History of World War II

Last updated · 10 min play time

We knew that if we were to bring you the best World War 2 Quiz the internet has to offer, we would have to ensure that it was vetted by a top mind. The good news for you is that we found a brain perfectly suited to the job. This quiz was expert reviewed by Regina Munch. Regina has a master's degree in European history and the history of American foreign policy from Boston College. She loves learning and writing about history because it's never dead – things from the past always have relevance to today, and we're discovering things about the past all the time. When it comes to testing how much you know about WW2 trivia, you are in the best hands.  
 

Regina has a master's degree in European history and the history of American foreign policy from Boston College. She loves learning and writing about history because it's never dead – things from the past always have relevance to today, and we're discovering things about the past all the time.

World War II Quiz Questions

33 Questions · 670.8K Plays · 25 Comments

Question 1

During Operation Neptune, informally known as D-Day, Allied troops invaded:

  • A
    The Sudetenland
  • B
    The Rhineland
  • C
    Normandy
  • D
    The Potomac

Question 2

The RAF prevented a German invasion of Britain. What does “RAF” mean?

  • A
    Royal Air Force
  • B
    Regular Army Faction
  • C
    Restricted Artillery Force
  • D
    Readily-Accessible Fortifications

Question 3

Which Holocaust camp had the highest death toll?

  • A
    Auschwitz
  • B
    Sobibor
  • C
    Jasenovac
  • D
    Buchenwald

Question 4

How did Adolf Hitler die?

  • A
    Execution
  • B
    Assassination
  • C
    Tuberculosis
  • D
    Suicide

Question 5

Which country fell under Soviet influence after the war?

  • A
    Denmark
  • B
    Poland
  • C
    Sweden
  • D
    Italy

Question 6

What was the name of the secret American effort to create the atom bomb?

  • A
    Area 51
  • B
    The Manhattan Project
  • C
    Operation Downfall
  • D
    Gallipoli

Question 7

Which United States president did not serve in the Second World War?

  • A
    Richard Nixon
  • B
    Bill Clinton
  • C
    Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • D
    John F. Kennedy

Question 8

Which country did the United States defeat in the Battle of Midway?

  • A
    Japan
  • B
    Italy
  • C
    Germany
  • D
    Croatia

Question 9

Who ruled the Soviet Union during the war?

  • A
    Vladimir Lenin
  • B
    Vladimir Putin
  • C
    Nikita Khrushchev
  • D
    Josef Stalin

Question 10

Nazi officials who survived the war stood trial at:

  • A
    Versailles
  • B
    Berlin
  • C
    Nuremberg
  • D
    Munich

Question 11

Which general led the Free French military after his country fell to the Germans?

  • A
    Charles de Gaulle
  • B
    Jacques Chirac
  • C
    Alfred Dreyfus
  • D
    Pierre Trudeau

Question 12

During World War II, black and white American soldiers fought in:

  • A
    Integrated units
  • B
    Segregated units
  • C
    Separate campaigns
  • D
    Separate military branches

Question 13

The Doolittle Raid was one of the first successful American attacks against:

  • A
    Japan
  • B
    Germany
  • C
    Italy
  • D
    Austria

Question 14

Which country did not gain influence over a piece of Germany after the war?

  • A
    USSR
  • B
    Canada
  • C
    Britain
  • D
    France

Question 15

What did the Chinese Nationalists do in 1938 to delay the advance of the Japanese army?

  • A
    Flooded the Yellow River
  • B
    Used human shields
  • C
    Unleashed a plague
  • D
    Poured oil on the land

Question 16

Who was President of the United States at the end of the war?

  • A
    Dwight Eisenhower
  • B
    Franklin Roosevelt
  • C
    Harry Truman
  • D
    John Nance Garner

Question 17

Which holiday celebrates the end of the Pacific part of WWII?

  • A
    Nagasaki Day
  • B
    V-J Day
  • C
    Hirohito Day
  • D
    Armistice Day

Question 18

Despite fighting the Japanese for it, the United States granted independence to this overseas territory shortly after the war:

  • A
    The Philippines
  • B
    Guam
  • C
    American Samoa
  • D
    Puerto Rico

Question 19

Which group was not targeted for extermination during the Holocaust?

  • A
    Roma
  • B
    LGBTQ people
  • C
    Nordics
  • D
    Jehovah’s Witnesses

Question 20

The Catholic Church’s role in the Second World War is heavily disputed. Who was Pope during the conflict?

  • A
    Innocent III
  • B
    Pope Pius XII
  • C
    John Paul II
  • D
    Benedict XV

Question 21

Which city did not host a key end-of-war conference?

