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World war ll Introduction to Axis Aggression
WWII was started by a combination of the severe economic depression brought about by WWI and Hitler's political, social Darwinism, that promised to return Germany's national pride and destiny. The scapegoat became the Jews and other peoples that did not fit into the Hitler's ideologies of a superior race. Germany took over Poland and began the holocaust against the Jews.
Japan too had elevated ideas of nationalism. But they lacked the resources to develop heavy industry. When they saw how world leaders appeased Germany's early aggressions, Japan decided they could get away with claims to the Korean Peninsula and SE Asia. Imperialist desires of expansion were at the heart of the Axis aggression.
Homework: label and color-code the map of Europe, pre-WWII
Attached below is the worksheet with all of the random questions, including a copy of the worksheet with the answers. Also, the map of pre-WWII Europe is attached.
Worksheet.doc Worksheet Answers.doc HW Blank 1938 Europe map (label, color code).doc
Axis Aggression, War Begins
Today, you viewed a PowerPoint that presented information about Germany invading Poland and France. While Hitler had already militarized the Rhineland, annexed Austria, and annexed the Sudentenland in Czechoslovakia, war had not been declared yet. It wasn't until the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 that Great Britain and France finally became involved--and this was because they had made an alliance with Poland. Even though Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, they did not send much support to Poland. Germany soon turned to France, invading in the spring of 1940. France surrendered to Germany on June 22, 1940. We also read two articles from the New York Times that were about the German invasions of Poland and France and looked at how the different representatives from different countries reported the information.
Homework: none
Attached below is the PowerPoint from today, as well as the two articles we read in class.
Axis Aggression, War Begins.ppt
Sept. 1, 1939 - Hostilities Begun; Warsaw Reports German Offensive....pdf May 10, 1940 - Border Resistance Broken, Nazis Say.pdf
- Battle of Britain and the Invasion of the Soviet Union
Today, you began class by viewing a brief 10-minutes documentary clip about the Battle of Britain, which focused a lot specifically on the London Blitz. After this, you took a few notes from a short PowerPoint presentation that explained, basically, how Hitler attempted to invade Great Britain for months and never got his wish. If you'll remember, one reason the Germans were not successful was because the British had radar, which allowed them to see the hundreds of German planes coming to attack before they arrived. One thing mentioned in the PowerPoint was that, because of the heavy bombing in London and southern England, children were evacuated north to the countryside where it was safer for them. We spent time in class reading most of an evacuee's story of his evacuation from southeast England, called "From Folkestone to Tintern: An Evacuee's Story." Your homework had a few questions from this reading, as well as a few questions about Hitler's first attack on the Soviet Union, which was unsuccessful for various reasons.
Homework: worksheet with questions about "From Folkestone to Tintern" and p.442-443 of your textbook
Attached below are the PowerPoint, "From Folkestone to Tintern" reading, and the worksheet. Embedded below is the documentary clip you viewed in class. Battle of Britain.ppt From Folkestone to Tintern - An Evacuee's Story.doc Worksheet.docAmerican Isolationism and Pearl Harbor
Today started with a very brief (only three slides!) PowerPoint presentation. This presentation included information about America's policy towards World War II: stay neutral! The US used two specific programs to remain "neutral" for the beginning years of the war. The first was a series of laws passed in Congress, called the Neutrality Acts. There were three, published in 1935, 1937, and 1939, and each one allowed for more than the previous one. The Neutrality Act of 1935 stated that the US could not sell anything that could be used in war to countries that were fighting in war. The next two, allowed for more of those items to be sold. The second program the US used to remain neutral was called Lend-Lease, in which the US would provide any country, at the discretion of the President, with any good and the country would be able to pay for it later/over time. After we discussed these programs the US used to remain "neutral", we discussed how the US actually entered the war: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. We read two eyewitness accounts from the attack on Pearl Harbor, the first being from one of the Japanese pilots who was bombing Pearl Harbro and the other being from a nurse who was working that day. We then listened to/watched President Roosevelt's speech to Congress asking them to declare war on Japan.
Homework: none
Attached below are the PowerPoint presentation you looked at and the readings about Pearl Harbor. Embedded below is Roosevelt's speech. Neutrality Acts & Lend-Lease.ppt Pearl Harbor Readings.docJapanese Internment
Today we focused on how life was like for Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans in the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Thousands of people of Japanese ancestry were confined to internment camps after Pearl Harbor. The US military, and some of the population as well, believed that some of the people of Japanese ancestry in American, especially on the west coast (California, Oregon, Washington) were enemies and/or spies for the Japanese. Because those few people could not be picked out from the rest of the population, much of the population of people of Japanese ancestry from the west coast were put in internment camps, where they could be guarded and not have any contact with Japan. You saw numerous photographs concerning this period of time in US history, some showing the prejudice, some showing life in the internment camps, etc. As we viewed this photographs, you had a worksheet to fill out, with certain questions for each photograph. You answered those in writing and then the class, as a whole, discussed the photographs.
