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World War I and World War II Quiz

Causes, turning points and outcomes of both world wars, from Sarajevo to Hiroshima. Good for world history, APUSH and AP Euro review.

by Kill h.22 questionsCreated Nov 8, 2026, 08:03 PM

World History· World Wars#worldwar1#worldwar2#history#review

22 questions

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1
What was the immediate trigger of World War I?
- A
  Germany's invasion of Poland
- B
  The sinking of the Lusitania
- The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo
- D
  Russia's withdrawal from the Triple Entente
Gavrilo Princip's assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir in June 1914 set off the alliance chain. Militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism (MAIN) were the long-term causes. Germany invading Poland started WWII.
2
Germany's Schlieffen Plan called for:
- A quick defeat of France through Belgium before turning to fight Russia
- B
  An alliance with Mexico against the United States
- C
  Unrestricted submarine warfare to starve Britain
- D
  A defensive war on both fronts until Austria-Hungary could mobilize
The plan tried to avoid a long two-front war. Invading neutral Belgium brought Britain into the war, and the plan stalled at the Marne, leading to trench warfare.
3
Which two factors most directly brought the United States into World War I in 1917?
- A
  The attack on Pearl Harbor and the Lend-Lease Act
- Unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram
- C
  The Russian Revolution and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- D
  The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the Schlieffen Plan
Germany resumed sinking merchant ships without warning, and the Zimmermann Telegram proposed a German-Mexican alliance. Pearl Harbor and Lend-Lease belong to WWII.
4
The 1916 Battle of the Somme is remembered for the first battlefield use of:
- A
  Poison gas
- B
  Machine guns
- Tanks
- D
  Aircraft carriers
British tanks first appeared at the Somme in September 1916. Poison gas had already been used in 1915, and machine guns were in use from the start of the war.
5
Russia left World War I by signing which treaty?
- A
  Treaty of Versailles
- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- C
  Treaty of Trianon
- D
  Treaty of Paris
The Bolsheviks signed Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918, giving up large territories. Versailles (1919) was the Allied peace with Germany.
6
Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles is known as the 'war guilt clause.' What did it do?
- A
  Created the League of Nations
- B
  Divided the Ottoman Empire into mandates
- Made Germany accept responsibility for the war, justifying reparations
- D
  Limited the German army to 100,000 soldiers
Article 231 was the legal basis for reparations and deeply humiliated Germans. The army limit was a separate military clause of the same treaty.
7
Why did the United States never join the League of Nations?
- A
  Wilson opposed it after seeing the final treaty
- B
  The other Allies refused to admit the United States
- The Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles
- D
  The League was dissolved before the US could join
Senators led by Henry Cabot Lodge feared Article 10 would drag the US into foreign wars. Wilson himself proposed the League in his Fourteen Points.
8
The 1938 Munich Agreement is the classic example of appeasement because Britain and France:
- Allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to avoid war
- B
  Declared war when Germany remilitarized the Rhineland
- C
  Signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union
- D
  Agreed to divide Poland with Germany
Chamberlain claimed 'peace for our time,' but Hitler took the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Dividing Poland was the secret protocol of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, not Munich.
9
The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (August 1939) mattered because it:
- A
  Made the Soviet Union a member of the Axis
- Let Hitler invade Poland without fearing a Soviet war, and secretly divided Eastern Europe
- C
  Ended the Spanish Civil War
- D
  Guaranteed Polish independence
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact cleared the way for the invasion of Poland a week later. The USSR never joined the Axis and was invaded by Germany in 1941.
10
World War II in Europe began when:
- A
  Germany annexed Austria (March 1938)
- B
  Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (December 1941)
- C
  Germany invaded the Soviet Union (June 1941)
- Germany invaded Poland and Britain and France declared war (September 1939)
Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and Britain and France declared war on September 3. The Anschluss did not trigger war, and the other two events widened an existing war.
11
'Blitzkrieg' describes a German strategy based on:
