Causes of World War II Practice Test

In the 1930s, Japan’s leaders argued that economic survival required control over resources and markets. Japan occupied Manchuria in 1931, established the puppet state of Manchukuo, and later launched a broader invasion of China in 1937. Japanese propaganda framed expansion as creating a “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere,” while Western powers responded with diplomatic protests and, later, economic pressure. Which motivation best explains Japan’s early actions that contributed to the outbreak of World War II in Asia?

After World War I, many leaders hoped to avoid another catastrophic conflict. During the 1930s, Britain and France faced domestic economic hardship and memories of trench warfare. When Hitler demanded the Sudetenland in 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain negotiated the Munich Agreement, believing concessions could preserve peace. Germany soon occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia, revealing that earlier promises were unreliable. Which statement best explains why appeasement contributed to the outbreak of World War II?