Name One War Fought by the United States in the 1900s: Civics Question 100

Name one war: World War I, World War II, or the Korean War.

Question 100 asks you to name one war the United States fought in the 1900s. World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War all count. Give a single war. You do not need the years, the countries involved, or the reason the war was fought.

The Wars Behind the Answer

• World War I. Fighting began in Europe in 1914, the United States entered in 1917, and the war ended in 1918.
• World War II. The United States entered in 1941 after Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, and the fighting ended in 1945.
• The Korean War. American forces fought there from 1950 to 1953 to stop the spread of communism.
• The Vietnam War. American forces fought there through the 1960s and into the 1970s, again to stop the spread of communism.
• The Persian Gulf War. A coalition led by the United States drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in 1991.

Why the 1900s Means the Whole Century

The 1900s means the years 1900 through 1999, not the ten years around 1900.

So the Civil War does not count, because it was fought in the 1860s, and the Revolutionary War does not count either, because that fighting happened in the 1770s. Both wars appear on the test under other questions.

Why the Officer Asks This

This question opens the modern history block. Several questions right after it ask why the country entered each war.

The Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War also have their own questions, 111 and 114, and both are accepted answers here as well.

How to Remember It

Count the world wars on two fingers and then add Korea, which gives you one, two, Korea. Vietnam and the Persian Gulf sit on the list behind them.

Then pick one war and rehearse only that. World War II carries the century inside the name. There was no World War II in the 1700s or the 1800s, so saying the name places the war in the right hundred years by itself.

Common Ways People Get This Wrong

The Civil War is the usual wrong answer, because it was an enormous American war and it comes to mind first, but it lands in the wrong century.

The other miss is naming several wars at once. Every extra war is another chance to name one from the 1800s and undo a correct answer.

What to Say on Test Day

Say “World War II.” Then stop.

Do not add the years and do not list a second war. The officer needs one war in the right century.