Name______________________________________Date_____________________Period________

United States History and Government

World War II Webquest
INTRODUCTION
You are a teenager living in the United States during World War II. You read the newspapers and hear the radio broadcasts,
but it is hard to make sense of this war that involves so many countries and people. This webquest will take you back to the
Home Front of the 1940's to learn what it was like to grow up during this turbulent time.
Requirements
1) Answer all questions and terms
2) Create a timeline (with pictures) with at least 10 of the most important events that you think happened.
Use the websites listed below to answer the questions for each section.
The Question
The main question you will be asked to find an answer for is:
What would it have been like to have been a teenager during World War II? How would teenagers of today deal with the
conflicts of war and friendship?

You are going to begin by researching some resources to learn about life in the United States during World War II. Using the
information that you learn you will:

1. Conduct research about life on the Home Front and Europe during World War II.

2. Gather various types of information on the 1940's.
3. Create a timeline of at least 10 of the events that you think are the most important of WWII.
Background Information
Read the following premise:

It is December 6, 1941. The United States is beginning to emerge from the Great Depression and war is raging in Europe. Every day
you hear the reports of how it is spreading to other parts of the world. You have heard of the Nazi atrocities, but it all seems so far
away. Is war the best thing for the nation? Should the U.S. get involved with such a costly effort?

Use the links below to answer the following questions:

1. List 3 causes of World War II.
2. What were the political conditions in Europe in 1940? What countries were at war?
3. Why did the United States become involved in the war? What was date that the U. S. entered the war?
4. Who were the three main AXIS powers? Who were the three main ALLIES?
5. What was the Maginot line?
6. Who were the Big Three (leaders) who set overall Allied strategy?
7. What was D-Day?
8. Explain what role the following people played in WWII:

a. Joseph Stalin
b. Benito Mussolini
c. Adolf Hitler
d. Franklin D. Roosevelt
e. Winston Churchill
f. Hideki Tojo
g. Dwight D. Eisenhower
h. George Patton
i. Harry S. Truman
j. Douglas MacArthur
Links:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/
http://library.thinkquest.org/17573/leaders.htm
http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/lessons/ushistory/ww2/europeantheater.htm
http://www.teacheroz.com/WWIIcauses.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/political_leaders_of_world_war_t.htm
Tactics
Identify each of the following types of tactics and tell who used them and at what places they were used.
a. blitzkrieg
b. saturation/carpet bombing
c. strategic bombing
d. kamikaze
Blitzkrieg: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005437
Kamikaze: http://www.2worldwar2.com/kamikaze-pilots.htm
Saturation/Carpet Bombing: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/525121/saturation-bombing
Strategic bombing: http://war.wikia.com/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_War_II
Battles
Battles are a huge part of war. Each battle is different from the next. In this section, you are to tell me who was involved in the
battles below, the year the battle took place, the nature of the battle, who won the battle (if any winner at all) and the outcome
of the battle.
a. Pearl Harbor
b. Battle of Britain
C. Stalingrad
d. Doolittle Raid
e. Battle of the Bulge
f. Battle of the Coral Sea
g. Iwo Jima
h. Okinawa
i. Battan Death March
j. D- Day
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/videos#attack-pearl-harbor
http://www.wwii.org/
http://combinedfleet.com/battles/
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1737.html
http://www.teacheroz.com/WWIIEurope.htm


Holocaust
Define the following terms and answer all questions:
a. Anti-Semitism
b. Nuremberg laws
1. What was Hitler's Aryan Race? Describe it.
2. What was Hitler's Final Solution?
3. What is the difference between a Concentration Camp and Death Camp? Where were these located?
4. Describe methods used to exterminate the Jews and any other people in death camps.
5. What is genocide? Has genocide happened since WWII anywhere in the world? If so, give examples.
6. Explain the story of the St. Louis
http://www.ushmm.org/
http://www.holocaust-education.dk/baggrund/antisemitisme.asp
http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/
http://library.thinkquest.org/trio/TTQ03068/finalsolution.htm
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-nurem-laws.htm
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/stlouis.html

Japanese Internment
Define the following terms and answer the questions:
a. internment camp
b. Executive Order 8802
c. Describe how Japanese Americans were treated by the American people and government?
d. Where were these Japanese Internment camps located?

http://www.classbrain.com/artteenst/publish/article_71.shtml
http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/index.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312008/
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=72
Home Front


1)Explain how the role of women changed during the war.

2)Give an example of how women made a difference on the Home Front.

3)Find a personal account of a family's experience on the Home Front during WWII and describe it in your own words.

4)How did the war time posters help mobilize the Home Front for war?

5)What are the posters indicating about living conditions in America during this time?
http://library.thinkquest.org/15511/
http://americanhistory.si.edu/victory/index.htm
http://www.teacheroz.com/WWIIHomefront.htm

Effects of the War
1) What decisions were made at the Yalta Conference? Who was involved?
2) What is the United Nations? What are some of the major accomplishments of the U.N?
3) What were the results of the Potsdam meeting?
4) Explain how the world map changed after WWII?
5) Who came out of WWII as the SUPERPOWERS?
6) What is the importance of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank?
7) What were the results of the Geneva Convention?
8) What were the results of the Nuremburg Trials?
9) What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights- 1948?
10) What was the Marshall Plan?
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWyalta.htm
http://www.worldometers.info/united-nations/
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/marshall_plan/
http://www.un.org/en/
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-dpl/hd-state/potsdam.htm
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/index.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/europe/02/euro_borders/html/5.stm
http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Nuremberg_trials.html