World War II example essay topic

World War II 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. The world had suffered and was not prepared for another war. The League of Nations (1920) was set up as sort of a forum where nations could settle disputes. Though exact numbers are not necessary it should be stressed that 42 nations were present at the first meeting.

68 nations would have belonged by the time it ended in 1946. Extra credit could be given to the student who could memorize the most nations involved. It must be stressed in this lecture that there were serious attempts at peace that would be directly violated in the future. Contrasting the idealistic view of world peace and democracy was the rise of the totalitarian, aggressive ideology of fascism. In direct opposition to Communism, the Fascists saw themselves as the only way to minister to peoples need and to protect its state from Communism. This is where a debate can be set for the students.

Half of the students can be fascists presenting their ideology and the other half can be communists presenting theirs. This would be interesting to see how much the student know about each political theory. If need be, the teacher can hand out main arguments for each side to get the debate going. The purpose of this is to show students how two sides can hold totally opposite views but still believe they are right. Another day might focus on the formation of the Axis Coalition. Adolph Hitler, leader of the Nationalist Socialist Party, believed in a racist form of fascism.

A day can be spent just on his life from childhood to Nazi leader. Benito Mussolini, leader of the Italian fascists can also be dissected. Japan, though it was not totally fascist, was certainly totalitarian. These countries formed treaties throughout the years before WWI which granted them the name of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, which then became known as the Axis Powers.

German aggression in Europe prior to the actual war must be addressed as well. A class discussion would be appropriate for this day. Students would know before hand that the forum would be theirs and that the topic would be that. The question would be why Germany was so aggressive and what allowed them to be? How was Hitler able to annex Austria in 1938? Where was the U.S.?

Though Germany was supposed to have been disarmed with the Disarmament Conference, they certainly had weapons and were utilizing them, how did this come about? Why was Europe so relaxed while Hitler threatened the independence of various countries? What finally got the Europeans in the war? These are all questions that the students should be prepared to answer. Though many days can be spent lecturing on the causes and early campaigns of the fascist states, it is necessary to shorten them to fit time constraints. Many films and videos along with paintings, poetry, stories and testimonies exist today that have been birthed out of WWII.

Many agree that the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese is what sparked and ignited American involvement in the war. Though the U.S. joined relatively late, they had the most impact on the war when they dropped the two most devastating bombs in human history, the atom bombs. It would be appropriate to show a fictionalized version of the attack from the movie Pearl Harbor. This would be the ending of the lecture on the early outbreaks and causes of WWII.

Sources Ambrose, Stephen E. The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won. New York: Simon and Schuster. 2001. Bruckheimer, Jerry. Pearl Harbor. Touchstone Pictures: Los Angeles.

2001. Churchill, Winston S. The Second World War. Mariners Books. 1986.

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Delux. World War II. Washington: Microsoft Corp. 2000. Stokes bury, James L. A Short History of World War II.

New York: William Morrow. 1980.