Unit 9
World War II
Social Studies 8
World War II
Name: _______________
Essential Question:
~1~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Topic: World War II
 Aim: Could World War II have been avoided?
 Do Now: What causes war?
__________________________________________________________________________________
 HW:
 World War II
This second global conflict resulted from the rise of totalitarian, militaristic regimes in Germany, Italy and
Japan, a phenomenon stemming in part from the Great Depression that swept over the world in the
early 1930s and from the conditions created by the peace settlements (1919–20) following World War
I.
Causes of World War II
 _______________________________________________________________
 _______________________________________________________________
 _______________________________________________________________
 _______________________________________________________________
 _______________________________________________________________
Axis Powers
 Germany – ______________________________________________________
 Italy- ___________________________________________________________
 Japan-__________________________________________________________
Allied Powers
 Russia – ________________________________________________________
 France- _________________________________________________________
 Great Britain- ____________________________________________________
 United States- ___________________________________________________
Events leading to War:
1922-1935
 1922- __________________________________________________________
 1924 – _________________________________________________________
 1931- Japan takes over Manchuria from China
 1933- Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
 1935- __________________________________________________________
Events leading to War:
1936-1939
~2~
Unit 9
World War II
 1936-___________________________________________________________
Mrs. Francis
 1937-___________________________________________________________
 1938- Hitler annexes Austria. Munich Conference
 1939- __________________________________________________________
Events leading to War:
1941
 March- _________________________________________________________
 April- __________________________________________________________
 December 7- ____________________________________________________
 December 8- ____________________________________________________
Questions:
1. What do these “headlines” tell us about events leading up to World War II?
2. What impact did the Treaty of Versailles have on Germany? Was it fair to Germany?
~3~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Exercise
Listed below in Column A are fundamental causes of World War II. In Column B, briefly explain how
each one set the stage for war. In Column C, number the causes in order of their importance in leading to
World War II.
A
B
C
Causes of WWII
How it lead to War
Importance
Treaty of Versailles
The Great
Depression
Rise of Dictators
Isolationism of the
United States
Rearming of
Germany
~4~
Unit 9
Failure of the
League of Nations
World War II
~5~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Topic: World War II
Aim: How did the US aid in the war effort while remaining neutral?
Do Now: What were the causes of the war?
HW –
American Foreign Policy
Neutrality Acts –
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Good
Neighbor Policy –
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Lend-Lease
Act –
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
The War Begins
Munich Conference 1938 –
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Appeasement –

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Atlantic Charter 1941 –

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
~6~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Neutrality Acts of the 1930’s
In the 1930s, several strong nations attacked weaker nations. Japan invaded China, and Italy invaded
Ethiopia, a weak African nation. Nazi Germany broke the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans took back
the Rhineland, a neutral area next to France. Japan, Italy, and Germany built powerful armies and
prepared for bigger wars.
At that time, Americans felt safe from foreign attacks. The Atlantic Ocean isolated them from Europe,
and the Pacific Ocean isolated them from Asia. Keeping out of foreign affairs was called “isolationism.”
Americans felt sympathy for China and Ethiopia, but they did not want to get into another foreign war
like World War I. In 1935 and again in 1937, Congress passed several Neutrality Acts. These laws
stopped American companies from selling weapons to nations at war. They also stopped Americans from
traveling on the ships of any nation at war. However, because Japan and China had not formally declared
war on each other, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to avoid the Neutrality Acts. In this way, the
President used his power to try to aid China in fighting Japan.
Word Study:
Look at the words in the box below. Choose the word you think makes the best sense in each blank.
During the 1930s, some strong nations were attacking weaker ones. China was invaded by
1._______________. Ethiopia was invaded by 2. _______________________. The Germans took back
the 3. ___________________. Meanwhile, America’s isolationism grew. The Atlantic Ocean isolated the
United States from 4. ____________________________. The Pacific Ocean isolated the United States
from 5. ________________________. Congress passed Neutrality Acts, but President 6.
________________ avoided using them.
Europe
Asia
Italy
Rhineland
Japan
Roosevelt
~7~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
The Atlantic Charter
August 14, 1941
The President of the United States of American and the Prime Minister Mr. Churchill representing His
Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, being met together, deem it right to make known certain
common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they base their hopes for
a better future for the world.
