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TEACHER’S GUIDE
TEACHER’S GUIDE
• In his State of the Union address to Congress after being elected in 1940
to a third term in office, President Roosevelt spoke of the four freedoms
that the United States was bound to uphold. Ask students to listen to
President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech, and analyze its language,
tone and content.As a follow-up, ask students to discuss to what extent
they think Roosevelt’s vision is possible and to describe ways
Roosevelt’s goals can be put into practice. Portions of the Four Freedoms
speech can be heard at this Web site: nmaa-ryder.si.edu/collections/
exhibits/posters/freedoms.html
• www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq87-3.htm
The Department of the Navy’s Historical Center provides links to many
oral histories from World War II battles such as Midway and D-Day.
• www.loc.gov/rr/print/126_rosi.html
The Library of Congress’ Prints and Photographs Division presents “Rosie
Pictures: Select Images Relating to American Women Workers During World
War II.”These images were used to encourage women to join the wartime
workforce.
• To encourage Americans to participate in World War II, the U.S. government produced a variety of posters, advertisements and songs. Ask
students to analyze the methods of persuasion utilized and to evaluate
the effectiveness of this campaign. Students may also develop their own
campaigns that attempt to promote policy initiatives meaningful to
them.A number of different examples of World War II messages developed
to help win American hearts and minds can be found at this Web site:
www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of_
persuasion_intro.html
• A number of famous political and military leaders such as Winston
Churchill, General George Patton and General Dwight Eisenhower
strongly impacted the events and battles of World War II. Break students
into small groups and assign each group a different individual to
research.Ask groups to give detailed presentations on the lives of their
leaders, highlighting the roles they played at various turning points in
World War II.
• The German economy suffered greatly at the end of World War I; in 1923,
the exchange rate between the dollar and the mark was one trillion
marks to one dollar. Historians believe that the harsh conditions
imposed by European nations on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles of
1919 (against the wishes of President Woodrow Wilson) created the conditions that led to World War II.Ask students to read the provisions of
this treaty and to construct their own argument regarding its possible
role in sparking renewed hostilities. The full text of the Treaty of
Versailles can be found at this Web site: history.acusd.edu/gen/text/
versaillestreaty/vercontents.html
Suggested Internet Resources
Periodically, Internet Resources are updated on our Web site at
www.LibraryVideo.com
• www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/
bomb/large/bomb.htm
The Truman Presidential Museum and Library’s “The Decision to Drop
the Atomic Bomb” offers teachers and students lesson plans and
primary source documents related to this crucial moment in history.
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TEACHER’S GUIDE
Suggested Print Resources
TM
• Ambrose, Stephen. Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy
Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944 to May
7, 1945. Simon & Schuster, New York, NY; 1998.
• Hersey, John. Hiroshima. First Vintage Books, New York, NY; 1989.
• Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar.
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA; 2002.
WORLD WAR II
Grades 5–12
TEACHER’S GUIDE CONSULTANTS
Jeffrey W. Litzke, M.Ed.
Curriculum Specialist, Schlessinger Media
Rudolph Lea
Historian
COMPLETE LIST OF TITLES
• Three Worlds Meet (Origins–1620)
• The Era of Colonization (1585–1763)
• Slavery & Freedom
• The American Revolution
• A New Nation (1776–1815)
• Expansionism
• Democracy & Reform
• Causes of the Civil War
• The Civil War
• Reconstruction & Segregation (1865–1910)
• Industrialization & Urbanization
(1870–1910)
• Immigration & Cultural Change
• A Nation in Turmoil
Teacher’s Guides Included
and Available Online at:
• The Progressive Movement
• U.S. & The World (1865–1917)
• The Great War
• The Roaring Twenties
• The Great Depression
& The New Deal
• World War II
• Post-War U.S.A.
• The Cold War
• Civil Rights
• The Vietnam War
• The Middle East
• U.S. Politics (1960–1980)
• U.S. Politics (1980–2000)
800-843-3620
Teacher’s Guide Copyright 2003 by Schlessinger Media,
a division of Library Video Company
D6779
P.O. Box 580,Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620
V7019
Program Copyright 1996, 2003 by Schlessinger Media
Executive Producer:Andrew Schlessinger
Original production produced and directed by Invision Communications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
T
his guide is a supplement designed for teachers
to use when presenting programs in the United
States History series.
Before Viewing: Give students an introduction
to the topic by relaying aspects of the program
summary to them. Select pre-viewing discussion
questions and vocabulary to provide a focus for
students when they view the program.
After Viewing: Review the program and vocabulary, and use the follow-up activities to inspire
continued discussion. Encourage students to
research the topic further with the Internet and
print resources provided.
This program correlates to the following
Prentice Hall textbooks:
The American Nation: Chapter 27
America: Pathways to the Present: Chapters 14 and 15
Program Summary
The legacies of World War I and the Great Depression were instability and
insecurity around the world, creating the environment for the rise of antidemocratic totalitarian regimes in Europe. Dictators such as Adolf Hitler in
Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy ruthlessly attacked their own people
and launched aggressions against other nations. While the United States
remained officially “neutral” in Europe where war broke out in the late 1930s,
in the Pacific,American economic interests collided with Japanese imperial
goals, resulting in major conflict.
The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States
into World War II on all fronts — against the Japanese domination of the
Pacific and the Far East, and against Hitler’s domination of Europe. It also
resulted in the U.S. government placing thousands of Japanese-Americans in
internment camps for the length of the war.
The U.S. government mobilized the economy for war production and the
United States transformed itself into the Arsenal of Democracy, producing
vast quantities of weapons for itself and for its allies. The war sparked
profound social changes, as women became increasingly involved in the
workforce and African-Americans made significant economic gains.
