Mental Block: Teaching WWII

[cdif911]

ok all, looking for feedback on what you remember learning about WWII, what stood out, what was interesting all those sorts of things.

It is such a huge topic, and my second go around with it (taught it during the dark days of my student teaching 7 years ago) - this is a hs audience btw

I know what the state wants me to teach, and I know that there are certain very important topics within it, especially looking at the human cost of war with the atomic bomb, as well as the horrors of the Holocaust.  But I feel teaching it in a chronological, this is what happened, now this is what happened way doesn't do justice to the topic.  Any and all ideas will be greatly appreciated with TPs all around.

[angryguy77]

I don't think there is anyway around the time issue with this. When i was in a history class I always like the teachers that would explain "why" and "how",not just the dates as a focuse.

 I would teach how Chamberlain screwed things up and the important events leading up to Hitlers march on Poland. I always found it interesting how Hitler rallied the country around him and stirred the German's nationalism.

I believe it would be good for these kids to realize what those men went through on D-Day, the brutality they faced and the absolute courage it took for them to land on the beach is something they need to know. How close we came to losing is something that always hits home.

The political philosophy of the US at the time prior to Pearl Harbor.

Japan's treatment of the Chinese people and the operations there is also intersting.

How the US responed and armed itself to go to war teaches how great the country can be when it's motivated.

[cdif911]

I don't think there is anyway around the time issue with this. When i was in a history class I always like the teachers that would explain "why" and "how",not just the dates as a focuse.

 I would teach how Chamberlain screwed things up and the important events leading up to Hitlers march on Poland. I always found it interesting how Hitler rallied the country around him and stirred the German's nationalism.

I believe it would be good for these kids to realize what those men went through on D-Day, the brutality they faced and the absolute courage it took for them to land on the beach is something they need to know. How close we came to losing is something that always hits home.

The political philosophy of the US at the time prior to Pearl Harbor.

Japan's treatment of the Chinese people and the operations there is also intersting.

How the US responed and armed itself to go to war teaches how great the country can be when it's motivated.

good stuff - I have never been a dates kind of teacher, but I think there needs to be a clear line of chronology, cause/effect.  I just think there's so much to this topic that I'm afraid I'll miss something important

Pearl Harbor seems to be a hook for me as far as American involvement, and then kind of work backwards into how did the world get here.  I'm debating using a clip from the Michael Bay movie...

[Roy Hobbs]

The things I personally found most interesting were the "how did we get here" type of lessons, from the failed strategy of appeasement, to the failing world economy (which seems relevant today) which allowed Hitler to scapegoat the Jews, to American isolationism, etc.

[RebusRankin]

Use the chronology (dates etc) but explain the key events that led up to everything. Causes and effects plus the impact. Try to mix in the attitudes of the time. ie what was going on in Italy and Germany that led to the rise of Hitler and Mussolini. The feeling in America and the UK at the same time. Then roll into the events leading up to September 1939. Same idea throughout.

[cdif911]

The things I personally found most interesting were the "how did we get here" type of lessons, from the failed strategy of appeasement, to the failing world economy (which seems relevant today) which allowed Hitler to scapegoat the Jews, to American isolationism, etc.

absolutely - the fact that the word "genocide" didn't exist until the end of the war really stands out to me

the world economy, the conditions of the depression, really the end of the 1st world war, which is a much more forgotton war all helped lead to it, definitely. 

[Redz]

How much of a U.S. perspective do you have to take on WWII.  There was an awful lot that went on before we got involved (I know you know this  ), but really there is a huge distinction between the US History aspect, and the World History aspect.

Anyhow, just from a layman's perspective, things that stick out - in no particular order:

Pearl Harbor
Axis Powers
Allies
D-Day
Hiroshima / Nagasaki
Midway
Battle of the Bulge
Iwo Jima

hmmm...it is a big topic

[cdif911]

How much of a U.S. perspective do you have to take on WWII.  There was an awful lot that went on before we got involved (I know you know this  ), but really there is a huge distinction between the US History aspect, and the World History aspect.