First, their countries seek no aggrandizement territorial or other;
Second, they desire to seek no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed
wishes of the peoples concerned;
Third, they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they
will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been
forcibly deprived of them;
Fourth, they will endeavor, with due respect for their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment
by all states, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw
materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity.
Fifth, they desire to bring about the fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic field
with the object of securing, for all, improved labor standards, economic advancement and social security;
Sixth, after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to see established a peace which
will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will
afford assurance that all the men in all the lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want;
Seventh, such a peace should enable all men to traverse the high seas and oceans without
hindrance;
Eighth, they believe that all of the nations of the world, for realistic as well as spiritual reasons
must come to the abandonment of the use of force. Since no future peace can be maintained if land, sea
or air armaments continue to be employed by nations which threaten, or may threaten, aggression outside
of their frontiers, they believe, pending the establishment of a wider and permanent system of general
security, that the disarmament of such nations is essential. They will likewise aid and encourage all other
practicable measures which will lighten for peace-loving peoples the crushing burden of armaments.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
WINSTON S. CHURCHILL
What is the goal of the Atlantic Charter?
~8~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
The War in Europe and Asia
Examine the maps below and complete the exercises
Exercise 1.
1. Which continent is shown on this map?
____________________________
2. What is the title of this map?
____________________________
3. Which two nations were invaded by the
Germans in 1939?
__________________________________
4. What African nation was invaded by Italy
in 1935? __________________________
Exercise 2.
1. Which continent is pictured here?
__________________________
2. What is the map’s title?
__________________________
3. Which regions of the mainland did the
Japanese control in 1932?
__________________________
4. What Asian region did Japan occupy
between 1937 and 1939?
___________________________
~9~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
What do these maps show us about events in Europe and Asia in the years before the United States
entered World War II?
Topic: US Entry into WWII
•Aim: Was US entry into WWII inevitable?
•Do Now: Why did Americans want to remain neutral?
_________________________________________________________________________
•HW–
Preparing for War
•_______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
•Isolationists ______________________________________________________
•_________________________________________________________________
Election of 1940
•________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
•The Republican candidate was ________________________________________
•Willkie: ____ electoral votes, popular vote ________________.
•Roosevelt: _____ electoral votes, popular vote _____________.
FDR and WWII
•Neutrality Act –
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
•1940 Election – “I will not send our boys to war” and “ Better a third termer than a third
rater”
•Lend Lease Act (1941)
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
~ 10 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
•US – ____________________________________________________________
~ 11 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
The Debate over the United States Involvement
When World War II began, the official policy of the United States was “neutrality.” But by 1940 events in
Europe and Asia led President Roosevelt to ask Congress for Lend-Lease: The United States would
greatly increase its production of military equipment so that it could lend or lease to the British and to the
other Allies any materials needed to carry on the fight. Lend-Lease caused a storm of controversy. The
“roles” described below summarize some of the opinions that were expressed at the time.
Role Card #1
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Armed defense of democracy is now being bravely waged
in four continents. If that defense fails, all the population
and all the resources of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia
will be dominated by the conquerors.
There is much talk of our immunity from immediate and
direct invasion from across the seas. Obviously, as long as
the British Navy retains its power, no such danger exists.
Even if there were no British Navy, it is not probable that
any enemy would be stupid enough to attack us by landing
troops in the U.S. from across thousands of miles of oceans
until it had acquired strategic bases from which to operate.
But the necessary strategic points would be occupied by
secret agents and their dupes, and great numbers of them
are already here, and in Latin America.
Role Card #3
Charles A. Lindbergh, Aviator, National Hero,
“America First” Committee Member.
I do not believe that our American way of life
will gain through an unsuccessful war. And I
know that the United States is not prepared to
wage war in Europe successfully at this time…
The United States is better situated from a
military standpoint than any other nation in the
world. Even in our present condition of
unpreparedness, no foreign power is in a
position to invade us today. If we concentrate
on our own defenses and build the strength that
this nation should maintain, no foreign army
will ever attempt to land on American shores.
Role Card #2
Senator Burton K. Wheeler, Montana
The Lend-Lease program stamps the President as warminded. It will plow under every fourth American boy.
Approval of this law means war, open and complete
warfare. I therefore, ask the American people before they
accept it: Was the last world war worth it?
