Homework 17; term 2

Read Chapter 12 and pages 108-111 and discuss three important reasons why Japan was defeated in WWII.

-Americans dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
-The Soviet Union launched a suprise invasion on the Japanese colony in Manchuria.
-Ultimately, Japan surrendered because there were thousands of casulaties.

Homework 16; term 2

Read Chapter 11 and pages 104-108 and discuss three important reasons why Germany was defeated in WWII.

-Germany originally had a plan of attacking Poland and then invading Western Europe and conquering Britain. They planned to bomb Britain and make them surrender so that they could make peace. However, they had a change in strategy. Hitler decided to invade Russia, which left Great Britain open to stage an invasion of Nazi controlled Europe. Also, the strategy of the United States was to fight two total wars, one being with Germany. Therefore, because it was a total war, and civilians were involved, this could be a reason why Germany was defeated.

Homework 15; term 2

Worksheet 10: "Total War"

A. Check your understanding of the words and terms in this chapter by explaining what each of the following mean

-Total war: When a war involved not just countries, but civilians as well.

-Forced labor: When 5 million people were taken to Germany and forced to work for long hours in bad conditions.

-Concentration camps:held "prisoners," mostly Jews... they were forced to work with very little food or water. They could be killed for doing the wrong thing, or even just for no reason at all.

-The Final Solution: this was the way of solving the problems with Jews in Europe... it meant extermination of all Jews by murdering them.

-Ghettos: walled off areas of town which Polish Jews were put in, and were restricted from leaving.

-Extermination camps: gas chambers where Jews were brought to be killed.

-Partisans: armed bands formed by civilians to resist the invaders.

B. Use source A to E in this chapter to explain how each of the following might have been affected by the war.

1. A Chinese family in Sunkiang in 1938- they probably would have been killed by aerial bombing.

2. A French family in North-Eastern France in 1940- they would probably be feelings from the Germans.

3. A Soviet aircraft factory worker in 1941- well, they were out of reach of the Germans, so they may have been feeling safe.

4. A Jewish person anywhere in Germany in 1942- they would probably be taken to a concentration camp where they would be worked to death, or put into a gas chamber.

5. The son of a captured Yugoslav partisan in 1943- They would be sent to a children's camp, deprived of food and water.

Homework 13; term 2

How important was the allied air power in helping to defeat Germany in WWII?

-I think that the allied air power was pretty significant in helping to defeat Germany in WWII. For instance, the allied air power played a pretty huge role in the Pacific War for several reasons. The US air force and navy worked together to achieve success in bombing several areas... although I suppose that it wasn't directly Germany that they were bombing. It could be said instead that the allied air power was successful in general, but maybe not specifically towards defeating Germany. This is because there is no question as to whether or not the allied air power caused damage to the areas they were bombing- the certainty did, which impacted several things... one being Germany's loss. However, I think that Germany may have lost regardless of the allied air power, although that is a hard claim to make

Homework 12; term 2

1. Explain the importance/ significance of each event.

-Pearl Harbor 1941: This is what brought the US to war, Hitler declared war on the US. It also gave Japan control of the Pacific.

-Midway 1942: A crucial turning point in the battle for the Pacific.

-El Alamein 1942: It lead to the complete expulsion of the axis forces from North Africa.

-Stalingrad 1942: German was no longer invincible... Russian morale went up.

-Battle of the Atlantic: forced Britain to leave the war.

-Allied Bombing of Germany: One of the decisive reasons for the axis defeat.

2. Worksheet 8 "1942- The Year of Uncertainty"

A. Check that you have understood the following terms used in this chpater by explaining in your own words what they mean:

-second front: This was Stalin's idea that the Western Allies should open another front in Europe in 1942 against the Germans to take pressure off of Russians.

-area bombing: bombing an enemy's city for the purpose of destroying their way of surviving basically.

-allies: these were the countries that were opposed to the axis powers. the main allies were the UK, Russia, and USA.

-operation touch: This was the British invasion of North Africa during the North African campaign.

B. Study the photograph above. Judging by what you have read in this chapter, describe how the condition in which these soldiers fought were: a. similar to, and b. different from each other.

Similar: They were fighting in unfamiliar territory, which made the battle very difficult because it was unfamiliar grounds.

Different: The territory in El Amein was more dry, and therefore they could use more machines that on the wet island.

Homework 11; term 2

Worksheet 7: War at Sea

A. Study the cartoon above, then answer the following questions:

1. What do each of the following represent?

a. the White cliffs in the background

-Britain?

b. the sinking boat

- America

c. the lion holding the boat

-Britain

d. the captain of the boat

-Winston Churchhill

e. the sharks

-Germans

2. What are the sharks doing to the lion? What does this represent?

-They are tearing the lion apart, and eating him. This shows that the Germans are attacking , destroying, and conquering Britain.

3. Explain the point you think the German cartoonist was trying to make.

-He was trying to explain that Germany was conquering and taking over Britain.

