

Appeasement

Where: 1938

Germany's blitzkrieg invasion of Poland in 1939 began the war, pitting the Axis Powers against the Allies.

Outbreak of War

Japan's 1941 surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific fleet brought the United States into the war.

Pearl Harbor

Allied victories at Stalingrad, Midway, and the D-Day landings in Normandy shifted the war's momentum.

Turning Points

Where: D-Day: June 6, 1944

The Nazis' systematic genocide of six million Jews and millions of others in concentration and death camps.

The Holocaust

Where: The 'Final Solution'

Germany surrendered in May 1945, and Japan surrendered after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

End of the War

The international organization founded in 1945 to promote peace and cooperation among nations.

United Nations

The decades-long rivalry between the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union, split by an 'iron curtain.'

The Cold War

Where: Containment; Marshall Plan; NATO

Mao Zedong's Communists won China's civil war in 1949, founding the People's Republic of China.

Chinese Communist Revolution

Cold War tensions erupted into fighting in Korea and Vietnam, where the U.S. sought to stop the spread of communism.

Hot Wars of the Cold War

Where: Domino theory

After the war, dozens of colonies in Asia and Africa won independence, including India's partition into India and Pakistan.

Decolonization

Practice quiz

  1. Which of the following factors significantly contributed to the rise of fascist dictators like Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler in the years leading up to World War II?

    • Widespread economic prosperity
    • Strong democratic institutions
    • Economic crisis and fear
    • International peace treaties

    Answer: Economic crisis and fear

  2. The policy of 'appeasement,' exemplified by the Munich Conference in 1938, involved what action towards Adolf Hitler's demands?

    • Directly confronting Hitler with military force
    • Giving in to his demands to avoid war
    • Forming a strong alliance against Germany
    • Imposing strict economic sanctions on Germany

    Answer: Giving in to his demands to avoid war

  3. World War II officially began in Europe with Germany's blitzkrieg invasion of which country in 1939?

    • France
    • Great Britain
    • Poland
    • Soviet Union

    Answer: Poland

  4. What event in 1941 directly led to the United States entering World War II?

    • Germany's invasion of France
    • The Battle of Britain
    • Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor
    • The signing of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

    Answer: Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor

  5. Which of these events is considered a major turning point that shifted the momentum of World War II in favor of the Allies?

    • The invasion of Poland
    • The attack on Pearl Harbor
    • The D-Day landings in Normandy
    • The Munich Conference

    Answer: The D-Day landings in Normandy

  6. The term 'Holocaust' refers to which horrific event during World War II?

    • The atomic bombings of Japan
    • The systematic genocide of six million Jews and millions of others by the Nazis
    • The widespread famine in the Soviet Union
    • The internment of Japanese Americans

    Answer: The systematic genocide of six million Jews and millions of others by the Nazis

  7. What ultimately led to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II in August 1945?

    • A massive Allied land invasion of Japan
    • The Soviet Union's declaration of war on Japan
    • The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
    • A naval blockade that starved the country

    Answer: The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

  8. Founded in 1945, what international organization was established to promote peace and cooperation among nations after World War II?

    • The League of Nations
    • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
    • The United Nations
    • The Warsaw Pact

    Answer: The United Nations

  9. The 'iron curtain' was a term used to describe the ideological and physical division between democratic Western Europe and communist Eastern Europe during which historical period?

    • World War I
    • The Great Depression
    • The Cold War
    • Decolonization

    Answer: The Cold War

  10. Who led the Communist forces to victory in China's civil war in 1949, establishing the People's Republic of China?

    • Chiang Kai-shek
    • Deng Xiaoping
    • Mao Zedong
    • Sun Yat-sen

    Answer: Mao Zedong

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