Will You Be On The Winning Side Of This War History Quiz?
Written by Daniel Rackley
Last updated · 24 min play time
War is ugly, gruesome, and results in a horrible loss of life. It also has shaped and reshaped the world around us since the beginning of time. Take this quiz and see if you can be on the winning side in this quiz!
Quiz written by
Daniel RackleyWar History Quiz Questions
62 Questions · 310 Plays · 1 Comment
Question 1
The U.S. tried to stay neutral during WWII, but Japan pulled them in by bombing the U.S. naval base here. Name that harbor.
-
APearl Harbor
-
BSydney Harbor
-
CHonolulu Harbor
-
DSouth Beach Harbor
Pearl Harbor
The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service launched a surprise attack on the United States, striking Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu on December 7, 1941. Until then, the U.S. was officially neutral (although they did provide military aid to Britain), considering their involvement in WWI to have been a mistake. But this attack ended that neutrality. They formally declared war on the Empire of Japan the following day.
Question 2
These two powers had been allies during World War II, but became the two major superpowers in conflict during the Cold War.
-
AUnited States and Soviet Union
-
BUnited States and Britain
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CGermany and United States
-
DSoviet Union and Germany
United States and Soviet Union
The United States and the Soviet Union (USSR), became enemies in the Cold War. They were the major global superpowers, and both attempted to carve out spheres of influence.
Question 3
The Axis powers conquered much of Western Europe, but Britain had the advantage of being an island and a strong air force. What is the name of Britain's air force?
-
AMI-6
-
BHer Majesty's Air Command
-
CRoyal Air Force
-
DRegal Air Fighters
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force conducted bombing campaigns throughout World War Two.
Question 4
What two cities in Japan had atomic bombs dropped on them near the end of World War Two?
-
AHiroshima and Nagasaki
-
BNagasaki and Osaka
-
CKyoto and Tokyo
-
DOkinawa and Hiroshima
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
April saw the end of the European war, but the South Pacific war raged on. The Potsdam Declaration drawn up by President Truman called for Japan to surrender; if they did not, "prompt and utter destruction" would follow. True to his word, when Japan refused to surrender, Truman ordered the first (and hopefully the last) atomic bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6, 1945, and August 9, 1945, respectively.
Question 5
How did more than half of the Japanese troops die in WWII?
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AThe atomic bombs
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BIn battle
-
CSuicide missions
-
DMalnutrition and disease
Malnutrition and disease
Imagine conquering land and killing off all the farmers only to realize you're dependent on the food supplies of the areas you occupy. That's what happened to Japanese troops, with an estimated 60 percent of the 1,750,000-strong military dying from disease and malnutrition over the course of the war. How does that old saying go - "don't bite the hand that feeds you"?
Question 6
William Tecumseh Sherman had a 'Hard War' strategy. What rules did he follow?
-
AKilling Civilians
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BSlaughtering Livestock
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CLooting Towns
-
DAll of the Above
All of the Above
Sherman's strategy, a brand of "total war," is highly controversial.
Question 7
The United States and the Soviet Union, formerly allies in World War Two, faced conflict in the next several decades. What was the name of this conflict?
-
ACuban Missile Crisis
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BThirty Years' War
-
CCold War
-
DRussian Revolution
Cold War
The Cold War was "fought" between the two global superpowers after World War Two, the United States and the Soviet Union. It pitted American capitalist democracy and Soviet Communism against each other. Although the two powers did not directly fight, they engaged in a number of proxy wars until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991.
Question 8
What is the only country to have ever used an atomic bomb on an enemy?
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AGermany
-
BChina
-
CRussia
-
DUnited States
United States
In August 1945, President Harry Truman dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan to give a devastating blow to the Japanese military. Historians sometimes view this as the beginning of the Cold War.
Question 9
Who became president, and continued the escalation of the Vietnam War, after Kennedy's assassination?
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ALyndon Johnson
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BRichard Nixon
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CFranklin Delano Roosevelt
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DDwight Eisenhower
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Johnson was Kennedy's vice president, and became president upon Kennedy's death on November 22, 1963.
Question 10
The Mexican-American War contributed significantly to the debate about the legality of slavery, and which states should permit the practice. What legislation decided what to do with the acqusitions in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
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ATownshend Acts
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BMissouri Compromise
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CDred Scott decision
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DCompromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 determined the legality of slavery in the territory gained in the war. California was admitted as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico were allowed to decide on their own.
