national world war ii memorial · the history channel , working in partnership with the national...

The History Channel, working in partnership with the National World War II Memorial Campaign, hasdeveloped this manual to help you bring the history of World War II alive in your classroom. For eachgrade level, we have included readings, discussion questions, activities, and portfolio projects that aredesigned to be used to enrich your current curriculum. Many topics are interdisciplinary in nature, sothat aspects of art, science, math, and creative writing are incorporated in a variety of history or socialstudies lessons. We have provided a resource guide and a selection of primary source materials for youruse as well.

All of us owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the men and women who participated in World War II, atthe war front and at home. That’s why Save Our History™, The History Channel’s national campaigndedicated to historic preservation and history education, is working with the National World War IIMemorial Campaign. For this special initiative in the campaign, we are not preserving a specific historicsite. Instead, we are working together to preserve the memory of the World War II generation, and tohelp raise funds for a new memorial in Washington, D.C., that recognizes those Americans whoparticipated in the war effort. Take a look at the “Community Events” for fund-raising ideas for theWorld War II Memorial that can build school spirit and students’ understanding of World War II.

We encourage you, your students, your school, and your community to participate in helping to buildthe memorial. “It’s time to say thank you TM” to all the Americans who participated in World War II, onthe war front and on the home front.

Please visit our Web site, HistoryChannel.com, for interactive materials on World War II. There you willalso find guidelines for interviewing World War II participants, so that your students can preserve thememories of the World War II generation.

Sincerely,

Libby H. O’Connell, Ph.D Vice President, Historian-in-ResidenceThe History Channel

National World War II Memorial

TM

T H E H I S T O R Y C H A N N E L

NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL 1

2 NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL

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A M E R I C A N B A T T L E M O N U M E N T S C O M M I S S I O N

National WWII Memorial ★ 2300 Clarendon Blvd. Suite 501 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone 703 696 6650/5127 Fax 703 696 6697 www.wwiimemorial.com

Dear Teacher:

We are pleased to present the World War II Teaching Manual, a cooperative effort of the NationalWorld War II Memorial Campaign and The History Channel. This document is intended to help youpromote the study and understanding of World War II in America’s elementary and secondaryschools. It also underscores the importance of students becoming familiar with the National WorldWar II Memorial.

In 1993, Congress passed legislation authorizing the creation of a National World War II Memorial inWashington, D.C. The President signed the legislation into law on May 25, 1993. The memorial willhonor all who served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II and the entire nation’scontribution to the war effort.

The future National World War II Memorial, to be located on the Mall between the WashingtonMonument and the Lincoln Memorial, will be an integral part of the city’s tapestry, preserving andenhancing our heritage. Designed for this incomparable site of great beauty and historicalsignificance, this national memorial will become one of America’s most cherished places.

The National World War II Memorial will not only honor and pay tribute to those who sacrificed somuch, but will also serve as a strong educational tool for generations to come. Our students mustlearn from our past as they prepare for the future. The victory in World War II preserved for allAmericans the opportunity to use our individual talent and ambition to build a brighter future forourselves, our children, and their children.

Our nation’s capital welcomes thousands of school groups annually. For those children who will takeclass trips to Washington, D.C. in the coming years, it is our hope that these materials will enrichtheir visit to the National World War II Memorial. And for those students who will not have theopportunity to see the memorial in person, the guide will be a valuable resource for learning about itsrole as a symbol of freedom and the unselfish sacrifices made on their behalf.

We hope this guide is helpful as you and your students explore World War II and discover its meaningto all who cherish freedom.

BOB DOLE FREDERICK W. SMITHNational Chairman National Co-Chairman

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table of contentsTable of ContentsCHAPTER I:Section One: Grades 4 - 6

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4I. Creating a Classroom Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4II. Propaganda and Posters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5III. Intolerance and Genocide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6IV. D-Day Project: Map Exercise and Newspaper Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8V. Home Front History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10VI. Science and Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Section Two: Grades 7 - 9Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

I. The Rise of Fascism in Germany, Italy, and Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15II. Genocide and the Holocaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17III. Pearl Harbor and America’s Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21IV. D-Day and the War in the Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24V. The Home Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27VI. Plans for Peace and the Atomic Bomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Section Three: Grades 10 - 12Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

CHAPTER II:Primary Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

CHAPTER III:Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

CHAPTER IV:Community Events: Participating in the National World War II Fund-Raising Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

CHAPTER V:Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Researching the Internet: Hints for Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Maps:Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53The Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Donation Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

The History Channel CreditsNational World War II Memorial Campaign

Building the National World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. ensures a lasting tribute to aremarkable generation of men and women who servedtheir country on the battlefield and on the home front. The Memorial serves as a symbol of American ideas andvalues to educate future generations on what our countrycan accomplish when united in a just and common cause.

Director of Education

Robert Lewis

National WWII Memorial Historian

Roger Cirillo


EditorLibby Haight O’Connell, Ph.D.

Business ManagerBeth Ann Marian, M.Ed.

WritersLouise P. Maxwell, Ph.D.

Libby Haight O’Connell, Ph.D.Jessica RosenbergTerry Haight, M.A.

Design DirectorMadeline Gleason

Graphic DesignerTim Call

Creative ServicesCoordinator

Debra L. Bulwin

Business CoordinatorLourdes Melendez-Gamez


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CHAPTER I:

SECTION ONE: GRADES 4 - 6TO THE TEACHER:

The study of World War II presents particularchallenges for young students. The necessaryglobal perspective and the complexity ofcausation, and the course of the war itself, areoften enough to intimidate even an experiencedteacher, much less an eleven-year old. Theactivities for grades 4 through 6 included in thismanual are designed to be used as a supplementto a reliable textbook, enriching the in-classexperience for your students. You will notice thatthe activities provide ideal interdisciplinaryopportunities, with science, geography, languagearts, music, and art all part of the study ofhistory. Please feel free to use what works foryou, with your students.

We recommend A History of US: War, Peace,and All that Jazz by Joy Hakim as an example ofan excellent textbook on this subject. Refer toour Resources section for more ideas.

The History Channel has partnered with theNational World War II Memorial Campaign increating this manual. We’d also like to encourageyou, your students, your school, and yourcommunity to participate in helping to build thememorial. It’s time to say thank you to all theAmericans who participated in World War II,on the war front and on the home front. Seethe donation form at the back of this manual.

Project Objectives: By studying the causes andcourse of World War II and the character of thewar at home and abroad, students willunderstand chronological thinking, analyzecause-and-effect relationships, and use historicalanalysis and interpretation of primary sourcesand visual data.

National Standards: The following activitiessupport the National Standards for Historydeveloped by the National Center for History inthe Schools, Era 3, Standard 3, and theCurriculum Standards for Social Studiesdeveloped by the National Council for the SocialStudies, Strands II, V, VI, and VIII.

Vocabulary: Part of any social studies unitinvolves learning new vocabulary. You will find aglossary at the back of this manual that defineskey words printed in bold.

I. Creating a Classroom TimelineII. Propaganda and PostersIII. Intolerance and Genocide IV. D-Day Project: Map Exercise and

Newspaper Activities V. Home Front HistoryVI. Science and Technology

I. CREATING A CLASSROOM TIMELINE

Timelines help young students visualize thechronological sequence of events. The teachercreates a large-scale timeline, beginning in 1930and ending in 1945. It may be a vertical timelineor a horizontal one, but it should be at least fourfeet long. During your studies of World War II,your class should decide what events should berecorded on the timeline. You can use separatecolors for events that affect different nations, ordifferent sides of the conflict.

Encourage the students to write in pencil on thetimeline, and then write over their words incolored marker, preventing errors and scratchmarks from becoming a permanent part of yourclass’s creation. Use your class textbooks as onesource of information during the unit. A long listof suggested events for a timeline is provided inSection 2, p.14. You can also visit “This Day inWorld War II History” on The History Channel’sWeb site at HistoryChannel.com.

activitiesActivities

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1. Divide your class into small groups. You mayassign specific years of the pre-war and waryears for which each group of students isresponsible. Or, assign each group a theme.Suggested themes are: The Rise of Hitler;Japan’s Quest for Empire; Persecution andthe Holocaust; The Beginning of World War II(1939-1941); Pearl Harbor and the War in thePacific; The Home Front; From D-Day to V-EDay; and The Atomic Bomb. They should findfive world events for their theme that theybelieve are important enough to be placed onthe timeline.

2. Students might want to include personalinformation from their families or friends aswell as world events. For example, thegranddaughter or great-granddaughter of aWorld War II veteran might add, “May, 1941:Grandfather or Great-Grandfather O’Keefe isdrafted.” Or another student might add“August, 1936: the Rosenthal family emigratesto the United States” or “Spring 1943: Great-Grandmother Rodriguez gets a job at theairplane plant.” Personal information shouldbe recorded in a different color than the worldevents.

II. PROPAGANDA ANDPOSTERS

Propaganda was an important weapon used byboth sides during World War II. What is propaganda?How can words, movies, and art be weapons?This section will help students understand themeaning of propaganda, its power to influencepeople, and its role in World War II. Studentsmay also consider examples of propaganda thatthey encounter today.

1. Word Origin: Propaganda comes from theverb “propagate,” which means to spread ormultiply. When people who work with plantsand flowers say that they are “propagating”new plants, they mean that they are increasingtheir number of plants. Propagate comes fromthe Latin word, propages (pronounced pro-pa-gace), which means “offspring.” What does“offspring” mean?

Propaganda means the spreading of a doctrineor belief. Depending on your point of view, thedoctrine may be good or bad. Not allpropaganda is bad. For example, the UnitedStates used propaganda techniques toencourage people not to waste food or gasolineduring the war. This seems like a good kind ofpropaganda. However, the Nazis in Germanyused propaganda to unite Germans against theJews. They used movies, posters, and radiobroadcasts to convince the German peoplethat Hitler was a hero. Nazi propaganda toldpeople how to think and what to believe.People who didn’t agree with the Nazipropaganda were imprisoned or killed.

2. Research Assignment: In library books or onthe Internet, students should find examples ofpropaganda posters used during World War II.The posters may be from any of the AxisPowers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) or fromthe Allies (including the U.S., Great Britain,and the Soviet Union). The U.S. examples willbe the easiest to find. Students should print orphoto-copy one or two of the posters that theyfind. Make sure each student writes down thename of the source where he or she found theposter. Each student should prepare a shortparagraph that describes the country origin ofthe poster, the message of the poster, why thecountry’s government thought that themessage was important, and briefly evaluatethe effectiveness of the poster using thesecriteria: Is the message clear? Does the designhave a strong impact? Is it convincing?

3. Art Class and History: Students should designtheir own propaganda posters. It isrecommended that they limit their posters tothe Allies’ point of view. They may use famousslogans* from original posters, or make uptheir own, but they should create their owngraphic design.

• Topics may include, but are not limited to:rationing, recycling, secrecy, car-pooling,war bonds, enlistment, and women inindustrial jobs.

• Posters should be designed to be seen froma distance. Tiny detail will not have anyimpact. Bright colors, or clearly contrastingcolors, are good choices. Clear, large lettersare also important. Artistic talent is not asimportant as the ability to get the messageacross effectively.

projectsProjects

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• When the posters are finished, display themin the classroom.

*Some famous U.S. slogans from World War IIare: “Loose Lips Sink Ships,” “Uncle SamWants You,” “Join the Navy and See theWorld,” “Free a Man to Fight,” and slogansthat encouraged Americans to invest in warbonds, such as “You buy ’em, we’ll fly ’em.”These are just suggestions.

4. Discussion—Thinking it Through: What isthe difference between propaganda andadvertisement? Every day kids arebomdarded by advertisements telling them tobuy something. Generally, propagandaencourages a certain way of thinking or acting.Are advertisements propaganda? Hold aclassroom discussion on this topic. You caninvite two students up to the chalk board tocreate two lists of reasons – one list that saysYES! Advertisements are propaganda! andone that says NO! Advertisements are notpropaganda! The whole class shouldparticipate in creating the lists. At the end ofthe session, you can take a vote to see whatyour class believes. There is no one rightanswer to this question. Guide you students bycomparing Nazi propaganda with an ad for oneof their favorite products – and the differentresults of disobeying those two differentmessages. Help your students understand howpowerful advertising is, even if your classdecides that it is not propaganda.

III. INTOLERANCE AND GENOCIDE

Reading Comprehension: Students should readthe following text. Below are listed discussionquestions, which should be answered in class.Suggested projects that encourage independentwork are provided at the end. Words in bold typeare defined in the Glossary, at the back of thismanual.

It is 1929. Germany is in a big mess. Itscitizens are angry. Germany’s unit of money,called marks, is worth very little, so the prices ofeverything in Germany have risen to the sky. TheGermans are blamed for starting World War I,and they think that’s unfair. There aren’t enoughjobs for everyone. There are riots.

The government isn’t helping. The people arelooking for a leader who will end all this trouble.An evil genius, named Adolf Hitler, seems like theanswer to their prayers. Most people don’t seehim as evil. They see him as an admirable, strongman who can unite the country. He gives brilliantspeeches. He encourages young children to join“Hitler Youth” organizations. He talks a lot abouthow wonderful the German people are and unitesthem together. He tells them that they must loveGermany, the “fatherland,” above anything else.

Hitler creates an enemy for the Germans tounite against. He says that this enemy is thecause of almost everything that has gone wrongwith the country. According to Hitler, the enemyis the Jewish people. Although Jews have lived inGermany for centuries, Hitler condemns them asforeigners. He claims that the Jews are suckingthe blood out of the German economy andstrength.

Antisemitism, the hatred of Jews, did notoriginate with Hitler. It existed in Europe longbefore the twentieth century. But Hitler builds onthe seeds of antisemitism and makes it animportant part of his political party, whosemembers are known as the Nazis.

In 1933, Hitler legally becomes chancellor ofall Germany. His people love him. In 1934, he isgiven absolute power over the government. Andone of the first things he does is begin thehorrible persecution of the Jews. Initially, Jewsaren’t allowed to hold certain jobs. Then, theirshops and places of business are destroyed. Theyare made to work as slaves in forced labor camps.Eventually, millions of Jews are sent to deathcamps, where they are slaughtered for the crimeof being Jewish, or having Jewish ancestors.Hitler calls this his “Final Solution.” By 1945, asthe end of World War II draws near, the Nazishave murdered two out of every three Jewishpersons in Europe.

Jews aren’t the only people Hitler tries todestroy. Mentally and physically handicappedpeople, gypsies, Slavs (people from EasternEurope), other minorities, and people whodisagree with his politics are slaughtered as partof his policies. The Nazis kill over 11 millioncivilians (people not in the armed forces) duringWorld War II. What is the rest of the world doingwhile these atrocities are committed?