If it were, then we should lend and lease war materials. If
it were, we should lend and lease American boys.
President Roosevelt has said that we would be repaid by
England. Of all its allies in World War I, only Finland has
repaid the massive war loans that had been extended by the
United States. If the U.S. Adopts Lend-Lease, our boys
will be returned-returned in caskets, maybe; returned with
bodies maimed; returned with minds warped and twisted
by sights of horrors.
Role Card #4
Senator Gerald P. Nye, North Dakota
In 1935, I headed a Senate committee that
investigated World War I profits. The figures
show that many American bankers and weapons
makers reaped rich profits from World War I.
These bankers and munitions makers,
“Merchants of Death,” made huge loans to the
Allies in the First World War. Then they
pressured our government to enter the war in
order to guarantee that their loans would be
repaid. The American people were manipulated
by the greedy few into supporting participation
in World War I.
~ 12 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Role Card #5
William Allen White, Kansas Newspaper
Editor, Chairman of the Committee to Defend
America by Aiding the Allies
The United States should aid the Allies in
whatever way possible other than by going to
war. Not only does German and Italian
aggression in Europe threaten the national
security of the United States, buy Japanese
aggression threatens U.S. interests in the
Pacific. In great need of oil, Japan threatens to
invade Indochina and the East Indies (colonies
of France and the Netherlands respectively
until defeated by Germany). I’m not at all sure
that the sanctions the United States has
imposed on Japan, i.e., reduction I the amount
of oil she can import from the United States
will make Japan back off.
Even if the U.S. were not directly threatened, I
believe that Americans have a moral duty to
aid the victims of unprovoked aggression. We
cannot claim freedom for ourselves sand
remains secure while freedom is being denied
to others around the world.
~ 13 ~
Mrs. Francis
Role Card #6
John Q. Public, United States citizen and voter
Some argue that, according to the polls, most
Americans are against going to war and,
therefore, would oppose Lend-Lease because
this policy will involve the U.S. in non-neutral
actions. I do not agree.
The public opinion polls during these last few
months show some contradictory desires. A
strong majority of the American people want to
stay out of war, but a strong majority favors
helping Britain even at the risk of war.
The fall of France in June of 1940 seems to
have brought about the change in American
public opinion that President Roosevelt has
been trying but failing to bring about.
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Cartoonists View U.S. Involvement in the War
Cartoon A appeared in a United States newspaper in 1939 at the start of World War II in
Europe. Cartoon B appeared in another American newspaper in 1941.
~ 14 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
New Threats to Peace: Analyzing a Cartoon
This cartoon was published in 1938 when the threat of war hung over Europe. Study the cartoon
carefully. Then answer the questions that follow.
1.
What does the tall man in the foreground of the cartoon stand for? Why is he looking toward
Europe? ___________________________________________________________________
2. Was Europe at war in 1938? What events created the fear of war?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. What list is the tall man holding behind his back? To what earlier war does the list refer?
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Why the cartoon is titled “A Good Time for Reflection”?
__________________________________________________________________________
~ 15 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
5. Do you think the cartoonist was in favor of United States involvement in European wars?
Topic: The US Enters the War
►Aim: Was the US justified in declaring war on Japan?
►Do Now: Why were so many Americans opposed to entering the war?
_______________________________________________
►HW: Study for quiz
Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941
►_____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
►July 27, 1941 –___________________________________
►Dec. 7, 1941 –
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________ Over 2000 American casualties.
Pearl Harbor
►In less than two hours, the Pacific Fleet had lost two battleships, six others were
heavily battered, and nearly a dozen lesser vessels put out of action.
►_______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
~ 16 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
The Pearl Harbor Attack
December 7-11, 1941
U.S. AT WAR!
JAPAN ATTACKS AMERICAN FLEET
AT PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII
CASUALTIES HIGH!
ROOSEVELT ASKS
CONGRESS TO DECLARE
WAR ON JAPAN
"Yesterday, December 7,
1941a date which will live in
infamy the United States of
America was suddenly and
deliberately attacked by naval
forces of the Empire of Japan.
