COURSEWORK»FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS
1) When did World War II begin and end? What of the view that World War II was simply a continuation of World War I, with a 10-20 year truce in between?
2) Much is written of clever, daring, smarter tactics and their influence upon the outcome of World War II. Other than John Ellis in Brute Force , few historians have written extensively about the effects of economic/population/troop/equipment inequalities upon the outcome of World II. (a) Cite one especially persuasive example of a success that depended upon "clever/ daring/ smarter" and one corresponding example where success clearly depended upon "brute force/numeric superiority." (b) Which is a more persuasive explanation of how the war developed and ended? Why?
3) One military historian has argued that, "the reason the Germans eventually lost the Battle of the Atlantic is that submarines are in fact 'submersibles.' They are surface ships that can go under water for short periods of time." (a) What does this have to do with the defeat of the German U-boats? (b) What innovations came along later in the war that might have reversed this?
4) Well-known military historians of the Allied bombing of Germany such as Max Hastings have referred to the area bombing done there as "shameful" and "something we prefer not to talk about today." What area bombing policy is he talking about? How effective was it? In what ways, if any, did American bombing of Japan differ?
5) Was the dropping of atomic bombs necessary to end the war in the Pacific? Provide your explanation for how the war would have ended if the bombs had not been dropped. What difference would this have made in postwar relationships?
6) The western Allies followed a "Germany first" policy. What did "Germany first" mean? In what ways was it put into effect? Was it a sensible policy? Why or why not?
7) The Allied strategy of "island hopping" in the Pacific is credited both with shortening the war there and in reducing casualties. What was "island hopping?" How effective was it?
8) Gross Admiral Karl Dönitz of the German Navy served 10 years in Spandau Prison after being convicted of war crimes by the war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg. (a) Was this appropriate? Why or why not? (b) Should the leaders of countries who start and engage in "aggressive" wars always be punished? (c) Were the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials appropriate?
9) Allied policy, both in Europe and the Pacific, was one of " unconditional surrender." Explain this policy and indicate how, if at all, it made a difference in the outcome(s) of the war.
10) In War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War , John Dower argues that racism had a profound influence on the conduct of both sides in World War II in the Pacific. (a) What is he talking about? (b) What difference did this make? (c) Would different policies/attitudes been more effective for either Japan or the U.S.?
11) "If Adolf Hitler had not invaded the Soviet Union, he would be regarded now as perhaps the greatest German of them all." Do you agree? Why or why not?
12) In 1939 and 1940, circumstances arose that almost caused Great Britain and the Soviet Union to go to war against each other. (a) What were these circumstances? (b) If GB and the USSR had gone to war with each other, what difference would that have made in the course of the war and its final outcome?
13) On 22 June 1944, the anniversary of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Soviets launched an offensive that virtually destroyed Germany's Army Group Center. (a) Explain this battle. (b) Why was it so successful for the Soviets?
14) John Keegan writes, "Whether Ultra 'shortened the war', as is sometimes suggested, or even materially altered its course, is more difficult to argue." Consider land, air, and sea operations in Europe in fashioning your answer to the question of whether Ultra truly made a difference.
15) Cite an example (for each of the U.S., Japan, Germany, and USSR) of a commander sending his troops to almost sure death. Under what circumstances is it appropriate for a commander to do so? Does it make any difference whether, in retrospect, the sacrificial action ultimately made a difference?
16) Field Marshall Erich von Manstein, in his Lost Victories , argued that a more flexible defensive strategy on the eastern front on the part of the Germans would have been much more successful after Stalingrad. (a) What strategy did he have in mind? (b) What evidence is there that it would have worked? © What difference would it have made in the outcome of the war and postwar relationships?
17) "The problem with the Japanese military is that they really did not have a well-devised plan for what they would do after Pearl Harbor and their initial wave of successes." (a) Do you agree? Why or why not? (b) What might the Japanese have done differently that would have worked better?
18) It is commonplace today for commentators on the American social scene to describe the 1960s and 1970s as the time when a "sexual revolution" occurred. Yet, there is some evidence that even more profound changes in sexual mores and habits took place during World War II. Describe these changes and how they shaped the world in which we live today.
19) What was Executive Order 8802? Why do some authorities argue that it is the most important document relative to civil rights since the Emancipation Proclamation? What difference did it make?
20) Of General Douglas MacArthur, his major biographer, William Manchester, has written in American Caesar , "He was a great thundering paradox of a man, noble and ignoble, inspiring and outrageous, arrogant and shy, the best of men and the worst of men, the most protean, most ridiculous, and most sublime." Critically evaluate Gen. MacArthur's leadership in World War II, beginning in the Philippines and ending with the occupation of Japan.
21) Col. Trevor Dupuy argues that the typical German soldier was almost 25 percent more effective than the typical American and British soldier in the usual engagement in World War II. (a) What evidence does he present? (b) Do you agree? Why or why not?
22) World War II changed the economy of the United States. (a) Explain the nature of these changes; and, (b) which of those changes we still in evidence today?
23) Construct an effective argument for or against the hypothesis that " Germany never had any chance to defeat the USSR."
24) Construct an effective argument for or against the hypothesis that " Japan never had any chance to defeat the USA."
25) For almost 45 years after the end of hostilities in Europe, the USSR commonly was viewed in the West as aggressive and paranoid in its conduct and excessively concerned with its own security. What did World War II have to do with this, if anything?