Question 11
Which of the following battles was the bloodiest battle in the entirety of the Civil War?
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ABattle of Chickamauga
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BBattle of Chancellorsville
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CBattle of Stones River
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DThe Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1-3, 1863 and resulted in Union victory. About 50,000 soldiers were killed.
Question 12
The Vietnam War was fought between North and South Vietnam, but was backed by many powers on both sides. Who was the major supporter of the South?
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ANorth Korea
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BThe United States
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CThe Soviet Union
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DChina
The United States
The south was supported by the United States and its smaller anti-communist allies.
Question 13
The First World War ended with victory for the United States, Britain, France, and their allies. What was the name of the treaty that ended the war, and imposed enormous burdens on the losers?
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ATreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
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BTreaty of London
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CTreaty of Brest-Litovsk
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DVersailles Treaty
Versailles Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles stripped the losers of their colonies, put heavy reparations payments on Germany, and stalled its industrial buildup.
Question 14
The president who followed Johnson focused on retreating from the war and training the South Vietnamese to fight without American aid. Which president was this?
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ARonald Reagan
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BJimmy Carter
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CRichard Nixon
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DGeorge H.W. Bush
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon supported "Vietnamization," or putting the onus on the South Vietnamese army to fight the war without American help.
Question 15
Throughout the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee would keep this bizarre pet with him at all times.
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ASnake
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BChicken
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CTurtle
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DSpider
Chicken
Robert E. Lee kept a chicken with him, rumored to be because he liked to have the eggs for breakfast.
Question 16
What international body was created at the end of World War Two to try to prevent something like world war from happening again?
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ANorth Atlantic Free Trade Organization
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BUnited Nations
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CEuropean Union
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DWarsaw Pact
United Nations
The United Nations was founded on October 24, 1945, with 51 member states. It now has 195. The intention of the United Nations was to establish an international forum where grievances could be addressed without resorting to military conflict.
Question 17
World War Two was truly a global war, dividing the globe into two blocs. What were the names of these two sides?
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AReds and Whites
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BNorth and South
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CTriple Entente and Central Powers
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DAxis and Allies
Axis and Allies
The Axis was made up of Germany, Japan, and Italy, and their smaller allies; the Allies were Britain, France, the United States, the Soviet Union, and their smaller allies.
Question 18
Although some fighting began earlier, the beginning of the war is generally considered September 1, 1939, when the Nazis invaded what country?
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APoland
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BAustria
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CRussia
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DRomania
Poland
Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.
Question 19
A significant turning point in the war happened during this battle in the north-central Pacific.
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ABattle of the Central-Pacific
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BBattlestar Galactica
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CBattle of Wake Island
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DBattle of Midway
Battle of Midway
In June of 1942, a decisive loss for Japan at the Battle of Midway marked a turning point in the war. Just six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japan met its match, when the United States used code-breaking to counter an ambush by Imperial Japan, destroying much of its navy (in all, obliterating a cruiser and four carriers and damaging two destroyers and a second cruiser). In doing so, the U.S. and its allies were now on the offensive.
Question 20
Which country fell under Soviet influence after the war?
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ADenmark
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BPoland
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CSweden
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DItaly
Poland
Poland was one of the members of the Warsaw Pact, which formally joined many countries to the USSR (even though most had been under its influence for decades).
Question 21
While we'd prefer the cocktail, what was the original kamikaze?
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AGrenade
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BSubmarine
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CSuicide pilot
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DJapanese anime
Suicide pilot
Literally on a suicide mission, kamikazes were Japanese pilots during WWII, who would deliberately crash their planes into enemy targets. Meaning "divine wind," the kamikaze pilots often drove a missile nicknamed by the Allies "Baka" (Japanese for "fool"), as there was no escaping the missile – with an explosive charge of more than a ton – once it was fastened to the launching aircraft. Kamikazes killed nearly 5,000 U.S. Navy men at Okinawa, took 34 ships out of commission during the war and damaged hundreds more.
Question 22
What US president led the country through the Civil War, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest leaders of all time?
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AWoodrow Wilson
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BTheodore Roosevelt
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CAbraham Lincoln
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DAndrew Johnson
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was president from 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War. He led the Union armies against the southern Confederacy.
Question 23
World War Two is remembered in movies and television. Which of these is NOT about World War Two?
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ASaving Private Ryan
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BM*A*S*H
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CSchindler's List
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DBand of Brothers
M*A*S*H
World War Two remains vivid in popular memory, and movies and television about the war usually draw an audience. M*A*S*H on the other hand is about the Korean War.