Before the war broke out in 1939, few nationstried to help the victims of Nazi persecution. TheUnited States denied thousands of Jewish

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refugees permission to emigrate to America.Some people protested against this decision, butnothing was done. Racism and prejudice were bigproblems in America. African Americans faceddiscrimination all over the country. They weredenied equal educational, housing, andemployment opportunities because of the color oftheir skin. It wasn’t anything like what was goingon in Nazi Germany, but it was still pretty bad.

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor onDecember 7, 1941, the United States entered thewar, joining Britain, the Soviet Union, and manyother Allied nations in the fight against the AxisPowers. Japanese Americans were treatedshamefully. Thousands were sent to isolatedcamps, called “internment camps,” because theU.S. government wrongly doubted their loyalty.

Eventually, Japanese American men wereallowed to join the armed forces, and manyserved heroically in Europe. People across theUnited States came together to fight the Nazis,even though things weren’t perfect at home,because they believed that defeating the Axis was the most important thing at the time.

1. What was going on in Germany before Hitlercame to power?

2. Why did the German people find Hitler soappealing?

3. What is antisemitism? How did Hitler useantisemitism to unite his followers?

4. Did Hitler come to power legally? Do you thinksomeone like Hitler could be elected in theUnited States? Why or why not?

5. What was Hitler’s “Final Solution?”

6. Who else did the Nazis target in their effort to“purify” the German race? Why do you thinkracism was so important to the strength of theNazi party?

7. How did other nations respond to Hitler’spersecution of the Jews? Why do you thinkthey responded that way?

8. The brave men and women who fought for theUnited States put their lives on the line forfreedom and justice. But life in the United

States wasn’t fair for some minorities. Whathappened to many Japanese Americans duringWorld War II? How were African Americanstreated? Why do you think that minoritieswere willing to put aside their own problems tohelp fight the war?

1. Word Origin: “The Holocaust”: is the namegiven to the Nazi attempt to exterminate theJews. But what does “holocaust” mean? Find alarge dictionary that provides word origins andlook up “holocaust.” What does it say? Why doyou think that Hitler’s “Final Solution” iscalled “The Holocaust?”

2. Virtual Visit: The Holocaust Museum inWashington, D.C., online: A class trip toWashington, D.C. might be a tradition in yourschool, but most schools in the United Statescan’t send a whole grade there. Take an onlinetour of the Holocaust Museum atwww.ushmm.org. You will find manydocuments and more information about theHolocaust at that site.

3. Journal Writing: Kristallnacht—the Night ofBroken Glass: On November 9th, 1938, in anorganized attack, Nazi storm troopers attackedJews and vandalized Jewish-owned businessesand homes all over Germany and Austria.Jews were beaten, arrested and sent to prisoncamps. Approximately 177 synagogues weredestroyed. Research Kristallnacht, usingprinted and Internet sources. Then, imagineyou are a 12-year-old Jewish boy or girl wholived in Germany during Kristallnacht. Write ajournal or a poem about your experiences.

4. Ethics and History: Taking A Stand: It iseasy to condemn Germany for the atrocitiesthe Nazis committed during World War II. Butis racial hatred and intolerance just a problemin history? How do we fight intolerancetoday? Students should spend 15 minutes attheir desks, or at home, and write a list ofpractical ways to help end racialdiscrimination and intolerance. When theirlists are completed, one student should standat the chalk board and write down thesuggestions of his or her classmates. The class

projectsProjects

questionsDiscussion Questions

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should vote on the ten best ideas. Theseshould be written carefully in large letters, ona poster board, and displayed in the classroom.(For additional activities around this theme,see entry for “Facing History and Ourselves”in the Resources section.)

5. Prejudice in America: Students may choose toresearch Japanese American internmentcamps, or the role of Japanese Americansoldiers during World War II. There are manysites on the Web that deal with this topic – seeResources section in this manual. They canwrite up their findings in a 1 1/2 page report,or display their findings on a poster board.Students who choose this project should referto the Primary Sources section of this manual andread the Interview with Joe Ichiuji (pronouncedEe-chee-yoo-jee).

IV. D-DAY PROJECT: Map Exercise and Newspaper Activity

To get the most out of this section, students needan understanding of European geography. Werecommend that you begin with the map exercisegiven below, before reading the text. This text,which is based on a script for a documentary onD-Day, should be read aloud by students in class.Do you have a large map of Europe in yourclassroom? If so, as the text is being read, otherstudents can indicate the places mentionedduring the reading.

June 6th, 1944. D-Day – the turning point ofWorld War II. It was the beginning of the end ofthe Nazi domination of Europe, and Hitler’s reignof terror.

Background:In 1939, German tanks had invaded Poland.

Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands,and France were soon to follow. Nazi Germanyhad forced its will on almost all of Europe. Afterthe Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, in 1941, theUnited States joined Britain and the other Alliesin the fight against fascism. Beginning in NorthAfrica and moving up the boot of Italy, the Alliesmet the Germans in combat.

U.S. and British bombers attacked strategicenemy targets on the European continent. TheAllied forces, under the command of AmericanGeneral Dwight D. Eisenhower, were now readyto launch a daring offensive across the EnglishChannel, beginning the liberation of WesternEurope from Hitler’s domination.

D-Day had been scheduled for June 5th. Theweather was too bad for the ships and aircraft.On June 4, Eisenhower was forced to postponethe invasion. Timing was crucial. At dawn onJune 5th, Eisenhower made the fateful decisionto proceed with the invasion the following day,against the odds.

Paratroopers (soldiers with parachutes) and glider planes (silent planes propelled by aircurrents) flew over enemy lines to take control ofimportant bridges and protect the other mencoming in with the invasion. Many paratrooperswere easy prey for German snipers, who shotthem out of the sky. Other soldiers landed faraway from their units, and died alone, fightingthe enemy. But the wide spread of theparatroopers away from the coast of France madethe Germans send their strongest tank forcesinland.

The Allied command gave D-Day a secretname: “Operation Overlord.” Secrecy was hugelyimportant. Even the Allied soldiers had no ideawhere they would be landing.

On the night of June 5th a huge armada setsail from ports along the south coast of England.It was the largest invasion the world had everseen: 175,000 fighting men, 50,000 land vehicles,5,333 ships and other seagoing craft, 11,000airplanes. Unprecedented before or since, it was an extraordinary collaboration of air, sea,and land forces, whose planners and leaderscoordinated the military resources and support of thirteen allied nations.

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The invasion force was to land on 60 miles ofbeaches and rugged terrain along the coast ofNormandy in France. The weather was stormyand the crossing was very rough. The soldiershad to jump out of their ships in waist deep waterand wade the 200 feet to shore, carrying theirheavy equipment.

Hundreds died before they could even fire ashot. Most of the radios were destroyed in thelanding, so the men had no way ofcommunicating with other military units.

With incredible courage the surviving men ralliedthrough the chaos and the slaughter. Many ofthem were new soldiers with no fighting experience.Many of them were teen-agers. All of them wereheroes. They couldn’t think about whether theywere brave or not. They just pushed on throughthe battle, their friends dying by their sides.

The Nazis fought hard against them. Therewere dead bodies everywhere. The battle movedeastward, away from the sea coast. Little by little,the Allies pushed the enemy back. Within a fewdays, it became clear. D-Day was a success.Thousands of men had sacrificed their lives onthe beaches of Normandy to save the world fromthe horrors of Nazi Germany. But their sacrificewould not be in vain. The liberation of Europe had begun.

1. Map Exercise: To understand D-Day, studentsneed a clear sense of geography. The textabove mentions many European countries andplaces. Before reading the text in class, divideyour class into small groups of two to four.Each group should be able to locate on a mapthe following places: Poland, Germany,Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, France,Great Britain, Italy, Rome, Berlin, Paris,London, the English Channel, the Rhine River,and Normandy. They should test each other tomake sure that every member of the groupknows where these places are. *You may evaluate your class’s geographicalcomprehension by having them fill out a blankmap with the names of the places they havestudied. We have provided a map of Europethat may be photo-copied for this purpose.Most textbooks include maps of World War IIthat can be used as a reference.

2. Dispatches from the Front – Creating a D-Day Newspaper: Writing a newspaper accountof an historic event helps young studentsorganize in a coherent fashion what they havelearned. Before your students begin thisproject, remind them of the reporter’s 5 “w’s”:who, what, where, when and why. Encouragethem to use “action verbs” that help make anystory more interesting. And don’t forget thepower of strong adjectives that can make adispatch more lively. We recommend twopossible approaches for students:

Group Assignment: Divide your class intogroups of three to five people. Each groupshould create its own front page of anewspaper covering D-Day or anotherimportant battle during World War II, such asthe Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, the liberationof Paris, Midway, or the Allied invasion of Italy.Different group members are responsible fordifferent articles, which must include adescription of the battle. The articles may alsoinclude weather reports, profiles ofcommanding generals, maps, or informationabout the kinds of vehicles, ships, and planesused. They may also include news from theUnited States at the time of the battle, such asnews about Franklin and/or Eleanor Roosevelt,industrial production, baseball teams, andrationing. The articles should be laid out tolook like a newspaper, with headlines, dates,and the authors’ names. Computer softwareprograms can be used, or students can cut andpaste their creation on posterboard, dependingupon your school facilities.

Individual Assignment: Participating studentsshould imagine that they are reporters,stationed with the military forces, onassignment to send dispatches home from thefront. They should pick one major battle tocover as journalists. They may include mapsand illustrations with their dispatch. Theyshould write 1-2 page articles, complete withdates and headlines.

When the students have completed theirnewspapers and articles, display them in theclassroom.

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V. HOME FRONT HISTORY

Reading Comprehension: Students should readthe following text. Below are listed discussionquestions to be answered in class. Suggestedprojects that encourage independent work areprovided at the end. Words in bold type aredefined in the Glossary, at the back of thismanual.

The United States’ entry into World War IIwas sort of like winding up a clock—it seemed toset everything in the country into motion.Factories began running at full speed, around theclock, trying to produce enough war supplies forAmerican troops going overseas. Lots of peoplewere moving around, too. President Roosevelthad started a peacetime draft in 1940, but afterthe bombing of Pearl Harbor, even more peoplewere recruited or volunteered for the armedforces. Soldiers, mostly men, but also somewomen, left their homes for training campsbefore they went overseas. These training campsoften were in places that the soldiers had neverbeen before, so these enlistees were getting tosee new parts of the country. People also movedaround in order to find wartime jobs. This meantthat many people who had been living on farmsin rural areas of the country, mainly in the South,were moving to cities. Americans everywherewanted to contribute to the war effort inwhatever ways—big or small—that they could.This dedication to the war effort helped to turnthe United States into a country in motion.

One reason for all this movement is thatproduction for the war was finally bringingeconomic good times to the country, after nearlyten long years of economic depression. Eventhough consumers had a hard time getting somegoods, like gasoline, oil, tires, sugar, coffee, andmeat because they were being rationed to meetwartime needs, most people prospered duringthe war. There were so many jobs available, andsuch a shortage of people to fill them, that mostpeople made a lot more money than they hadbefore the war. But people did not just look atthis as a time to make money. They were veryserious about helping the American troops winthe war. People everywhere helped buy warbonds to pay for the Allies’ war effort. People alsopitched in, in small ways everyday. Theyrecycled their aluminum cans (before this was acommon practice, as it is today) and rode

together in car pools or took the bus instead ofdriving, in order to conserve resources.

One major way that women contributed tothe war effort was by taking factory jobs, helpingto produce the supplies needed by the Americantroops. Women helped build ships and planes andhelped produce munitions. This was a really bigchange for America for two reasons. First, manyof the women who took these jobs were marriedwomen with families. Before the war, mostmarried women were expected to stay at home,working as housekeepers and mothers. Second,working in industrial jobs was something that fewwomen, even unmarried women who had workedoutside of the home before the war, had done.With so many men joining the army, however,factories often had to turn to women to fill theiropen jobs. (Also, women, who often were a lotsmaller than men, seemed to be just the right sizefor industrial jobs. They could fit in small spacesin airplanes and other places that men could not!)For women on the home front, then, the warbrought all kinds of new opportunities, many ofwhich had a lasting impact.

In addition to hiring women, factories alsoturned to African Americans to meet theirproduction needs. This, too, was a big changefrom things before the war. Previously, AfricanAmericans and whites had rarely worked in thesame jobs. They usually attended differentschools and lived in separate neighborhoods. In some places, these instances of racialsegregation existed out of custom, but in someplaces, like the South, this type of segregationwas required by law. Some of these restrictions,however, began to loosen during the war. Thiswas partly because the federal governmentencouraged factories with many job openings tohire African Americans where only whites hadworked before, and partly because AfricanAmericans demanded change. In order to find thesewartime jobs, many African Americans in theSouth (where the majority had lived prior toWorld War II) had to relocate to cities, often northerncities, where factories would hire them. Such alarge number of African Americans moved fromthe South to cities in the North during the war thatthis period became known as the “Great Migration.”

While searching for good production jobs,African Americans also demanded other changesduring the war. Many African Americans believedthat they had been shortchanged after World War I.Thousands of African American men had served

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as soldiers in World War I, but they had found thesame old kinds of discrimination when theyreturned home. Despite their sacrifices for thecountry, African Americans after World War I stilldid not have equal rights in schools, jobs orhousing. When World War II began, many AfricanAmericans said that they would not let thishappen to them again. They organized a “Double-V” campaign, demanding victory overseas againstthe Axis Powers and victory at home againstracial discrimination.

African Americans were not the only oneswho were being discriminated against at home.In a particularly shameful wartime event, over100,000 Americans of Japanese descent, called

Nisei (Nee-sigh)were rounded upand placed into“War RelocationCamps.” TheNisei were forcedto leave theirhomes and jobsand to live ininternmentcamps becausegovernmentofficials wereafraid that theymight turnagainst theUnited States and

try to help Japan win the war. All of this sounds horrible, and it was. But the

war was also a time when most Americansworked together, despite their differences, ineffort to defeat the Nazis. Factories werebooming, and the Allies began to make headwayagainst the Germans shortly after the UnitedStates entered the war. In addition, AfricanAmericans gradually—very gradually—began tofeel less racial discrimination in the armedforces. After some time, the armed forces allowedsome of the Nisei to fight in Europe (not thePacific) and hired some to help them understandthe Japanese language in the Pacific. AfricanAmericans also were allowed to serve in combat,but they were often placed in segregated troopsor in the lowest possible positions.

There is no doubt that there were problemson the home front during World War II. Butmostly, the war years were a time whenAmericans were willing to set aside their

differences in order to fight a common enemy—the Axis Powers. As a result of the war, theeconomy went from bust to booming. And insome ways, things did get better for women andAfrican Americans. Change was in the air—andthe country was on the move.

