Recent history: connect periods, people, and movements

This topic combines twentieth-century history with questions about movements and American Indian tribes. First identify what the prompt requests: a period, a President, a movement and its goal, or one valid example of a tribe. Then choose a fact from that category.

Keep periods and people connected

Franklin D. Roosevelt entered office during the economic crisis of the 1930s and led the country through most of World War II. In that war, the United States fought the Axis countries Germany, Italy, and Japan. Dwight Eisenhower served as the senior Allied commander in Europe and directed the Normandy invasion before he later became President.

After World War II, the main U.S. concern abroad was the spread of communism during the rivalry with the Soviet Union. Much later, on September 11, 2001, hijackers struck targets in New York and near Washington; another plane crashed in Pennsylvania. Keep this event separate from the 1929 market crash, American entry into World War II, and the end of the Cold War.

Not every question in this topic belongs on the war timeline. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s worked to end racial discrimination and legal segregation. A tribe question asks for one accepted American Indian tribe, not a movement or a place; Cherokee is one valid example. Name one clear example and stop when the prompt asks for one.

Common traps

• Choosing an 1800s war for a question about the 1900s. Civil War, Spanish-American War, and War of 1812 are too early. World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf War fit the later century.
• Confusing nearby Presidents. Franklin D. Roosevelt led through the Depression and most of World War II; Harry Truman took over near its end. Eisenhower's earlier connection is military command in Europe.
• Mixing the two world wars. Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire belong to World War I. Germany, Italy, and Japan formed the enemy group in World War II; the Soviet Union and China fought on the American side in that war.
• Carrying the wrong concern into the Cold War. Fascism belongs to the World War II enemy governments. The later rivalry centered on communist power and influence.
• Putting September 11 into another historical box. It was an attack using hijacked passenger aircraft in 2001, not the start of the Depression, the country's entry into World War II, or the close of the Cold War.

Try it