Question 24
Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party. What is he famous for?
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ABuilding war tanks
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BSaving more than a thousand Jews
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CInventing nuclear power
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DHis industrial company
Saving more than a thousand Jews
Schindler was a savvy guy. Although he initially wanted to profit from the war by producing goods for the German military, when he saw what the Nazis were capable of, he started employing more Jews in his factories to save them from a dark fate. By the end of the war, he'd saved 1,100 Jews from death, and he lost his entire fortune doing it.
Question 25
When WWII concluded, where did the trials of war criminals take place?
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ANuremberg
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BThe Hague
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CBerlin
-
DParis
Nuremberg
The Nuremberg Trials saw 24 high-ranking Nazi officials face sentencing for the war crimes and atrocities of WWII. Reps from Great Britain, the Soviet Union, France, and the United States headed the international tribunal. The Nazi officials were tried for crimes of war, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity, with some hanged, others sentenced from ten years to life, and one who committed suicide. Those Nazis of lower stature also underwent trials, resulting in 5,025 more convictions and 806 executions.
Question 26
The Cold War began after what major conflict?
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AWWII
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BCivil War
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CWWI
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DVietnam War
WWII
Two of the victors of WWII, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR), became enemies in the Cold War.
Question 27
Did you know bombs had names? What were the given names of the two atomic bombs to ever be deployed in war?
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ABomb A and Bomb B
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BLittle Boy and Fat Man
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COpening Act and Grand Stand
-
DTom and Jerry
Little Boy and Fat Man
"The Fat Man" deployed in Nagasaki was plutonium-based and killed an estimated 40,000 people on impact. "The Little Boy" deployed in Hiroshima was uranium-based and killed an estimated 80,000 people on impact.
Question 28
What was constructed in 1961, signaling a hardening of Cold War tensions?
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AGreat Wall of China
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BSuez Canal
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CPanama Canal
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DBerlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was constructed to stop migration out of East Germany into Western Europe.
Question 29
This man was the President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.
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ABraxton Bragg
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BJames Longstreet
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CGeorge Pickett
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DJefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy. Before the war, he was a Demoncratic representative from Mississippi.
Question 30
Which United States president did not serve in the Second World War?
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ARichard Nixon
-
BBill Clinton
-
CDwight D. Eisenhower
-
DJohn F. Kennedy
Bill Clinton
Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Nixon all served in WWII.
Question 31
The Pacific war ended when the Japanese refused to surrender, and President Truman dropped the newly-developed atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What was the name of the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima?
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ALady Southern Cross
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BSpirit of St. Louis
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CDouble Eagle II
-
DEnola Gay
Enola Gay
The Enola Gay flew the atomic bomb over Japan and dropped it onto Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
Question 32
Which country did the United States defeat in the Battle of Midway?
-
AJapan
-
BItaly
-
CGermany
-
DCroatia
Japan
The Battle of Midway was fought July 4-7, 1942, with a decisive Allied victory over Japan. It was a turning point in the Pacific war, allowing easier access to other Japanese-occupied islands.
Question 33
The conflict we call the Mexican-American War was a conflict over the ownership of what state?
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ANew Mexico
-
BArizona
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CTexas
-
DLouisiana
Texas
The area under dispute was the area that is today the state of Texas, from the Nueces River to the Rio Grande.
Question 34
In what year did the U.S. enter the war?
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A1939
-
B1940
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C1941
-
D1945
1941
It took a while for the U.S. to get their head in the game. It wasn't until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, that Roosevelt changed America's neutral status to "all systems go!" Four days after the attack, Hitler declared war on the U.S., and the rest is history.
Question 35
This fort was bombarded by Southern Troops when President Lincoln refused to surrender the territory, thus kick-starting the Civil War.
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AFort Wagner
-
BFort Sumter
-
CFort Donelson
-
DFort Henry
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter in South Carolina was the site of the first battle of the Civil War, also in the first state that seceded.
Question 36
Who was President of the United States when the Civil War began?
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AJames Garfield
-
BAbraham Lincoln
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CUlysses S. Grant
-
DChester Alan Arthur
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President, and was commander in chief of the Union forces.
Question 37
Who was the leader of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Cold War?
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ABrezhnev
-
BMedvedev
-
CKhrushchev
-
DStalin
Stalin
Josef Stalin was the Soviet dictator at the beginning of the Cold War. He built a cult of personality around himself as a dictator and cities were renamed in his honor.