4. Judging by what you have read in this chapter, do you think the cartoonist was accurate in his assessment of the situation? Explain your answer.

- I think he was accurate for the most part, although he may have been a little bit biased considering he was a German cartoonist.

B. Check your understanding of the words and terms used in Part Two of this book...

-Nazi Soviet Pact: signed by Russia and Germany, also known as the non-aggression pact.

-Operation Barbarossa: code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during WWII

-scorched earth policy: a military policy which involved destroying anything that was useful to the enemy.

-neutrality: the state of being neutral... not choosing sides

-Lend Lease Act: the US supplied the Soviet Union, France, and China with vast amounts of war materials

-Tripartite Axis Pact: pact signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan which created the axis powers of WWII.

-United Nations:formed at the end of WWII to help maintain international peace and security.

-global war: when multiple countries from all different continents take place in a war.

-U boats: German submarines

-convoys: a group of vehicles traveling together for military support

-Battle of the Atlantic: the longest continuous military campaign of WWII.

Homework 10; term 2

War at Sea Last Word Exercise

Warships of Germany concentrated their attacks on the British merchant shipping.

Atlantic Ocean is where the fighting between the British and German navies took place.

River Plate was in South America, where the German battleship Graf Spee was trapped.

A single submarine sank the Royal Oak while it was at anchor in 1939.

The most dangerous things were the German U-boats.

Ships were sunk.

Enigma was a coding machine that was on a captured U-boat.

Allies destroyed 41 u-boats.

Homework 9; term 2

Worksheet 6 "War Spreads to the Far East"

A. Study the poster above, then answer these questions.

1. What connections did the three chain countries represented by the letters A, B and D, which the soldier is breaking from the chain, have with Asia?

-Because along with Asia suffering the attack of Japan, the Americans, British, and Dutch also suffered.

2. Why do you think the artist portrayed the countries' connections with Asia as a heavy chain?

-Maybe is showed that these connections were unbreakable, much like a heavy chain in unbreakable... or at least very hard to break because it is so strong.

3. Suggest what the breaking of the chain by the soldier is meant to represent.

-It is showing that Asia is growing to power, and that they are starting to break the bond between the Americans, British, and Dutch.

4. Why do you think the Japanese published the poster with English rather than Japanese lettering?

-Maybe it was meant to appeal to people who spoke English, like America and Britain, rather than the Japanese people.

Paper 1 Practice; term 2

1. With reference to origin and purpose, discuss the values and limitations of the two sources for historians studying Operation Barbarossa. You do an OPVL on both sources.

The origin of Why Nations Go To War was written by John G. Stoessinger, who is a former student that has always been interested in finding "new" explanations for war. The purpose of this book is to take a new look at "the age old scourge" of war, while giving people a deeper understanding of the causes of war. In the case of the chapter regarding Operation Barbarossa, the purpose is to give people his opinion of the causes of Operation Barbarossa, which poses a limitation to this source. Because the purpose is to give one person's opinion, it can not include every single possible explanation for why the war happened, and therefore important details could be left out. Also, because the purpose was to provide new explanations for why Operation Barbarossa began, some of the older explanations, which could have been important, are left out, which is a weakness. However, a strength of this source comes with the origin of it. John Stoessinger, the author of the book, lived through the twentieth century, when Operation Barbarossa was going on. However, the origin also poses a limitation because it is a second hand source, and even though he was alive during Operation Barbarossa, he was not actually in Germany and Russia when the event was taking place.

The origin of this Chapter 5 worksheet is from the Longman 20th Century History Textbook. It is written by Josh Brooman, and it is a book from a British perspective. The purpose of this chapter was to inform people of the reasons behind why Germany attacked the USSR, and how the USSR was saved, and not defeated by the Germans. Because of the origin of the book being a textbook, it is meant to inform people- which can create a limitation. For the most part, there should be no biases, because it is simply meant to show people what happened at this time. Also, because it was written from a British perspective, and British was not involved in this war, the book is valuable because there are no other biases of that nature. However, because the purpose of the chapter is basically to focus on how the USSR was saved, there are limitations, because it doesn't talk much about what life was like in Germany. Therefore, it leaves the readers a bit clueless as to the conditions in Germany, and it makes them look like the bad guy, even though this may not have been the case.

2. Students will compare and contrast the views of why Hitler's Invasion of Russia failed as expressed in the sources.

The book, "The Global War," written by Josh Brooman, and the book "Why Nations Goto War." written by John Stoessinger have similar as well as different views of why Hitler's Invasion of Russia failed.

In the book, "Why Nations Goto War," the main focus of Hitler's failure were results of his irrationality. In this book, it says that he acted extremely loving to all people, but the reality of it was that he hated them. Therefore, this was seen as a reason as to why Hitler's invasion of Russia failed. However, "The Global War" doesn't even mention this idea at all. Instead, the worksheet focuses more on the help that the United States and Britain gave to Russia, which enabled them to be strengthened. This was the main focus of the worksheet, instead of directly blaming it on the failure of Hitler. Also, "Why Nations Goto War" talks about winter affecting the German military, so that they were unable to achieve what they wanted, because of the conditions. For example, tanks froze and sometimes even took 12 hours to start up... this was a big impact on Germany. However, the other worksheet, chapter 5, only focuses on winter being a problem- rather than actually talking about how this affected the Germans into loosing.

