Great Depression and WWII Study Guide
Causes of the Great Depression
● Economics 101
○ Law of Supply and Demand
○ The Business Cycle
○ The Stock Market (what it is and how it works)
● Mentality of the 1920s
● Buying on a Margin
● The Crash
○ Date/nickname
○ What happened
● Why it happened
○ Farming situation
○ Nature of the business cycle
● Role of the Federal Reserve
● Bank runs
Hoover’s Recovery Plan
● Role of volunteers
● Perspective on the government’s role
● Laissez Faire economics
Life in the Great Depression
● Hoovervilles
● Effects on American Families
FDR and the New Deal
● The Bonus Army
● Famous Inaugural Quote
● The First Hundred days
○ Banking Holiday
○ Fireside chats
● Alphabet Soup Agencies
○ AAA
○ TVA
○ CCC
○ Social Security
● The Dust Bowl
○ Location/Cause
○ What was happening
○ How people were handling it
Minorities in the Great Depression and the Decline of the New Deal
● Court Packing Scheme
● Legacy of the New Deal
● African Americans and work programs/AAA
● Mexican Americans and deportation
● Native Americans and the Indian New Deal
Interwar Period
● Isolationism
● US perspective on further conflict
● Rise of the 3rd Reich
○ Hitler in WWI
○ Mein Kampf
○ Nazi Party promises/beliefs
● Hitler youth
● Kristallnacht
● Italy
○ Leader
○ Imperialist actions
● Fascism
● Socialism
○ Relationship between these 2 groups
Outbreak of WWII
● Rhineland and Sudetenland
● The Anschluss
● British and French Reactions to Hitler’s early actions
● Joseph Stalin
● German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
● Date of Hitler’s invasion of Poland
● Blitzkrieg
● Maginot Line
● Escape at Dunkirk
● Battle of Britain and the role of the RAF
● Hitler’s invasion of the USSR
● US position
○ Cash and Carry
○ Lend Lease
● US-Japan relations leading to Pearl Harbor
● Attack on Pearl Harbor
○ Date
○ Japanese reasoning
○ Nature of the attack
○ Result
War in the Pacific
● Axis and Allies members
● Japanese Actions after Pearl Harbor
● US Strategies
WWII and the Homefront
● How WWII ended the Great Depression
● Rationing
● Women and WWII- new opportunities and Rosie the Riveter
● Sports and entertainment
Minorities and WWII
● African Americans-
○ Tuskegee Airmen
● Mexican Americans
○ Bracero Program
○ Zoot Suit Riot
● Native Americans
○ Navajo Code Talkers
● Japanese Americans
○ Internment Camps- War Relocation Authority
■ Reason and conditions
The Holocaust
● Dachau and Auschwitz
● The Final Solution
● Ghettos
● Totals
European Theater and D Day
● Stalingrad
● Operation Overlord/DDay
○ What it was
○ What it accomplished
● VE day
Victory in the Pacific and the Atomic bomb
● The Manhattan Project
● Decision to drop the bomb
● Result of the A bomb- short term and long term
Essay Questions: You will receive both following essay questions
1. Explain why the Great Depression had such an extensive impact on America. List at least 2 specific factors that contributed to its severity.
2. Explain how World War II affected the US homefront. Give at least 2 specific examples.