In United States history during the Second World War, what was a primary goal of the Defense Plant Corporation?

Introduction / Context:
The Defense Plant Corporation was a special agency created in the United States during the Second World War. Understanding its role helps in learning how governments support large scale industrial mobilisation in wartime. This question tests whether you know that the Defense Plant Corporation mainly financed and built industrial facilities to support war production, instead of directly running factories or only training soldiers.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The context is the United States during the Second World War.
• The organisation mentioned is the Defense Plant Corporation.
• The question asks for a primary goal of this body.
• The options describe different functions such as oversight, funding, coordination, and preparation for war.

Concept / Approach:
The Defense Plant Corporation was created as a subsidiary of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Its key task was to finance and construct industrial plants needed for wartime production. Once built, these plants were often leased to private companies. The idea was to rapidly expand industrial capacity by using government funds, rather than leaving everything to private capital markets. Oversight and coordination of wartime production were mainly handled by other agencies, such as the War Production Board.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the correct historical function of the Defense Plant Corporation. It primarily financed and built factories and industrial facilities. Step 2: Examine option A. Directly overseeing all wartime production is too broad and more related to the War Production Board, not this specific corporation. Step 3: Examine option B. This mentions giving money to businesses to fund war production by building and financing industrial plants, which matches the known role of the Defense Plant Corporation. Step 4: Examine option C. Coordinating business and labor points more to agencies involved with labor relations, not plant construction. Step 5: Examine option D. Preparing the country for war only through military training is not an industrial or financial function and does not match the name or structure of the corporation. Step 6: Conclude that option B correctly captures the purpose of the Defense Plant Corporation.

Verification / Alternative check:
A secondary check is to focus on the word plant in the name. It suggests a link with factories and industrial facilities. In wartime, building plants for aircraft, tanks, and other equipment requires huge capital. Governments often step in to provide this capital. Historical references show that the Defense Plant Corporation financed and owned plants which private companies operated, confirming that funding industrial production, not direct oversight or training, was its core goal.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Oversight of all wartime production would give the organization a much broader role than it actually had and does not fit historical descriptions. Coordination of business and labor refers to negotiation, mediation, and policy, not primarily to financing and building factories. Preparing the country for war only through military training ignores the industrial and financial aspects that the Defense Plant Corporation actually dealt with.

Common Pitfalls:
Students may confuse different wartime agencies because their names and functions can sound similar. It is easy to mix up oversight, coordination, and funding roles. A good strategy is to pick out keywords in the name: Defense Plant Corporation clearly suggests a link to industrial plants, and being a corporation under a finance body suggests a funding role. Keeping these clues in mind reduces confusion among similar sounding agencies in exam questions.

Final Answer:
The Defense Plant Corporation was primarily created to give money to businesses to fund war production by building and financing industrial plants.