  • A
    Yalta
  • B
    Tehran
  • C
    Toronto
  • D
    Potsdam

Question 22

Who was the Chinese Nationalist leader during the war?

  • A
    Mao Zedong
  • B
    Chiang Kai-Shek
  • C
    Sun Tzu
  • D
    Sun Yat-Sen

Question 23

Which of the following cities did Allies destroy through firebombing?

  • A
    Hiroshima
  • B
    Tokyo
  • C
    Nagasaki
  • D
    Petrograd

Question 24

Before the end of the war, Winston Churchill was replaced as British Prime Minister by:

  • A
    Clement Attlee
  • B
    Margaret Thatcher
  • C
    Tony Blair
  • D
    Tony Abbott

Question 25

Where did Japanese war criminals stand trial?

  • A
    Tokyo
  • B
    Midway
  • C
    Honolulu
  • D
    Hiroshima

Question 26

Which German Army general tried to assassinate Hitler?

  • A
    Claus von Stauffenberg
  • B
    Otto von Bismark
  • C
    Hans von Seeckt
  • D
    Alfred von Waldersee

Question 27

Which country occupied Ethiopia for much of the war?

  • A
    France
  • B
    Germany
  • C
    Italy
  • D
    Britain

Question 28

Including both civilians and combatants, how many Soviet citizens died during the war?

  • A
    3 Million
  • B
    500,000
  • C
    50 Million
  • D
    27 Million

Question 29

Which date is usually cited as the start of the war, though fighting began earlier in many countries?

  • A
    1941
  • B
    1939
  • C
    1937
  • D
    1931

Question 30

The US gave the Allies military supplies through a program called:

  • A
    Lend-Lease
  • B
    The Marshall Plan
  • C
    Operation Barbarossa
  • D
    The New Deal

Question 31

What country was controlled by the Ustaše regime, a government sympathetic to Nazi Germany?

  • A
    Denmark
  • B
    Ethiopia
  • C
    Austria
  • D
    Croatia

Question 32

In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, violating a treaty the two countries had signed. What was that treaty?

  • A
    The Berlin Treaty
  • B
    The Versailles Agreement
  • C
    The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
  • D
    The Non-Belligerence Accord

Question 33

Who was the Emperor of Japan throughout World War II?

  • A
    Meiji
  • B
    Taishō
  • C
    Akhito
  • D
    Shōwa

Comments (25)

We want to hear your feedback! Share your scores and discuss the quiz, but keep it civil.

Very interesting as it brought back the memories

· · · ·

Its a good way to review History.

· · · ·

I think I have completely passed all your quizzes and this one due to my very photographic memory and my Aspergers. But, it was very lovely after all.

· · · ·

I KNEW THE ASSASINATION FROM SIMPLE HISTROY

· · · ·

the quiz was quite easy, but some of the questions confused me, such as the hirohito question, and the assasination question

· · · ·

In the beginning, I thought the quiz was going to be too easy, but as the quiz went on it was much more difficut and by the end, I barely scored with a passing score.

· · · ·

I thought it was worthwhile but, ultimately, too easy.

· · · ·

Your answer to Q 28 is wrong. Italy surrendered in Ethiopia in 1941 Britain, another proposed answer, occupied parts of Ethiopia from 1940 until 1945 (and after).

· · · ·

I got loads of confusion when Rommel popped up but the answer was Staufenberg. And also I was confused in the Hirohito question.

· · · ·

Stats : your score is better then 96% of others who take quiz me : ??

· · · ·

@amirpro i dont think so.

· · · ·

@Thebattle1 the U.S may have not done much fighting, but they where the primary source in the pacific, and they supplied many weapons to the U.K, and Canada. they also took part in D-Day, and a U.S general planned D-Day.

· · · ·

it is fun and challenging! i like it. especially because i'm a history buff

· · · ·

eyy 100% im really a nerd :P

· · · ·

@ErnstLindemann Emperor Hirohito is also known as Emperor Showa

· · · ·

The question about who the Japanese Emperor is incorrect. The correct answer is Hirohito, yet that's not an answer.

· · · ·

@winstonchurchill are you really? U.S. entered the war then germans were running from Soviet Union. U.S. almost didn't play any role

· · · ·

@winstonchurchill lol, Soviets won the war

· · · ·

This quiz is U.S. propaganda. Where is battle of Stalingrad? Battle of Kursk? Battle of Moscow? Very important battles of Smolensk and Yelnya? Battle of Leningrad?Battle of Dnieper river,The battle of Kuban,battle of Rzhev

· · · ·

I'm the most genius World War 2 historian

· · · ·