1. What happened to the country’s economywhen the United States entered World War II?Why did this open up more jobs for womenand African Americans?

2. What was rationing? What kinds of items wererationed? Why?

3. What other actions, besides rationing, didpeople take in order to help the war effort?

4. What was the “Double-V” campaign? What didAfrican Americans hope to gain? Do you thinkthat this was a good slogan? Why or why not?

5. What were internment camps? Why did thegovernment force Japanese Americans to movethere?

6. List some of the ways in which discriminationin the armed forces loosened during World WarII. Why do you think that this happened? (Ifpossible, encourage your class to think aboutthe reasons for which we were fighting Hitlerand how this might have influenced things athome).

1. War Relocation Camps: There are manyInternet resources and children’s books on therelocation of Japanese during World War II.Have students explore some of these resourcesand then imagine that they are JapaneseAmericans living in an internment camp. Havethem write letters to President Rooseveltexpressing their feelings at being forced toabandon their homes and explaining why theyshould be allowed to contribute to the wareffort like other Americans.

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2. On the Home Front: Federal agenciesproduced a wide assortment of posters duringthe war to encourage Americans to contributeto the war effort. If you have Internet access,students can see some of these online atwww.nara.gov/exhall/powers/powers.html.Have students create their own posters with aWorld War II theme and present them to theclass. Ask students to evaluate which postersare most persuasive and why.

3. Popular Music in the 1940s: “Big Band” and“Swing” music were very popular during WorldWar II. With many goods being rationed,people spent their spare time and moneylistening to the radio, attending dances andgoing to the movies. Examples of World War IIera music are abundant, at music stores, onthe Internet, and at public libraries. Compile aselection of this music and have studentsresearch the title, author, year recorded, andperformer. Much of this music was written byand/or performed by African Americans. Askstudents to think about the impact that thismay have had on relations between AfricanAmericans and others on the home front.

4. Wartime Inventions: The need for militarytechnology spawned many technologicaladvances on the home front, especially withinthe home itself. Have students research someof the household appliances that came out ofwartime advances and create a posteradvertising the new appliance. Ask students tothink about how women’s new roles in wartimeproduction would have made these householdadvances even more important. Based on thisknowledge, students’ posters should emphasizethe ways in which the appliances will makethings easier or more efficient for women athome.

5. Double-V Campaign: Assign your studentssome additional reading on African Americans’attempts to overcome racial discrimination athome and in the armed forces. Pay specialattention to the ways in which the Allies’ waragainst fascism reinforced African Americans’demands. Afterwards, they may either write aletter to President Roosevelt (as many AfricanAmericans did), outlining their argumentsagainst segregation and racial discriminationor they can create a “Double-V” poster,illustrating the injustices of racialdiscrimination within a democratic society.

VI. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

During World War II, scientists and engineersmade many advances in medicine,communications, transportation, and energy thatwould have an enormous impact on the future.Examining the work of these scientists andengineers, some of whom were refugees fromNazi Germany, provides students with a way ofintegrating their history studies with work inmath, science, and technology courses. Below area few suggested activities. They may be used ashomework assignments. Some of them requirestudent research. Please refer to the Resourcessection at the back of this manual, and ask yourlibrarian or media specialist for his or herparticipation.

1. Math and History: Codes: Code-Making and deciphering were afundamental part of secret communicationsduring World War II. The use of secret codeshas a long tradition in military historythroughout the world. George Washington’sspies used a mathematical code during theAmerican Revolution. In World War II, secretcodes were translated into Morse Code andthen transmitted. Once received, the MorseCode would be translated back into a secretcode. Only then would the secret code bedeciphered. Plain Morse Code could beintercepted easily by the enemy.

A. Morse Code Activity: Research thehistory of the Morse Code. Create anexample of a sentence in English and inMorse Code. How was it transmittedduring the war? Present your findings on alarge poster for your class.

B. Navaho Code Talkers Activity: Onefamous type of secret code was developedby Navaho Indians during World War II.Navaho is an extremely complex language,and the code, combining the bravery anddedication of the Navaho communicationsexperts, proved to be a valuable weapon.Research the history and work of theNavaho Code Talkers. Present yourfindings on a large poster for your class.

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C. Creating a Code: Replacing a letter of thealphabet with a number creates a simplecode, if the letter A corresponds with thenumber 1, the letter B corresponds withthe letter 2, on so on. But what about moredifficult codes? See if you can create acode that challenges you classmates, andyour teacher, but can be translated intosimple English once a person knows thesecret – or cracks the code!

2. Science and History: Choose one of thetopics below, or ask your science teacher forsuggestions. When you have decided on yourtopic, begin researching it. Keep track of thesources that you have consulted. You shoulduse at least three sources. They may be videos,books, online resources, or interviews. Someof the topics can become quite complicated.One of your responsibilities for this project isto take the difficult information that you’veuncovered and “translate” it into informationyour classmates can understand easily. Onceyou’ve gathered your information, create aposter displaying your findings. Suggestedtopics: radar, jets, submarines, antibiotics, x-rays, nuclear energy, “DUKWs”(pronounced“ducks,” amphibious vehicles), wirelessphones.

SECTION TWO: GRADES 7 - 9TO THE TEACHER:

Few topics can spark the interest of middleschool students like World War II. Many youngpeople come to the subject matter with somebackground knowledge—as well as preconceivednotions and misinformation. For this age group,we recommend approaching World War IIthematically. This gives them the chance toexplore different aspects of the war in depth. It is,however, important that your students don’t losetouch with the chronology of this era, sinceunderstanding the concept that history is aprocess of change over time is intrinsic tounderstanding history.

Several of the themes include primarysources, another key component to exploring thepast. Primary sources may be particularlychallenging for students who are not reading at

grade level. If you have classes where the readinglevels are low or uneven, we recommend that youdivide the class into mixed-ability, small groupsand use peer teaching to help with readingcomprehension.

World War II offers a tremendous opportunityfor team-teaching in the middle school grades.You will find that the activities in this manualencourage interdisciplinary applications that canget the art, music, language arts, math, andscience departments involved. If you work withother teachers to create a special unit on WorldWar II, your students will end up with someterrific projects and portfolios of which they willbe proud. Refer to Chapter IV to see how you cancreate a special community night for your schoolwith a World War II theme, where your studentscan display their projects—and their enthusiasm—for their parents and forneighboring participants in the World War II effort.

Please remember that the following activitiesare designed to be used along with a textbookand other resources in your classroom. These are enrichment materials that can add excitement and depth to your curriculumbut should not completely supplant your pre-existing lessons.

The History Channel has prepared thesematerials in partnership with the National WorldWar II Memorial Campaign. We encourage you,your students, and your school to participate inthe national effort to build the National WorldWar II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Pleasesee our section on Community Events (ChapterIV) for suggestions on how you can get involved.

Project Objectives: By studying the causes andcourse of World War II and the character of thewar at home and abroad, students will improvetheir chronological thinking skills, analyze cause-and-effect relationships, use historical analysis,and interpret primary sources and visual data.

National Standards: The following activitiessupport the National Standards for Historydeveloped by the National Center for History inthe Schools, Era 3, Standard 3, and the CurriculumStandards for Social Studies developed by theNational Council for the Social Studies, StrandsII, V, VI, and VIII.

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Before You Begin: We recommend that youcreate a large, blank timeline covering the years1929 to 1945. While you are studying World WarII, students can fill in the timeline, labeling thedates with events they have learned about. Yourclass can decide as a group if a certain eventshould be indicated on this timeline, or you mayleave it up to your students individually.Ultimately, the timeline may include, but not belimited to the following events:

• The Great Depression begins (1929).• Stalin consolidates power in USSR; Japan

conquers Manchuria; Mussolini sets up fascistgovernment in Italy (1931).

• Hitler comes to power as Chancellor ofGermany; Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes U.S.President; 1st concentration camp inGermany; Einstein emigrates to U.S. (1933).

• Italy invades Ethiopia (1935).

• German troops occupy Rhineland, violatingthe World War I Treaty of Versailles; U.S.athlete Jesse Owens wins gold medals at theBerlin Olympic Games; Mussolini and Hitlerdeclare the Rome-Berlin Axis (1936).

• FDR signs bill to keep the U.S. out of war;Japan invades China (1937).

• Germany annexes Austria; Munich Pact;German invasion of Czechoslovakia;Kristallnacht (1938).

• Isolationist movement grows in U.S.; First jet istested; Germany invades Poland; Britain andFrance declare war (1939).

• First peacetime draft in U.S. history; Francefalls to the Nazis; Battle of Britain; Japaninvades Indochina (1940).

• Lend-lease program enacted; Germany invadesRussia; Hitler orders Final Solution; Japanattacks Pearl Harbor; U.S. enters war (1941).

• Manhattan Project is launched; Penicillinbecomes available; Battle of Midway; U.S.establishes internment camps for Japanese-Americans; Millions of U.S. women join workforce for war effort (1942).

• Teheran Conference; B-17 Flying Fortress;Turning point in Pacific Theater (1943).

• Allies enter Rome; D-Day; Liberation of Paris;U.S. Troops return to the Philippines; Battle ofthe Bulge (1944).

• Yalta Conference; FDR dies; Mussolini is killed;Hitler commits suicide; Germany surrenders;

Founding of the U.N.; Potsdam Conference;Dropping of the Atomic Bombs; JapanSurrenders; Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunalbegins (1945).

Teaching World War II with ThemesWe have selected six themes from World

War II. You may use some of them, all of them,or add more according to your preference.Share these themes with teachers in otherdepartments, so that they can join in the unit.

At least one class period should be devoted toeach theme. Students should read historytextbook selections of your choosing ashomework, alongside the related projectssuggested here. Individually or as small groups,they may be responsible for three projects ondifferent themes during the whole unit. Wesuggest allowing one project to incorporatesignificant research and effort. The other twoprojects could be smaller in nature, while stilldemonstrating clear understanding of thesubject matter. Each theme is supported by avariety of different project suggestions,including visual presentations (poster board,three panel project display, video-tapedinterview, or a scrap book), writing activity(such as a journal, script for radio newsbroadcast, letters home, an essay, or evenexemplary note-taking), and performance (skits,music, oral presentation). The use of primarysources in support of at least one of theseprojects should be highly encouraged.

You may pre-establish your expectations forperformance before you begin this unit. Anotherapproach is to ask your students to set their ownvalues on each of their projects, out of a total of100%. You might find, for example, that onestudent worked particularly hard on a map of theEuropean theater with terrific results for a visualpresentation, while another wrote a series ofcarefully researched radio reports “From theHome Front” for a writing activity. Differentthemes, different projects – but each worth 50%credit. Of course, how you choose to evaluateyour students’ work is up to you. The aboveguidelines are simply suggestions that haveworked successfully in other classrooms.

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THEMES:I. The Rise of Fascism - Germany, Italy,

and Japan II. Genocide and the Holocaust

III. Pearl Harbor and America’s ResponseIV. D-Day and the War in the PacificV. The Home Front

VI. Plans for Peace and the Atomic Bomb

Vocabulary:Part of any social studies unit involves learningnew vocabulary. You will find a glossary at theback of this manual that defines key wordsprinted in bold.

Primary Sources:For every theme, one short primary source willbe provided to encourage the use of first personaccounts in the study of history. Online sourceswill also be listed so that students can track downother primary sources. Interpreting cartoons,evaluating posters, and understanding the role ofpropaganda allow for student exploration of thehistorical experience, and examples of these areincluded for some themes.

I: THE RISE OF FASCISM - GERMANY, ITALY, AND JAPAN

Looking back on the 20th century, manyhistorians trace the causes of World War II,including the rise of fascism, to factors created byWorld War I and by treaties signed at the end ofthe “Great War” (as World War I originally wascalled). After World War I, many countries facedsevere money problems. Germany wasparticularly hard hit. According to the Treaty ofVersailles, which ended World War I, Germanywas required to pay large sums of money, calledreparations, to the countries that had won theconflict.

By 1930, mass unemployment and economicdepression led to bitter poverty in Germany,Britain, Japan, Italy, and the United States, aswell as other countries around the world. InGermany and Italy, the economic depressionweakened the existing governments. A politicalmovement that believed in an extremely strong,national government, called fascism, becamepopular in these countries. Fascism included a

sense of nationalism (a powerful sense ofpatriotism) that led to the belief that foreignersand minorities were inferior.

Beginning in the 1930s, many Germanssupported the Nazi Party, a violentlynationalistic organization. The Nazi Partydeclared that Germany had been unfairly treatedafter World War I, and that the Treaty ofVersailles, signed in 1919, caused the economicdepression. In 1933, Adolf Hitler, the leader ofthe Nazis, became chancellor of Germany.Known as der Fuhrer (the Leader), Hitler turnedGermany into a military dictatorship. Hepreached that the Germans were a superior race,and that many minorities, including Jews, Slavs,Gypsies, and communists, should be oppressed,exiled, or worse. A persuasive speaker, heconvinced his followers that Jews and otherminorities were inferior, and the root ofGermany’s problems. Hitler built up the militaryforces in Germany, in violation of the Treaty ofVersailles. Most, but not all, Germans believedthat Hitler brought strength and courage back totheir country, as well as prosperity. They wereproud to be Germans, and proud to be Nazis.

The humiliation and poverty of the postWorld War I era was ending, but at a high price.The efficient ruthlessness and brutality of Hitlerand his devoted followers, combined with derFuhrer’s spell-binding effect as a speaker to thecrowds, created a horrifyingly powerfulgovernment, dedicated to the superiority of theAryan race (white, northern Europeans) and theestablishment of a new German empire. In 1936,Hitler sent troops to the Rhineland, an oldsection of Germany along the Rhine River, wherethey were not allowed, according to the Treaty ofVersailles. Many Germans and Austrians wereproud of this violation of the hated treaty, andother countries did nothing to stop it.

In Italy, the economic problems after WorldWar I led to riots and strikes that severelydisrupted the country. Many people began tosupport the Fascist Party, believing it would bringstability and prosperity back to the country.Benito Mussolini, leader of the Fascist Party inItaly, promised to restore Italy to its days of gloryunder the Roman Empire. Bowing to pressurefrom the growing Fascist Party, the king of Italyappointed Mussolini premier in 1922. Known asel Duce (“El Doo-chay,” the Leader), Mussolinisoon established a dictatorship. To establish the

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greatness of Italy and create an empire, Mussoliniinvaded Ethiopia in 1936. The Italians, fightingwith modern weapons against poorly equippedEthiopians, conquered this African nation thatsame year.

