Conducting World War II
Driving Question: How did governments use various strategies to conduct World War II, and what similarities and differences emerged in their approaches?
Just over twenty years after the curtains closed on the First World War, the world was yet again embroiled in a global conflict. As a historian, you may already have noticed that this could be described as a disastrous and deadly continuation of a conflict that started in 1914. With new military tactics and technology, the Second World War proved to be even more destructive and devastating than the first.
Learning Objectives
- Explain similarities and differences in how governments used a variety of methods to conduct war.
- Assess how new weapons led to mass atrocities and increased global tensions.
- Use the historical thinking skill of claim testing to assess the era of global conflict.
- Analyze primary source documents to evaluate how governments conducted war and how people responded to these methods after 1900.
- Analyze primary source documents to evaluate the advancement of science and technology in the era of global conflict.
Vocab Terms:
Need some extra help teaching students how to analyze the data in this SAQ activity or on the AP exam? Check out the “How to Teach Data Storytelling in the History Classroom” blog post.
You’ll make short work of short answer questions with this Unit 7 SAQ practice!
Help your students make sense of the terms in this article by reviewing new vocabulary with them prior to reading. You can also share the Unit 7 Vocab Guide with them so they can read the definitions.
War and money go hand-in-hand. World War II was a total war, which required the full economic effort of the societies it involved.
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Guiding Questions
The more things change, the more they stay the same…, or do they? Find out using these World War II era primary sources! As you read the source excerpts in this collection, use the accompanying Quick-Sourcing Tool and activity to guide your analysis.
Now that you’ve explored the many causes of the Second World War, consider: could it have all been avoided?
In 1942, the war looked lost. The Axis powers had swept across Europe and the Pacific. The Allies were besieged—but this was a turning point. How did the Allies win World War II?
Maps of the Second World War
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Guiding Questions
The traditional story of the two world wars goes like this: The First World War begins and ends in about four years, there’s a gap of about twenty years, and then the Second World War begins, and ends six years later. But what if it makes more sense to study the two world wars and the period in between as a single, connected, 30-year conflict?
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Guiding Questions
Quickly give your students feedback on how their CCOT skills are progressing using this activity’s feedback form.
Examine the continuities and changes between Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization and Unit 7: Global Conflict to craft thesis statements and compose a multi-paragraph response to a CCOT prompt.
Sometimes it’s hard for our brains to comprehend data such as the number of casualties during World War II, but this video definitely helps students visualize those numbers. In this community conversation, one OER Project teacher shares how she usually stops videos to ask discussion questions, “but this one is so impactful that I play the whole video before discussing it.”
War is destructive, leaving countless victims in its path. World War II was especially destructive. What factors led to the increased intensity of the conflict’s devastation?
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Guiding Questions
Nuclear weapons changed the face of war—and, in fact, the world. This article will help explain how we entered the nuclear age and examine the historical debates surrounding President Truman’s decision to drop the bomb.
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Guiding Questions
Technology can often make our lives easier and more comfortable. It can also massively affect the way we fight wars. As you read the source excerpts in this collection, use the accompanying Quick-Sourcing Tool and activity to guide your analysis
One OER Project teacher decided to mix up how students completed this claim-testing activity. Check out her modifications—which include pairing students up and then switching claims to analyze the evidence provided by another group—and student exemplars in this community conversation.
Don’t forget to read the Lesson Guide for teacher instructions, sample answers, and a link to this activity’s feedback form.
There are many opinions about World War II. Come up with your own—and defend them with evidence.