"The United States was at
peace with that nation, and, at
the request of Japan, was still
in conversation with its
Government and its Emperor
looking toward the
maintenance of peace in the
Pacific. "Yesterday, the
Japanese Govern- ment also
launched an attack against
Malaya. Last night Japanese
forces attacked Hong Kong,
Guam, the Philippine Islands,
and Wake Island. This
morning the Japanese
attacked Midway Island. "I
ask that the Congress declare
that since the unprovoked and
dastardly attack by Japan on
Sunday, December seventh, a
state of war has existed
between the United States and
the Japanese Empire."
American ship the Arizona
burning after Japanese sneak
attack
3 DAYS LATER
PRESIDENT ASKS
CONGRESS TO DECLARE
WAR ON GERMANY AND
ITALY "On the morning of
December 11, the
Governments of Germany and
Italy declared war against the
United States. The longknown and the long-expected
has taken place. The forces
trying to enslave the world
now are moving toward this
hemisphere. Never before has
there been a greater challenge
to life, liberty, and
civilization."
JAPANESE FOREIGN
MINISTER TOGO CLAIMS
U.S. FORCED JAPAN TO
~ 17 ~
GO TO WAR "Even a small,
militarily weak nation would
have taken up arms against
the United States if it had
been handed a note like the
one that the U.S. government
presented to Japan. That note
demanded that Japan
immediately withdraw from
China and from Indochina.
The United States delivered
this note knowing full well
that Japan would have to
reject it. In May of 1941 when
the U.S. stopped all oil
shipments to Japan, she was
forced to attack her neighbors
and take the oil she needed....
Indeed, the question of how to
get Japan to fire the first shot
had been debated in
Washington, D.C. It seems
not unreasonable to conclude
that the American note was
the throwing down of a
challenge to Japan."
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Reactions to Pearl Harbor
On the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Americans below were asked about their
memories of that fateful day. Read their responses.
DAVID DINKINS
Former mayor of New York
City
I was 14 and I recall learning
about the attack from the
conversations of grownups
around me. It's my
'recollection that they thought
the talks between Japanese
and U.S. envoys in
Washington had been going
well so the news of the
Japanese attack was
particularly shocking. For me,
the war didn't start to sink in
until casualties started to
mount among neighbors who
had gone into service.
MARIO CUOMO
Governor of New York State
I was home, listening to "The
Shadow" on the radio. I don't
know what time it was, 3
o'clock or 4, maybe. I was 9
years old, and I cannot tell
you everything precisely
except it came on over the
radio... sometime around
dusk, maybe. It didn't have
immediate meaning for me.
But my parents were not that
shocked to find out that we
were in war because everyone
in our neighborhood was very
conscious of what was going
on in Europe. Everyone in the
neighborhood was from
Europe the Italians, the Jews.
JOHN V.N. KLEIN
Former Suffolk County
Executive
I was 10 years old, it was
about 7 or 8 at night and I was
just climbing into bed in our
Smithtown home when my
father came in. He was very
grim and I remember he sat
down on the edge of the bed,
told me about the attack and
explained carefully where
Pearl Harbor was and how
this was the beginning of a
war. Then he reached over
and pulled down the window
shades and said: "This is what
we'll have to do each night
from now on." The war didn't
mean much to me then. It did,
though, three years later. My
brother, a marine pilot, was
killed in a mid-air crash. The
news, from the War
Department, came by
telephone. I was the one who
picked up the phone.
CORA CHIN
Lynbrook, New York,
resident
I was living in Chinatown at
the time, and I'd gone to a
movie -something with Errol
~ 18 ~
Flynn and when I got home,
my mother told me the news.
I don't think we were all that
surprised. Ours was a Chinese
American family. China had
been at war with Japan for
three years. And my parents
had been active in raising
funds for Chinese causes and
in protesting the Japanese
incursion into China in some
ways, the Japanese were
monsters to us, because of the
war, you know.
ERNIE WILMERS
Sea Cliff, Long Island,
resident
I was working for Ranger
Aircraft in Jamaica [Queens]
at the time, and as I recall, we
got the news by radio. I was a
new father and had ulcers, so
I got a deferment from
service. Funny thing: I'd come
over from Germany, in 1936,
and I'd gotten a letter from the
Nazis, ordering me to report
back for military service. I
guess they still hadn't found
out I was Jewish.
ELINOR KAJIWARA
Manhattan resident
I was living in Los Angeles at
the time and I'd just come
home from... church when the
news came over the radio. My
Unit 9
reaction was absolute shock. I
was a student... and we had to
World War II
get rides from private cars. ..I
remember [bus] drivers
Mrs. Francis
wouldn't pick us up; it made
me feel like an outcast.