Hard-fought battles in North Africa and Europe came to a climax with the
invasion of Normandy on D-Day. Nazi Germany was eventually crushed by
the Russians in eastern Europe and the Allies in western Europe. Meanwhile,
the war against Japan turned into a vicious island hopping campaign, the
culmination of which occurred when America dropped two atomic bombs
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan’s surrender.World War II transformed the United States into an economic colossus and military
superpower, and in the postwar era the nation took on the responsibility as
protector of the free world.
Time Line
1919 — The Treaty of Versailles ending World War I is signed.
1922 — Joseph Stalin becomes the leader of Russia’s Communist Party.
1922 — Fascist Benito Mussolini takes power in Italy.
1933 — Adolf Hitler becomes the chancellor of Germany.
1938 — Germany invades Austria and Czechoslovakia.
1940 — Germany invades Denmark,Norway,Holland,Belgium and Luxembourg.
1940 — France surrenders to Nazi forces.
1940 — The Battle of Britain occurs.
1940 — President Franklin Roosevelt is reelected for a fourth term.
1941 — German forces pour into the Soviet Union.
1941 — Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; the U.S. declares war on Japan.
1942 — Japanese Americans begin to be placed in internment camps.
1942 — The Battle of Midway Island takes place.
1943 — Race riots explode in dozens of American cities.
1944 — The invasion of Normandy, or D-Day, begins.
1944 — The Battle of the Bulge takes place.
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1945 — President Franklin Roosevelt dies; Harry Truman becomes president.
1945 — Germany surrenders; the war in Europe ends.
1945 — The U.S. drops atomic bombs on two Japanese cities; the war in the
Pacific ends.
Vocabulary
The Treaty of Versailles — The treaty that ended World War I. Its harsh
conditions upon Germany set the stage for World War II.
Nazi Party — Adolf Hitler’s political party in Germany; also known as the
National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
Totalitarian state — A state whose government, ruled by a dictator, has
total and unlimited authority over the people.
fascism — A system of government that glorifies the state and is led by a
single powerful ruler.
blitzkrieg — A German word meaning “lightning war” first used by Hitler in
World War II. Hitler’s strategy involved the use of fast-moving tanks, or
Panzers, to invade other European countries.
Battle of Britain — The 1940 Nazi air assault that failed to subdue Great
Britain.
wolf packs — Numbers of German submarines working together to hunt
and sink Allied ships, primarily in the North Atlantic.
Axis Powers — The alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan during World War
II formed by the signing of the Tripartite Pact in 1940.
Neutrality Acts — Laws passed by the U.S. Congress before World War II to
prevent American involvement.
isolationists — People who believed that America should isolate itself and
not participate in the affairs of the world outside of the Western Hemisphere.
embargo — The refusal to sell goods to or buy goods from another nation
or nations.
Lend-Lease Program — President Roosevelt’s way of bypassing the
Neutrality Acts by lending and leasing financial and material resources to
nations attacked by Germany.
Pearl Harbor — An American military base in the Pacific that was attacked
by Japan on December 7, 1941; the United States declared war on Japan the
next day.
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere — Japan’s policy of declaring
China and other nations in East Asia to be within its own sphere of economic
influence.
Arsenal of Democracy — A term coined by President Roosevelt to
describe the role of American industry during the war.
Fair Employment Practices Committee — A U.S. agency that enforced
President Roosevelt’s executive order to ban discrimination in the hiring of
workers for war production and for government work.
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second front — The term used to describe an eventual Allied invasion of
Western Europe to force Germany to fight in the west as well as on the
existing eastern front in Russia.
D-Day — June 6, 1944, when the Allies invaded Normandy in France to
open a second front in the war against Germany.
Battle of the Bulge — A battle in which Hitler launched a large-scale
counter-attack against American and British armies on the western front in
December 1944.
concentration camps — Nazi-run work and death camps in which millions of people were imprisoned and died during World War II.
Bataan Death March — A cruel, deadly march Japanese troops forced
upon American and Filipino prisoners captured in the Philippines in 1942.
The Battle of Midway — A fierce battle in the Pacific between Japan
and the United States; the first battle ever fought entirely by planes from
aircraft carriers.
island hopping — The U.S. military tactic of capturing strategic islands
in the Pacific during World War II.
Manhattan Project — A secret U.S. project responsible for building the
first atomic bombs during World War II.
Pre-viewing Discussion
• What is the significance of December 7, 1941? Ask students to discuss
what they know about Pearl Harbor and its aftermath.
• Those who lived and fought during World War II are often referred to as
the “greatest generation.” Ask students to reflect on this label and discuss
why Americans from this era evoke such positive memories.
• What is a dictator? Ask students to offer a definition for the term, and to
compare this type of leadership to a more democratic style of leadership.
Follow-up Discussion
• Ask students to discuss the immediate effects and speculate about the longterm consequences of dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• Ask students to evaluate President Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease Program.Was
he justified in pressuring Congress to aid the Allies?
• Americans were asked to save, recycle and cut back on the use of gas,
sugar and butter during World War II.Ask students how they would have
responded to these restrictions and to offer other ways Americans could
have helped their country during World War II.
Follow-up Activities
• In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government placed thousands
of Japanese Americans in internment camps for the duration of the war.
To enhance student understanding about this situation, ask your class to
read the majority and dissenting opinions in U.S. vs. Hirabayashi, and
those offered in the case of U.S. vs. Korematsu.Ask students to discuss
the constitutional issues involved in each case.
(Continued)
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