However, along with the differences between the two sources, there were several agreements as well. Both sources seemed to agree that all the mistakes Stalin had first made, enabled him to realize what to do better so that he could rise to power and ultimately win. As mentioned earlier in the previous paragraph, both sources also mention how winter affected the people... although the extent to which this was talked about varies, it was still mentioned in both sources, which shows a strong similarity. Also, both of the sources seemed to mention how terrible the Nazis treated the Russians, which ultimately discusses a similarity for how the Russians were able to come to power through learning to resist their cruelty.

In conclusion, although both sources have differences, it appears as though their similar views are very strong. This therefore allows the reader to be certain of some things that happened during this time period, and get a better understanding of why the Russians gained power instead of Hitler.

Homework 8; term 2

1. How successful was Hitler's blitzkreig on Russia during the first five days? (38-39)

-It was very successful

2. What do you understand by the term "Great Purge"? (39-40)

-This was when all of the Soviety societ was crippled by the terror unleaded by Stalin. The officer corps of the Red Army was virtually destoryed. Then, General Shmushkevich, who was chief of the air force and sneior military officer before the Nazi invasion, was killed two weekeds before the German assault.

3. What affect did the Great Purge have on the USSR's ability to resist Hitler's blitzkrieg? (40-42)

-The book says that there was no way that Stalin could have avoided the Nazi attack. However, the Great Purge killed many senior officers, which basically destroyed the USSR. Also, it produced a lot of fear, which sort of destroyed everyone's morale, also lowering their ability to resist the blitzkrieg.

4. According to the article, what was the most important for Stalin to maintain as the the leader of the USSR? (42)

-The security of his power.

5. Why did Stalin disregard repeated warnings from the US and Great Britain of the imminent Nazi Attack on the USSR? (42-46)

-He trusted the Nazis more than the Capitalists (Great Britain and the United States)

6. Why did Stalin decide to ally with Hitler in 1939? (44-45)

-Because it would secure peace with Russia, and give them time to strengthen their army as well.

7. In what ways did Stalin try to appease Hitler, and try to prevent him from having a reason to attack the USSR? (48)

-When German air force members were going to shoot at Soviet Russia, they told them to "release at once."

8. What major mistakes did Stalin make?

-He couldn't seem to understand Hitler's deep hatred towards Russia. Also, he was so wrapped up in his own ideologies that he didn't want to accept the Anglo-American truth.

9. What major mistakes did Hitler make?

-He made the mistake of telling everyone that he loved them, such as the German people, when in reality he hated them, ]and therefore lost the war.

10. According to the author, why did Stalin emerge victorious over Hitler in the War? (51-52)

-Because the Nazi's policy of treating Russians as "subhumans" to be shipped as slaves to the German Reich sort of backfired and didn't work. Then, the Nazis found themselves fighting for their survivor, as the soviets began to succeed.

Homework 7; term 2

1. Read the introduction on page xvii and briefly discuss the origin and purpose of this book.
-The purpose of this book is to take a new look at the "age-old scourge" of war. The origin of this book is written by John G. Stoessinger, who has always been interested in the explanations of war ever since he was a student. The purpose of writing this book was also to give people a deeper understanding of the causes of wars, from his opinion. Specifically, the book talks about ten case studies of the major international wars fought in the twentieth century.

2. According to the book, who were Hitler's two main enemies? (28)
-the Communists and the Jews

3. What was contained in the "secret protocol" of the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact? (29-30)
-It would divide up Poland between two dictators.

4. According to the author, why did Hitler ally with Stalin? (30)
-Because he was going to invade Poland, and the only way that he could do this without risk was by allying with Stalin.

5. What territorial gains did Stalin make in 1939 and 40 that concerned Hitler? (31)
-Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

6. What two events accounted for a "crucial delay" of Hitler's attack on the USSR? (35-36)
-In October 1940, Mussolini decided to invade Greece in a surprise attack. Hitler ended up sending twelve divisions of German troops into Greece to help out Mussolini. The second event was called a "coup d'etat" which took place in Yugoslavia in March 1941. During this night, Prince Paul, who was becoming close to being "a puppet" of Hitler was overthrown. The Serbs made it clear that Yugoslavia's subservience to Germany had ended.

7. Please give a couple of examples of how Hitler and Goering intended to treat Russian Civilians and soldiers during the attack on Russia (36-38)
-He was going to make a fake lake, which would provide energy for an elecric power station. He planned on destroying the Russian culture so that it would no longer exist. He would banish books from being published, and kids would only be taught about obeying the German masters in their school.