Homework: writing assignment, in which you have to argue whether or not you think it was legal to intern a group of people based on race, using the Supreme Court case Korematsu v. United States, 1944 to help you decide.
Attached below is the PowerPoint of photographs we viewed, as well as the worksheet. Also, as promised, the handout you will receive on Monday that gives a summary of the Japanese Internment is attached below. The homework assignment is also attached below (two files: one, assignment sheet; two, reading). Japanese Internment.ppt Worksheet for Class.doc Handout about Japanese Internment.doc Writing Assignment.doc Korematsu v. United States, 1944.doc
Fighting in the West & Africa The worksheet focused on fighting/battles that were going on during WWII, especially in the West and Africa. There was information about fighting in the Atlantic Ocean and early American involvement. The Germans had U-boats, as they had in WWI, and they were still a problem for Allied ships. However, Allied ships began to move in large convoys again, making attack from a U-boat less likely. Also, you read about some of the fighting in North Africa, which moved northward into Italy (in the south of Europe).
Attached below is the worksheet. Worksheet.doc
WWII Propaganda
Today you worked in partners, doing an activity called Interviewing a Poster. With the aid of a worksheet, you and your partner looked at at least two images of propaganda posters from the WWII era. The posters were in color and from various countries (America, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Japan), so you got to see what different areas and cultures were being seen by people around the world. With the worksheet, you analyzed and examined the posters and were "interviewing" them, looking at symbols, colors, images, slogans, etc. and judging whether you believed they were persuasive for their respective audiences. At the beginning of class, you saw one of three short propaganda films, two were Disney, one was Looney Tunes. (All three are embedded below.)
Activities: propaganda worksheet
Attached below are the posters in a Word document as well as the worksheets you used, the Interviewing a Poster worksheet from class and the WWII Propaganda worksheet for homework. Posters.doc 'Interviewing a Poster'.doc Propaganda Worksheet.doc
Fighting in the Soviet Union
Today you did a writing assignment in class. Using information from your textbook, you wrote a "newspaper article" concerning Hitler's two attempts to invade the Soviet Union, both of which failed. Basically, you were summarizing what you read, focusing on the "Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, and Significance". At the end of class, we discussed what you included in your articles. As far as the first attempt goes, Hitler attempted to invade and had not met his goals before the harsh Soviet winter set in (the Germans did not have the appropriate clothing for the cold and their weapons/equipment stopped functioning properly because of the cold). Towards the end of this first attempt, Hitler ordered a siege (military blockade) on Leningrad. This Siege of Leningrad occurred during the winter and around a million Soviet civilians died because of starvation (around 3,000-4,000 a day!) The second attempt, Hitler ordered renewed attacks when it got warmer (spring 1942) and this time had military aid, in the form of soldiers, from Italy, Romania, and Hungary. The Germans attempted to take Stalingrad, and the Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most brutal of the war. The Soviets held off the Germans, and again winter came. Hitler would not allow defeat and eventually 90,000 Axis soldiers were captured in early 1943. German Invasion of the Soviet Union.ppt
Fighting in the Pacific
Today was the first day of OGT week. All week we have a two-hour delay schedule!! Today we did what was supposed to be on Friday, Fighting in the Pacific. Since it was planned for a full class period, most of you had to sacrifice the video we were going to watch for half of a full class. This film was not imperative, so that is why most of you only got the PowerPoint. The PowerPoint focused on the Allies, mostly the United States, and Japan fighting in the Pacific. There were a couple of battles specifically mentioned, Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway. Also mentioned were the military strategies used in the Pacific: island hopping by the United States and kamikazes by Japan. Fighting in the Pacific.pptWar Ends in Europe & Japan
Today was another short PowerPoint about the war ending in Europe and Japan. As Allied forces moved in on German forces from the east and the west (Soviets in the east, British & Americans in the west), the Germans eventually were surrounded by their enemies. Berlin, especially, was surrounded by the Soviets and on May 7th, 1945 the Germans surrendered. It was months later when Japan finally surrendered: August 15th, 1945. However, Japan did not surrender until after the atomic bomb had been used on Hiroshima & Nagasaki.
The Postwar World
Today was our last day focusing on the actual war during WWII. (REMEMBER, next week we will be working on the Holocaust as a separate subject.) We talked about conferences and meetings that were going on during and then after the war in Europe. Primarily, we talked about the three big Allies--Great Britain, the US, and the Soviet Union--and all of the plans they had made for postwar Europe. For instance, there was the Yalta Conference in early 1945, the United Nations was created in June 1945, and the Potsdam Conference occurred in July 1945. At the conferences, all three countries tried to agree on what to do with postwar Europe. Churchill and Roosevelt/Truman disagreed often with Stalin, mostly due to the fact that they did not like the possibility of communism spreading out of the Soviet Union. These disagreements and discord in part led to the Cold War, which we will be discussing after Spring Break. Postwar World.ppt