Chronology of World War II
Some of the important events of World War II are listed in the chronology that follows. Use this page for
your reference.
1939
September
Germany invades Poland. Great Britain and France declare war on Germany
April
German forces capture Norway and much of western Europe.
May
Churchill becomes Great Britain’s prime minister.
June
Italy joins the war on the Axis’s side. (Germany and Japan)
October
The Battle of Britain ends.
June
Germany invades the USSR
December
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. The United States enters the war.
February
Japan captures Singapore
May
The Battle of the Coral Sea takes place
June
The U.S. Navy is victorious in Battle at Midway. Allies invade Morocco and Algeria.
October
Allies defeat Germans and Italians at El Alamein in Egypt.
November
Russians defeat Germans at Stalingrad.
July
Allies land in Sicily and southern Italy
September
Italy surrenders.
June
Allies invade western Europe on D-Day, June 6.
July
A plot to kill Hitler fails.
October
In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the U.S. fleet defeats Japan.
January
Russians invade Germany from the east.
March
Allies cross the Rhine River.
April
In the East, U.S. troops recapture the Philippines
May
Hitler commits suicide. Fighting ends in Europe.
August
U.S. airplanes drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders.
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
~ 19 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Aim: How were ethnic groups affected by the war?
Do Now: Why did victory depend on the war effort at home?
_________________________________________________________________________
HW:
African Americans
_______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________
Tuskegee airmen –
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________.
Japanese Americans
_____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________
Native Americans
_______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________.
~ 20 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Impact of World War II: The Home Front
Racism in War Industries
Earl B. Dickerson, an African-American appointed by President Roosevelt to the first Fair Employment
Practices Committee, served there from 1941-1943. Below he recalls efforts to enforce Executive Order
8802.
~ 21 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Why did President Roosevelt sign Executive Order 8022?
Mexican-Americans victimized in Los Angeles
Don McFadden recalls the “zoot-suit riots” that broke out during the summer of 1943 when high
American causalities in the war led servicemen to release their frustrations on Mexican-Americans.
~ 22 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
What do these selections tell us about the effects of World War II on the people of the United States?
Japanese Internment
Within weeks after the bombing of Pearl
Harbor, Japanese American men were rounded
up and jailed like criminals. Their families
were forced to obey a curfew and they had a
five –mile travel limit. In addition, they were
required to turn in their shortwave radios,
cameras, binoculars, and firearms to local
police.
On February 20, 1942, Executive Order 9066
was carried out and 110,000 persons of
Japanese ancestry were ordered to leave their homes. Evacuees were only allowed what they could carry,
including linens, clothing, dishes, toys and utensils. They were taken to assembly centers at nearby
fairgrounds and race tracks. These areas were secured with barbed wire fences and sentries were posted
in guard towers. One tiny room was assigned to each family. Some of these rooms were nothing more
than former horse stalls with linoleum placed directly over manure-covered ground. There was no
furniture except for army cots, no running water, and no heat. Communal bathrooms with toilets and
showers had to be shared with 300 other people. Lines for meals were long, and the food served was not
their usual diet. The Japanese Americans spent the spring and summer of 1942 in these makeshift
quarters until they were moved into one of ten different camps in Idaho, California, Wyoming, Arizona,
and Arkansas. These “new” camps weren’t much better than the ones they had left. Barbed wire
surrounded the areas, and sentries stood watch. Rows of black barracks covered with tar paper were their
new homes. Rooms were one of three sizes and were assigned one per family, depending on the number
of family members. One hanging ceiling light, a closet, and windows decorated each room. Thin walls
~ 23 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
assured them of no privacy. Evacuees made what furniture they could. Women ordered fabric through
mail order catalogs and sewed curtains. People planted outdoor gardens, and students attended camp
schools which lacked even basic supplies like books and paper. Japanese Americans were kept in these
barracks until 1944.
Aim: How did the US prepare for war?
Do Now: How will preparations for war affect the economy of the US?
_______________________________________________________________________________
HW:
American patriotism during WWII
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Organizing the economy
__________________________________________________________________________________
War Production board: ________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
War Power Commission: ______________________________________________________________
Office of Price Administration: _________________________________________________________
Jobs for Women
____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
~ 24 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Home Front Picture Album
Choose a caption from those below and place it under each picture from the home front
during World War II:
 Consumers get ration booklets with coupons worth points.
