2016-17 AP European History
Unit 4 Part III: World War II, 1933-1945
Tuesday 3.28
Due: Assignment 4
In Class: The Nazi Seizure of Power
Homework: Assignment 5
Thursday 3.30
Due: Assignment 5
In Class: SAQ Time!
Topic: Pre-war diplomacy
Homework: Assignment 6
Monday 4.3
Due: Assignment 6
Topic: WWII and the Holocaust
Homework: Assignment 7
Wednesday 4.5
Due: Assignment 7 - We will be having class!
Topics: Domestic Fronts and end of war
Homework: Unit 4 Part IV: The Cold War Years
There are optional homework assignments in this unit. Your responses must be word-processed,
include question/prompt asked, a coherent argument, including a topic sentence, specific and
relevant historical evidence and organization to receive full credit.
Assignment 5 - Due: Thursday 3.30 – Pre-war Diplomacy and Nazi Germany begins world war
1. Please read Chapter 20, pages 743-758 (Stop at “Japan and the United States Enter the War.) and:
moy’s monologue: I have included websites to help you understand the history of this tragic deadly war; it
would be in your best interest to visit them, read articles, and examine photographs to gain a better
understanding of Hitler’s plans for his Third Reich and Nazi Germany
a. A must read: Excerpts from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf (p. 744). “Race-based, militaristic
nationalism and virulent anti-Semitism were at the center of Hitler’s political vision from the
very beginning.” Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf is an outline of his plans, 10 years before he came
to power.
b. Website: “The Politics of the Spanish Civil War.”
http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~warden/scw/scwpolit.htm
c. “The Spanish War History,” http://www.spanishwars.net/20th-century-spanish-civil-war.html
d. “The Triumph of Hitler: Conquest at Munich”: Quick read on first attempt by German generals to
oust Hitler from power. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-munich.htm
2. Must reads:
a. Munich Pact, September 29, 1938 http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/munich1.asp
b. The Western Guarantee of Polish Independence, March 31, 1939
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/pre-war/390331a.html
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c. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, 1939 - Pay attention to the “Secret Additional Protocol.”
http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1939pact.html
~ Why did Stalin agree to this pact with Nazi Germany? Is there a connection between Stalin’s
purge of the Soviet military and his fear that Hitler would invade Germany and this pact?
3. Adolf Hitler’s “The Obersalzberg Speech” contains an interesting analysis in the forward worth
reading. Despite the emotional character and questions of attribution, the Obersalzberg speech remains
important because it provides a good insight into Hitler's grasp of history and his strategic thinking just
on the eve of his September 1, 1939, attack on Poland. (Found in your textbook.)
4. The Maginot Line: Who doesn’t enjoy the story of France’s defensive line against a German
invasion?! http://lostimagesofww2.com/photos/places/maginot-line.php
From a May 3, 1936 Chicago Tribune article - great drawings of the inner workings of the line.
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1936/05/03/page/96/article/the-maginot-line-frances-frontierof-steel
5. Nazi Germany invades Poland, September 1, 1939: Polish Cavalry against Nazi tank units.
http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=28
And! “Debunking Polish Stereotypes: the cavalry charge against German tanks,”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/myth-of-polish-cavalry-charge
6. Listen to Churchill’s speech, “Their Finest Hour” so you can feel the power of his voice.
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/122-their-finest-hour
7. The website for the history of the Soviet massacre of Poles in Katyn Forest, September 1922.
http://www.katyn.org.au/
8. A must read: Read about Hitler’s Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units). They were squads composed
primarily of German SS and police personnel. Under the command of the German Security
Police (Sicherheitspolizei; Sipo) and Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst; SD) officers, the
Einsatzgruppen had among their tasks the murder of those perceived to be racial or political
enemies found behind German combat lines in the occupied Soviet Union. The photographs
are most frightening and why Eastern European nations (included the Soviet Union) are known
as “the bloodlands.”
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005130
Questions to consider:
~ How did WWI sow the seeds of WWII?
~ Why did Italy invade Ethiopia in 1935?
~ What was the basis of the agreement between Nazi Germany and the USSR? What does the “Secret
Protocol” establish for these two nations, the Baltic States, and Finland? Significance in war? After
war?
~ What were the consequences of the Munich Agreement of 1938?
~ How do you account for the concessions made by Chamberlain at Munich?
~ Did you know that the Slovaks, who lived in Czechoslovakia, were conservative pro-Hitler
supporters throughout the war? They did not share the enthusiasm for democratic institutions
as their fellow citizens, the Czechs. Many Slovaks were Nazi collaborators during the war.
~ Explain “appeasement” and the role communism played in this approach to international politics.