Like Germany and Italy, Japan was intent oncreating an empire. This small island nationresented the way western countries and heads ofstate determined that Japan should not expand.Military leaders gained increasing power over theJapanese government. Japan still had anemperor, named Hirohito (Hiro-he-tow), whomthe people revered as a god, but it was primarilythe military leaders who took charge of thecountry’s operation. Like the Germans, theJapanese shared a strong military tradition. Thearmy, navy, and air force grew in size andstrength, and serving in the armed forces becamean even more desirable and honorable goal foryoung men than it had been previously. Japanwas the first of the fascist countries tosuccessfully expand its empire, by invadingManchuria (in northern China) in 1931. Japanoccupied most of eastern China by 1938,eventually seeking to bring all of Asia and thePacific Ocean under its control.

What dates will you fill in on your timelinewith this theme?

1. What does fascism mean? Why were Germanfascists called Nazis?

2. Much of the world was undergoing a severeeconomic depression, beginning in 1929. How might poverty and unemployment havecontributed to the rise of fascism in the 1930s?

3. Many people don’t realize that Hitler came topower legally. He did not overthrow an existinggovernment or seize power through themilitary. Hitler was elected by the Germanpeople. Do you think that people in the UnitedStates would ever elect someone like that?Why or why not?

4. How did Mussolini come to power? How wasthis different from Hitler? What were thesimilarities ?

5. Describe the government of Japan. Is itsurprising that Japan and Germany becamepartners in World War II? As a group activity,make two lists on the chalk board, showing thedifferences and similarities of fascist Japan andGermany.

(Refer to Resources section for print, video, andelectronic sources)

1. The Rise of Hitler: What were the conditionsin Germany in the 1930s that allowed for AdolfHitler’s rise to power? Create a chart thatindicates the many factors that contributed tohis success. Or, pretend you are a journalist inBerlin, and write a series of dispatches aboutwhat you are witnessing between 1933 and 1936.

2. Benito Mussolini – A Character Study:Using a variety of sources, prepare an outlineon the life of Mussolini, including hischildhood, external influences, his rise topower, and his role in World War II. Beprepared to give an oral presentation to your class about your findings.

3. Japan before Pearl Harbor: Japan was asmall, pre-industrial island without acentralized government prior to 1868. How didit become one of the strongest nations in theworld in such a short time? Create a timelineillustrating Japan’s development. Or,investigate Japan’s invasion of Manchuria. How did Japan justify this aggressive act?Write an outline, or give a classroompresentation on your findings. Make sure you include your resources.

4. Hitler’s Use of Propaganda: One historianhas observed that, “the Nazis used propagandaas a powerful weapon.” How can art, posters,and movies be weapons? Research the use ofpropaganda by the Nazis, and explain thisobservation. Give specific examples. Displayyour findings on a poster or give an oralpresentation.

5. Primary Source Questions: Students shouldread the following excerpt and respond to thequestions below.

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Recollections of Margrit Fisher (born 1918,Bremen, Germany).

“The mood of the country was explosive, andHitler’s slogans, which came more and more intothe public sphere after 1931, resonated wellamong the people. At that time he never spoke ofwar. He promised us that unemployment wouldend, and that Germany would once again take itsplace in the world as a state worthy of respect.And I think that was probably the key thing, forthe Treaty of Versailles had cut to the root ofGermany’s self-respect, and a people cannotsurvive for long without self-respect. So this manwas not only admired but welcomed, longed for.When the change of power happened, and thestreets were suddenly peaceful and clean, andthere was no more fighting – then all of us, whohadn’t really been for Hitler necessarily, wereinitially greatly relieved.”

[From The Century, by Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster,(Doubleday, 1998), p. 171.]

1. How old was Margrit Fisher in 1931? Does herage at that time provide you with anyinformation about her impressions?

2. What does the author mean when she says thatHitler’s slogans “resonated well among thepeople?”

3. Why does the author say that Hitler was“longed for?”

4. The author states that “people cannot survivelong without self-respect.” Do you agree ordisagree? Why or why not?

II: GENOCIDE AND THE HOLOCAUST

From the moment Hitler came to power, hetook steps to gain absolute power over theGerman government and people. In order toachieve total control, Hitler demanded that theGerman people love their nation above all else,even if that meant forgetting the differencebetween truth and lies, right and wrong. Hitlerused the ideas of nationalism to establish a Nazidictatorship. In this dictatorship the Nazinational government became so strong, cruel andruthless that it became almost impossible forpeople to oppose its laws and policies. AnyGerman who refused to obey the Nazigovernment was considered a danger to the

nation, an “enemy of the state.” The Nazigovernment spread its message of extremenationalism through speeches, posters, radioprograms, movies, textbooks and newspapers.This propaganda convinced many Germans thatHitler could end the humiliation and poverty ofthe post World War I era. In return, manyGermans began to believe that it was their dutyto serve their nation and their Fuhrer.

To make sure that no one could challenge hispower, Hitler first got rid of his politicalopponents. Those who were not convinced byNazi propaganda to serve Hitler were silenced bymore ruthless forces. Hitler created his ownprivate army and transformed the police forceinto an army of terror. The Nazi army and policesilenced communists, socialists and members ofother political parties who did not agree with theNazi government. Pro-Hitler forces brutallymurdered the leaders of these parties and senthundreds of thousands of political opponents toconcentration camps where many of them diedfrom starvation, exhaustion, disease, and brutaltreatment. Hitler’s Third Reich was a militarydictatorship in which people had very littlechoice but to follow his orders. There was noroom in the Third Reich for people who did notagree with Hitler’s ideas.

Once they silenced their political opponents,the Nazis aimed their terrorism at others whomthey labeled as “enemies of the state” becausethey supposedly did not fit into Hitler’s vision of aGerman Empire destined to rule Europe. Hitlerneeded German men, women, boys and girls tobelieve that they were more intelligent andcapable than all other people. If they weresuperior, then the German Empire would be asuperior nation, prepared one day to take overthe world. But when Hitler said German, hemeant something very specific. According toHitler, ideal Germans had white skin, blond hair,and blue eyes or they had evidence of theirGerman, Christian ancestry. Anyone who did notfit this profile was thought to be inferior and athreat to the nation.

Hitler used science to help convince peoplethat certain civilians were “enemies of the state”and should be removed from the Third Reich. Heclaimed that people who were not ideal Germanspolluted the nation and stopped it from becomingthe world power that it had the potential to be.In order to define an ideal German, Hitler turnedto those scientists who divided the world’s people

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into races and contended that scientificprinciples could prove that certain races werebetter than others. These scientists helped theNazi government put these racist ideas inpractice. They said that race determined blood,character, and brain size. According to Hitler andNazi laws, anyone who did not belong to the“Aryan race,” was an “enemy of the state.”Since the theory was supposed to be scientific,many Germans believed in its conclusions. AfterHitler came to power, Nazi teachers began to teachracial science in their classrooms. They measuredthe students’ skull size and nose length, andrecorded the color of their eyes and hair in orderto determine whether the students belonged to the“Aryan race.” As you can imagine, the studentswho did not fit into this category were oftenhumiliated by the results.

Using the ideas of scientific racism, the Nazigovernment created a violent program toeradicate all of the people who did not fit into the“Aryan race.” There were many people living inGermany and the rest of Europe who did not fulfillthe required traits of an “Aryan.” The Nazispersecuted these minority groups. There was noplace in Hitler’s Germany for the physically andmentally handicapped and other individuals whodid not measure up to the ideal German.Hundreds of thousands of disabled individuals,Gypsies, Slavs, and homosexuals were sent toconcentration camps where most of them died.The Nazis considered all of these groups to beinferior and undesirable, a threat to the nation’sprogress.

While the Nazi government persecuted almostall minorities, Jews were the main target of Nazihatred. On the night of November 9, 1938,violence aimed specifically at the Jews broke outin the streets of the Third Reich. Police and manyGerman civilians stood by while Nazi mobsdestroyed thousands of synagogues and Jewishbusinesses and homes. This night came to becalled Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,”for the shattered glass from the store windows thatlittered the streets. This night marked a pivotalmoment in the escalation of Nazi violencecommitted against the Jews. The morning afterKristallnacht, 30,000 German Jewish men werearrested for the “crime” of being Jewish and weresent to concentration camps. On the eve of WorldWar II, this event foreshadowed the terribleviolence that Jews all across Europe would endureuntil the end of the war.

The crimes committed against the Jews in

Nazi Germany have been remembered as theHolocaust. The Nazis murdered more than sixmillion Jews from all over Europe. It isastonishing to think that by 1945, two out ofevery three Jews in Europe had been killed. TheNazis almost achieved the “Final Solution,”their plans for the genocide of the Jewish peoplein Europe. The Nazis built extermination campswhich were factories for killing. They hunteddown the Jews of Europe, packed them intocattle cars, and sent them to be slaughtered.Millions of Jews suffocated to death in the gaschambers. To carry out the “Final Solution,” theNazis gassed, starved, shot and committed otherrandom acts of violence against Jewish men,women and children. The Holocaust isremembered today as one of the most violent andhorrific events in history. Jews and theirsupporters made many courageous efforts toresist the Nazis, but the conditions were sooppressive that resistance was often impossible.Most Jews could not escape the perils of theracist Nazi dictatorship.


1. What is nationalism? How did Hitler abuse theideas of nationalism to create his dictatorship?

2. In what ways did Hitler use nationalism tosilence of political opponents in the ThirdReich? In what ways did Hitler usenationalism to increase prejudice againstdisabled people? Compare and contrast thesedevelopments.

3. How does science influence the way peoplethink? Why did Hitler use science to justify hishatred of the disabled, Gypsies, Jews and otherminorities? Try to give an example to supportyour answer.

4. As you know, much of the world wasexperiencing a severe economic depressionwhen the Holocaust began. How might povertyand unemployment contribute to the rise ofracism and antisemitism?

5. What was the Holocaust? How was it genocide?


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6. The Holocaust is considered to be the mosthorrific genocide in modern history.However, genocide has occurred throughouthistory and continues to occur in the worldtoday. Do you think that genocide couldhappen in the United States? Why or whynot?

7. During the Holocaust many countries andindividuals supported the Nazis. Thesecollaborators actively helped the Germangovernment carry out the “Final Solution.”There were also countries and people whoremained bystanders during these years. What does bystander mean? What effect didbystanders have on the Holocaust?(Refer to Resources section for print, video,and electronic sources)

1. Holocaust Monument Model: Monumentshave been built many places in the world tocommemorate the Holocaust–its victimsand survivors. Many of these monumentswere designed by artists and architects whochose the location, materials, shape, anddetails to best express their message. Withtwo other students, pick a Holocaustmonument to research. It would be ideal tochoose a monument that you can visit. Ifyou cannot visit one, make sure to findphotographs of it. Build a model of thismonument and write a guide which explainshow each feature—location, materials,shape, details—commemorates theHolocaust. Does the artist/architect have aspecific message s/he wants to express? Howdoes the monument impact the visitor?These questions should be addressed in yourguide as the introduction and conclusion,respectively.

2. “The Night of Broken Glass”–A JournalEntry: It is November 10, 1938, themorning after Kristallnacht. Pretend to be aJewish butcher, a police officer, anunemployed looter, a young Gypsy girl whopeeked out through a window, or any otherindividual who might have been in Berlin in1938. Write a journal entry about what you

experienced during Kristallnacht. You wantto capture every detail in writing becauseyou know that this was a very importantnight, for you and for Germany. What didyou see, do, hear, smell, think and feel? Didyou expect that something like this wouldhappen? Why or why not? How will thisevent effect your life?

3. 1936 Berlin Olympics–Interview withJesse Owens: In 1936, Germany hosted thesummer Olympics in Berlin. Hitler hadordered a huge propaganda campaignclaiming that Aryan superiority would winthe games for the Nordic countries. Afterdebating whether to support Olympicgames hosted by the Nazi regime, the UnitedStates agreed to participate, sending a teamof athletes which included eighteen AfricanAmericans. Much to the embarrassment ofthe Nazis, African American athletes won14 medals, nearly one-fourth of the 56medals awarded to the United States teamin all events. Jesse Owens, the son ofAlabama sharecroppers, became the hero ofthe Olympics by winning four gold medalsand breaking several world records. ManyAmerican journalists hailed the victories ofthese African American athletes as a blowto Nazi racism and the Nazi myth of Aryansuperiority. Many journalists alsorecognized the irony of their victory inracist Germany when these AfricanAmerican athletes returned home to facecontinuing discrimination. With a partner,write an interview with Jesse Owensimmediately after his Olympic victories. Usethe Internet and the library to help youthink of questions to ask Owens about hisexperiences in the 1936 Berlin Olympicsand in the United States. You can start yourresearch on the Internet at these Web sites:www.ushmm.org/olympics, www.jesse-owens.org,www.thenation.com/extra/olympics/olympics.htm, and make sure to check outthe article “Issues and Men” by OswaldGarrison Villard atwww.thenation.com/extra/olympics/081536b.htm.

4. Freedom of Expression Debate: The Nazigovernment controlled all forms ofexpression in the Third Reich. Newspapers

projectsProjects

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could not be printed without the government’spermission and people who spoke out againstthe government were brutally silenced. Whywas this censorship so important to Hitler’srise to power? What does this tell you aboutthe role of the press and the importance offreedom of speech? What opinions do youhave about freedom of speech? The Nazisobviously took censorship to an extreme, butdo you think that there should be somelimitations placed on freedom of speech?Why or why not? Find five other students tohelp you prepare for your debate. Three of youwill argue that freedom of speech should neverbe limited; the other three students will arguethat freedom of speech should be limited. Inorder to make the strongest arguments, eachteam should do research on the Internet andat the library. Try to find at least two specificexamples to support your side of the argumentand to refute your opponents’ argument.

5. Identity: The Holocaust raises manyimportant questions about identity. Thesequestions are relevant to any individual livingin a society with different kinds of people. TheNazis created a very narrow definition of whatit meant to be German. Many people did not fitinto this definition. Many people definedthemselves differently than the Nazi laws andpropaganda defined them. What does identitymean to you? How do you define yourself?How do others define you? Write a personalessay about a moment when someone definedyou in a different way than you see yourself.What did you learn from this experience?

6. Poster Project: Hitler and his followers killedapproximately 5 million civilians along with6 million civilian Jews. Research one of thegroups the Nazis targeted and present yourfindings on a poster.

