World War II Exercises

(Enem/2017) After the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN in 1948, UNESCO published studies by scientists from around the world that discredited racist doctrines and demonstrated the unity of the human race. Since then, most European scientists themselves have come to recognize the discriminatory character of the alleged racial superiority of the white man and to condemn the aberrations committed in his name.

SILVEIRA, R. The Savages and the Mass:Role of Scientific Racism in the Assembly of Western Hegemony. Afro-Asia, no. 23, 1999 (adapted).

The position assumed by UNESCO, from 1948 onwards, was motivated by recent events, among which the

a) Japanese attack on the US military base at Pearl Harbor.

b) unleashing the Cold War and new rivalries between nations.

c) death of millions of soldiers in the fighting of the Second World War.

d) execution of Jews and Slavs imprisoned in Nazi ghettos and concentration camps.

e) dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by US forces.

(Enem/2015) Africa's participation in the Second World War must be appreciated from the perspective of choosing between several demons. Their engagement was not a process of collaboration with imperialism, but a struggle against an even more dangerous form of hegemony.

MAZRUI, A. “Seek first the realm of the political…” In:MAZRUI, A., WONDJI, C. (Org.). General history of Africa:Africa since 1925. Brasília:Unesco, 2010.

For the author, the “form of hegemony” and one of its characteristics that explain the engagement of Africans in the analyzed process were:

a) communism / rejection of liberal democracy.

b) capitalism / devastation of the natural environment.

c) fascism / adoption of biological determinism.

d) socialism / national economic planning.

e) colonialism / imposition of the civilizing mission.

Before World War II even started, the Japanese and the Soviets were in battle during the months of May and August 1939, in what became known as the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. One of the consequences of this battle was:

a) warned Stalin about the weaknesses of the Soviet Union's border defenses.

b) amplified Stalin's purges of the Red Army.

c) strengthened the current in the Japanese government that advocated an attack against the US in the South Pacific.

d) encouraged the relocation of Soviet industries westward on the Polish border.

e) encouraged the emptying of Manchuria by the Japanese army.

The war scenario in the Soviet Union was marked by extremely violent battles. As the Germans advanced through Soviet territory, a trail of destruction and death was left. One of the Soviet cities was literally surrounded by German troops, who established a strategy to starve the population. We're talking about:

a) Stalingrad.

b) Leningrad.

c) Moscow.

d) Kiev.

e) Minsk.

One ​​of the central elements for the Nazis to establish their power in the conquered places was collaborationism. Wherever they went, the Nazis allied with local individuals who turned against their own country and supported Nazi Germans. The idea of ​​an invasion of Norway was even conceived by a collaborationist called:

a) Vidkun Quisling.

b) Erich Raeder.

c) Josef Terboven.

d) Curt Bräuer.

e) Haakon VII of Norway.

In the 1940s, the United States invested considerably in developing diplomatic relations with Latin American nations, including Brazil. At that moment, a rapprochement between Brazil and the Axis was negotiated, and the terms reached made Brazil break diplomatic relations with the Axis nations in 1942. This generated a German response, and Brazilian vessels were attacked by German submarines, which mobilized the public opinion and led Brazil to declare war on Germany.

The Brazilian force sent to fight in World War II became known as:

a) Brazilian Armed Forces.

b) Group of soldiers from Brazil.

c) Green and Yellow Army.

d) Brazilian Expeditionary Force.

e) Brazilian Special Troops.

On September 19, 1941, the Wehrmacht Army Group South took Kiev […]. On September 24, a series of bombs and mines exploded, destroying buildings in central Kiev, where the Germans had installed their occupation regime offices. Some of these explosives had been regulated before Soviet forces withdrew from the city, but some appear to have been detonated by NKVD (Soviet secret service) men who remained in Kiev.

SNYDER, Timothy. Lands of Blood:Europe between Hitler and Stalin. Rio de Janeiro:Record, 2012, p. 251.

The passage in question tells of an attack that German forces suffered in Kiev after conquering the city in September 1941.

a) Katyn Massacre.

b) Babi Yar Massacre.

c) Blue Operation.

d) Operation Uranus.

e) None of the above.

