Week 1
Day 1
1. Read pages 1 - top of 8.
2. Study Questions:
a. What 6 factors contributed to the onset of World War I?
b. What became a substitute for the religious beliefs of the common people?
c. Two rival alliance systems were developed prior to the war. What were the names and what countries were members of each?
d. What organization was responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
Day 2
1. Read p. 8 - 12
2.Study Questions:
a. What conditions in Russia led to the revolt of 1918?
b. How did the people of Russia react to the strain of the war?
c. What was the primary factor for the entrance of the United States into the war?
d. The economy of Europe suffered because what goods were produced during the war?
3. Read “Socialism and Religion” and “For Bread and Peace,” both by Lenin.
Day 3
1. Read p. 13 - 19
2. Study Questions:
a. What was the name of the settlement that liquidated the war?
b. What two countries were not invited to the peace settlement?
c. What countries were the “Big Four” and who were the men who represented these countries?
d. The most important part of the treaty was called what?
e. At the end of the war, what country finished ahead financially? Why?
3. Read Wilson’s “Fourteen Points”.
Day 4
1. Read p. 19 - 25
2. Study Questions:
a. What was the “stab in the back” legend?
b. By January of 1923, how many German marks equaled an American dollar?
c. When a country prints money without actually having the wealth represented, the rise in prices and the de-valuing of the nation’s currency is called what?
d. By November of 1923, how many marks equaled an American dollar?
e. Name the two major points of the Dawes Commission plan.
f. The European Allies contributed how much to Germany’s recovery?
Day 5
Did Germany “pay” for its role in World War I? Was the Treaty of Versailles fair or unjust? Now that you have read about the various treaties and how Germany spent its time after the war, what is your opinion? You will have today and the next day to complete this assignment. Please give me your opinion following this outline:
Paragraph 1: In this paragraph, give your opinion/answer to the first question above. Be sure that your sentence has three solid reasons that can be proved from the textbook.
Paragraph 2: In this paragraph, give back-up evidence that relates to the first reason in your “declaration of opinion” sentence in paragraph 1.
Paragraph 3: In this paragraph, give back-up evidence that relates to the second reason in your “declaration” in paragraph 1.
Paragraph 4: In this paragraph, give back-up evidence that relates to the third reason in your “declaration” in paragraph 1.
Paragraph 5: Restate your “declaration” statement.
Week 2
Day 1
Complete assignment made prior class.
Day 2
1. Read p. 25 - 28
2. Study Questions:
a. What other country benefited from the treaty?
b. What country did Japan turn its attention with the intention to dominate it?
c. Who was the leader of the Communist movement in China? Who was he opposing?
Day 3
1. Read p. 29 - 34
2. Study Questions:
a. Who was the head of the Bolshevik movement in Russia?
b. Lenin was returned from exile to Russia with the help of what country? What did they hope to benefit from this act?
c. What two men grappled for power after the death of Lenin? Who would eventually succeed?
Day 4
1. Read p. 34 - 38
2. Study Questions:
a. What type of government gained control in Italy?
b. Who was the head of the new government? What group of people made it possible for this person to be “elected?”
Day 5
1. Read “What is Fascism?” by Benito Mussolini.
2. Optional movie: "Tea with Mussolini." (Please note: this movie contains themes which may be objectionable to some families.)
Week 3
Day 1
1. Finish “Tea with Mussolini”
Day 2
1. Read p. 38 - 46.
Days 3, 4 & 5
1. Read Chapter 11, “Nation and Race” from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
Week 4
Day 1
1. Read p. 46 - 52.
Day 2
1. Read p. 52 - 58
2. Study Questions:
a. What does the word “Lebensraum” mean?
3. The conflict started by Franco is known to history as the Spanish Civil War. It was this national conflict that spurred Ernest Hemingway to author For Whom the Bell Tolls. John Donne, a writer from the Middle Ages wrote: No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends, or of thine owne were; Any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
Day 3
1. Read p. 58 - 62.
2. Read The Munich Pact.
3. Read Chamberlains’ “Peace in Our Time” speech.
Day 4
1. Read p. 62 - 65
2. What effective bit of propaganda was a successful tool for Hitler in both Czechoslovakia and Poland?
3. Read “Diary of a Polish Physician”.
Day 5
1. Read p. 66 - 76.
Week 5
Day 1
1. Visit The Maginot Line. Watch the video, take the virtual visit and read the facts & figures.
Day 2
1. Read p. 77 - 84.
Day 3
1. Read p. 85 - 86.
2. Visit Tanks in World War II and choose the link marked “tanks”. Take some time to look at some of the different tanks used in the war.
