12th Grade History

Homework assignments are in bold.

FOR THIS UNIT, PLEASE BRING AMERICAN SPIRIT TO CLASS EVERY DAY.

IV. World War II.

World War II Chronology

A.European Causes of World War II

IN CLASS: Film “Causes of World War II”

Assignment 1: (Due 12/13)  READ in McKay, Chapter 29.  ANSWER the following questions in your own words

• How did the lingering affects of World War I contribute to the outbreak of World War II?
• What did Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany look like?  How did they differ?
• Explain the different ways that historians have disagreed over the nature of the totalitarian regimes of Europe.
• How did Stalin increase his political power and how did he reshape the Soviet economy?
• Why did Britain and France hesitate so long before summoning the will to go to war in August 1939?

IN CLASS: Definitions of Fascism, Communism, and Socialism

B. America’s Road to War

Assignment 2: (Due 12/17) READ in Brinkley, Chapter 27 from “Isolationism and Internationalism” to the end of the chapter.

• IN WRITING: List and explain every argument, act, and person in favor of ISOLATION and NEUTRALITY and in favor of INTERVENTION.
• Be prepared to debate American neutrality in class.
• Be prepared to discuss the following classic questions of the era:
• Did the isolationist movement in the US mislead Japan and Germany into thinking that the US would not enter or support the war?
• What steps did FDR take to move US policy toward intervention in WWII?
• Did FDR know about the attack on Pearl Harbor beforehand but let it happen in order to assure American entry into the war?

IN CLASS:(12/18) Debate on American isolationism (American Spirit, Green Photocopy).  Reaction paper due by 12/21.

IN CLASS: The Four Freedoms (Green Photocopy)

C. Fighting World War II

Assignment 3: (Due 1/3) READ in Brinkley, Chapter 28. ANSWER the following questions:

• Which was more critical to the Allied victory—military strategy or American productive capacity?
• Why did President Harry Truman decide to drop the atomic bomb on Japan?  Explain the controversy surrounding the decision, then and later.
• US-Soviet relationships were tense throughout WWII, despite the fact that they were allies.  What issues caused those tensions?  How important was the Eastern Front to the outcome of the war in Europe?
• How did the United States’ mobilization for war continue reforms begun under the New Deal?