Anyhow, just from a layman's perspective, things that stick out - in no particular order:

Pearl Harbor
Axis Powers
Allies
D-Day
Hiroshima / Nagasaki
Midway
Battle of the Bulge
Iwo Jima

hmmm...it is a big topic

another big problem, I'm teaching it to a US class who supposedly had it in World (but how much did they really get)

yeah the mass frameworks are huge:


World War II, 1939-1945 
USII.14 Explain the strength of American isolationism after World War I and analyze its impact on U.S. foreign policy. (H)   

USII.15 Analyze how German aggression in Europe and Japanese aggression in Asia contributed to the start of World War II and summarize the major battles and events of the war. On a map of the world, locate the Allied powers (Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States) and Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan). (H)

A.   Fascism in Germany and Italy 
B.   German rearmament and militarization of the Rhineland
C.   Germany’s seizure of Austria and Czechoslovakia and Germany’s invasion of Poland
D.   Japan’s invasion of China and the Rape of Nanking
E.   Pearl Harbor, Midway, D-Day, Okinawa, the Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, and the Yalta and Potsdam conferences

Seminal Primary Documents to Read: President Franklin Roosevelt, “Four Freedoms,” speech (1941)


Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Justice Robert M. Jackson’s opinion for the Supreme Court in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) and Learned Hand’s The Spirit of Liberty (1944)

USII.16 Explain the reasons for the dropping of atom bombs on Japan and their short and long-term effects. (H)

USII.17 Explain important domestic events that took place during the war. (H, E)

A.   how war-inspired economic growth ended the Great Depression
B.   A. Philip Randolph and the efforts to eliminate employment discrimination
C.   the entry of large numbers of women into the workforce
D.   the internment of West Coast Japanese-Americans in the U.S. and Canada

[Redz]

How much of a U.S. perspective do you have to take on WWII.  There was an awful lot that went on before we got involved (I know you know this  ), but really there is a huge distinction between the US History aspect, and the World History aspect.

Anyhow, just from a layman's perspective, things that stick out - in no particular order:

Pearl Harbor
Axis Powers
Allies
D-Day
Hiroshima / Nagasaki
Midway
Battle of the Bulge
Iwo Jima

hmmm...it is a big topic

another big problem, I'm teaching it to a US class who supposedly had it in World (but how much did they really get)

yeah the mass frameworks are huge:


World War II, 1939-1945 
USII.14 Explain the strength of American isolationism after World War I and analyze its impact on U.S. foreign policy. (H)   

USII.15 Analyze how German aggression in Europe and Japanese aggression in Asia contributed to the start of World War II and summarize the major battles and events of the war. On a map of the world, locate the Allied powers (Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States) and Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan). (H)

A.   Fascism in Germany and Italy 
B.   German rearmament and militarization of the Rhineland
C.   Germany’s seizure of Austria and Czechoslovakia and Germany’s invasion of Poland
D.   Japan’s invasion of China and the Rape of Nanking
E.   Pearl Harbor, Midway, D-Day, Okinawa, the Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, and the Yalta and Potsdam conferences

Seminal Primary Documents to Read: President Franklin Roosevelt, “Four Freedoms,” speech (1941)


Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Justice Robert M. Jackson’s opinion for the Supreme Court in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) and Learned Hand’s The Spirit of Liberty (1944)

USII.16 Explain the reasons for the dropping of atom bombs on Japan and their short and long-term effects. (H)

USII.17 Explain important domestic events that took place during the war. (H, E)

A.   how war-inspired economic growth ended the Great Depression
B.   A. Philip Randolph and the efforts to eliminate employment discrimination
C.   the entry of large numbers of women into the workforce
D.   the internment of West Coast Japanese-Americans in the U.S. and Canada

Actually, looks like the frameworks frame it pretty well.

[cdif911]

comparatively, they are massive

here's WWI for a comparison:

"USII.6 Analyze the causes and course of America’s growing role in world affairs from the Civil War to World War I. (H, E)

A.   the influence of the ideas associated with Social Darwinism
B.   the purchase of Alaska from Russia
C.   America’s growing influence in Hawaii leading to annexation
D.   the Spanish-American War
E.   U.S. expansion into Asia under the Open Door policy
F.   President Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
G.   America’s role in the building of the Panama Canal
H.   President Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy
I.   President Wilson’s intervention in Mexico
J.   American entry into World War I

USII.7 Explain the course and significance of President Wilson’s wartime diplomacy, including his Fourteen Points, the League of Nations, and the failure of the Versailles treaty. (H)

Seminal Primary Documents to Read: President Woodrow Wilson, “Peace Without Victory,” speech (1917)"

Note the Spanish-American War is a footnote within this topic as well.

