Unit 2: The War Years, 1938-1945
Unit Overview:
This Unit spans the years 1941 to 1953. Important events/themes covered in the unit:
US Entrance into WWII
Total War on the battlefield and on the American Homefront
"The Big Three" and the Defeat of the Axis
The Iron Curtain and expansion of Soviet Russia
The Marshall Plan and creation of NATO
The 2nd Red Scare and McCarthyism
The Korean War
Unit Essay: The War Years
In order to get credit for this project you must write a well-developed essay on ONE of the following topics:
The War Years
FRQ: Analyze the home-front experiences of TWO of the following groups during the Second World War: African Americans; Japanese Americans; Jewish Americans; Mexican Americans. (2009)
FRQ: Presidential elections between 1928 and 1948 revealed major shifts in political party loyalties. Analyze both the reasons for these changes and their consequences during this period. (2008)
DBQ: How and for what reasons did United States foreign policy change between 1920-1941? Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1920-1941 to construct your answer. (2004)
Attachments: 2004B Questions.pdf
Key Terms:
Unit Documentaries:
The Century Part 5, Over the Edge (45:00)
The Century Part 6, Civilians at War (45:00)
The Century Part 7, Homefront (45:00)
Cold War: The Iron Curtain (46:24)
Cold War: The Korean War (46:19)
Unit Lectures:
Short Videos:
American Isolationism in 1930's (2:40)
American WWII Effort "Manpower" (8:33)
American Homefront pt 2 (8:36)
Hollywood Canteen Tribute (2:54)
Rosie the Riveters of WWII (6:21)
WWII Celebrity Bond Tour Newsreel (9:20)
Saturday Evening Post, the War Years (2:52)
Unit Readings:
Franklin D. Roosevelt, "Quarantine" Speech, 1937
FDR Fireside Chat, "On the War in Europe", 1939
FDR Fireside Chat, "On National Defense", 1940
Franklin D. Roosevelt, "The Arsenal of Democracy", 1940
Franklin D. Roosevelt, "The Four Freedoms" Speech, January 1941
The Atlantic Charter, August 1941
General Dwight Eisenhower D-Day Message, June 6, 1944
Spark Notes Summaries:
For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance.
Unit 2 Key Terms:
Benito Mussolini/fascism
totalitarianism
Joseph Stalin
The Third Reich
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
appeasement
Munich Pact
Neutrality Acts
Roosevelt's "Quarantine" Speech, 1937
Cash and Carry
Export Control Act of 1940
Selective Training and Service Act of 1940
Committee to Defend America First
lend-lease
Atlantic Charter
Tripartite Pact
1940 Japan trade embargo
total war
War Production Board
Office of Price Administration
Office of War Information
Declaration of the United Nations
Manhattan Project
Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
"Arsenal of Democracy"
"Rosie the Riveter"
Executive Order 9066
National War Labor Board
Holocaust
The "Big Three"
Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam Conferences
Bretton-Woods Conference
Nuremberg Trials
United Nations
Iron Curtain Speech
Marshall Plan
Eastern Bloc
Peoples' Republic of China
Containment Policy
Truman Doctrine
Chinese Civil War
Korean War