Question 38
The Pacific Theater of the war took a turn when American forces defeated the Japanese in this battle.
-
AGuadalcanal
-
BWake Island
-
CMidway
-
DCoral Sea
Midway
The Battle of Midway, which occurred on the Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, was a decisive victory for American forces. American cryptographers intercepted the date of the attack, and were prepared.
Question 39
One of the victors in World War One was sidelined during the treaty discussions, and ended up opposing its former allies in World War Two. Which country was this?
-
AJapan
-
BUnited States
-
CBritain
-
DAustria
Japan
Japan was not given much of the spoils of victory, and the other victors showed little enthusiasm in permitting the Japanese to join their world order.
Question 40
The Japanese invaded many parts of east Asia to create the Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere. Which of these is NOT a country that was invaded during WWII?
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AChina
-
BCambodia
-
CVietnam
-
DAustralia
Australia
Australia fought in the Pacific War, and was attacked, but never invaded.
Question 41
In 1821, Mexico gained independence from what European colonial power?
-
ABritain
-
BFrance
-
CSpain
-
DPortugal
Spain
After an 11 year war, Spain recognized Mexican independence on August 24, 1821.
Question 42
In the United States, we call it the Vietnam War, but it's sometimes called the Second Indochina War. Who fought in the First Indochinese War?
-
AThe United States and North Vietnam
-
BThe Viet Minh and France
-
CThe United States and South Vietnam
-
DThe Viet Cong and Russia
The Viet Minh and France
The First Indochina War was a war that the French fought to maintain control of their Vietnamese colony, known as Indochina. It ended in 1954 with the defeat of French forces. Vietnam was split between the Viet Minh-controlled north and the Vietnamese state in the south.
Question 43
Who was the US president when the US entered the war?
-
AFranklin Delano Roosevelt
-
BDwight Eisenhower
-
CHarry Truman
-
DTheodore Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the president when the war broke out, and when it joined the hostilities.
Question 44
Nazi officials who survived the war stood trial at:
-
AVersailles
-
BBerlin
-
CNuremberg
-
DMunich
Nuremberg
The Nuremburg trials were conducted November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946.
Question 45
Where did the Confederacy place their Capital City during the Civil War?
-
AAtlanta, GA.
-
BRichmond, VA.
-
CTallahassee, FL.
-
DSioux Falls, SD.
Richmond, VA.
The Confederate capital was Richmond, V.A. starting in May 1861.
Question 46
The period after the Civil War ended was known as __________.
-
ARejuvenation
-
BRebuilding
-
CReferendum
-
DReconstruction
Reconstruction
Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War in which the Union occupied the South to oversee its transition out of slavery. The Union soldiers left in 1877.
Question 47
Japan and the Allied Forces fought using only aircraft, leading to Japan's first defeat in the war. Name history's first air-sea battle.
-
ABattle of the Java Sea
-
BBattle of the Coral Sea
-
CBattle of Empress Augusta Bay
-
DBattle of the Mediterranean
Battle of the Coral Sea
Japan was going full throttle until May of 1942, when the Imperial Japanese military suffered its first defeat. Notably the first air-sea battle in history, the Battle of the Coral Sea began when Allied forces intercepted the Japanese plan to invade Port Moresby in New Guinea. An American task force of aircraft carrier planes attacked the Japanese when they landed in the region, forcing the Imperial Army to rethink their strategy.
Question 48
The Vietnam War was a proxy war of what global conflict?
-
AThe Korean War
-
BThe Cold War
-
CThe Russian Revolution
-
DWorld War II
The Cold War
The Vietnam War was a proxy war between the two global superpowers in the Cold War, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Question 49
During World War II, black and white American soldiers fought in:
-
AIntegrated units
-
BSegregated units
-
CSeparate campaigns
-
DSeparate military branches
Segregated units
Segregation during WWII was a major motivator for the civil rights movement.
Question 50
Which leader made a nonaggression pact with Hitler, which was later broken?
-
AJoseph Stalin
-
BCharles de Gaulle
-
CWinston Churchill
-
DFranklin D. Roosevelt
Joseph Stalin
Before Stalin joined the "Big Three," he was in cahoots with Nazi Germany. He signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler on August 23, 1939, right before the war broke out in Europe, with a secret plan on how the pair of would-be conquerors might split Eastern Europe. The duo agreed that, for the next decade, neither would take military action against the other, but not two years later, Hitler broke his pinky promise by invading the Soviet Union in June of 1941. What would you expect from a dictator?
