Download World War II Era Assignment Sheet

Social Studies Assignment Sheet:
World War II Era: 1935-1945
HW #24-1a Read pp. 802-804
Aggression Leads to War (stop at Military Aggression)
Key IDs: • Josef Stalin
• totalitarian state • fascism • Benito Mussolini • Hitler
1. Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union, which, officially, was a communist
government. Look back in your notes to define the meaning of communism. How did Stalin’s
leadership differ from true communism?
2. How did Mussolini make his fascist rule seem appealing to the people of Italy?
3. How did rulers like Stalin and Mussolini maintain power?
4. What is similar about Nazism and fascism?
5. How did the Great Depression contribute to the rise of Nazism?
6. How did imperialism contribute to the rise of military rule in Japan?
HW #24-1b Read pp. 804-807 Aggression Leads to War
Key IDs: • Nanjing • appeasement • Munich Pact • the Sudetenland • Neville Chamberlain
• Nazi-Soviet Pact • Battle of Britain
1. Describe Japan’s actions in China and Manchuria.
2. How did the League of Nations react to Japan’s aggression in China and Italy’s actions in
Ethiopia?
3. Why do you think both Britain and France were willing to appease Germany so easily?
4. How did the United States respond to foreign aggression overseas?
5. Why might Germany be eager to attack Poland? (Hint: Think back to the end of WW I.)
6. After signing the Nazi-Soviet Pact, what actions did both Germany and the Soviet Union take in
Eastern Europe?
7. How did France fall to the invading German Army?
8. How was Britain successfully able to defend itself from a German invasion?
9. Why do you think Hitler broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
10. Re-read both: “Why It Matters” at the beginning of the section and “Looking Back and
Ahead” at the end of the section. In your own words summarize the “story” you just read and
what you will learn next.
HW #24-2
Read pp. 808–813 The United States at War
Key IDs: • Lend Lease Act • Atlantic Charter • Pearl Harbor • Axis Powers • Allied Powers
• Dwight D. Eisenhower • Douglas MacArthur • Bataan Death March
1. What promise did FDR make that helped him win a third term and break a precedent established
by George Washington?
2. How did the United States support the allies without officially violating the Neutrality Acts?
Why did the United States support the Allies?
3. How did the United States mobilize for war?
4. How did the Atlantic Charter try to correct some of the mistakes made at the Versailles
Conference?
5. Who were the Tuskegee Airmen?
6. Why did the Japanese decide to attack Pearl Harbor?
7. Why did President Franklin Roosevelt refer to December 7, 1941 as a “date which will live in
infamy?” What does “infamy” mean?
8. What strategies did the Americans use to gain victory at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the
Battle of Midway?
9. Re-read both: “Why It Matters” at the beginning of the section and “Looking Back and
Ahead” at the end of the section. In your own words summarize the “story” you just read and
what you will learn next.
HW #24-3
Read pp. 816–820 The War at Home
Key IDs: • War Production Board • rationing • Rosie the Riveter • Executive Order 9066
• intern • A. Philip Randolph
1. How did the United States’ entry into war affect the nation’s economy?
2. Describe the picture of Rosie the Riveter on page 817. Do you think this was a positive or a
negative image for women? Why?
3. Why did FDR order Japanese Americans into internment camps? Given the climate of the time,
do you agree with his decision?
4. Do you agree or disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision on Korematsu v. United States? Is
the government ever justified in suspending citizens’ rights during wartime? Justify and explain
your opinion using specific examples and details.
5. What gains did African Americans make at home as a result of the war?
6. How did FDR respond to the protests of A. Philip Randolph?
7. Re-read both: “Why It Matters” at the beginning of the section and “Looking Back and
Ahead” at the end of the section. In your own words summarize the “story” you just read and
what you will learn next.
HW #24-4
Read pp. 821–827 Toward Victory
Key IDs: • D-Day • Omaha Beach • Battle of the Bulge • Harry S Truman • V-E Day
• island hopping • kamikaze • VJ Day • genocide • war crimes
1. Why was Stalin so eager to have the Allies upon up a second front in Europe?
2. Explain how D-Day changed the fighting in Europe and altered the course of the war.
3. Why was the Battle of the Bulge a turning point in the war in Europe?
4. If you had been an advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt, would you have encouraged him to run for
an unprecedented fourth term even though he was in poor health? Why or why not?
5. How and when did Harry S Truman become President of the United States?
6. Why were the battles fought in the Pacific so deadly? Describe the tactics used at Iwo Jima and
Okinawa.
7. Do you think kamikaze pilots acted honorably or cowardly? Explain your reasons.
8. Was President Harry Truman justified in dropping an atomic bomb on Japan? Do you think he
was he justified in dropping two atomic bombs?
9. Why do you think that the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki after it had
already bombed Hiroshima?
10. The Allies did not try enemy leaders as war criminals after World War I. Why do you think they
conducted such trials after World War II for both Nazi and Japanese leaders?
11. Do you agree with the Allies’ decision to hold war crimes trials? What is legal and is illegal
during a war? Explain your answer.
12. Re-read both: “Why It Matters” at the beginning of the section and “Looking Back and
Ahead” at the end of the section. In your own words summarize the “story” you just read and
what you will learn next.