WWII officially began in September of 1939 with Germany’s invasion of Poland.

Part 1-Primary Source Activity

Content:

Citation (source): The author of this is:

Connection: This connects to:

Part 2-WWII Propaganda- Women and War

Describe each propaganda image- discuss symbols, composition, color schemes, captions, etc.

What are the different ways women are represented in each image, and how does each image say something different about the role women play in the course of the war, either as potential victims,

Who do you think the target audience for each image was? Why do you think this? What are some of the persuasive techniques or strategies used in each piece of propaganda to reach a certain audience?

If you were going to include these examples as part of a larger research project on the use of propaganda, what is a sample research question you could come up with?

Part 3-Discussion

WWII officially began in September of 1939 with Germany’s invasion of Poland.

In your own words, please describe the circumstances that led to the start of the conflict that lasted between 1939 and 1945 in both Europe and the Asia-Pacific theaters.

Consider the following in your discussion, and speculate on what could have been done to prevent another major world war only two decades after the first one ended:

Treaty of Versailles’ terms

Rise of fascism in Europe

Mussolini’s expansionist policies and alliance with Hitler

Ascension of Stalin as Soviet dictator

Appeasement of Hitler

Imperial Japan’s expansionist policies

Your response should be two to three paragraphs long, and reference specific facts, persons, and events from your lessons!