~ What was the blitzkrieg form of attack? Why was it so successful?
~ Why did France fall to the Germans so quickly? How did the Germans divide and govern France?
~ How did Stalin's appeal to Russian patriotism contradict traditional Marxist views?
~ What was the Katyn Forest massacre? Who is responsible for it? What are the controversies?
~ Why was the Nazi war against the Soviet Union more than a military conquest?
~ Explain how the Nazis had seen the overall conflict as a racial war.
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Optional Homework Assignment: Please compose responses to the following questions, making
sure that your word-processed work includes topic sentence, specific evidence, and organization to
receive credit.
1. What was the basis of the agreement between Nazi Germany and the USSR? What does the “Secret
Protocol” establish for these two nations, the Baltic States, and Finland?
2-6. Compare and Connect: The Munich Settlement, pages 752-753. Compose responses to the five
questions, using evidence from the texts given as well as your understanding of the historical
context.
Assignment 6 - Due: Monday 4.3 - War and the Nazi Holocaust
1. Please read Chapter 20, pages 758-773 and:
1. Smithsonian.com, “Haunting Twitter Account Shares the Fates of the Refugees of the St. Louis,”
Think about POV, audience, and purpose.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/haunting-twitter-account-shares-the-fates-of-therefugees-of-st-louis-180961955/
2. The Great Patriotic War: Soviets and Russians today are proud of their nation’s war effort against the
Nazi Army. This site gives us an interactive map history of the Great War as seen by Soviets.
http://english.pobediteli.ru/
3. From Calvin College, “German Propaganda Archive.” Read some of the letters supposedly from
German and Nazi soldiers during the invasion of the Soviet Union.
http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/feldpost.htm
4. The controversial Allied bombing campaign of Germany: From “Heroes and Villains; Winston
Churchill and the Bombing of Dresden.” The city of Dresden kept a city block that had been
bombed in remembrance of the deadly Allied bombings. Why did Churchill order the
bombings?
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/heroesvillains/g1/
5. “The U-Boat War in the Atlantic, 1933 – 1945,” http://www.uboat.net/
6. “Nazi Secrets: How the Enigma Works.” Nova. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/decoding/
7. “The National Archives.” http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/ (Go to the link, “Second
World War, 1939-1945.)
8. “The Central museum of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.” Soviet/Russian pride at its best. (I
visited this museum with my son.)
http://www.russianmuseums.info/M421#web
“The Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945.”
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/great-patriotic-war/index.htm
9. Synthesis! from Archaeology of World war II”:
http://archive.archaeology.org/1105/features/world_war_II_wwII_archaeology.html
Racism and the Holocaust: Please visit these sites to read and see exactly what the Final Solution
meant for Jews, Catholics, Romas, gays, Slavs, handicapped persons, women and children. How
many people were forced to enter these camps? How many people died in these camps? How many
people lived? Where were the death camps located? The concentration camps? Did the German
people know what was happening? Did they do anything or were they complicit in Hitler’s plan?
1. U.S. Holocaust Museum website: Look at the maps of concentration and death camps as well as
photographs of the people.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143
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2. From the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South
Florida: (Great website with photos, maps, stories, and much more; just another surprise from
the great state of Florida!)
https://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/sitemap/sitemap.htm
3. Film that includes original 1945 Red Army footage: “The Liberation of Auschwitz.” (Need to sign
in due to the graphic images in the film. No need to watch if you do not want to.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V0RMf2qU18&feature=em-share_video_user
10. Please read “Mass Murder at Belsen,” pages 770-771 and use the questions to guide your analysis.
11. End of war: Please visit this Web site for information about Hiroshima, Japan. “Hiroshima
Archive.”
http://legacy.lclark.edu/~history/HIROSHIMA/
Questions to consider:
~ How was German slave labor, particularly in Eastern Europe and the occupied areas of the Soviet
Union, a justification of Nazi racial theories?
~ How was the Nazi concentration system the ultimate nightmare of Western industrialization?
~ What were some of the methods used by the conquered peoples of Europe to "resist" Nazi
occupation? Identify some of the examples of Nazi retribution for this resistance.
~ Explain the destruction caused by the Final Solution and the extent of general awareness of its
existence.
~ What are some of the differing historical opinions as to why the Germans succumbed to genocidal
practices during WWII?
~ What impact did “The Great Patriotic War” have on the people of the Soviet Union?
~ What new order did Hitler envision in the East?
~ The Bombing of civilians: What common elements do you find in the different bombing raids? What
effect did aerial bombing of cities and civilians have on the nature of modern warfare?
~ What were the reasons for Hitler’s policy of extermination?
~ What are your textbook’s explanations of the Final Solution?
