Only a Military History Expert Is Passing This WWII Quiz

By: John Miller
Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Only a Military History Expert Is Passing This WWII Quiz
Image: Historical documents

About This Quiz

When the Empire of the Rising Sun lashed out at Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew that America’s destiny was war. FDR rallied his countrymen to a cause, citing the “day of infamy” that brought death and destruction to Hawaii. But the United States didn’t stop in the Pacific Theater — it geared up for war in Europe, too. In our World War II quiz, do you think you can top Hirohito and Hitler the same way Roosevelt and his Allies did?

After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles punished Germany for its aggression and outlawed a German military. Hitler’s rise to power defied the treaty, secretly constructing a Third Reich war machine that was unleashed on Poland in 1939. Britain and France could only wring their hands in fear — would they be the next targets on Hitler’s hit list? Do you know how the war in Europe slowly consumed the continent, and how the Axis and Allies developed their strategies as the conflict raged?

Both sides invested heavily in men and machines, hoping to gain the upper hand in battle. Some of those new weapons were outdated even before they found combat, while others caused mayhem and destruction that killed men by the millions. What do you know about the tactics and weapons that left entire cities in ruins?

From MacArthur to Patton, Zhukov to Churchill, the Red Army to the Wehrmacht, World War II was the bloodiest conflict in human history. Lock and load that Tommy gun and hop aboard that Sherman, we’ll see if you can survive Axis and its mechanized murder!

True or false, when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, did the United States immediately declare war?
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Britain and France immediately declared war as a result of Germany’s aggression ... but then sat on their hands. The U.S. covered its eyes as best it could until 1941, when it finally plunged into the fray.

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Which country helped Germany invade Poland at the beginning of WWII?
France
Japan
USSR
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When Hitler’s men invaded Poland in 1939, they had their Soviet allies helping them. But by 1941, the entire political dynamic between the Nazis and Soviets changed.

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What was "Fat Man"?
an atomic bomb
a type of long-range machine gun
a German spy
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Allies dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, one named named Little Boy and the other, Fat Man. They still stand as the only nuclear devices ever used in combat.

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The Battle of Kursk is remembered as one of the biggest _____ battles in history.
fighter jet
tank
infantry
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the summer of 1943, the month-long Battle of Kursk turned into one of the biggest tank battles ever. More than 10,000 total tanks were deployed, and Soviets ultimately triumphed over their German enemies.

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Trench warfare was common in WWI. Why was it less common in WWII?
bigger artillery
Soldiers refused to dig trenches.
armored vehicles
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Armored vehicles like tanks were specifically designed to surmount the challenges of trenches in WWI, and by WWII, tanks were better than ever. Trenches were still used, but not nearly as much as in WWI.

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What famous event happened at Leningrad during the war?
a major siege
Stalin was shot in the hand.
atomic explosion
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

From early September 1941 to January 1944, the Germans laid siege to Leningrad. The Soviets refused to budge, but countless civilians died from starvation and some resorted to cannibalism.

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When the Japanese attacked the Philippines at the start of the war, what did U.S. General MacArthur do?
He fled the scene.
He cried, alone.
He killed a Japanese commander with his bare hands.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the face of certain defeat, MacArthur hopped a plane to Australia, but he swore he’d be back. He eventually made good on his word.

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What was one of the primary goals of the Japanese during the Pearl Harbor attack?
to smash America’s army
to destroy America’s carrier fleet
to ruin America’s air force
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Japanese hoped to devastate the American carrier fleet. Because without the carriers, they figured the U.S. would have no choice but to surrender.

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Why did Japan fail to completely destroy America’s carrier fleet at Pearl Harbor?
The carriers were attacking Tokyo.
The carriers were in Europe.
The carriers were out at sea.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

America’s carriers were out at sea when the Japanese surprise attack came. But eight out of nine of America’s Pacific Fleet battleships were in the harbor — and they suffered miserably in the onslaught.

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What was a defining characteristic of the German "blitzkrieg"?
It was really fast.
It relied on atomic bombs.
It used chemical weapons.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The German military became known for its blitzkrieg ("lightning war") attacks, in which it struck quickly and with overwhelming force, using both land and air weapons. It was a terrifying thing for Allied troops to witness.

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In a strategy meant to bypass heavily fortified Japanese islands, the Allies resorted to _____.
“leg pulling"
“leapfrogging"
“haberdashery"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Japanese fortified chains of islands in the Pacific. Rather than take all of them one by one, the Allies used "leapfrogging," bypassing the islands that looked like suicide.

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Which country used a weapon called the T-34?
Italy
Britain
USSR
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Starting in 1940, the Soviets began deployed the T-34, a medium tank that played a huge role in the war. In desperation, the USSR manufactured around 80,000 of these tanks in hopes of stopping the Nazi war machine.

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What was the Italian Fiat C.4.42 Falco?
race car
biplane
machine gun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Italian Fiat C.4.42 Falco was a biplane that found widespread use during WWII. Though outdated, the Germans sometimes sent hundreds on night bombing missions, where the were effective in their deadly purpose.