7. Primary Source Questions: Students shouldread the following excerpt and respond to thequestions below.

Urgent Telegram from Munich to All PoliticalPolice Headquarters and Stations onNovember 10, 1938, 1:20 am“The local political authorities are to be informedthat the German police have received from theReichsfeuhrer SS and the Chief of the Germanpolice the following orders to which the actions

of the political authorities should becorrespondingly adjusted:a) Only such actions may be carried out which

do not threaten German lives or property (e.g.,burning of synagogues only when there is nothreat of fire to the surroundings.)

b) Stores and residences of Jews may only bedestroyed but not looted. The police areinstructed to supervise compliance with thisorder and to arrest looters.

c) Special care is to be taken on commercialstreets that non-Jewish businesses arecompletely secured against damage.

d) Foreign citizens, even if they are Jewish, maynot be molested...

As soon as the course of events during this nightallows the assigned police officers to be used forthis purpose, as many Jews–particularly affluentJews–are to be arrested in all districts as can beaccommodated in existing detention facilities.For the time being, only healthy male Jews,whose age is not too advanced, are to be arrested.Immediately after the arrests have been carriedout, the appropriate concentration camps shouldbe contacted to place the Jews into camps asquickly as possible. Special care should be takenthat Jews arrested on the basis of this instructionare not mistreated.”

[From National Archives, Washington D.C., cited onwww.ushmm.org, the United States Holocaust MemorialMuseum Web site.]

1. Why did the author of the telegram warn localNazi political authorities that German policehad received orders “to which the actions ofthe political authorities should becorrespondingly adjusted.” Who does thissuggest was planning and participating in therioting?

2. Why were the police told that Jewish-ownedstores and residences “may only be destroyedbut not looted?” What would policeaccomplish by arresting looters while allowingthe destruction of these businesses andhomes?

3. Why would the Nazis want to prevent theharassment of “foreign citizens, even if they areJewish?”

4. Why would the police be ordered to arrest“particularly affluent Jews?” What kind ofimpact do you think these actions had onJewish families and communities?

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III: PEARL HARBOR AND AMERICA’S RESPONSE

Hitler and Mussolini were not perceived asdangerous threats by outside observers whenthey first came to power. Other European nationsfound the Italian premier more like a pompousgangster than a political leader. Hitler, with hislittle mustache and stiff-legged walk, seemedalmost like a comedy character. But by 1938,people stopped laughing. It was clear that the riseof fascism threatened world peace. One yearearlier, Japan had joined Germany and Italy inthe “Anti-Comintern Pact,” supposedly to fightcommunism, creating what became known asthe Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis–the Axis Powers.

In March, 1938, Hitler forced Austria to unitewith Germany, claiming that all members of theGerman race belonged to one country. Withintwelve months, he had seized Czechoslovakia.Britain and France, in the vain hope that thisinvasion would satisfy the Nazis’ appetite forempire, did nothing. But on September 1, 1939,German tanks rolled into Poland.

Prompted by the invasion of Poland, Britainand France declared war on Germany. But theywere unprepared for the speed and ruthlessnessof the Nazis. Hitler, now dictator over a countryhe called “the Third Reich” (Rike – whichmeans empire), conquered Poland in less than amonth. He then turned his attention west,moving his well-equipped troops, tanks, andaircraft into Denmark, Norway, Belgium and theNetherlands. On June 14, 1940, the red, white,and black swastika flag flew over Paris. Francehad fallen to the Nazis. Britain was the onlyWestern power still free from Hitler’s oppression.

It is important to remember that freedomfighters in all of the conquered nations continuedto resist their fascist enemy. Operating in secret,constantly fearing betrayal, these resistancefighters did whatever they could to underminethe Nazis’ power. However, the German Armywas ruthless, well-trained, and well-armed, and“underground resistance” alone could notvanquish this tremendous power.

Meanwhile, the citizens of the United Stateswere divided over their role in this new world-wide conflict. Many were isolationists, who didnot want to repeat their experiences of WorldWar I, sending American boys to be slaughtered,once again, on European battlefields. Events inEurope and in Asia seemed too far away to

warrant U.S. involvement. Others, known asinternationalists, believed that the security ofthe United States required intervention.

When Hitler began the Battle of Britain in thesummer of 1940, more Americans recognized thethreat that the Nazis posed to their country.During the continuous bombing of London,known as the “Blitz,” whole neighborhoods weredestroyed and thousands of civilians were killed.President Franklin Roosevelt communicatedsecretly with Winston Churchill, Prime Ministerof Great Britain, and, with Congress, sent theBritish “weapons of defense,” but he did notdeclare war against the Axis powers. Rooseveltknew that too many Americans opposed theUnited States' involvement in the overseasconflict to warrant such a declaration.

The Third Reich continued to expand, intoHungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and finally Greece.With Mussolini’s troops, the German army sweptinto North Africa, where the British fought themin the desert. Then Hitler turned his sights on theSoviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin. Hitler andStalin had signed a non-aggression pact in 1940,supposedly shielding Stalin from Hitler’s wrath.But a mere piece of paper was no deterrent to derFuhrer, who launched an attack on his formerRussian ally in June. By 1941, Great Britainstood alone as the last European democracyagainst the Third Reich.

Japan, one of the Axis powers, continued toexpand its empire in Asia. When it seized FrenchIndochina (later known as Vietnam), PresidentRoosevelt cut off trade with the Japanese,particularly halting the exportation of oil whichthe Japanese needed badly. But the “Empire ofthe Rising Sun” knew that oil could be found in

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Asia – in Indonesia, where their next conquestwould be. Roosevelt sent General DouglasMacArthur to the Philippines, an Americanprotectorate, to be in charge of all U.S. forces inthe Far East. The relationship between Japan andthe United States continued to deteriorate.

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941,Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in a surpriseattack. Pearl Harbor was where the U.S. Pacificfleet was headquartered. Hundreds of Japanesebombers devastated 18 American navy ships,including the USS Arizona and other battleships.The bombs ruined all the American militaryplanes, and killed over 2,000 soldiers, sailors, andcivilians. On the same day, the Japaneseattacked British and American military basesthroughout the Pacific, including Hong Kong andthe Philippines.

The following day, the United States declaredwar on Japan. Italy and Germany retaliated bydeclaring war on the United States. The wars inEurope, North Africa, Asia and the Pacific hadbecome one international conflict, with the Axispowers ranged against the Allies. Twenty-sixcountries joined together to fight the onslaught offascist expansion throughout the world, but therewere three Allied Powers: Great Britain, led byPrime Minister Winston Churchill, the SovietUnion, led by Premier Joseph Stalin, and theUnited States, led by President Franklin D.Roosevelt. While the Soviets fought against theNazis on the Eastern Front of Europe, theBritish and the United States sent troops againstJapan in the Pacific and against the Axis Powersin North Africa and southern Europe.

Initially, the Allies did not make muchheadway against Japan. But thanks to Americancryptologists who deciphered the Japanesenaval code, the United States Navy, led byAdmiral Chester Nimitz, won an importantvictory at Midway Island in June, 1942. Losses onboth sides were great, but it was Japan thatsuffered a major defeat. The Battle of Midway wasa turning point during the Pacific War. From thattime on, the United States went on the offensivein the Pacific, pursuing a policy of “island-hopping,” with Admiral Nimitz moving westwardfrom Hawaii, and with General DouglasMacArthur moving north from Australia. U.S.forces gained an important foothold on the islandof Guadalcanal in August 1942. As at Midway, themilitary struggle with the Japanese was long andarduous. It took the American troops six months,

until February 1943, to finally force the Japaneseto abandon the island. With the subsequentconquest of the island of New Guinea in August1944, the Americans, led by General DouglasMacArthur, effectively halted the Japaneseadvance and cleared the path toward theAmericans’ final targets – the Philippine Islandsand Japan itself.

Germany had stunned the world with itsrapid conquest of Europe. It continued itsrelentless bombing of Britain. “Wolf packs” ofNazi submarines haunted the North Atlantic,sinking U.S. supply ships headed for our Allies.German “U-boats” even torpedoed ships right offthe coast of the United States. The Allies finallycracked the German naval code, uncoveringwhere the u-boats were lurking, which helpedthem regain control of the vital shipping lanes inthe North Atlantic.

Initially, President Roosevelt wanted toattack Hitler immediately from the EnglishChannel. But Winston Churchill did not want tomeet the German forces head-on in France untilthe Nazis had been weakened. He did not want torepeat the disastrous and deadly trench warfareof World War I. Instead, he convinced the UnitedStates to join with Britain in attacking German-held territory in North Africa, and to bring theAllied forces up “the boot” of Italy. By May, 1943,the Nazis retreated from North Africa, sufferingheavy losses. One month later, the Allies landedon the Italian island of Sicily. Mussolini’sgovernment quickly collapsed. The Italians wereeager to end their part in the war. But powerfulGerman forces fought against the Allied troops inItaly. It was not until June, 1944, almost a yearlater, that the Allies finally liberated Italy fromNazi control. Meanwhile, Roosevelt, Churchill,and their excellent generals planned the greatestof all the Allied attacks, across the EnglishChannel, into the heart of Nazi-held France.


1. What act of Hitler began the war in Europe?Why were the Nazis able to conquer so muchland so quickly?


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2. What was the “underground resistance?” Whywas it not more successful?

3. Why did the United States delay joining thewar? What did the isolationists believe? Whatdid the internationalists believe?

4. President Roosevelt referred to the UnitedStates as the “arsenal of democracy” before weentered the war. What did he mean by this?

5. Who were the Axis Powers? What were theiraims in World War II?

6. What was the Blitz? Why would that be suchan effective strategy? Why do you think itultimately failed against the British?

7. How important is morale during wartime?

8. Describe the event that caused the UnitedStates to declare war against Japan. Whathappened in the Pacific Theater after that?

9. How did Roosevelt want to attack theGermans? How did Churchill? Who do youthink was right?


1. Understanding the War through Maps:Create a map about World War II fromSeptember 1939 until May 1944. You can use amap of Europe or of the Pacific. Use one colorfor all the countries that were held by theGermans or the Japanese, depending on themap you are creating. Mark the date they wereconquered. Use another color for neutralcountries. With a blue marker, draw arrows toshow where the Allied troops pushed the Axispowers back. Mark the dates of importantbattles. Don’t forget to create a key to thecolors.

2. Deciphering codes: was an important part ofthe war effort. Research code breaking or codemaking during World War II. Suggested topicsare Navaho Code Talkers, the Titan Code, andthe Enigma. Or, create your own code in mathclass. Give a presentation of your work to yourclass. Other code projects include: the Battle

of Midway – Code Breaking and the TurningPoint in the Pacific Theater; How the UnitedStates developed Codes during World War II;Breaking the Nazi Naval Code to Destroy the“Wolf Packs.”

3. Biography Project: Joseph Stalin, WinstonChurchill, and Franklin Roosevelt were verydifferent types of men. Each of them, however,was a brilliant leader. Choose one of theseindividuals and research his life. Write abiography of that individual, beginning withhis childhood. Compare your findings withother students’ reports on the two other worldleaders. Or, prepare note cards about thatindividual. Give an oral presentation to yourclass. You may dress as that person for thepresentation. For either project, make sureyou record the resources you used for yourresearch.

4. Creative Writing Project: Imagine you areliving in London during the Blitz. Write athree-page journal about your experiences.What did you see, hear, smell? What did youeat? Describe the experience of living in a citythat was continuously bombed at night. Or, imagine you are a visitor in Honolulu.Write a letter home to your family aboutwitnessing the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

5. Primary Source Questions: Students shouldread the following historical document andanswer the questions.

Excerpts from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Speechto Congress, December 8, 1941, asking for adeclaration of war against Japan.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which willlive in infamy—the United States of America wassuddenly and deliberately attacked by naval andair forces of the Empire of Japan...The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. Thepeople of the United States have already formedtheir opinions and well understand theimplications to the very life and safety of ournation. As commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.Always will we remember the character of theonslaught against us. No matter how long it maytake us to overcome this premeditated invasion,the American people in their righteous might will

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win through to absolute victory...I ask that the Congress declare that since theunprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan onSunday, December 7th, a state of war has existedbetween the United States and the JapaneseEmpire.”

For the entire speech, see Primary Sources at theback of this manual.

1. The phrase, “a date which will live in infamy,”has become one of the most famous phrases inAmerican history. What exactly does it mean?Why do you think it has become so famous?

2. Why does Roosevelt say, “The facts ofyesterday speak for themselves?” What is hereferring to?

3. What does he mean by the phrase, “theAmerican people in their righteous might willwin through to absolute victory?” Why do youthink he included the word “righteous?” Whatmakes a victory absolute?

4. Roosevelt was addressing Congress when hegave this speech, possibly the most famousspeech of his lengthy career. Who else do youthink he was speaking to? Who else might belistening on radio?

5. Why is it important to know who is theintended audience when you analyze anhistoric speech?

6. Why does the President of the United Stateshave to ask Congress to declare war?

IV: D-DAY AND THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC

War in EuropeOnce the Allies had decided upon a cross-

channel invasion of France, they began amassingenormous supplies of munitions and troops,totaling nearly 3 million men. American GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower was selected to lead theAllied forces into France. Although Americansformed the majority of those involved in themilitary campaign, the British and Canadiansalso committed troops. During the monthsleading up to the scheduled invasion, the Alliesfocused on dropping enough bombs to take outFrench rail centers and road networks, effectivelyisolating the Normandy region of France, wherethe invasion was scheduled to occur. Final plansfor the invasion were kept very secret – even

many of the soldiers did not know where theywould be landing. The Germans expected theAllies to land at the narrowest part of the EnglishChannel, and Eisenhower encouraged thisexpectation by focusing the Allied bombingcampaign in this region. Despite this successfulsubterfuge, the Allies still encountered stiffresistance from the Germans when they landedat a series of points farther east along theNormandy coast on D-Day, June 6, 1944, a daylater than originally planned. (The invasion hadto be postponed due to bad weather.)

The D-Day invasion was a masterfulcoordination of Allied land, sea and air power.The night before the attack, the Allies droppedparatroopers behind the German lines. With thisadvance force on French soil, airplanes andbattleships bombarded the German defenses,while some 4,000 ships landed troops andsupplies on the Normandy beaches. After severaldays of intense fighting, the Allies secured thebeachhead and then managed to break throughthe German forces encircling the Normandylanding zone.

From the beaches of Normandy, the AlliedForces pushed southward across France. Littlemore than two months after D-Day, Allied forces,with the help of the French “undergroundresistance,” arrived in Paris. In August 1944, theAllies liberated the jubilant city from four yearsof German occupation. By mid-September, theAllies had driven the Germans almost completelyout of France and Belgium. Another Alliedvictory against Hitler’s forces on Germany’swestern border at the Battle of the Bulge, inDecember 1944, ended serious Germanresistance in the west. Soviet troops, meanwhile,were sweeping westward across central Europeand into Eastern Germany. The final blow toHitler’s German army occurred the followingspring, when General Omar Bradley’s Alliedtroops, pushing eastward, met up with Russianforces on the outskirts of Berlin.

