Download 2006 WWII Study Guide

The Second World War
Essential Question
Is aggression a fundamental part of human nature and therefore an unavoidable social
phenomenon?
How can countries stop aggression by other nations?
Readings
Prentice Hall - Ch. 14
Sources of Western Tradition - p. 372 - 386
Handouts -
Objectives
Students will:
Debate the West’s policy of appeasement
List the causes of the rise of aggression around the world leading into W.W.II.
Know motivations of German, Italian and Japanese aggression
Judge the allied response to German, Italian and Japanese aggression
Detail the significant battles and turning points of the war
Assess the Pacific front from the perspective of the Japanese
Grasp the Russian contribution to the war
Analyze the treaties that ended the war and their effects on successive Cold War
developments
Study Questions
A. TERMS
a. Appeasement
d. Daladier
g. Nonagression Pact
j. Battle of Britain
m. Stalingrad
p. Battle of Midway
s. Dunkirk
b. Neville Chamberlain
e. Anschluss
h. London Blitzkrig
k. Barbarossa
n. Pearl Harbor
q. Hiroshima
t. Dresden
c. Winston Churchill
f. Sudetenland
i. Munich Conference
l. Polish corridor
o. Battle of Coral Sea
r. Nagasaki
u. FDR
B. QUESTIONS
** How did the practice of appeasement contribute to the outbreak and development of
W.W.II? Was there a better way for the West to respond to aggression?
1. Outline the steps in the German conquest of Western Europe. Explain the reasons for
Hitler’s success in each of the areas conquered by the summer of 1940.
2. What factors enabled the British to successfully resist German conquest? Why did
Germany fail? How did Germany’s first failure affect its military strategy?
3. What were the effects of the Russo-German Nonaggression Pact on both signers?
4. Why did Hitler decide to attack Russia? How do you account for Germany’s failure
to defeat Russia? What was the turning point in the aspect of the war?
5. What was Russia’s overall contribution to the war? To what extent was their
cooperation?
6. What was the role of the United States in the war prior to December 7, 1941? Explain
the Anglo-American strategy during W.W.II.
7. Outline the major events which occurred in the first year of the war in the Pacific
following Pearl Harbor. What major events brought defeat to Japan?
8. Describe the events which led to the liberation of Western Europe. How were the
German armies finally crushed?
9. What is the significance of the demand for unconditional surrender in W.W.II.?
10. Why was the world plunged into a second global conflict just two decades after
World War I?
11. How did technology affect the nature of the fighting and the extent of destruction in
World War II?
12. How did totalitarian regimes carry out their goals during the war?
13. How did World War II change the balance of world power?
14. How did geography influence the war in Eastern Europe and Russia ?
15. What were the major turning points in the war?