HIS 112 Unit 10

HIS 112
Unit 10: World War II

Eternal flame. This is part of the formal unknown soldier tomb in front of the Kremlin Walls, Moscow. There is also a war memorial in the Aleksandrovskii Garden on the east side of the Kremlin. In reality, there are literally thousands of unknown soldier tombs or monuments on sites of mass burials of Russian dead from World War II. It is still not clear how many Russians died in the war--20, 30, 40 or perhaps even as many as 50 million.

What you must do in this unit

Read chapters 32 and 33 in the textbook (chapter 31 in the Edgar text).
Read my remarks on Russia and World War II and my notes on World War II.
Read the Atlantic Charter (1941) as the basic statement of the fair peace to end the war and of basic freedoms for people.
Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the unit.
Review some websites with material about the Rape of Nanking Genocide.
Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum. Do not post your assignment there.
Submit the required Genocide paragraph.

What you can do in this unit

Have a look at the online presentation on the Holocaust in Poland (collaboration between myself and Professor Andrew Wise).
Read the short paper by Bryan Grasser on Bletchley Park, Great Britain's secret code-breaking operation during World War II (*.pdf file). Bryan wrote the paper as a special project vacation option when he was enrolled in HIS 102.
You may listen to some further information about World War II from my HIS 102 course.
Check World War II in Photos: A Retrospective in 20 parts (In Focus by Alan Taylor of The Atlantic).
Read some of the great, inspirational speeches by Winston Churchill: We Shall Fight on the Beaches (Speech to the House of Commons, June 4, 1940) and Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat (May 13, 1940).
The Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Man-made Megadeaths of the Twentieth Century by Matthew White is an extremely interesting site that deals not just with the major wars but also famines, etc.

Some videos that you can watch for this unit

See the videos dealing with World War II in the HIS 102 course.
For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the url and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.

Extra Credit Options

Take the short 5-point quizzes for chapters 32 and 33. Log into Blackboard and look under "Chapter Quizzes." You have five minutes to complete each quiz (multiple-choice questions).
For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, read Neville Chamberlain's Peace For Our Time speech (30 September, 1938; transcription) and then his comments on the agreement in the House of Commons and write a one-page paper examining Chamberlain's intent and rationale for the Munich agreements.
For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, read the Documents on the Decision to Drop the Bomb and write a one-page paper summarizing some of the pros and cons of the decision to use the atomic bomb in 1945.
For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, in a one-page paper What types of evidence did the allied prosecutors bring against the Nazi leaders in the proceedings at Nuremberg?
For a maximum of 25 points extra credit (maybe more), in a long paragraph, What should people do now in respect to the atrocities that occurred before and during World War II?
For 25 points maximum extra credit, read A. Anatolii [Kuznetsov], Babi Yar (1967, published in Moscow by Molodaia Gvardiia) and write a long paragraph explaining why that horror occurred.
For 25 points maximum extra credit, read the materials on Nazi-Soviet Relations 1939-1941 and write a short paragraph explaining why Germany and Russia maintained their alliance for two years.
For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read Vyacheslav Molotov (1889-1986) broadcast on the Invasion of The Soviet Union (June 22, 1941) and write a paragraph explaining the key points of Molotov's speech. Note that it was Molotov, not Stalin, who announced that the Soviet Union was now at war with Germany.
For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read Adolf Hitler Reichstag Speech, (February 20, 1938) and in a paragraph explain your interpretation of Hitler's remarks.
For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read Chamberlain's speech on the Nazi Invasion of Poland (1 September 1939; transcription) and in a paragraph examine what Chamberlain must have been thinking as he faced his colleagues in the House of Commons.
Watch Leni Riefenstahl's documentary film Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will) and answer the movie study questions for a maximum of 10 points extra credit. Please write in formal, complete sentences.
For 10 points maximum extra credit, answer the Genocide paragraph study sheet questions.
For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course. Send the title of the site, the url and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.