The Ultimate World War II Quiz

The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (August 1939) was an agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, stating that the two countries would not take military action against each other for the next 10 years. It fell apart in June 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

On September 1st, 1939, German troops invaded Poland, their Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and their warships attacked Polish naval forces. Polish allies Britain and France declared war on Germany just two days later.

When WWII began in 1939, Norway and Denmark declared themselves neutral, but that did not stop the Germans from invading those territories for strategic purposes.

The Selective Training and Service Act (1940) was a nationwide military draft that allowed the country to gain troops quickly in the event of war. All males between the age of 18 and 45 were subject to military service.

The Axis Powers was a coalition spearheaded by Germany, Italy and Japan. They were opposed by the Allied Powers; Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China and the United States.

Although the U.S. was not a part of the war, Japan assumed that they would join Great Britain to help fight their efforts to colonize Eastern Asia. To weaken them, Japan bombed their naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 1941. The U.S. then declared war on Japan, joining the war.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 and on December 8th, 1941, the US Congress approved President Franklin Roosevelt’s request to declare war on Japan. It was unanimously approved 82-0.

In 1942, several Navajo men joined the U.S. Marines and they developed an unbreakable code that was used throughout the war. They were referred to as the Navajo Code Talkers and helped the US through Iwo Jima, Peleliu, and even Tarawa.

Adolf Hitler became the leader of the Nazi Party in 1921 and ruled Germany in a totalitarian state from 1933 to 1945. His rule ended in 1945 and shortly after Germany’s surrender.

William Patrick Hitler was the English nephew of Adolf Hitler. He immigrated to the United States in 1939 and became stranded when World War II began. He joined the U.S. Navy where he was awarded a Purple Heart.

Kamikaze is a word used to refer to Japanese World War II pilots who deliberately crashed their aircrafts into enemy targets. Most planes were loaded with extra gasoline or with bombs. In total, they sank 34 ships and killed almost 5,000 people.

The German Luftwaffe, also known as the German Air Force attacked Great Britain in a destructive air raid from July to September 1941. If they had won, it would have led to Germany’s invasion of Great Britain, leading to control France’s ports.

The Manhattan Project was the code name used to refer to the American-led project to develop nuclear weapons during the Second World War. They were supported by the United Kingdom and Canada.

On August 6th, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, killing some 80,000 people. Less than a week later, a second B-29 bomber dropped a bomb over Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people. The Japanese emperor announced their surrender from the war on August 15th.

According to the Spaatz Papers from a manuscript from the Library of Congress, the United States had plans to drop another bomb over Japan, specifically over Tokyo, as a wake-up call to their government.

Operation Barbarossa, also called Operation Fritz, is the code-named used to describe Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union beginning on June 22nd, 1941. The German’s failed and it one of the biggest turning points in the war.

The Man Who Never Was is the name of a thriller and novel chronicling the events of Operation Mincemeat. The corpse of a man attached to a briefcase was intentionally slipped overboard off the coast of Spain with the goal of Germans finding the body. The falsified letters in the case led the Germans to move their troops into a trap.

Over 350,000 women served in the U.S. Armed Forces in World War II, in the U.S. and abroad. The move was pushed by then first-lady Eleanor Roosevelt after the British allowed women to join their service.

The Enigma machine was a device used by the German military to encode messages before and during the Second World War. The code was broken by the Poles in the 1930s, who then turned over the information to the British.

In 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in a plan known as Operation Barbarossa. Over 3 million soldiers launched a surprise attack making it the deadliest battle in World War II. The German’s failed which as a major turning point in the war.

The Battle of Midway was a conflict between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy taking place only six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was an attempt by the Japanese to gain air and naval superiority over the Western Pacific.

The Casablanca Conference (January 1943) was a World War II meeting held in Casablanca, Morocco. The meeting was between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt, as well as several military leaders. It was to discuss the future of the western Allies strategy.

The V weapons (Vergeltungswaffens), specifically V1 and V2 were two long-range missiles launched by the Germans during World War II. They were used against the British and other European Allies between 1944 and 1945.

Italy joined the war in 1940 as one of the main Axis Powers. In 1943, the Italians had lost control of several African countries, and their cities were bombed regularly. On April 13th, 1943, the Italian declared war on Germany, joining the Allies.

Operation Overlord, also known as the Normandy Invasion or D-Day was the successful invasion of German-occupied Europe during World War II. It lasted for 2 months and 3 weeks.

The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest of World War II. It covered much of the Naval warfare and by the end over 3,000 ships had been sunk and over 800 U-boats, as well as battleships, warships, and destroyers.

When the Second World War began, several countries declared neutrality, including Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Vatican, among others.

Operation Fortitude was the code name used to refer to a military deception plan by the Allied Forces to mislead the German army by concealing their location in the invasion of Normandy.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a World War II naval battle nicknamed The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. Lieutenant Ziegel W. Neff said, “…, this is like an old-fashioned turkey shoot,” and since it took place near the Mariana Islands, it earned its nickname.

The Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 to January 1945) was Germany’s last big offensive campaign during World War II. It took place in the Ardennes region of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.

The Second World War lasted for six years and one day, to be exact. It started on September 1st 1939, when Germany invaded Poland and ended on September 2nd 1945, when Japan surrendered.

On September 23rd, 1945, six U.S. marines were photographed planting an American flag on top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima. The picture was taken by Joe Rosenthal.

On May 8th, 1945, Great Britain and the United States celebrated VE Day or Victory in Europe Day. It commemorated the defeat of the Nazis laid down their arms in World War II.

The United Nations was created at the end of the Second World War (October 24th, 1945) as a peacekeeping organization for resolving conflict between nations. It replaced the League of Nations.

Mein Kampf, German for “My Struggle” was a manifesto written by Adolf Hitler. The controversial book was a blueprint of his agenda and was banned in several countries around the world.

Claus von Stauffenberg was a German army officer and main conspirator of the July plot - an attempt to seize control of the German government. Although he successfully placed a bomb in Hitler’s headquarters, it failed to hurt the dictator.

Knowing that the Allied forces were closing in, Hitler has been hiding in an underground bunker in Berlin. On April 30, both he, and his wife, Eva Braun ended their lives.

On April 12th, 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage. A few hours later, Harry Truman took the oath and became the president of the United States.

The Nuremberg trials, named after the German city, they were held in, were a series of 13 trials mean to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. It consisted of several high-ranking military officers, lawyers, and even doctors charged for their role in Hitler’s regime.

After World War II, Germany was divided into zones that were occupied by the Soviets, the Americans, the British, and the French. Although Canada helped the Allies, they did not participate in the division of Germany.