As the Allies moved into Germany, theyencountered the horrific sight of Naziconcentration camps, where the Nazis had beensystematically murdering “undesirables,”including millions of Jews. Even though theAllied leaders had known about Hitler’s campaignof genocide for some time, neither the Alliedsoldiers nor the rest of the world were preparedfor the extent of human misery that they found.Only as the Allied forces began liberating the

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camps did they grasp the full dimensions of the“Holocaust.” With the Allied forces virtually athis doorstep, Adolf Hitler killed himself in hisbunker in Berlin on April 30. The remainingGerman forces surrendered unconditionally onMay 8, 1945, bringing “V-E Day,” Victory inEurope. Unfortunately for the United States,Americans were facing their own tragedy.President Roosevelt, having suffered years ofmedical complications, had died suddenly onApril 12, 1945. Vice President Harry Truman hadto shoulder the responsibility for leading theUnited States out of war.

War in the PacificIn the Pacific, American forces, using a

combination of air and sea power, were chippingaway steadily at the Japanese Empire. Americansubmarines launched constant attacks,ultimately destroying nearly 50 percent ofJapan’s merchant fleet. American bombers,meanwhile, operating from captured Pacificislands, were reducing Japan’s fragile cities tocinders.

American ground troops, under thecommand of General MacArthur, continued topush toward the Philippines, landing at LeyteIsland in October 1944. The Japanese usednearly their entire fleet against MacArthur’stroops in the three decisive battles of Leyte Gulf,making this the largest naval engagement inhistory. Despite this impressive showing by theJapanese, the Allied forces under MacArthurprevailed. Such victories in thePacific, however, did not comeeasily. While the Allies capturedthe key city of Manila in March1945, fierce Japanese resistanceprevented them from fullyconquering the islands untilJuly, at the horrific cost of60,000 American lives.

Even as the Japanese navalfleet suffered defeat aftercrushing defeat, the imperialforces seemed only to increasetheir resistance. In March 1945,American marines gainedcontrol of the tiny, butstrategically located, island ofIowa Jima, but only after losingmore than 20,000 more soldiersthan they had ever lost in any

single battle. At the subsequent Battle ofOkinawa, which lasted a wrenching threemonths, the Japanese demonstrated even greaterdetermination to resist the Allies. During thebattle, a steady stream of Japanese kamikazepilots crashed their bomb-laden planes onto thedecks of the invading American naval fleet. Thecost in human lives of this strategy wasenormous: over 100,000 Japanese and nearly50,000 Americans died in the siege.

Severely crippled by the American campaign,the Japanese began to explore options for peacethrough envoys in Russia. Japan, however,showed no willingness to surrenderunconditionally, as the Allies insisted. Meetingtogether at Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin, in July1945, Churchill, Truman and Stalin issued Japana stern ultimatum: surrender or be destroyed.When Japan refused, the United States, facedwith a mounting death toll, carried out its threat.On August 6, the U.S. sent a lone Americanbomber to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima,Japan, killing some 80,000 people instantly andwounding tens of thousands of others. When theJapanese still failed to surrender, even in the faceof invading Soviet forces, the U.S. decided to actagain. Three days later, on August 9, Americanpilots dropped a second atomic bomb on the cityof Nagasaki. Unable to resist further, Japaneseleaders sued for peace on August 10, 1945, askingonly that their Emperor, Hirohito (Hiro-he-tow),be allowed to remain on his throne, thoughstripped of power. Four days later, the Allies

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accepted Japan’s conditions. On September 2,1945, the Allies held official surrenderceremonies in Tokyo Bay, while Americans athome celebrated “V-J Day”– Victory in Japan.

Despite Americans’ wild victory celebrationsat V-E and V-J days in 1945, the costs of fouryears of military conflict hung heavily over thenation. More than 300,000 members of theAmerican armed forces had been killed incombat, with more than three times that numberwounded. Yet heavy though these losses were,Americans actually suffered relatively littlein comparison with others engaged in themilitary conflict. While much of the rest of theworld lay in ruins, the United States emergedfrom the war in a position of unprecedentedpower, poised to assume leadership of the “freeworld.”

Which events will you put on your timeline forthis theme?

1. What steps did the Allied forces take to throwthe Germans off course during their invasionof Normandy? Why was the coordination ofair, sea and land power so important to theAllies’ victory?

2. What sequence of events prompted Hitler tocommit suicide in 1945? Why do you thinkthat the Germans surrendered so quickly afterthat?

3. What Japanese military strategy made theBattle of Okinawa in the Pacific so costly interms of human lives? How do you think thatthis strategy affected the morale of Americansoldiers?

4. How did Japan’s approach to militaryengagement influence Truman’s decision todrop the atomic bomb? How important do youthink that the bomb was in prompting Japan’ssurrender?

5. Even though Americans suffered terrible lossesduring World War II, why were they spared somuch of the destruction that other placessuffered? How do you think that thisavoidance of physical destruction affected theUnited States’ global position after the war?


1. Culture and Warfare: Even after the bombingof Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japaneseagreed to surrender only if Hirohito couldremain on his throne. Do additional researchon Japanese culture and society to find outwhy this would have been so important to thecountry. Write a short research reportexplaining how you think that this cultureshaped the fierce resistance displayed by theJapanese in the war of the Pacific.

2. Mapping the War in the Pacific: The abovenarrative mentions only a select few of thebattles in the Pacific. Working with a goodtextbook and a map of the Pacific, trace theconcurrent land and sea campaigns of GeneralDouglas MacArthur and Admiral ChesterNimitz, as they moved toward Japan. Use adifferent color to show the progress of eachcampaign and mark the date that each islandwas captured by American forces. Whatconclusions can you draw about the strategicimportance of these islands?

3. Liberating the Concentration Camps:Research the major concentration camps inEurope, examining German policies ofextermination and the treatment of Jews andother prisoners in the camps. Imagine that youare an American soldier writing home aboutthe liberation of these camps. What details willyou include in your letter? Will you talk aboutwhat you see, smell, hear, feel?

4. The Liberation of Paris: Imagine that you area reporter in Paris at the liberation of the city.Write a newspaper report describing the streetscene as the Allied Forces marched down theChamps-Elysee (the main thoroughfare in thecity). It may be helpful first to read somenewspaper articles in your current paper tounderstand the style in which a journalistwrites. Collect your classmates’ dispatches and“publish” them in a class newspaper.

5. Primary Source Questions: Students shouldread the following excerpt and respond to thequestions below. Then, divide students up intosmall groups to discuss questions 4 and 5.

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After each group has had a chance to lookmore closely at the document and think aboutthese questions, bring the class back togetherto discuss the differences between “history”and “Hollywood.”

Description of Hedgerow Fighting inNormandy by Ernie PylePyle was an American reporter who accompaniedAllied troops in the invasions of Italy, NorthAfrica and Normandy. Pyle reported from thefront lines with personal stories about thesoldiers’ lives and later collected his reports intwo books, published in 1943 and 1944. At theU.S. landing in Okinawa, Pyle was killed byJapanese gunfire.

“I want to describe to you what the weirdhedgerow fighting in northwestern France waslike...The fields were usually not more than fiftyyards across and a couple of yards long. Theymight have grain in them, or apple trees, butmostly they were just pastures of green grass,full of beautiful cows. The fields weresurrounded on all sides by the immensehedgerows—ancient earthen banks, waist high,all matted with roots, and out of which grewweeds, bushes, and trees up to twenty feet high.The Germans used these barriers well. They putsnipers in the trees. They dug deep trenchesbehind the hedgerows and covered them withtimber, so that it was almost impossible forartillery to get at them... It was slow andcautious business, and there was nothingdashing about it. Our men didn’t go across theopen fields in dramatic charges such as you seein the movies. They did at first, but they learnedbetter. They went in tiny groups, a squad or less,moving yards apart and sticking close to thehedgerows on either end of the field. They crepta few yards, squatted, waited, then crept again.This hedgerow business was a series of littleskirmishes like that clear across the front,thousands and thousands of little skirmishes.No single one of them was very big. Added upover the days and weeks, however, they made aman-sized war – with thousands on both sidesgetting killed...In a war like this everything wassuch confusion that I never could see how eitherside ever got anywhere...”

[From Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, editors,Witness to America, p. 385-387.]

1. How did the Germans use the hedgerows inNormandy to their advantage? What weresnipers? Why did they work so well in thisterrain?

2. How might this type of fighting have beendemoralizing to the soldiers? Explain youranswer using Pyle’s description.

3. What do you think that Pyle was trying toconvey in talking about the green fields, trees,and “beautiful cows?” Do you think that histactic was effective?

4. How does Pyle’s description compare to moviesthat you have seen of fighting during WorldWar II?

5. Which view is more glorifying? Why do youthink that is?

V: THE HOME FRONT

The attack on Pearl Harbor ended Americanisolationism. It also ended the lingering effects ofthe Great Depression, because Americanindustry swung into full production to supportthe war effort. Although the creation andshipment of armaments to the Allies prior to1941 had strengthened the economy, thedeclaration of war turned the United States intoan industrial powerhouse. Of course, that didn’thappen over night, and it did not happen withoutcreating some social tension. For it meant thatnew types of workers, particularly women andminorities, found employment in factories where,previously, the majority of the workers had beenwhite men. It seemed that everyone in thecountry, no matter where they lived or worked,wanted to help out the war effort.

In January 1942, one month after the UnitedStates joined World War II, Congress created theWar Production Board (WPB). This agencyoversaw the conversion of industrial productionfrom peace time to the requirements of war time.“Auto makers switched to producing tanks,makers of shirts switched to mosquito netting,model train plants to hardware, and the makersof refrigerators, stoves, and cash registers tomunitions.” *Many consumer goods becamescarce, as factories were now producing goodsexclusively for the military. Other resources, likegasoline, oil, tires, and many foods, such as sugar,coffee, and meat were rationed.

Despite rationing and shortages, mostcivilians prospered during the war, because there

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were so many jobs available. Itwasn’t a time to be lazy –everyone was asked to pitch inand do his or her share. Peopleacross America showed aburgeoning patriotism and awillingness to work hard on thehome front, to make thenecessary sacrifices to win thewar. Colorful posters urgedcitizens to recycle “trash,” tocar pool, and to buy war bonds.They reminded civilians tosupport the troops overseas,with letters and commitment tothe Allied cause. Many posters,created by the federalgovernment, urged women tojoin the industrial workforce,and “free a man to fight.”

World War II was an important turning pointin the status of women in the United States. Withmillions of men joining the military service,traditional prejudices about the appropriate roleof women in the work place were thrown out thewindow. Women worked as welders, ship-builders, crane operators, and in aircraft plants—all kinds of industrial jobs that women had nothad before the war. Over 200,000 women joinedthe armed services, as well. The enormousgrowth of the number of married women in thework place reflected the biggest change inwomen’s roles. Traditionally, society encouragedmarried women, especially women with children,to work at home as full time housekeepers andmothers. Of course, not every woman couldafford to do this, or wanted to. Still, there wassignificant prejudice against women who workedoutside the home. But World War II increasinglyoverturned these traditional values, as the needfor women in the work force rose precipitously.(After the war, many women immediately retiredfrom the work place. Some, however, chose toremain in the work force, striving to maintain theequal status that they had achieved during thewar years.)

At the start of World War II, the United Stateswas a racially segregated nation, and it remainedlargely so during and after the military conflict.By and large, African Americans were viewed assecond-class citizens, without equal rights inschools, jobs, and housing or equal access topublic transportation or facilities. This

segregation continued in themilitary service for most ofthe 750,000 African Americanmen who enlisted in thearmed forces. Pressure forchange grew as the warescalated, but progress wasgradual. Some training campsbecame at least partiallyintegrated, and AfricanAmericans began servingalong side white sailors onnaval vessels, though often insubordinate positions. AfricanAmerican army units weresent into combat, instead ofbeing confined to menial jobsin camp. The Air Forceremained strictly segregated –a separate flight school in

Tuskegee, Alabama, trained several hundredAfrican American pilots. Known as the “TuskegeeAirmen,” they distinguished themselvesheroically in combat. It would not be until afterthe war ended, however, that the armed serviceswere desegregated, thanks in part to the work ofPresident Harry S. Truman.

New employment opportunities in warproduction factories opened up for AfricanAmerican workers, especially in northern cities,as industrial production increased. Formerly,many manufacturers did not hire non-whitesexcept in menial positions. In response toprotests by African Americans, and not wantingto waste valuable manpower, the federalgovernment pressured companies into moreequitable hiring practices. Thousands ofsouthern African Americans moved to industrialcenters in the north in what has been called the“Great Migration.” In spite of this gradualopening up of opportunity, racial prejudice anddiscrimination were common in the UnitedStates at this time.

Another particularly shameful eventoccurred in the United States during World WarII. Over 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent,called Nisei (“Nee-sigh”) were forced into “WarRelocation Camps.” Required to abandon theirhomes and businesses, these Japanese Americanslived in isolated internment camps, victims ofsuspicion and racial prejudice.

Eventually, the armed forces allowed some ofthe Nisei to serve in combat in the European

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Theater. The Nisei units served with heroicdistinction in Italy. Many other JapaneseAmericans worked as translators for Allied forcesin the Pacific.

Despite these lingering problems ofdiscrimination, life on the home front duringWorld War II marked a moment in time whenAmericans worked together, making sacrificesevery day for a heroic cause. Feelings of nationalunity and support for our war effort and “ourboys in uniform” soared. Factories werebooming. Eighteen months after the UnitedStates had joined the war, the tide was turningagainst the Axis powers. The war was far fromover, but morale stayed strong.

[*George B. Tindall and David E. Shi, America : A NarrativeHistory (W.W. Norton & Company, 1984) Volume 2, p. 1178-9.]


1. How did entry into World War II effect theeconomy of the United States? How did itaffect the role of women in the economy?

2. What was rationing? What items wererationed? Why was it necessary? Did othercountries experience rationing during thewar?

3. Describe racial attitudes in the United States atthe time of Pearl Harbor. What effect did thewar have on economic opportunity for AfricanAmericans? How were African Americanstreated in by the armed forces? Did thischange during the war?

4. What is an internment camp? Why wereJapanese Americans “relocated?” Why do youthink this didn’t happen to German or ItalianAmericans?

5. What were war bonds? What other ways didthe government encourage Americans tosupport the war effort on the home front?


