Unit 7: Global Conflict
1914 – 1945 CEThe transformations of the long nineteenth century set the stage for an era of unprecedented warfare, atrocity, and threat to our species’ survival.
World War I
Lesson 7.2
Causes of the First World War
World War I began after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. But his death was not the only cause. Explore how the ideas of the long nineteenth century pushed the world toward war.
Lesson 7.3
The First Total War
The world was unprepared for the horrors of industrial warfare. The First World War was also the first “total” war, in which all resources of the state are mobilized—and civilians become targets.
Lesson 7.4
A World Remade
The survivors of the Great War looked upon a world that had been fundamentally shattered. How would they approach peacemaking? And what kind of world did they hope to rebuild from the ashes?
Interwar
Lesson 7.5
The Great Depression
The postwar economic boom of the 1920s came to a screeching halt with the Wall Street crash of October 1929. It’s time for a whirlwind tour of why the crash happened, and what 10 years of global poverty meant for everyday people.
Lesson 7.6
Competing Ideologies
Extreme conditions tend to breed extreme ideologies. Fascism, an authoritarian system that promised security through nationalism and demanded total obedience to a single leader, emerged from the chaos of war and economic depression.
World War II
Lesson 7.7
World War II: Causes
Barely 20 years after the end of “the war to end all wars,” the world was plunged into another global conflict. How did this happen (again)?
Lesson 7.8
World War II: The Costs
The human and material costs of the Second World War were horrific. More than 70 million died. Whole cities were reduced to rubble, and a new type of weapon with the potential to end all life on Earth was unleashed.
Teaching This Unit
Unit 7 Vocab
Key Unit 7 vocabulary words and definitions.
Graphic Bios Guide
How to incorporate graphic biographies into the classroom.
Vocabulary Guide
Strategies and routines for building vocabulary.
Assessment Guide
Learn about OER Project’s approach to assessment.
Data Literacy Guide
Clear, concise strategies to help teach data literacy and build student confidence with data visualizations.
Unit 7 Teaching Guide
All the lesson guides you need in one place.