Crash Course: World War II

  1. When did WWII start? (multiple possibilities)
  2. What was the Rape of Nanking?
  3. Who is credited with starting WWII?
  4. What characterized new warfare in WWII? What enabled it?
  5. What lands did Germany conquer using blitzkrieg tactics?
  6. Who fought the Battle of Britain?
  7. What do the British call the bombings in the Battle of Britain?
  8. What events made 1941 a ‘big’ year for WWII?
  9. How was WWII really a world war?
  10. Describe the events of Stalingrad.
  11. What strategy was successful in the Pacific?
  12. What notable contributions did Canadians make to WWII?
  13. Who won the Battle of the Bulge?
  14. In what month did Mussolini and Hitler die?
  15. When did the war end in Europe?
  16. When did the war end in the Pacific?
  17. What was the Hunger Plan?
  18. How did food also inspire war by Japan?
  19. Why is WWII so important?
  20. Why were civilians targeted?
  21. Opinion: Is western domination “progress?”

World War II: A War for Resources

  1. What is resource allocation?
  2. How many people died as a result of absence of food? How many died due to military conflict?
  3. What resource most concerned Germany and Japan as they progressed industrially?
  4. What was the goal of lebensraum?
  5. What areas did Japan seek for expansion?
  6. Why did Hitler invade the Soviet Union?
  7. How did the colonies suffer from colonial policy regarding food production and natural disasters?
  8. What fact proves that colonial peoples suffered more from lack of food resulting from the war than actual military conflict?
  9. How did food production actually improve people’s diets in some countries?
  10. What nations’ troops were fed well?
  11. What nation’s troops were fed the worst?
  12. What is the advantage of analyzing WWII with an emphasis on resources?

WWII: Part II: The Homefront

  1. What ideological changes occurred in the United States as a result of WWII?
  2. What changes occurred due to WWII?
  1. What enabled the government to intrude pervasively into industry?
  2. How did the government finance its spending on the war effort?
  3. What does Rosie the Riveter symbolize?
  4. What were FDR’s Four Freedoms?
  5. What was the goal of the GI Bill?
  6. How did the war reshape how Americans thought of themselves?
  7. What was Executive Order 9066?
  8. Who appealed his failure to admit to an internment camp? How did the Supreme Court rule in this case?
  9. What group experienced the greatest change as a result of WWII?
  10. What name was given to the mass exodus of African Americans from the South to the North, seeking jobs in industry?
  11. In what way were African American fighting for two victories?
  12. How did the conferences among the Big Three set the stage for the Cold War and postwar era?
  13. What was the goal of the UN?