26) Between 1950 and 1953, more than 50,000 Americans died fighting in Korea. (a) What were they fighting about? (b) How did this situation depend upon the results of World War II? (c) Is there an alternative policy that the US might have followed in World War II that might have avoided all of this?
27) Germany and Berlin were divided into occupation districts after World War II. Describe: (a) what actually happened; (b) the contrast of Allied views on what should occur; (c) how differing kinds of defeats for Germany (in terms of who first occupies them, the timing, etc.) might have changed this; and, (d) how this related to the decision of Gen. Eisenhower to "stop at the Elbe."
28) Recently deceased historian Stephan Ambrose declared the United States the unambiguous winner of World War. He saw the USSR as the next most significant winner. To the surprise of some, he in essence placed Great Britain in the category of "losers." Examine critically each of these three countries in terms of what they won and lost in World War II, and their condition as they emerged from the war.
29) The Chinese communists, led by Mao Zedong, expelled the nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, from the Chinese mainland in 1948. Explain how World War II influenced this outcome.
30) It has been argued that, "without the war, the State of Israel never would have been createdand today's Middle East would be very different." Critically evaluate.
31) Consider the following offensive operations in World War II: (a) German invasion of Scandinavia; (b) German invasion of France in 1940; (c) Pearl Harbor; (d) Japanese conquest of S.E. Asia in 1941-2; (e) Guadalcanal invasion; (f) Midway; and, (g) Normandy invasion. Briefly evaluate each in terms of: (a) daring and risk; (b) degree of surprise; (c) consequences of failure; and, (d) ultimate impact on the war.
32) Consider the following: the American submarine campaign against Japan; the American non-nuclear bombing of Japan; and, the atomic bombing of Japan. Evaluate each in terms of their ultimate importance in the defeat of Japan.
33) "One of the reasons that Rommel was so effective in North Africa is that there weren't any front lines. Battles in North Africa often bore more relation to sea battles than conventional land battles." Explain.
34) Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier is regarded as one of the classic individual soldier accounts of World War II. Defend or attack the following propositions: (a) Sajer actually was not a very good soldier; (b) Sajer was lucky; (c) Sajer ultimately acquiesced and committed war crimes; (d) Sajer must have had some National Socialist leanings if he fought for the Germans.
35) Some military authorities regard the Battle of the Coral Sea as "the battle that changed naval warfare forever." Explain. Do you agree?
36) In 1985, President Ronald Reagan visited the Bitburg, Germany, military cemetery and honored the dead there. This set off a storm around the world. Why?
37) The Waffen SS --soldiers like most others, or criminals, or both? Why?
38) The stories of the German dash around the Maginot Line in 1940, and Allied breaching of the Siegfried Line in 1944-45, are well known. What are the lessons of World War II about the efficacy of fixed fortification lines as defense measures?
39) The Allies succeeded in their invasion of Normandy in June 1944. What were the critical factors in making that landing a success? What reasonable circumstances might have existed which could have made the landing a failure? If the landing had failed, how might the war have turned out differently? How might postwar events have been altered?
40) Suppose Germany, after conquering the Balkans, did not invade the Soviet Union and instead turned south into Gibraltar, North Africa and the Middle East. (a) Was this a viable alternative? Why or why not? (b) What would the likely military outcome have been of this strategy? (c) How would events in the general time period 1942-1955 have been different?
41) Germany is widely believed to have lost the Battle of Britain. Why is this the usual judgment? What's the evidence to the contrary? What's your position and why?
42) The first major American amphibious invasion in the central Pacific occurred at Tarawa in 1943. While the Americans triumphed, the battle did not go well. Why? What lessons did the Americans learn from this battle?
43) It is commonly agreed that Japanese-Americans were treated badly during World War II. (a) Explain why. (b) What was the legal basis for these actions? (c) How did this treatment contrast to that given German-Americans and Italian-Americans?
44) "If the Japanese had lightly defended Iwo Jima and Okinawa in Spring 1945, there is a high probability that the atomic bomb might not have been dropped." Construct an argument for or against this thesis.
45) "One atomic bomb may have been necessary, but two were unnecessary." Argue for or against this thesis.
46) Some historians argue that an unanticipated outcome of the atomic bombs in 1945 is that they have never been used against (at least in wartime). Do you agree? Why or why not?
47) Not infrequently, one reads today that Japan has accomplished by economic means what it failed to do with its armed forces in World War II. (a) Argue for or against this proposition. (b) Describe any lingering side effects today in Asia that have resulted from Japanese expansion and occupation in the 1930s and 1940s.
48) "The Western Allies allowed the Holocaust to occur and then, feeling guilty, supported the creation of the State of Israel. This guilt still influences the foreign policies of these countries today." Argue for or against this thesis.
49) How important was the "Resistance" in Western Europe in World War II? In Eastern Europe? In the Pacific? Cite evidence to buttress your conclusions.
50) John Keegan, in The Battle for History, has written that World War II "...cannot be viewed as a war among other wars." Most historians agree with him. Why?
51) In early April 2003, the military historian Victor Davis Hanson was quoted as saying about the war in Iraq, "By any fair standard of even the most dazzling charges in military history, the Germans in the Ardennes in the Spring of 1940 or Patton's romp in July of 1944, the present race to Baghdad is unprecedented in its speed and daring and in the lightness of its casualties."
A. Name two other World War II land campaigns to add to this list of successful daring land thrusts.
B. What are the dangers inherent in such thrusts?
C. What are the anticipated advantages?
D. Name two land thrusts in World War II that turned out badly and explain why.