1. Poster Project: The federal governmentproduced a vast number of colorful postersduring the war to encourage Americans athome to support the war effort. Check therecommended Web sites in the Resourcessection of this manual, particularly theNational Archives and Records Administrationsite. Create your own poster with a World WarII theme. On a 4X6 note card, describe whyyour poster reflects a concern of that era.

2. Rosie the Riveter: Research the role ofwomen during the war. Write an essay orcreate a panel project, using three-panelproject board, on the impact of World War IIon women at the home front. Or, write anessay or create a panel project depictingwomen in the armed forces or in the medicalunits at the front. Don’t forget to list yoursources.

3. Japanese Internment Camps: Write aresearch paper on the relocation of JapaneseAmericans during World War II. Or, you mayimagine you are a Japanese American living inan internment camp. Write a journal or apoem describing your experiences. There aremany internet resources on this topic that youcan use in your research. See the Resourcessection of this manual.

4. African American Experience: Explore oneaspect of African American experience duringWorld War II. You may learn about theTuskegee Airmen, the Belle Isle Riot (nearDetroit) in 1943, or any other topic youchoose. Try to use at least one primary source.Give an oral presentation to your class on yourfindings, or write a short paper (about 2 pages)on your findings.

5. Advances in Science and Technology:Research one of the following topics and itshistory during World War II. Create a posterthat explains the subject you have chosen andthe chronology of its development. You willfind that World War II was often just thebeginning for many of these topics, or a


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turning point in its development. Ask yourscience teacher for recommendations, orchoose one of the following topics: MorseCode, penicillin, radar, cell phones,submarines, color photographic film, x-rays,nylon, jets.

6. Popular Music in the 1940s: The “Big Band”sound and “Swing” music were very popularduring World War II. You can find examples ofWorld War II era music at most music storesand at many public libraries. Compile aselection of music from this period on an audiotape, using four or five examples. For eachselection, write up “liner notes,” including thetitle of the piece, author, performer, yearrecorded or made popular, and otherinformation.

7. Primary Source Questions: Students shouldread Document 5, “War and Race in Salina,Kansas” by Lloyd L. Brown (see PrimarySources in this manual) and respond in classto the questions below.

1. When did Lloyd Brown write thisrecollection? When was he stationed inSalina, Kansas? What was he doing there?

2. What are P.O.W.’s? Who were the P.O.W.’sBrown encountered? Why were they inKansas?

3. What does this document tell you aboutracial discrimination in the United Statesduring World War II? How do you thinkyou would have felt if you were Brown?

4. What are M.P.’s? What does the authormean when he writes, “The M.P.’s he wouldcall would not treat us with hispoliteness?”

8. Activity: Divide the class into small groups of 2-4 students. Have each group read thedocument thoroughly and discuss it amongthemselves. Each group should think aboutand be prepared to answer the followingquestions in class.• Why is this document included in a study

on World War II?

• What does it teach us about America during World War II?

• How does this make you feel? How wouldyou have felt if you were Lloyd Brown?

• Can any nation be perfect? Why or why not?

• Do we as Americans have a responsibility tohelp our country treat everyone fairly andequally? Or is that just the government’sjob?

VI: PLANS FOR PEACE AND THE ATOMIC BOMB

By early 1945, the Allies were becomingmore confident that they would win the war inEurope. After all, Allied troops had crossed theRhine River and were marching toward Berlin.The Soviet troops approached Berlin from theeast, creating a giant “pincer” poised tovanquish the Nazis. The next question was: onceGermany surrendered, what would peace bring toEurope? So, that February, President Franklin D.Roosevelt, Premier Joseph Stalin, and PrimeMinister Winston Churchill met together at Yaltain the Crimea, a region in the southern part ofthe Soviet Union. They hoped to agree on theoutlines of peace. Roosevelt was physicallyweakened by polio, which he had caught manyyears previously. (If you look at photographs ofthe Yalta Conference, you will notice that he isalways seated - and Churchill and Stalin areseated, too. That is because Roosevelt did notwant the rest of the world to know how difficult itwas for him to remain standing for any length oftime.) However, he and the other leaders of the“Big Three” were able to reach an understandingon some - but not all - the issues. First of all, theSoviets agreed to help the other Allies fightagainst Japan, once Germany surrendered. Andthe three of them agreed to a new internationalorganization, called the United Nations, whichwould begin in April 1945. (The U.S. Senatewould ratify the United States membership in theU.N. in July of that year).

The Yalta Conference, however, did notclearly resolve other issues. The Soviets, who hadliberated Poland from the Nazis, had begun toestablish a communist government under Sovietcontrol in that country. The United States andGreat Britain wanted to hold free, democraticelections in Poland so the Polish could determinetheir own form of government. Stalin reluctantlyconsented to hold the elections, but he gave nodefinite date. (In fact, free elections were notheld in Poland until 40 years later!) Stalinwanted Germany to be divided, so that it couldnever be as strong again. Churchill and Roosevelt

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wanted Germany unified, while remaining underthe supervision of the Allies.

After Yalta, Roosevelt hoped that thesedisagreements would be solved. Tragically, hedied of a massive stroke on April 12, 1945. Hehad served almost four terms in the office of thePresidency – the first and the last President to doso. Eighteen days later, with Soviet troops at theoutskirts of Berlin, Hitler killed himself. On May8th, 1945, the German forces surrendered.People celebrated “V-E Day” (Victory overEurope Day) with great joy, dimmed only by therecent death of a beloved President – and theknowledge that the war continued in the Pacific.

Roosevelt’s successor was the former Vice-President, Harry S. Truman. Truman had beenkept in the dark about much of Roosevelt’sforeign policy and had very little experience indealing with these matters. He represented theUnited States at the next “Big Three” conferencein 1945, this time in Potsdam, Germany, after thesurrender of the Nazis. The Soviets were able tokeep Germany divided, as they had hoped. Theywanted to be paid back by Germany for thetremendous damages and destruction the Nazishad caused to their country. But Truman and theBritish did not allow Stalin to take reparationsfrom all of Germany–just the eastern part thatthe Soviets controlled. The democratic nationsfelt very strongly that they did not want to repeatthe mistakes of World War I. They recognizedthat draining the financial resources from adefeated country would only lead to economicdisaster. And they did not want anothereconomic disaster like the one that had helped tofuel the beginnings of the Nazi empire!

While President Truman was at the PotsdamConference, he received news of the successfultest of a revolutionary weapon. Unlike Roosevelt,Truman did not know much about this new,deadly, invention. But at Potsdam, Trumanlearned that the first atomic bomb had beenexploded in Almagordo, New Mexico, on July 16,1945. Work on the atomic weapon had begunseveral years earlier. Learning that the Naziswere working on their own nuclear weapon, thefederal government had poured $2 billion dollarsinto a secret effort known as the ManhattanProject. Hidden laboratories all over the countryemployed hundreds of the world’s best scientists,who worked at top speed to complete theproject—even though many of them didn’t evenknow what they were working on! Several of the

scientists were refugees from Nazi Germany.Albert Einstein, a recognized genius whosediscoveries aided the development of the atomicbomb, was one of those refugees. J. RobertOppenheimer was one of the lead scientists atLos Alamos, New Mexico, where the “device” wascompleted.

The Allies were winning the war in the Pacificagainst Japan, but the casualty rate wasenormous. When Truman heard about thesuccess of the test explosion while he was inPotsdam, he felt no hesitation about using thisnew weapon. Historians and political scientistsmay always argue among themselves overwhether the decision to drop the atomic bomb onJapan was the right thing. However, at that timeand place, Truman and his advisers felt that ifthis devastating weapon would end the war, itshould be used right away. On August 6, 1945, anAmerican airplane named the Enola Gay droppedthe atomic weapon on Hiroshima, an industrialcenter in Japan. A four-square mile area wascompletely incinerated and 80,000 civiliansperished. On August 9th, another atomic weaponwas dropped on Nagasaki, killing more than 70,000people and injuring approximately the same number.Five days later, Japan announced that it wouldend the fighting, and signed the articles ofsurrender on September 2, 1945. World War IIwas over.


1. Who were the “Big Three?” Why did they meetin Yalta?

2. What issues were resolved in Yalta? What wasleft undecided?

3. What was the Manhattan Project? Why was itkept so secret?

4. What are war reparations? Why were theUnited States and Great Britain opposed towar reparations? Who wanted reparations?Why?

5. What happened to Poland after World War II?


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6. Why is it important to learn about the BigThree’s plans for peace after World War II?

7. Describe Truman’s decision to drop the atomicbomb on Japan. Do you think he made theright decision?


1. How Historical Events Shape the Future:The conferences at Yalta and Potsdam led todecisions that would shape the future ofEurope for the next 45 years. Choose one ofthe conferences and learn more about it. Howdid it effect modern history? Write a report orcreate a poster depicting your findings.Remember to include a list of the resourcesyou used.

2. Interview on Roosevelt’s Death: WhenRoosevelt died, very few Americans knew thathe had been terribly ill. They were shockedand greatly saddened by his death. Interviewan elder person in your community whoremembers hearing about the death ofRoosevelt. Acting as a reporter, create anewspaper article about your interview.

3. Science and History—the ManhattanProject: Scientists worked on the ManhattanProject all over the country. Pick one of thelaboratories and research its (formerly) top-secret story. Suggestions include: Oak Ridge,Tennessee, Hanford, Washington, Los Alamos,New Mexico, the University of Chicago, andManhattan, New York City. Describe theresearch and experiments that were performedat the site you chose on note cards. Give apresentation to your class on your findings. Or, pretend you are a scientist working at oneof these sites. Write a journal about yourexperiences.

4. Ethics and History—Debate: This project caninvolve the whole class, or just three articulatestudents willing to debate each other. It willrequire about three hours of research, andabout two hours for composition and practice.Clear phrasing and specific examples are

important here, so that everyone in the classunderstands the historical interpretationsbeing debated.

Many people argue that Truman should nothave dropped the atomic bomb. The nuclearradiation was too destructive, immediatelyand for many years following. They believethat Japan would have surrendered anyway.Other people believe that so many Americanshad died in the Pacific Theater that Trumandid not want to risk any more Americandeaths. Ultimately, his decision to drop thebomb saved lives, both Japanese and Allied,because it brought the war to an immediateclose. Still others think that Truman droppedthe bomb because he wanted to prove to theSoviets that the United States was the mostpowerful nation in the world. Stalin’saggressive position in Europe concernedTruman at Potsdam. He wanted to stop theSoviets from gaining power in Asia after the war.

Divide the whole class or participants intothree groups. Each group should be assignedone of the three points of view described in thepreceding paragraph. Each “team” shouldresearch its topic. The team is responsible forthe understanding of each teammate.Together, they should develop between threeand five short paragraphs that support theirside of the debate. These paragraphs shouldinclude specific supporting facts, not justgeneral assertions. Each paragraph shouldsupport the thesis of the argument stated atthe beginning of the presentation.

Each team should present its side of thedebate in class. Questions by the other teams,and from the audience, should be encouragedbut should wait until after each presentation.The classroom audience, including theteacher, should evaluate each presentation onclarity, persuasiveness, and factual content.Research should be evaluated by the teacher.

5. Primary Source: Students should read thefollowing excerpt and respond to the questionsbelow.

“I was in Hiroshima and I stood at groundzero. I saw deformities that I’d never seenbefore. I know that there are genetic effectsthat may affect generations of survivors andtheir children. I’m aware of all this. But I also

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know that had we landed in Japan, we wouldhave faced greater carnage than Normandy. Itwould probably have been the most bloodyinvasion in history. Every Japanese man,woman, and child was ready to defend thatland. The only way we took Iwo Jima wasbecause we outnumbered them three to one.Still they held us at bay as long as they did.We’d had to starve them out, month aftermonth after month. As it was, they were downto eating grass and bark off trees. So I feel splitabout Hiroshima. The damn thing probablysaved my life.”

[Excerpt from Ted Allenby, From Iwo Jima to Hiroshima,as cited in Ordinary Americans: U.S. History Throughthe Eyes of Everyday People, Edited by Linda R. Marks.(Close Up Publishing, 1994), p.212.]

1. Who wrote this document? Is it arecollection or an immediate eyewitnessreport? Does that influence the point ofview?

2. What does the author mean when he says,“we would have faced greater carnage thanNormandy?” What is carnage? Where isNormandy? What great battle occurredthere during World War II?

3. What did Allenby’s experience on Iwo Jimateach him about the Japanesedetermination not to surrender? Did thisaffect his feelings about the need to dropthe atomic bomb? Why or why not?

4. What does Allenby mean when he writes,“I feel split about Hiroshima?” How canyou feel “split” about something that, youbelieve, saved your life? What are theissues he is weighing?

6. Peer Group Activity: Break the class up intosmall groups of two to four students. Eachgroup should read the document carefully andexplain it to each other. Teammates areresponsible for the comprehension of all teammembers. As a unit they should 1. Locate IwoJima, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki on amap. 2. Be able to clearly explain the meaningof document. 3. Be able to answer thequestions listed above.

SECTION THREE: GRADES 10 - 12TO THE TEACHER:

Teaching World War II in senior high schoolposes special challenges. Many students thinkthey know far more than they actually havemastered. Others have decided that it is boring,before they’ve had any exposure. Then you havethe students who have seen a movie and can’tunderstand why they need to know anythingelse!

Movies are a great way to introduce yourstudents to the drama of World War II. But thereis a lot more to history than Hollywood can everexpress. We’ve designed this section, based onprimary sources, for high school teachers to usein conjunction with a text book. Primary sourceshelp your students relive the experience of thepast. Thoughtfully analyzed, they can also teachyour students that our understanding of historyis based on the voices and interpretation of manytypes of people.

Primary sources may be particularlychallenging for students who are not reading atthe high school level. If you have classes wherethe reading levels are low or uneven, werecommend that you divide the class into mixed-ability, small groups and use peer teaching tohelp with reading comprehension. You may wantto refer to the document-based questionsprovided for middle school students as well. Onthe other hand, if you are teaching an A.P. class,your students should be able to handle these“DBQ’s” (document-based questions) andactivities independently, as home workassignments, especially if they have Internetaccess.

We have chosen short documents or takenexcerpts from longer sources, to keep themmanageable for different ability levels.Remember—these should be used incoordination with a U.S. History text book. Onechallenging but highly readable survey that werecommend is Alan Brinkley’s American History.An easier approach is Thomas A. Bailey, David M.Kennedy, and Lizabeth Cohen’s The AmericanPageant. (See our Resources for moreinformation.)

Please take a minute to look through ourResources section. There are many excellent

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video documentaries in the market place todaythat can help bring history alive in the classroomfor your students. They can also serve as valuablesources of historical analysis. The videodocumentaries on the World War II era offer aparticularly rich variety of subject matter.

