The Second World War
Driving Question: What were the causes of the Second World War?
There has never been a war on the scale of World War II. It transformed global power, devastated economies, and unleashed a horrifying age of weapons of mass destruction. This lesson unpacks the complex causes and progression of the war, and explores its profound consequences.
Learning Objectives:
- Use evidence to understand how and why diplomacy failed to prevent a second world war.
- Use the historical thinking practice of causation to analyze global factors that led to the Second World War.
- Use the historical thinking practice of claim testing to identify, assess, and use evidence when evaluating and making claims.
Vocab Terms:
Before learning how global war broke out, take a moment to reflect on the complex nature of identity. By exploring how identities overlap, you’ll start thinking about how belonging, community, and perspective shaped the choices people—and nations—made in the lead-up to World War II.
As fascist leaders rose to power, democratic nations faced difficult choices. Discover how efforts to keep peace through compromise ultimately shaped the path to another war and sparked lasting debate.
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Guiding Questions
Did you know? Pablo Picasso’s Guernica is MASSIVE. It’s 11 feet, 5 inches tall and 25 feet, 6 inches wide. It’s about the size of a small school bus. So, your students might see it in miniature, as it’s provided in the activity, and miss the way the figures—the screaming horse, wailing mother, broken bodies and buildings—loom over the viewer when seen in person. Picasso made the horrors of war too big to ignore. Today, the painting is held in the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain. When the painting was transferred there, its size and fragility meant it needed to be transported by a special vehicle, in a custom crate, using a crane designed to install the painting in its new home. For a visual and oral history of Guernica, see the museum’s “Rethinking Guernica.” Don’t miss the Gigapixel tool, which will let your students zoom in and see the painting in x-ray and ultraviolet.
The Spanish Civil War was a dress rehearsal for World War II. This video and activity use art to understand the war and consider who shares the blame.
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Guiding Questions
OER Project offers several maps to help you teach the global scale of the Second World War. In addition to our alliances and casualties map, try having students compare these two maps of the Pacific theater: Imperial Powers in 1939 and The War in the Pacific. Ask students how the two maps are related: How did imperial ambitions help spark conflict? What do these two maps tell us about the goals of the Japanese Empire?
The causes of the Second World War are many and complex. Be sure to read the Lesson Guide for sample answers that will help you guide students through this causation activity and its causal map.
World War II was a massive and complicated conflict. In this section of the lesson, you'll trace its key turning points, economic demands, and global alliances while also working to untangle the many causes that led to war in the first place.
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Guiding Questions
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Guiding Questions
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
Be sure to print and cut out the claim cards provided on the Lesson Guide. You’ll need one set per group of four students.
World War II is often viewed as a war between good and evil—Allies and Axis—but war is more complicated and nuanced that that. Read about the devastating costs of war and test claims about the global impact of the conflict. Then, zoom in on one individual and assess how the choices he made reflect the nuances of war.
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Guiding Questions
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Guiding Questions
Did you know: The US Navy had a floating ice cream factory in the Pacific. Three large, refrigerated barges carried thousands of tons of frozen food for American soldiers, including morale-boosting ice cream. The barges included ice cream production equipment that could make five tons of the frozen dessert every day. This is a great way to illustrate how the Allies won the war. Supply lines and logistics were often just as important as battlefield heroics.
Now that you’ve explored the many causes of the Second World War, consider: could it have all been avoided?
Video critic: After they watch the video, ask students to be editors as an exit ticket: How would they have presented this information differently? What rating would they give this video? Why?
Together, these materials invite you to rethink the causes, consequences, and historical context of the conflict. A powerful visual shows just how many lives were lost, while a thought-provoking article argues that World War II may have been part of a longer, 30-year global crisis.
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Guiding Questions
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Guiding Questions