[Redz]

comparatively, they are massive

here's WWI for a comparison:

"USII.6 Analyze the causes and course of America’s growing role in world affairs from the Civil War to World War I. (H, E)

A.   the influence of the ideas associated with Social Darwinism
B.   the purchase of Alaska from Russia
C.   America’s growing influence in Hawaii leading to annexation
D.   the Spanish-American War
E.   U.S. expansion into Asia under the Open Door policy
F.   President Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
G.   America’s role in the building of the Panama Canal
H.   President Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy
I.   President Wilson’s intervention in Mexico
J.   American entry into World War I

USII.7 Explain the course and significance of President Wilson’s wartime diplomacy, including his Fourteen Points, the League of Nations, and the failure of the Versailles treaty. (H)

Seminal Primary Documents to Read: President Woodrow Wilson, “Peace Without Victory,” speech (1917)"

Note the Spanish-American War is a footnote within this topic as well.

Yeh, WWI is way less sexy.  Civil War gets way much more play than WWI.

[jdportn]

I think that you really have to approach it as an extension of WWI.  The fact that the war was fought on French soil didn't allow the Germans to really accept defeat and really despise their punishment from starting the first war. 

If I was to focus on one major part of the war I would talk about the eastern front between the Soviets and the Germans.  There is a great multi-part podcast by Dan Carlin's Hardcore History that is really interesting. 

[PLamb]

I had a really bad history teacher in high school who kind of glossed over WWII because we didn't get to it until late May and everyone had summer fever by then

He got into the military battles and their significance

He dabbled in the reasons behind it all

He tried to go into the political machinations behind it

He pretty much ignored a lot of the Pacific realm of the war and Japan

But being Jewish, he hammered home the holocaust and the atomic bomb useages

For some reason the topic interested me, especially the military battle aspects, so that summer I read Williams Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and another that was a military history of the US involvement in a two front war

I don't remember who authored the second book but I remember the author as being one of America's finest military historian's

Anyway, the Shirer book was astonishing and eye opening and informative and brilliant and the complete opposite of what peaked my curiousity about the subject in the first place

One of the best books I can ever recommend reading

[cdif911]

I had a really bad history teacher in high school who kind of glossed over WWII because we didn't get to it until late May and everyone had summer fever by then

He got into the military battles and their significance

He dabbled in the reasons behind it all

He tried to go into the political machinations behind it

He pretty much ignored a lot of the Pacific realm of the war and Japan

But being Jewish, he hammered home the holocaust and the atomic bomb useages

For some reason the topic interested me, especially the military battle aspects, so that summer I read Williams Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and another that was a military history of the US involvement in a two front war

I don't remember who authored the second book but I remember the author as being one of America's finest military historian's

Anyway, the Shirer book was astonishing and eye opening and informative and brilliant and the complete opposite of what peaked my curiousity about the subject in the first place

One of the best books I can ever recommend reading

good stuff - it comes again to that question of balance.  I think many history teachers have gone too far toward the military side, so now there's very little of it left in the history curriculum, but that tends to be what engages people the most. 

[aporel#18]

Great stuff, guys...

I think that you should teach history not only for them (and yourself, of course) to understand what happened before and during WWII, but more important, to understand what happened after that, and beyond, what's happening now.

For me, it's about two big concepts:

- human rights and the end of old forms of colonization. For the first time, human rights are declared for every person in the world, although they're been denied in fact, and new forms of domination have been established over the majority of the planet, in most ways this new colonization is tougher to bear. The human factor is very important, and the massive destruction ang killing of civilians is a good reason for that advance in thinking about mankind.

- sir halford john mackinder's theories in scene. The geographical pivot of history and the fight for the control of the Heartland. Since Versailles treaty to the cold war, and even the 90's conflicts over eastern europe fit well in that theory. WWII is about how Great Britain and Germany were dethroned by the US and the Soviet Union as peripherical and Eurasian powers, and that led to Cold War and today's world.

I think the biggest lesson is about how absurd is war, and the millions killed we shall never forget.

Peace...