The History Channel has prepared thesematerials in partnership with the National WorldWar II Memorial Campaign. We encourage you,your students, and your school to participate inthe national effort to build the National WorldWar II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Please seeour section on Community Events forsuggestions on how you can get involved.

Project Objectives: By studying the causes andcourse of World War II and the character of thewar at home and abroad, students willunderstand chronological thinking, analyzecause-and-effect relationships, and use historicalanalysis and interpretation of primary sourcesand visual data.

National Standards: The following activitiessupport the National Standards for Historydeveloped by the National Center for History inthe Schools, Era 3, Standard 3, and theCurriculum Standards for Social Studiesdeveloped by the National Council for the SocialStudies, Strands II, V, VI, and VIII.

To the teacher: The documents and accountsreferred to in this section are provided in thePrimary Sources section of this manual. Thesemay be photo-copied for your students’ use. Eachtopic here refers to the primary source by itsnumber listed in the Primary Sources section.

1. The Rise of Fascism in Germany: Hitlerfrom a German teenager’s point of view.Recollections of Margrit Fisher (born 1918,Bremen, Germany). The following questionsrefer to Document #1.A. How old was the author when she first

mentions Hitler?B. Margrit recalls that “Hitler’s

slogans...resonated well among thepeople.” What does this mean?

C. What did Hitler promise the Germans? D. Look up the Versailles (pronounced Vare-

sigh) Treaty in your textbook or in anencyclopedia. Why was it such animportant issue for the Germans at this

time? What role did the terms of peacefrom World War I have on Germany?

E. Margrit writes, “the streets were suddenlypeaceful and clean, and there was no morefighting.” Why is this important to people?

F. Why are people willing to sacrifice libertyfor security? Do you believe that libertycan co- exist with security? Why or whynot?

Research the rise of Hitler in Germany. Create atimeline showing his rise to power. Write anessay answering the following question: “Could aleader like Adolf Hitler have risen to power in theUnited States?”

✯ ✯ ✯2. The United States enters World War II.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Speech to Congress,December 8, 1941, asking for a declaration ofwar against Japan. The following questionsrefer to Document #5.A. What are your first impressions of this

speech? What effect did these words haveon you? How do you feel after reading itonce through?

B. What is infamy? Why, according toPresident Roosevelt, will December 8,1941 be a “date which will live in infamy?”

C. Why do you think that Roosevelt includedthe Japanese attacks throughout thePacific in list form? What words does herepeat? What impact do you think thisrepetition had on the audience?

D. Starting with “A Commander-in-Chief”and ending with “so help us God,” circlethe words “we” and “us.” How many timesdoes Roosevelt repeat these words? Whydo you think he repeated these two wordsso many times?

Roosevelt’s “Infamy” speech has gone down asone of the greatest speeches in American history.Using this speech as a case study, create a “Guideto Writing Great Speeches.” Make sure to analyzeevery aspect of the speech – the content,structure, tone, word choice, and otherpresentation techniques, such as repetition.What effect does the use of these techniques have

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on the audience? You might even want to checkout the original copy of the speech atwww.nara.gov/education/teaching/fdr/pg1.gif tosee the changes that President Rooseveltpenciled in. What do these changes show aboutthe importance of word choice? For instance,why do you think that, in the last sentence of thespeech, Roosevelt decided to change “exist” to“has existed?” Your guide should explain thebasic, and the more subtle, ways to write a greatspeech.

* A note to teachers: You can find an audio clip ofthis speech at HistoryChannel.com. If thestudents have the opportunity to listen to aportion of the speech, then they should includethe importance of voice and pace to a greatspeech in their guides.

✯ ✯ ✯3. War on the Home Front for African

Americans. Recollections of Lloyd L. Brown,an African American writer, from when hewas stationed with the United States Army atSalina, Kansas. The following questions referto Document #6.A. Lloyd Brown says that the owner of the

lunchroom treated him and hiscompanions with “urgent politeness.” Whydo you think that the store owner felt theneed for such urgency? And why might hehave been more polite to the soldiers thanthe M.P.s would have been, as Brownremarks?

B. Why did Brown feel so conflicted aboutconducting the next orientation session forhis squadron? What kinds of mixedemotions do you think that he felt? Why?

C. What did the author mean when he saidthat as an African American in NaziGermany, his bones would have beenbroken, whereas in Salina, Kansas, onlyhis heart would be? How does thisstatement make you feel? What does it tellyou about how African Americans felt asthey faced discrimination at home duringthe war? How and why do you think thatAfrican Americans like Lloyd Brown wereable to put aside their anger and hurt insituations like these to fight against theNazis?

D.What do you think accounts for the factthat, in the midst of the war against Hitler,German P.O.W.s like those described inthis document would have been allowed toeat in restaurants that African Americansoldiers would have been excluded from?What does this tell you about the history ofracial discrimination in this country?

Do some additional research on AfricanAmericans’ “Double V” campaign—standing forvictory at home and abroad—during World WarII. As you do this research, think about how thiscampaign may have helped African Americansresolve their ambivalence about fighting againstNazism abroad while they continued to faceracial discrimination at home. After completingthis exercise, create some way–either a poster, asong, or an advertisement for a localnewspaper–to publicize the aims of the “DoubleV” campaign to a larger public audience.Remember that, like Lloyd Brown, AfricanAmericans were battling against discriminationbut that they also wanted their commitment tothe war effort first to remain clear. Present theseposters, songs, and advertisements to the classand discuss which ones are most effective and why.

✯ ✯ ✯4. The D-Day Invasion. Recollections of

Richard Scudder–Paratrooper whoparticipated in D-Day, June 6, 1944. Thefollowing questions refer to document #7.A. Scudder’s commander was trying to rally

his troops when he stated: “That realestate belongs to those sons of bitchestonight, but it will be ours in the morning.”Do you think that this would have beeneffective in building up the fighting spiritamong his men? Why or why not?

B. How do you think that other paratrooperslike Scudder felt when they saw the hugenumber of ships and ammunition belowthem as they flew to Normandy? Do youthink that this helped to motivate them ormade them even more apprehensive, orboth?

C. Scudder describes his emotions during theD-Day invasion in many different ways.What would you say was Scudder’s over-

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riding feeling? Choose specific statementsfrom the document to support your answer.

D. Scudder states that the causeway where helanded was not at all like what he had beentold to expect. In what other ways do youthink that the actual experience of fightingwar differed from soldiers’ expectations?Do you think that any amount of trainingcould have prepared them for combat?Why or why not?

Scudder’s recollection is of a paratrooper duringthe D-Day invasion, but as he indicates, manyother divisions were involved in the militarybattle. Do additional research on the D-Dayinvasion and then create a map showing whereand when the Allied Forces landed on theNormandy Coast. As you prepare your map,think about how the extent of this militarycoordination contributed to the overall success ofthe invasion. Think, too, about how muchmilitary expertise and planning was involved inthis invasion. ou also may wish to make note ofthose places where the Allies suffered thegreatest casualties and think about what madethose places so difficult for the invading forces.

✯ ✯ ✯5. The Home Front. Recollections of Deborah

Smith Haight who worked as a civilian in theIntelligence and Security Division, AirTransport Command, Washington, D.C.,during the war. She was 21 years old at thetime. The following questions refer todocument # 9.A. What is rationing? What things were

rationed during World War II? How did thiseffect the author? Did she resentrationing? Why or why not?

B. “Esprit de corps” (“Es-spree de Core”) isFrench for “team spirit.” Why was “espritde corps” important on the home frontduring the war.

C. Why was the author proud of her work? Doyou think she would have held this job inpeace time before the war? Why or why not?

D. What was V-E Day? E. Do you think the author liked Franklin

Roosevelt? Why does she say, “He hadbeen our President as long as I could

remember?” How old was the author whenRoosevelt was first elected? Did any otherPresident serve as long as “FDR?” Why orwhy not?

F. Notice the name of the division Mrs. Haightworked in. Why would you guess that theoffice ticker tape, “prepared us a few daysin advance for V-J Day?”

✯ ✯ ✯6. The Persecution of Germany’s Jews: Urgent

Telegram from Munich to All Political PoliceHeadquarters and Stations on November 10,1938, 1:20 am. The following questions referto Document #2.A. Why did the author of the telegram warn

local Nazi political authorities thatGerman police had received orders “towhich the actions of the politicalauthorities should be correspondinglyadjusted.” Who does this suggest wasplanning and participating in the rioting?

B. Why were the police told that Jewish-owned stores and residences “may only bedestroyed but not looted?” What wouldpolice accomplish by arresting looterswhile allowing the destruction of thesebusinesses and homes?

C. Why do you think the Nazis would want toprevent the harassment of “foreigncitizens, even if they are Jewish?”

D. Why would the police be ordered to arrest“particularly affluent Jews?” What kind ofimpact do you think these actions had onJewish families and communities?

E. Military dictatorships, like the one that theNazis established, are often called “policestates.” How does this document help youunderstand the meaning of “police state.”How is the traditional role of the policetwisted to serve the interests of the state?

Kristallnacht marks a pivotal moment in theescalation of violence committed against theJews during World War II. But Nazi Germanypersecuted Jews and other minorities throughoutEurope from the moment Hitler came to power in1933 to the end of the war in 1945. Create atimeline of the most significant acts of Nazipersecution against the Jews and the other

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minorities of Europe between 1933 and 1945. Asyou work on your timeline, think about why theNazis passed a law or took an action at aparticular moment in time. Think about theprogression of steps taken to rid Europe of thesegroups. Use your conclusions to help you comeup with a title for your timeline, which clearlyidentifies the significance of the events that youhave recorded. You may want to visitwww.ushmm.com (The United States HolocaustMuseum’s Web site) to help you create yourtimeline.

✯ ✯ ✯7. War on the Home Front for Women. Francis

Perkins speaks about women workers duringWorld War II. The following questions referto Document #8.A. What changes in the workforce is Perkins

describing as “spectacular?”B. How does Perkins suggest that the war

created opportunities for women? Doesthe idea that the war had a positiveinfluence on the lives of women strike youas strange? Why or why not?

C. Look up Francis Perkins in your textbookor in the encyclopedia. Why is Perkinsconsidered an important woman inAmerican history? How does herbackground help you better understand herviewpoint on women in the work force?

D. What does Perkins mean by “masculinedomains?” Can you describe and giveexamples of “domains” that wereconsidered “feminine” in the 1940s? Canyou explain why society was divided intomasculine and feminine spheres? Is it stilldivided into these spheres today? Explainyour answer.

E. Perkins mentions that three groups ofwomen particularly benefited from thewar. Who were these women? Why werethere especially strong “prejudices”against their entry into the work forcebefore the war?

With a partner, interview a woman–grandmother, friend, teacher, communitymember – who experienced World War II. Beforethe interview, create a list of questions to ask her.

(Was she in the work force? Did she know otherwomen in the work force? What experiences didshe have during the war, at work and at home?How was life different than before the war?Does she consider the war to have been apositive influence on her life? Does she think ithad any negative effects? How did her lifechange after the war?) It would be great to taperecord your interview. If you do not have a taperecorder, one of you should take notes while theother asks the questions. Share a summary ofyour interview with another pair of students.What conclusion can you make about theimpact of World War II on women’s lives fromyour interview? Did the other pair of studentscome to a different or similar conclusion?

*A note to teachers: A great film to watch to helpstudents understand the experiences of womenduring World War II is Life and Times of Rosiethe Riveter, Direct Cinema, 1980, a documentaryabout five women and their experiences duringthe war.

✯ ✯ ✯8. Comparing and Contrasting Primary

Sources. Students should refer to thefollowing two primary sources provided inthe Primary Sources section of this manual:excerpts from Charles Lindbergh’s “AmericaFirst” speech (Document # 3) and excerptsfrom the New York Times editorial responseon April 30, 1941 (Document # 4).

Research Questions on Lindbergh’s “AmericaFirst” Speech (Can be answered in oneparagraph. Include a list of sources.):1. Who is Charles A. Lindbergh? Why was he

considered an authority on America’spossible entry into World War II?

2. What was the “America First Committee?”What was its mission? Include importantdates.

3. What does “isolationist” mean? How doLindbergh and the “America FirstCommittee” represent an isolationistviewpoint?

4. What effect did the bombing of PearlHarbor have on Americans’ support for theisolationist viewpoint?

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Close Reading Discussion Questions onLindbergh’s “America First” Speech. (Canbe recorded in note form. Use the documentto help you answer each question.):1. Why did Lindbergh believe that the United

States should stay out of World War II?2. Is he talking only about World War II,

or does he believe that the United Statesshould stay out of all foreign wars? Citethe speech to support your answer.

3. What does “materialistic” mean? Howcould the isolationist viewpoint beconsidered “materialistic?”

4. What does Lindbergh mean when he states:“I do not believe that our American ideals,and our way of life, will gain through anunsuccessful war.”

5. What effect might Lindbergh’s use of “we”and “they” have had on his audience? To whom does this word choice suggest hewas talking?

6. How does Lindbergh justify that the UnitedStates had a “right to think of the welfareof America first?” What example does heuse to help support his point?

7. What does Lindbergh mean when he says:“If we are forced into a war against thewishes of an overwhelming majority of ourown people, we will have proveddemocracy such a failure at home thatthere will be little use fighting for itabroad.” Do you agree with his statement?Why or why not?

Research Questions on the New York Timeseditorial, April 30, 1941. (Can be answeredin one paragraph. Include a list of sources.):1. Who were the internationalists? How did

their views differ from the isolationists?2. Was there an organization or spokesperson

that represented the internationalistviewpoint?

3. Did the New York Times openly support aparticular foreign policy stance before theUnited States entered World War II ?

Close Reading Discussion Questions on theNew York Times editorial, April 30, 1941.(Can be recorded in note form. Use thedocument to help you answer eachquestion.):

1. How do you know that this writer isresponding directly to Lindbergh’s speech?Find at least two examples from thearticle.

2. Why does he refer to the Statue of Liberty?How does this allusion help the writershow that his ideas are based on“American ideals?”

3. What does the writer mean by “politicaldrift?” Who does he blame for this“political drift?”

4. Why does he advocate “strong leadershipin Washington?” Do you think that thewriter holds the same respect for publicopinion as Lindbergh does?

5. What effect does the word “escape” haveon the reader when the writer states that“There is no escape in isolation?”

Compare and Contrast – An Essay:Both Lindbergh and the New York Timeswriter use examples of “American ideals” tosupport their opposing arguments. How dothey each accomplish this? Who is moreconvincing? Why? Use specific examples fromboth documents to support your argument.Make sure to state clearly for your reader theircentral arguments.

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