World War Context
Content Covered
Background of Lesson
When discussing Utah's economy, military installations must be mentioned. To help provide the context of those military installations, and Utah's overall participation in WWI/WWII/Cold War, I find that it helps to take time to explain how we ended up at WWII, and then transition into Utah's involvement. Today is just a day for providing context.
I go over the following information with my students:
How WWI started, and the different sides of the war.
How when WWI ended, Germany was left with the blame and debt
While the rest of the western world was enjoying the Roaring 20's Germany was suffering
When the Great Depression started, it affected Germany's economy even more.
This provided a space in Germany for a leader to rise up, blaming the Treaty of Versailles for all of the country's problems.
That leader was Hitler, and he stopped paying off debts and rebuilt the German military, while the rest of the world watched.
When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the world realized it was too late to stop Hitler.
Germany took over France in 1940, and the war was in full swing, with the U.S. staying out of it militarily, but selling lots of things.
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, leading to the U.S. getting involved in the war, much to the disappointment of Germany