3. Visit The Great Planes to look at some of the planes used during the war.
Day 4 - 5
1. Read p. 86 - 91.
2. Visit “Dunkirk Remembered”.
Week 6
Day 1
1. Read p. 91 - 94.
2. Read “Blitzkrieg, 1940”.
Day 2
1. Read p. 95 - 99.
2. Read the Winston Churchill's speech, “Their Finest Hour.“
Day 3
1. Read p. 99 - 103.
2. Read “Air Battle over London, 1940” and “The London Blitz”.
Day 4
1. Read p. 104 - 113.
Day 5
1. Read p. 114 - 124.
Week 7
Day 1
1. Read p. 125 - 132
2. Look at the Map of Concentration and Death Camps.
Day 2
1. Read p. 132 - 137
Day 3
1. Read p. 138 - 144.
Day 4
1. Read p. 144 - 149.
Day 5 - Day 5 of Week 9
Beginning today, we will put aside the regular textbook to read “This is No Drill!”: Living Memories of the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Week 10
Day 1
1. Read p. 150 - 156.
Day 2
1. Read p.56 - 160
Day 3
1. Read p. 160 - 164.
2. Visit The Doolittle Raiders - this is a website authored by the son of one of the Doolittle raiders.
Day 4
1. Read p. 164 - 171
Day 5
1. Read p. 172 - 177
Week 11
Day 1
1. Read p. 177-183
2. Read “The Forced Suicide of Field Marshall Rommel, 1944”.
Day 2
1. Read p. 184 - 188.
Day 3
1. Read p. 188 - 194
Day 4
1. Read p. 195 - 200
2. Read “The Press and General Patton”.
Day 5
1. Read “Letters,” Dwight Eisenhower to his wife, Mamie.
2. Read p. 201 - 203
Week 12
Day 1
1. Read p. 204 - 210
2. Visit “U-boats, Assassins of the Sea”.
Day 2
1. Read p. 210-215
Day 3
Visit the interactive site about The Battle for the Atlantic.
Day 4
1. Read p. 216 - 221
Day 5
1. Read p. 221 - 226
Week 13
Day 1
1. Read p. 227 - 230
2. Read Martin Niemoller’s sermon, “The Salt of the Earth.”
Day 2
1. Read p. 230 - 238
2. Read “Rosie the Riveter & Other Women World War II Heroes”.
Day 3
1. Read p. 238 - 243
Day 4
1. Read p. 244 - 249
Day 5
1. Read p. 249 - 252
Week 14
Day 1
1. Read p. 253 - 258
Day 2
1. Read p. 258 - 259
2. Visit The Plot to Assassinate Hitler”.
Day 3
1. Read p. 259 - 264
2. Read A HREF="http://www.ibiscom.com/dday.htm">“Invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944.”
Day 4
1. Read p. 265 - 271
2. Visit The Battle of the Bulge.
Day 5
1. Read p. 271 - 278
Week 15
Day 1
1. Read p. 279 - 284
Day 2
1. Read p. 284 - 288
Day 3
1. Read p. 288 - 291
Day 4
1. Read p. 292 - 297
Day 5
1. Read p. 297 - 299
Week 16
Day 1
1. Read p. 300 - 305
Day 2
1. Read p. 305 - 310
Day 3
1. Read p. 310 - 315
Day 4
1. Read p. 315 - 316
Day 5
1. Read “Surviving the Atomic Attack on Hiroshima, 1945.”
Week 17
Day 1
1. Read p. 317 - 322
Day 2
1. Read p. 322 - 327
Day 3
1. Read p. 327 - 331
Day 4 to the end of Week 18
Critical Thinking in United States History Series: Book Four: Spanish-American War to Vietnam War.
I. Page 48: “Who was Primarily to Blame for the Lusitania Tragedy of World War I?
II. Page 56: “Why did the United States enter World War I?”
III. Page 96: “Was the United States Justified in Dropping the Atomic Bombs on Japan?”
Any free choice reading on World War II.
Optional MoviesA Guy named Joe (Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson)
Back to Bataan (John Wayne)
Battleground (Van Johnson)
The Counterfeit Traitor (William Holden) - true story
Dunkirk (John Mills)
Heaven knows, Mr. Allison (Robert Mitchum)
I was Monty's Double (Clifton James) - true story starring man who impersonated General Montgomery during the war
Life is Beautiful
Mister Roberts (Jack Lemmon, Henry Fonda)
Mrs. Miniver (Greer Garson) - life on the English homefront
Patton (George C. Scott)
Sands of Iwo Jima (John Wayne)
The Best Years of Our Lives (Myrna Loy) - life on the home front
The Flying Tigers (John Wayne)
The Longest Day (Eddie Albert)
They were Expendable (John Wayne)
Saving Private Ryan
Jacob the Liar
The Diary of Anne Frank
Schindler's List
To Hell and Back - starring Audie Murphy
Answer Key to Study Questions
Week 1
Day 1
a. Growth of nationalism, large-scale industrialization, increase in population, society shift from rural to urban, growth of representative political institutions, right to vote extended to the poorer classes of society.
b. Nationalism
c. The Triple Alliance - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Otto von Bismarck; Triple Entente - England, France & Russia.
d. The Black Hand or Union of Death
Day 2
a. corrupt government of Czar, primitive economy, shortages, transportation system break-down.
b. riots, demonstrations, strikes, demand for abdication of Czar.
Day 3
a. The Peace of Paris
b. Germany, Russia
c. U.S., President Wilson; England, Lloyd George; France, Clemenceau; Italy, Vittorio Orlando.
d. The Treaty of Versailles
e. United States. We made money selling items the European countries were not producing, and we loaned them money to finance their war efforts.
Day 4
a. That Germany had never really lost and that the new republic had surrendered too quickly.
b. 18,00 marks = 1 dollar
c. Inflation
d. 4.2 trillion marks = 1 dollar
e. Reparations payments based on Germany’s “index of prosperity,” international loan would be provided to Germany to stabilize currency.
f. Twice the amount Germany paid in war reparations
Week 2
Day 2
a. Japan
b. China
c. Mao Zedong; Chiang Kai-shek
Day 3
a. Lenin
b. Germany. They hoped to cause chaos and disruption which would impede Russia’s recover from the war.
Background graphic from Li'l Doc's Free Patriotic Graphics.