August 9, 1945, went down in World War II history as the day the United States dropped its second atomic bomb on Japan, this time against Nagasaki city. This event was crucial for the Japanese surrender, but another event was also crucial for Japan to surrender. We're talking:

a) the invasion of Manchuria.

b) a ratified agreement with the US.

c) the US President's announcement that a third bomb would be dropped.

d) the Tokyo fire.

e) an earthquake that magnified the destruction of Japanese infrastructure.

Which group was responsible for the shooting of Jews in the German-occupied regions?

a) Sturmabteilung

b) Schutzstaffel

c) Gestapo

d) Kriegsmarine

e) Einsatzgruppen

In January 1943, Allied leaders met at an event that became known as the Casablanca Conference, held in Morocco, still a French colony. At that meeting, the Allies discussed new strategies for warfare, and one of the offshoots of that conference was:

a) D-Day.

b) Battle of Kursk.

c) Landing of troops in Sicily.

d) Battle of the Bulge.

e) Siege of Bastogne.

Japanese unit responsible for committing atrocities against the Japanese population, including the development of biological weapons.

a) Kwantung Army

b) Unit 731

c) Kempeitai

d) Imperial Army

e) None of the above

Regarding D-Day, which of the following is not the name of a landing beach established by the Allies?

a) Sword

b) Eagle

c) Juno

d) Omaha

e) Gold

Letter D

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was directly influenced by the horrors of the Holocaust, genocide responsible for the death of 6 million people, most of whom were Jews persecuted by the Nazis. The horrors committed against Poles and Soviets during World War II also played a role.

Letter C

The engagement of Africans in World War II took place on the side of the Allies, since the English and French colonizers were known, but fascism, represented by Italians and Germans, was seen with fear, given the racist rhetoric of the Nazis and the history of cruelty of the Germans when they had colonies in Africa.

Letter C

The defeat suffered by the Japanese during the months of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol changed the country's war strategy. Advocates that the war should be taken north against the Soviets have weakened, and advocates that the war should be taken south to fight the United States have strengthened. This last current, by the way, was the one that prevailed in the end.

Letter B

The city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) was the target of a siege that lasted from September 1941 to January 1944. The aim of the Germans was to starve the city to death. During the nearly 900 days of siege, reports tell of the population's desperation to get food for their survival.

Letter A

Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian politician who became synonymous with collaborationism during World War II. He was introduced to Hitler by Erich Raeder and convinced the Nazi leader to organize the invasion of Norwegian territory. Quisling became Norwegian Prime Minister after the Nazi invasion.

Letter D

The Brazilian Expeditionary Force or FEB was known as the Brazilian force that was sent to the battlefront during World War II. Created in 1943, it was made up of around 27,000 soldiers who fought in Italy against Axis troops from 1944 onwards.

Letter B

The German reprisal against this Kiev attack became known as the Babi Yar Massacre. The Germans decided to blame the attack on the city's Jews and summoned them to appear at a Kiev site on September 29, 1941. On that occasion, the Nazis executed more than 33,000 Jews in about 36 hours.

Letter A

On August 9, in addition to the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, the Japanese suffered the beginning of the Soviet attack on Manchuria. This attack was part of Operation August Storm and was responsible for hastening the Japanese surrender.

Letter E

The Einsatzgruppen, the Nazi death squads, were responsible for finding and shooting Jews from the regions of Eastern Europe that were conquered by the Nazis in the war. Altogether, the Einsatzgruppen was responsible for the deaths of about a million Jews.

The Casablanca Conference was held in January 1943 and was attended by Winston Churchill. Franklin Roosevelt, Charles De Gaulle and Henri Giraud. There it was decided that the war effort against the Germans should continue until unconditional surrender. Finally, it was decided to open a battlefront in Sicily.

Letter B

Unit 731 was a secret unit of the Japanese army and was under the leadership of General Shito Ishii. She was responsible for projects for the development of chemical and biological weapons, carrying out macabre studies on Chinese prisoners captured in the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Letter B

Among the alternatives cited, the incorrect alternative is Eagle, as it did not correspond to any of the landing beaches during D-Day, which took place on June 6, 1944. The five beaches disembarkation were:Sword, Juno, Omaha, Gold and Utah.