 “Rosie the riveter” takes on a “man’s job.”
 Americans grow their own food in “victory gardens.”
 School children buy war savings bonds.
 Saved
rubber
and
metal
turned
into
war
supples.
~ 25 ~
Unit 9
World War II
The Allies Advance
Aim: How was an allied drive to victory made possible?
•Do Now:
•HW:
World War II
•World War II began in 1939 with Germany’s invasion of Poland.
•_____________________________________________________
~ 26 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
•The US fought for only four years of the war after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
•_____________________________________________________
•_____________________________________________________.
Mrs. Francis
Major Powers
•The war pitted fifty nations united together as the Allies against nine Axis Powers.
•____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________
•____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________.
A time of Peril
•In early 1942, the Germans seemed unbeatable. Submarines were sinking ships faster than the Allies
could replace them.
•_____________________________________________________
•The Soviets resisted the Germans. They burned crops and destroyed farm equipment.
•General Douglas Mac Arthur, commander of US forces in the Pacific faced a difficult task.
Turning the Tide
•Allied leaders decided that they must defeat Germany and Italy first.
Then they would send combined
forces to Japan.
•The US’s aircraft carriers engaged a Japanese fleet near Java in May 1942. The Japanese fleet turned
back after 3 days.
•Battle of Midway –
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________
Other Victories
___________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________
1943- The Italians had overthrown Mussolini. The new government sided with the Allies.
The Allies made important advances in Europe once they took control of Rome.
D-Day Invasion at Normandy
•Operation Overlord_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________
•June 6, 1944 – D-Day – a fleet of 4,000 Allied ships carried the invasion force to France.
•August 25, 1944, the Allies entered Paris. After 4 years of Nazi rule, France was free.
Advancing on Germany
~ 27 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
•The Battle of the Bulge – ___________________________________
•____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________
•The bombing caused severe fuel shortages in Germany and reduced their ability to produce war goods.
A New President
•_____________________________________________________
•Roosevelt won more than 54 percent of the vote. His running mate was Harry S. Truman.
•____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________
Victory in Europe
•April 1945 – ____________________________________________
•American troops were closing in from the west.
•Soviet troops were advancing from the east.
•On April 25th they met 60 miles south of Berlin.
•_____________________________________________________
•Hitler committed suicide on April 30th.
•May 7th – ______________________________________________
•May 8th – ______________________________________________.
Questions to Answer
•Why was 1942 a difficult year for the Allies?
•What victories turned the war in favor of the Allies?
•How did the Allies force Germany to surrender?
~ 28 ~
Unit 9
World War II
~ 29 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
~ 30 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Aim: How much responsibility does the United States bear for the Holocaust?
Do Now:
Main Idea: At the end of World War II nations attempted to enforce justice and to protect human rights.
Objectives:
1. Students will be able to recognize the brutality and scope of the Holocaust.
2. Students will be able to discuss US knowledge of and response to the plight of Europe’s Jews both
before and after Pearl Harbor.
3. Students will be able to assess US responsibility for the Holocaust.
Activity 1: Scope of the Holocaust – Examine the map and complete the exercise. Answer the following
questions:
1. What does the map show about the effects of Nazi racist thinking when they occupied Europe
during World War II?
2. From the information shown, what do you think the Nazis meant when they used the term “Final
Solution”?
3. Why do you suppose the Nazis targeted the following people for extermination: Slavs, Catholics,
Jews, Gypsies, and people with disabilities?
Activity 2: Read “Inge’s Story” and answer the following questions:
1. What do you learn from Inge’s story?
2. Why does Inge say that after Kristallnacht, “we knew that we had to get out of Germany”?
3. How did Inge’s relatives in the US respond to her family’s plea for help? Why?
4. What was life like for Inge and her family at the Theresienstadt camp? What were their main
concerns? Why?
Activity 3: Read “Journey of the St. Louis”, complete the exercise and answer the following questions:
1. What happened to the St. Louis and its passengers?
2. Why did Cuban officials decide that the passengers’ landing permits were invalid?
3. How did the US government respond to the Joint Distribution Committee suggestions that
immigration laws be relaxed and the passengers be given at least temporary haven?
