Welcome back. We'll wrap up World War II these next two days. On Wednesday, we'll have the Unit #7 "Two-Minute Review." Thursday will be the Identifications Exam (and the DBQs if you would like). Your Unit #7 Essay is due to me NO LATER than your arrival to class on Tuesday, February 22nd, but I welcome them earlier. Finally, you'll take the Unit #7 Objective Exam on Tuesday, February 22nd.
In 4th block, we need to hear from our final "front" - The United States and the "Home Front."
We'll also set up Wednesday's "Two-Minute Review."
World War II: The Road to War - DBQ Activity -
As we dive into the war itself, I've got a pretty good set of document
based-questions to help you get a better understanding of what all is
going on. We'll let you work on that for a few minutes.
WWYD ("What Would You Do?") - The Road to War in Europe -
Here's how this works. You need to think about four countries (Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United
States). We will describe events in chronological order. If, as any of the four countries, you would have taken action at that time, you should raise your hand. We'll discuss your decisions as we go.
First,
let's make a list of reasons why these countries might have
preferred to avoid war. Second, let's consider what the policy options
were for the four countries.
- March 1935 - Hitler repudiates Treaty of Versailles
- March 1936 - German troops move into the Rhineland
- November 1936 - Axis Powers formed
- November 1937 - Hitler announces plan for Third Reich
- March 1938 - Anschluss with Austria
- September 1938 - Nazis demand Sudetenland
- September 29, 1938 - Munich Conference takes place
- March 1939 - Germany occupies Czechoslovakia
- September 1, 1939 - Germany invades Poland
- September 3, 1939 - Great Britain and France declare war on Germany
The Rape of Nanjing -
Here's what our book has to say about this event. "Beijing and other
northern cities as well as the capital, Nanjing, fell to the Japanese
in 1937. Japanese soldiers killed tens of thousands of captured
soldiers and civilians in Nanjing." While technically correct, this
sterile account does little to capture the true scope of this event.
Download a copy of this account of the Rape of Nanking.
The first page is an "outside account" of some key events. The second
page starts a really interesting look at the Japanese government's
treatment of these events in their own history books, etc.
Here's the homepage for Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking. (Notice that there seems to be no mention of her suicide in 2004.) "New Interest in Japan's War Atrocities, but Why Now?" is an interesting 1998 article from The New York Times.
Here's the site and trailer for a documentary (which I haven't seen) that tells her story: IRIS CHANG: The Rape of Nanking.
Here's a BBC story on the subject - Scarred by History: The Rape of Nanjing.
The Words of World War II
Here
are links to a number of speeches from World War II. You need to select
one of them to read and post a blog comment reaction to that speech. Be
sure you understand the context of the speech. You can react to the
speech's style and/or effectiveness. Or, you can comment upon what it
reveals about the particular speaker or their nation, etc. It's pretty
open, but I'll expect a comment of a good paragraph or more in length.
Your blog comments should be posted to this blog entry by the end of Wednesday.
HOMEWORK for tomorrow - Tuesday, February 15th
Finish
your reading for Unit #7 with Section 5 in Chapter 32, "Europe and
Japan in Ruins." (pp. 948 - 951) The quiz will be multiple choice.
I should have your "Between the Wars" assignments by now.
Your "The Words of World War II" blog entry should be posted here by the end of Wednesday.
Remember
that the Unit #7 Identifications Exam will be on Thursday, February
17th. The possible IDs (and the essay choices) are posted on another
entry. The multiple choice portion of the Unit #7 Exam will be on
Tuesday, February 22nd. Your essay is due no later than your arrival at class on Tuesday, February 22nd, but I would love to get them earlier.
