What do you already know about WWII?

Background:Germany took over surrounding areas in the 1930s, violating the Treaty of Versailles, until Great Britain and France’s appeasement finally ended after Germany took over Poland.

What are some examples of countries and world leaders that you recall from brainstorming or otherwise?

essential question:

Who were the people and places of WWII?

Skim through pages 640-50 to complete the charts on the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers.

When skimming, look for:

1- titles and subtitles

2- pictures and captions

3- charts and graphs

4- bold, italicized, or underlined terms

5- the first sentence of each paragraph if you have time

The Allied Powers

Winston Churchill, Great Britain’s Prime Minister during WWII, holding up two fingers indicating “V” for victory

Charles de Gaulle led what was left of

France (Vichy France) after the Nazi invasion

The Communist Soviet Union’s

Joseph Stalin was the only totalitarian

leader among the major Allied Powers

The Axis Powers

Nazi Germany’s leader, Adolf Hitler; translated: “God is with us”

Fascist Italy’s Benito Mussolini,

nicknamed “Il Duce” (translated as “The

Leader”)

Japanese Emperor Hirohito, who had

ruled during Japan’s militarism

and expansion

ROLL-A-WORD RULES:

Take your turn rolling the dice. See below for which country you rolled. No peeking!

You get one point for correctly identifying whether it is an Axis or Allied Power in 1941.

You get another point if you can also name its leader in 1941.

You get a third point if you can also name the type of government in that country in 1941.

1= Germany

2= Italy

3= Japan

4= Great Britain

5= Vichy France

6= USSR (Soviet Union)

consider:

What is a good

reason for America to

get involved in a foreign

war?

essential question:

Why did the U.S.

enter WWII on the side

of the Allies?

• isolationists argue against interventionists

• U.S. will gradually move from isolation to joining the Allied Powers in WWII

isolationism: staying out of foreign affairs

• “Quarantine Speech”—FDR says that Nazi Germany is a disease that should be contained

• Neutrality Acts (1935-7): to keep the U.S. neutral, these acts outlawed arms sales or loans to nations at war

• “cash-and-carry” provision (1939): warring nations could buy arms if they paid cash and carried in their own ships

• Lend-Lease Act (March 1941): okay to lend or lease arms and supplies to “any country whose defense was vital to the U.S.”

• as in WWI, German u-boats attack American ships that trade with the Allies

• Atlantic Charter (August 1941): U.S. and Britain agree on purpose of war; would serve as basis for United Nations after the war

Follow-up question (pick one of the steps above and explain your answer):

When do you think the U.S. was involved in WWII? Why?

Be sure to consider what each step towards U.S. involvement in WWII involved.

isolationism, “Quarantine Speech,” Neutrality Acts cash-and-carry provision Lend-Lease Act Atlantic Charter attack on Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor(also see pages 658-659 in the textbook)

video clip

The U.S. intervenes on the side of the

Allies by declaring war

on Japan

Franklin Roosevelt asking Congress to declare war on Japan

Refer to your worksheet…WWII was a race to produce more,

fasterconsider:

If you are President Roosevelt, what kinds of things do you need to do to mobilize for war? Consider what you need and how you might acquire them.

essential question:

How did the United States mobilize for World War II?

20th century warfare has become incredibly expensive, involving increasingly sophisticated technology.

• Selective Service System organizes volunteers and drafts recruits to fight

What about women?

• women get permanent status in the military in noncombat roles (i.e. WACs)

What about minorities?

• blacks segregated, given menial tasks (exception: Tuskegee Airmen)

What about other minorities?

Doris "Dorie" Miller (October 12, 1919 – November 24, 1943) was a cook in the United States Navy noted for his bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the third highest honor awarded by the US Navy at the time.

• other minorities mostly segregated also (exception: Navajo “code-talkers”).

What about industry?

• War Production Board helped transition peacetime industry to wartime and…

What else did the War Production Board do?

organized rationing materials that could be used for the war

How might your life be different if you had to ration items such as gasoline

and clothing?

• Your family (your group) has to plan a days meal during WWII. Include breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

• Using the “Food Prices and Rationing Points” as a guide, you may spend no more than $2 and use no more than 48 ration points.

What could you do to make it easier to deal with rationing?

• public gets involved with scrap drives and victory gardens

If men are off fighting, who will work in the factories?

• women prove their ability in nontraditional roles by working in the factories, though they faced discrimination

What convinced women to take these new roles?

• “Rosie the Riveter” image encouraged women’s participation

How does the government pay for war?

