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Justin Halbert History 410 World War II 11/20/2003 As a class full of college history students when they think WWII began and a plethora of answers should be expected. Ask a class full of high school history students the same question and expect an even broader response World War II is usually dated by historians to have begun on Sept. 1, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Era 8 in Bring History Alive covers the Great Depression to WWII. As with most presentations on history, it is hard to present detailed accounts of causes and consequences of particular historical events. It is necessary, therefore, to dissect particular events into smaller events, easier to study. I chose to study the early phases and causes of WWII in an attempt to present this subject in my future classroom. This specific presentation can be broken down into 9-10 lecture days with a last day of movie viewing. The days of lecture can be divided into the following topics: The world after WWI, and specifically the U.S. and the Great Depression, an introduction to the causes of the war, the failure of peace efforts, the rise of fascism and the formation of the Axis Coalition, and the German aggression and ambition in Europe. Though many people may have many other opinionated factors, these are the ones I have chosen to focus on. World War II can be a very intriguing and captivating subject to teach students because of the many perspectives available for the student to view the war. Unlike the Cold War where tensions only mounted between East and West powers, the World War affected the whole world because of the devastation economically, socially, politically, geographically and many other ways. Through out world history, it might be said that WWII was the world’s most devastating war if one measures it in terms of material destruction and lives lost. World War II was definitely not a boring war and should not be taught the same way. For the student to understand how the war evolved, the teacher must give a perspective of the world after WWI. This is where it might be helpful for the teacher to use visual aids like old photographs of unemployment lines, empty factories, and the stock market after it crashed in contrast with the little known facts of the upper class who actually prospered in these times. An effective teacher is one who utilizes approaches unique to that subject like introducing photographs, journals, letters etc of upper class successors. Herbert Hoover would be worthy studying for a day to see how his lack of action during the Depression, which lead to his replacement by FDR. The U.S. is not the only country worth studying after WWI. Three major world powers were left with a bitter after taste of war, Germany, Italy and Japan. The Treaty of Versailles needs close attention because of the resentment it fed the German state after it imposed reparation payments and took territory from them. Italy found itself wanting more territory than it was distributed and Japan was left unsatisfied with its inability to defeat the Chinese in the Sino-Japanese war of 1931. Three other major world powers, France, the U.S., and the U.K., all were satisfied with their wartime objectives. They emerged victorious in the First World War and saw it fit to re-order Europe and Germany politically and militarily. This not only embittered Europeans, but within the victorious states, conflict began on policy and unpaid war debts. This would be worth exploring for a day of lecture. After WWI, much attempt was made at maintaining a peaceful world.
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