~ What is the difference between the “Final Solution” and the “Holocaust?”
Optional Homework Assignment: Please compose responses to the following questions, making
sure that your word-processed work includes topic sentence, specific evidence, and organization to
receive credit. Must be word-processed to receive full credit.
1. How was German slave labor, particularly in Eastern Europe and the occupied areas of the Soviet
Union, a justification of Nazi racial theories? Be specific in your reference of Nazi racial theories.
2-5. Please read “Mass Murder at Belsen,” pages 770-771, and compose responses to the 3 questions
using evidence from the reading as well as analysis of the historical context to receive full
credit.
Assignment 7 - Due: Wednesday 4.5 - Domestic Fronts, Vichy France, and end of war
1. Please read Chapter 20, pages 773-784 and packet of readings:
The New York Review of Books: “Hitler vs. Stalin: Who Killed More?” Timothy Snyder
Domestic Fronts
1. What was Hitler’s policy on the status of German women? Why?
2. The U.S. government produced films during WWII, “Why We Fight,” that were designed to boost
American patriotism and support for the war effort; what did Propaganda Minister Josef
Goebbels do?
3. How did experiences on the domestic front in Britain differ from those in Germany and France?
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4. What did the Vichy regime adopt for “domestic policies” during occupation? What did they hope to
achieve?
5. Why did Marshall Pétain deport more than 60,000 French Jews to the extermination camps in
Eastern Europe without direction from the Nazis?
6. What did General Charles de Gaulle do after he organized the French National Committee of
Liberation (Free France) in 1940?
“Charles de Gaulle” http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=68
Another biography of Charles de Gaulle:
https://www.bonjourlafrance.com/about-france/french-history/fifth-republic/charles-de-gaulle/
7. “Paris liberation made ‘whites only’,” bbc.org. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7984436.stm
Questions to consider:
~ What were the similarities in how the Allied governments coped with the war at home during WWI
and WWII?
~ Compare the home fronts of Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Germany, and France. What differences
and similarities do you find? How did the organization of each home front affect the outcome
of the war?
~ What war strategies were decided at the Casablanca and Teheran Conferences?
~ What happened to Mussolini once Italy surrendered to the Allies?
~ How did the Allies almost lose the war at the end of 1944?
~ What were the decisions made by the Big Three at the Yalta Conference? Why were they so
controversial?
~ What were Stalin's long-term plans for the countries they already occupied?
~ What were the immediate results of World War II? the demographic losses and shifts of population?
~ What were the terms of peace arrived at Potsdam in mid-1945?
~ Why were the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials necessary? What basic international legal principle of
conduct was established there?
~ How was the new United Nations organized? Who had the most power in this new international
organization? Why?
~ Study the arguments for and against the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan.
~ What were the basic difficulties in the way of planning a peace settlement?
~ What do the statements of Churchill and Stalin tell us about the origins and rhetoric of the Cold War?
Optional Homework Assignment: Please compose responses to the following questions, making
sure that your word-processed work includes topic sentence, specific evidence, and organization to
receive credit. Must be word-processed to receive full credit.
1. Compare and contrast the home fronts of Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Germany, and France.
How did the organization of each home front affect the outcome of the war?
2. How did the Allies, the U.K., the Soviet Union, and the U.S., prepare for a postwar Europe? Be sure
to include the specific war conference and date, as well as provide an explanation for the
decisions made by “The Big Three” to receive credit.
Terms:
Anschluss
Blitzkrieg
Lebenstraum
Axis Powers and Allied Power nations
Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1939
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Total war
Phony War [Sitzkrieg]
Winston Churchill
Dunkirk
U.S. Lend Lease Policy
Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain
Vichy France
Charles de Gaulle
Free French
Royal Air Force [RAF]
Battle of Britain
Coventry
“This was their finest hour!”
Luftwaffe
“Never have so many owed so much to so few!”
Operation Barbarossa
Einsatzgruppen
The Great Patriotic War
Polish Anti-Semitism
Franklin D. Roosevelt
December 7, 1941
Battle of Stalingrad [Volgograd]
Atlantic Charter
Dresden bombings
Russo-Finnish War
General Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps
Battle of El Alamein
General Bernard Montgomery
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Soviet-Japanese Pact
Albert Speer
Dr. Josef Mengele
Zyklon-B
Final Solution - concentration and death camps
Reinhard Heydrich
Wannsee Conference
Waffen SS
Holocaust
"Big Three"
Casablanca Conference
Teheran Conference
Yalta Conference
June 6, 1944
"Buzz bombs"
Battle of the Bulge
Buffer zone
V-E Day
Harry S Truman
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
V-J Day
September 2, 1945
Clement Attlee
Denazification
Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunals
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