4. How did the New York Times treat the story of the St. Louis? If you had read this editorial, how
would you have responded? What, if anything, would you have done? Explain.
~ 31 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
5. What feelings were expressed by the passengers on the St. Louis? How do you react to his
statement?
6. How does the end of the St. Louis story make you feel?
Activity 4: Class will be put into groups of 4 or 5. One student will read the statements to the group. The
group is to evaluate the responsibility of each speaker by putting a number next to each selection. After
completing the exercise, students are to answer the following questions:
1. Does the US (government and/or citizens) share some of the responsibility for the Holocaust?
2. Are you just as guilty if you fail to act as if you act?
3. Should Americans today take action in response to atrocities against people being committed
around the world? Explain by giving examples.
Activity 1
~ 32 ~
Unit 9
World War II
ACTIVITY 2
~ 33 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
~ 34 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
Activity 3
~ 35 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
Activity 4
~ 36 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Aim: How were the Japanese Americans treated after the attack on Pearl Harbor?
Do Now: Why were the Japanese Americans targeted?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
HW:
Japanese Americans
___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Internment Camps
1942 President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 – establishing military zones for the
imprisonment of Japanese Americans.
___________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Internment Camps
Set up all over the west in isolated desert areas Arizona, California, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and
Wyoming.
One camp was located in Topaz, Utah. It held 9,408 at its peak.
Camps
Tule Lake, California was one of the most infamous internment camps.
____________________________________________________________________________
At its peak, Tule Lake held 18,789 internees.
____________________________________________________________________________
Korematsu v. United States
Fred Korematsu was convicted for remaining in a “Military Area” which violated the Civilian Exclusion
Order.
The court ruled on the side of the government 
____________________________________________________________________________________
Korematsu v. United States
___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
~ 37 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
About 50 years after the internments, the US government admitted that the relocation program was
unjust.
In 1988, Congress voted to pay $20,000 to each of the approximately 60,000 surviving Americans who
had been interned. The first payments were made in 1990 – with a formal apology.
~ 38 ~
Unit 9
World War II
~ 39 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
~ 40 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
~ 41 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
America’s Shame: When Citizens became Inmates
By Peggy Brown
Imagine that it’s 1941 and you’re a child in a Japanese-American family. As a U.S. citizen, you
feel safe and secure in all the American freedoms you’ve learned about in school.
But on December 7, 1941, Japanese planes bomb U.S. ships in Pearl Harbor Hawaii, and the
United States enters World War II. Japan, the country of your ancestors, is now an enemy – and you will
become a prisoner of war. In your own country.
An official government notice gives your family just one week to sell most belongings. Then you
will be taken to a “relocation” camp.
You may take only what you can carry: sheets (no mattresses – you will learn to sleep on
straw); toiletries, clothing, forks, knives, cups and plates, and some personal items. No pets allowed.
It sounds unreal, like an episode of “The Twilight Zone.” But this abuse of citizen’s rights
actually happened,
Even before World War II, many Americans treated Japanese Americans with bigotry.
Nationwide, anti-Japanese hysteria started immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, giving
military commanders authority to remove “dangerous persons” from designated areas, such as the West
Coast. Roosevelt’s reasoning was the Japanese Americans could be spies. Generally, Americans whose
ancestors came from Germany and Italy – our other World War II enemies – were not treated similarly.
Eleven camps were set up. Most were closed by early 1945, when Japanese-Americans were
allowed to leave and resettle.
More than 3 decades later, the United States government passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988,
formally apologizing to the Japanese-Americans for the internment and giving $20,000 in reparations –
apology money – to each of those still alive.
Questions:
1.
What does internment mean?
2. Why were Japanese Americans interned?
3. What were the conditions like in the camps?
4. Do you think the U.S. government acted properly in giving $20,000 to each internee 30 years
later? Explain.
~ 42 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Korematsu v. United States
Fred Korematsu was a Nisei who refuse to report for evacuation. He believed that the evacuation orders
violated his rights under the United States Constitution. As Korematsu’s attorney, write a “brief”
(summary of a legal argument) which you will present to the United States Supreme Court.