- Fast, concentrated attacks combining tanks, motorized infantry and air power
- B
  Long sieges of fortified cities
- C
  Bombing British cities at night to break civilian morale
- D
  Trench warfare along a fixed front
'Lightning war' broke through enemy lines and encircled them, as in Poland (1939) and France (1940). The nighttime bombing of British cities was the Blitz, a different campaign.
12
Why was the Battle of Britain (1940) significant?
- A
  It was the first Allied amphibious invasion of Europe
- B
  It ended the Battle of the Atlantic
- C
  It forced Italy to switch sides
- The RAF prevented the Luftwaffe from gaining the air superiority Germany needed to invade Britain
Without control of the air, Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion indefinitely. Radar and RAF Fighter Command were key. The first big Allied landing in Europe was in Sicily (1943).
13
Operation Barbarossa (June 1941) was:
- A
  The Allied invasion of North Africa
- B
  Japan's attack on the Philippines
- Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union
- D
  The German counteroffensive in the Ardennes
Hitler broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact and opened the Eastern Front, where most German military losses occurred. The Ardennes counteroffensive was the Battle of the Bulge (1944).
14
Before Pearl Harbor, the Lend-Lease Act (1941) allowed the United States to:
- A
  Draft men into the army in peacetime
- Supply war materials to Britain and other Allies without immediate payment
- C
  Sell weapons only to nations that paid cash and carried them away
- D
  Declare war on Germany
Lend-Lease made the US the 'arsenal of democracy' while still officially neutral. 'Cash and carry' (1939) was the earlier, more limited policy.
15
Which battle (June 1942) is considered the turning point of the war in the Pacific?
- Battle of Midway
- B
  Battle of Iwo Jima
- C
  Battle of Okinawa
- D
  Battle of Leyte Gulf
US forces sank four Japanese aircraft carriers at Midway, ending Japan's offensive capacity. Iwo Jima and Okinawa were 1945 battles late in the island-hopping campaign.
16
Which battle is usually seen as the turning point on the Eastern Front, ending with the surrender of the German Sixth Army in February 1943?
- A
  Battle of Kursk
- B
  Siege of Leningrad
- C
  Battle of Moscow
- Battle of Stalingrad
After Stalingrad the Soviets held the initiative. Kursk (July 1943) was the last major German offensive in the east and confirmed the shift, but Stalingrad is the classic turning point.
17
D-Day (June 6, 1944) refers to:
- The Allied landings in Normandy, France
- B
  The Allied landings in Sicily
- C
  The liberation of Paris
- D
  The German surrender
Operation Overlord opened a western front in France. The Sicily landings were in July 1943, and Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945 (V-E Day).
18
The American 'island hopping' strategy in the Pacific meant:
- A
  Capturing every Japanese-held island in order
- Seizing strategically important islands while bypassing heavily defended ones
- C
  Blockading Japan without any land invasions
- D
  Defending Hawaii and Alaska while focusing on Europe
Bypassing strongholds such as Rabaul saved lives and time while moving air bases within range of Japan.
19
At which January 1942 conference did Nazi officials coordinate the 'Final Solution,' the planned genocide of Europe's Jews?
- A
  Munich Conference
- B
  Yalta Conference
- C
  Potsdam Conference
- Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference organized the bureaucracy of mass murder. Yalta and Potsdam were Allied wartime conferences, and Munich was the 1938 appeasement meeting.
20
The February 1945 Yalta Conference brought together:
- Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin
- B
  Truman, Attlee and Stalin
- C
  Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek
- D
  Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo
The 'Big Three' at Yalta discussed postwar Germany, Soviet entry into the Pacific war and the United Nations. Truman and Attlee met Stalin at Potsdam later in 1945.
21
The United States dropped atomic bombs on which two Japanese cities in August 1945?
- A
  Tokyo and Osaka
- Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- C
  Hiroshima and Kyoto
- D
  Nagasaki and Okinawa
Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9). Japan announced its surrender on August 15. Kyoto was removed from the target list for its cultural significance.
22
What established principle came out of the Nuremberg Trials?
- A
  Only heads of state can be tried for war crimes
- B
  Soldiers are not responsible for acts committed under orders
- Individuals can be held criminally responsible for crimes against humanity, even when following orders
- D
  Defeated nations must pay reparations to the victors
The tribunals rejected the 'just following orders' defense and established individual accountability under international law.