• war bonds sold to pay for war

Wartime propaganda was used by the government to convince everyone to do

their part.Create your own wartime propaganda

poster for WWII. Use one of the following topics:

recruiting (men or women) factory production rationing women workers war bonds link to music fro

m WWII

Why might a Japanese American soldier fight for the U.S. against Japan when his parents are forced to move to guarded camps?

This U.S. soldier of Japanese descent and American citizenship waits at a train station in Florin, California. He, along with nine other servicemen, was granted a furlough from their service to return to the U.S. to assist with their families' relocation and internment. April 10, 1942

Camp Amache in southest Colorado is shown between

1942 and 1945 where 7,000

Japanese-Americans spent three years in the internment camp

during World War II.

essential question:

Why did the U.S. government resort to Japanese internment? How was this a violation of civil liberties?

preexisting anti-Asian feelings in America

+ attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese

= fear of Japanese being spies

Japanese Internment Camps

“Kenji” by Fort Minor

Describe Japanese internment.

What violations of our basic rights as Americans, our civil liberties, do you see?

essential question:

How did the Allies begin to win Europe after the U.S. entered the war?

The War in Europe• The Supreme Commander of U.S. forces in

Europe Dwight D. Eisenhower.

• Stalin grew upset waiting for FDR and Churchill to open a second front in Europe to divert German forces from the Soviet Union.

WWII in EuropeRemembering what you saw in the video, skim through pages 670-675, 686-691, and 696-701 to complete the bottom portion of the sheet.

Check your blanks on the war in Europe:1. Battle of Stalingrad

2. North Africa

3. (make sure your answer mentions FDR and Churchill; unconditional surrender)

4. Italy

5. D-Day…Europe

6. Battle of the Bulge

7. Holocaust

8. FDR…Truman

9. V-E Day

Check your blanks on the war in Europe:1. Battle of Stalingrad

2. North Africa

3. (make sure your answer mentions FDR and Churchill; unconditional surrender)

4. Italy

5. D-Day…Europe

6. Battle of the Bulge

7. Holocaust

8. FDR…Truman

9. V-E Day

essential question:How does the propaganda showing D-Day compare to the reality of D-Day?

Use the Venn diagram to compare the D-Day scene of Saving Private Ryan to an actual newsreel about D-Day.

D-Day as shown in Saving Private Ryan

D-Day as shown in a 1944 newsreel

unique elements in Saving Private Ryan

unique elements in 1945

newsreel

things seen in

both

Omaha Beach – Saving Private Ryan 1944 newsreel reporting D-Day invasion

Notice how the geography of the Pacific is different from the geography of Europe. What differences might there be in the fighting here? 

 

essential question:

How did the United States win the war in the Pacific?

Connect the islands (dots and others) from the two starting points to reach Japan. This is a military operation, so you probably do not want to approach in a predictable manner.

• General MacArthur, the top general in the Pacific, used island-hopping, the taking of one island at a time towards Japan.

• This begins after the U.S. finally stops the Japanese advance at the Battle of Midway.

• McArthur makes a point to take back the Philippines, where we see an increasingly desperate Japan resort to kamikaze attacks.

• The battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa are won by the U.S. despite huge losses on both sides; these are the final step before invading Japan.

• Instead of invading, the U.S. uses its secretly developed (by the Manhattan Project) atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to defeat the Japanese. The Fat Man mushroom cloud resulting from the

nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rises 18 km (11 mi, 60,000 ft) into the air.

• V-J Day (Victory in Japan Day) celebrates the end of the war

1. Before you use your book, see how many of the locations you can identify on the map. If you get them all, see if you can draw the arrows correctly also.

2. Then, use the map on page 692 to identify locations and draw the arrows that show how U.S. troops advanced in the Pacific.

3. Finally, consider these locations and movements when completing the Venn diagram about how the fighting in the Pacific was different from fighting in Europe.

essential question:

Why did we drop the atomic bomb on Japan? Why did some disagree? Should we consider using it again?

consider:

How many civilians would you be willing to kill to end the war?

Read the arguments for and against dropping the atomic bomb on Japan and answer the questions below:

Do you agree with the decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan? Which arguments do you think were most important in making your decision?

Which of these arguments could also be used to support using an atomic bomb on Afghanistan today? 

Which of these arguments could also be used to support not using an atomic bomb on Afghanistan today?

Ultimately, should the U.S. have bombed (or now bomb) Afghanistan with an atomic bomb? Explain.