In the case of Korematsu v. United States, attorneys for the claimant will argue that:
Now read an excerpt from Supreme Court’s actual decision in the Korematsu case. Justice Black said:
We are dealing with an exclusion order. To cast this case into outlines of racial prejudice, without
reference to the real military dangers which were presented, merely confuses the issue. Korematsu
was not excluded from the military area because hostility to him or his race. He was excluded
because we are at war with the Japanese Empire, because military authorities feared an invasion of
our West Coast and felt constrained (required) to take proper security measures, because they
decided that the military urgency of the situation demanded that all citizens of Japanese ancestry
be segregated from the West Coast temporarily.
~ 43 ~
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Aim: Was the US justified in dropping the atomic bomb to end WWII?
Do Now: How do nations stop fighting?
___________________________________________________________________________________
HW: Study for the test
The Atomic Bomb
___________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
The Manhattan Project
1943- Group of scientists from the US, Canada, Britain and other European countries began work on a
top secret research program known as the Manhattan project.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
They killed more than 100,000 Japanese instantly. Thousands died later from radiation sickness.
Hiroshima
August 6, 1945 – “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima by the crew of the Enola Gay
This building was the closest surviving building at ground zero.
Nagasaki
August 9, 1945 – ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Japan Surrenders
Japan formally surrendered days after the bombings – and WWII came to an end.
____________________________________________________________________________
~ 44 ~
Unit 9
World War II
~ 45 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
~ 46 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
The Manhattan Project
When the nucleus of an atom is split or
broken apart, energy is released. The process
begins when a slow-moving neutron is
launched to split a uranium atom. Each split
uranium atom gives off three more neutrons
plus two hydrogen atoms. These new
neutrons go on to split other uranium atoms.
This happens over and over in what is called a
chain reaction.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s scientists
around the world had been finding out more
and more about atoms and their behavior.
Germans Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn had
successfully split the nucleus of a uranium
atom. Enrico Fermi expanded on their work
in 1942 when he and his team were able to
achieve a controlled chain reaction.
By 1939 both German and American physicists were working on practical applications for nuclear fission;
specifically a bomb. After scientist Albert Einstein warned President Roosevelt that the Germans were in
the process of building an atomic bomb, Roosevelt gave approval for the top secret Manhattan Project.
Hundreds of male and female scientist and technicians were gathered together under the direction of J.
Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist.
Although much of the early work was conducted in New York City, the actual testing site was in New
Mexico. On July 16, 1945, three years after the project started, the first test explosion of an atomic bomb
took place in New Mexico’s Alamogordo Bombing Range. It’s awesome force shook the desert floor,
and its blinding light illuminated trees and mountains. A mushroom cloud of dust raised high into the
sky. The five kilograms of plutonium in the bomb yielded an explosion equivalent to 18,500 tons of
dynamite, more than enough to destroy an entire city.
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. Air Force dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan. Over
200,000 people were killed in the blast. After a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later,
Japan surrendered. Although the true effects of the bomb would not be fully realized for many years, a
new Atomic Age had begun.
The scientists who participated in the Manhattan Project knew that what they were working on could kill
thousands of people in a single blast, yet they hoped that it would lead to worldwide peace.
~ 47 ~
Unit 9
World War II
~ 48 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
~ 49 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
~ 50 ~
Mrs. Francis
Unit 9
World War II
Mrs. Francis
Aim: What do we need to study?
HW: Study for Test
The Holocaust
The Allies decided to put Nazi leaders on trial for the Holocaust.
They conducted war crimes trials in Nuremberg, Germany.
Nuremberg Trials – 12 Nazi leaders were sentenced to death.
Review for Test
1._________________________________________________________________
2.Define:
•Holocaust: _____________________________________________________
•Rationing:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
•Island Hopping: __________________________________________________
•Appeasement: Policy of giving someone something that they want – example: Germany gained
Sudentanland.
3.Leaders of Germany and Italy:
____________________________________________________________________
4.Isolationist: ________________________________________________________
5.Neutrality Acts:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
6.Lend – Lease:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
7. Arsenal of Democracy:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
~ 51 ~
Unit 9
8. Atlantic Charter:
World War II
Mrs. Francis
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
9. Result: ____________________________________________________________
10. Operation Overlord:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
11.__________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
12. _________________________________________________________________
13. _________________________________________________________________
14. _________________________________________________________________
15. Nuremberg Trials:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
16. _________________________________________________________________
~ 52 ~