Question 51
During the War, this General led the Union to so many victories that he was nicknamed, "The Butcher".
-
AAbner Doubleday
-
BUlysses S. Grant
-
CGeorge Custer
-
DRobert Anderson
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was known as the "butcher" because of his strategy of attrition.
Question 52
Johnson increased American military involvement in the Vietnam War after it was reported American ships were attacked. What was the name of this incident?
-
ABay of Pigs incident
-
BStraight of Marmara resolution
-
CGulf of Tonkin resolution
-
DStrategic Defense initiative
Gulf of Tonkin resolution
During the Gulf of Tonkin incident, American ships reported that two North Vietnamese ships fired on them. The veracity of these statements has been called into question, but it gave pretext for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which esclatated the war.
Question 53
The Vietnam War and communist victory encouraged the rise of the Khmer Rouge, a group which committed genocide in what country?
-
ALaos
-
BBhutan
-
CThailand
-
DCambodia
Cambodia
Between 1.4 million and 2.2 million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge.
Question 54
General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the _______________.
-
AShiloh Battlefield
-
BManassas National Battlefield
-
CFort Sumter
-
DAppomattox Courthouse
Appomattox Courthouse
The Civil War ended with the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomatox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. In the following months, fringe divisons of the Southern army would surrender as well.
Question 55
Blood Meridian is a novel about the southwest after the Mexican-American War, when American vigilantes hunted Apaches to "civilize" the land. Who was the author of this book?
-
AErnest Hemingway
-
BCormac McCarthy
-
CIan McEwan
-
DWalker Percy
Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy features characters who hunt Apaches for money, but eventually kill anyone in their path for enjoyment.
Question 56
When Mexico refused an offer by the United States to purchase Texan land, the United States invaded in 1846. Who was the general, and later president, who led this attack?
-
AZachary Taylor
-
BTheodore Roosevelt
-
CAbraham Lincoln
-
DUlysses S. Grant
Zachary Taylor
General Zachary Taylor served in the War of 1812 and in wars against Native American tribes. He led American forces in the Mexican-American War, and was elected the twelfth president of the US in 1848.
Question 57
Who attended the Yalta Conference in 1945?
-
AWinston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, and Joseph Stalin
-
BVladimir Lenin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt
-
CDwight Eisenhower, Vladimir Lenin, and Neville Chamberlain
-
DJoseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill
Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill
In February of 1945, the "Big Three" had a party in Yalta. Well, it wasn't so much a party as a conference to decide what to do about their mutual enemy, Hitler. Their decision? To require his unconditional surrender. They also agreed on a few other things that did not play out as well as one might have hoped...*cough* the Cold War.
Question 58
What country began the Cold War allied with the Soviet Union and drew closer to the United States as time went on?
-
AMexico
-
BItaly
-
CChina
-
DSouth Africa
China
The famed Sino-Soviet Split left room for Americans to extend an olive branch to China. This was mostly famously done by Richard Nixon in his 1971 visit to China.
Question 59
Which country did not gain influence over a piece of Germany after the war?
-
AUSSR
-
BCanada
-
CBritain
-
DFrance
Canada
At the end of WWII, Germany was divided among the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
Question 60
The European war ended with the surrounding of Hitler's bunker in Berlin in May 1945. What military achieved this?
-
ABritain
-
BFrance
-
CSoviet Union
-
DUnited States
Soviet Union
The Soviet army invaded Berlin and surrounded German forces, leading to the surrender of the Nazis in spring 1945. The other Allied powers did not intervene in this capture, and allowed the Soviet Union to do the fighting.
Question 61
________ was an abolitionist who spearheaded the raid on Harper's Ferry, leading up to the Civil War.
-
AHarriet Tubman
-
BJohn Brown
-
CGerrit Smith
-
DFrederick Douglass
John Brown
On October 16, 1859, John Brown attacked the arsenal at Harper's Ferry.
Question 62
Known as ‘The Universal Ruler’, this great warrior led his people into becoming one of the greatest dynasties of all time.
-
AAlexander the Great
-
BGenghis Khan
-
CVladimir Lenin
-
DKing Xerxes
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire. He conquered most of East Asia and occupied most of modern day China. Genghis Khan massacred large amounts of people, destroying some civilizations.
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