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The Nazi "Final Solution" was meant to fix which "problem"?
“Soviet problem"
"Jewish problem"
“American problem"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Hitler used his concentration camps to rid Europe of the "Jewish problem," in which millions of people (including non-Jews) were systematically murdered. The Holocaust is one of the blackest stains from a terrible war.

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True or false, did the U.S. draw up plans for the invasion of Japan?
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Given Japan’s relentless opposition, American commanders were prepared for the worst — that they’d have to invade Japan in order to end the war. It’s certain that such an invasion would have cost countless American lives.

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During the war, which side was experimenting with jet aircraft?
Germany
USSR
Japan
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Germany and its researchers dumped huge time and energy into new weapons during the Third Reich era. The Germans did develop the world’s first jet aircraft and put it to use, but it was too late to turn the tide of the war.

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The Battle of Midway was a major defeat for which force?
Italy
United States
Japan
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

At the Battle of Midway, America sought — and found — revenge for Pearl Harbor. They sent four vital Japanese carriers to the bottom of the sea and changed America’s prospects in the Pacific Theater.

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True or false, at the beginning of the war, did the U.S. order a massive number of horses for potential combat duty?
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was the biggest order for horses since the Civil War. Even though cavalry forces were outdated, the U.S. saw fit to order 20,000 horses, just in case they might be needed to help with the fight against the Axis. Mounted units saw limited (but important) action in the Pacific theater.

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By 1943, the Germans had about 3 million troops on the Eastern Front. How many did the Soviets have?
about 500,000
about 1 million
about 5.5 million
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Soviets gathered about 5.5 million troops to oppose the Nazi invasion. Given that Germany still had to hold the Western Front, too, their circumstances looked dire.

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What was a nickname given to one group of Soviet female pilots during the war?
“Fairies of the Heavens"
“Night Witches"
“The Scorned"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Desperate for man, er, womanpower, the USSR put females into combat against the Germans. The 588th Night Bomber Regiment was a group of women who flew night bombing sorties on the Eastern Front.

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How did Soviet "Night Witches" sneak up on targets they bombed in the night?
They had secret cloaking devices.
They cast powerful spells.
They turned off their plane engines.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Night Witches were clever. As they approached targets, they cut their engines, glided in silence, and then bombed the Nazis straight to the ever after.

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During the war, Higgins Industries produced a vital product. What was it?
a food staple
an atomic bomb
a landing craft
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An American company named Higgins Industries created the Higgins boat, a landing craft that made amphibious assaults much more effective. These boats were vital in both theaters of the war.

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What was the purpose of Britain’s Air Ministry Pigeon Section?
to assassinate Hitler
to preach the word of God to far-flung soldiers
to send sensitive messages via pigeons
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sure, radio communitions were coming of age in WWII, but the Allies still used pigeons to carry messages all along the front. The Air Ministry Pigeon Section had hundreds of thousands of pigeons at its disposal.

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True or false, did Hitler directly make many of the military decisions that would normally go to generals during a war?
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Hitler’s God-complex and control-freak nature meant that he took directy control of the military in many situations. Generals who opposed him were often sacked.

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True or false, were most German combat units reliant on horses during WWII?
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

We tend to think of WWII as a high-tech conflict, but Germany was incredibly dependent on horses. As many as eight out of 10 German combat units may have relied on horses ... even to the end of the war.

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In 1944, why did the U.S. want to control the Marianas Islands in the Pacific?
so it could start a huge tank battle
so its soldiers could relax in a tropical area
so its bombers could reach Japan
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Marianas were incredibly important to U.S. strategy. Using airstrips there, its long-range B-29 bombers would be able to attack the Japanese mainland.

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How many T-34 tanks did the Soviets lose during WWII?
about 3,200
about 7,200
about 45,000
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was a good thing they built a lot of them. The Soviets lost many T-34 tanks — about 45,000 — in this single war, the most tanks ever destroyed in an armed conflict.

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When it became clear that he would lose the Eastern Front, what did Hitler do?
He tried to have Stalin killed.
He doubled down on the Eastern Front.
He threw his last efforts into the Western Front.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

By the middle of 1944, Hitler knew the Eastern Front was lost. He threw all of his efforts in to one last major attack on the Western Front — the Battle of the Bulge.

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What happened to U.S. troops at the start of the Battle of the Bulge?
They were annihilated.
They were surrounded.
They immediately surrendered, knowing they had no hope.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When German troops mounted one last desperate offensive in December 1944, U.S. troops found themselves surrounded in Bastogne, trying to survive the Nazi onslaught amid terrible winter weather. They bent ... but then held the line in the face of overwhelming odds.

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True or false, did Japan definitely surrender solely because the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs?
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The atomic attacks were certainly a factor in the Japanese surrender. But days earlier, the Soviets had began attacking Japanese lands — and if Japan hadn’t surrendered, the huge, angry Red Army would have steamrolled the Empire’s army in no time.

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Historical documents