WWII Causes, Results and Fun Facts

In a student involved lecture format, we will learn what was going on in history at this time and what led up to the war.  We will have some specific reasons leading up to the war.  We will finish the class looking at how did this impact history?  What were the results of WWII?   During class we will look at some important people in history and what role did they play in WWII.

Here are some things we will cover in class:
Causes:
1.  Dictators in Germany, Japan, and Italy promoted fanatical national pride.  They also took over the government and installed themselves as the sole heads of state.  To support their regime they created powerful police networks that enforced their ideas of government.  I will discuss this briefly.
2. The Treaty of Versailles left Germany poor and its national pride injured.  We will discuss the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and some of the ways it weakened Germany.
3. The Axis powers wanted to conquer their neighbors.  Japan wanted a "New Order" in Asia, Italy wanted to rule much of Africa, and Germany wanted to rule Europe.  Each invaded other countries and replaced their governments with military dictatorships.  I will discuss how many times war is about land and how throughout history there have been battles to grow a country by winning more land.  I will also cover some of how they were also battling in the seas to gain more territory leading up to the war.

Results:
1. WWII was the most expensive war up until this time.  It cost more than one trillion dollars and left whole cities in ruin.
2. Millions of people in Europe and Asia lost their homes.
3. Japan wrote a new constitution and formed a more democratic government.
4. Germany was divided into four parts, as was its capital Berlin.
5. The United States and the Soviet Union became the chief world powers and their differences led to the Cold War which lasted for the next 40 years.
6. The Soviet Union dominated those countries in Eastern Europe that its troops had liberated from the Axis powers.

I will also include facts like who were the Allies and who were the Axis.  We will discuss some of the weapons used like the new and improved tanks. What is a U-boat? How important the airplane's role was in the airstrikes and how they affected the war strategy, along with guided missiles, jet-propelled planes, and the atomic bomb.  There will be a discussion on how big was the war?  Seventy million soldiers from forty countries were involved in the war and it took place on six continents and in all the oceans. Also, who were some of the people during the war?  Who was the US president?  The class will discuss Pearl Harbor and what happened.

I will touch on the Holocaust but will not go in-depth on this topic.  Basically the word holocaust means a disaster that wipes out life.  During WWII the Nazi's in Germany were against Jews and did several things to harm them.  They had concentration camps throughout Germany and Poland.  Some were work camps to help with supplies for the war and some were death camps.  Over 6 million were killed during WWII that was 40% of the population of Jews at that time.

I enjoy teaching with lectures with conversations.  I like volunteers to read some of our facts, have some discussion, and to followup with questions about what we read.  What were some of the reasons to start the war, name me one cause of the war, what is a U-boat? I enjoy conversations about what they might already know about this war.  My philosophy is if the student will engage and become interested in a class they will continue their learning by reading books, watching movies, and learn more in their free time.

I created and taught 6th grade American History class that was focused on wars for 16 years and I created and taught a WWI and WWII History class 4 years for high school children.  I have taught history classes for 22 years. I love history and become excited when I see children are learning and wanting to know more about it.