Preparing an Illustrated Timeline

S T U D E N T H A N D O U T A

Work with your group to create a memorable illustrated timeline to teach the key events and complexity of World War II. Have your teacher initial each step as you complete it.

_____ Step 1: Assign roles. Everyone in your group will take part in preparing the illustrated timeline. Review the roles below and divide them among the members of your group. Make sure everyone understands his or her responsibilities.

Historian: You will make sure that all key events from World War II are included.

Geographer: You will make sure that maps are included that show key events.

Biographer: You will make sure that the key personalities involved in World War II are

accurately and memorably portrayed.

Artist: You will come up with creative ways to display key content.

_____ Step 2: Learn about key events and personalities. Read each section of the Student Text. Review the images on Student Handout B: World War II Resources, and figure out which image goes with each subsection of the Student Text. Record your answers in your notebook using your Notebook Guide.

_____ Step 3: Select visuals. Using the Internet or other print sources, collect additional images or documents that you can add to your timeline. Cut out the images from Student Handout B: World War II Resources. Think creatively about how you can present your illustrated timeline in a unique way.

_____ Step 4: Assemble your timeline. Assemble your illustrated timeline on a desktop or tabletop. Add additional images you found in Step 3. As your teacher instructs, paste or tape your illustrated timeline onto wall or cardboard.

_____ Step 5: Give a gallery tour. The class will split into two groups for gallery tours. One group will act as museum visitors. The other group will act as museum docents—knowledgeable guides who conduct visitors through a museum and deliver a commentary on the exhibitions.

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S T U D E N T H A N D O U T B

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A. B.

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World War II Resources: Events

The United States dropped atomic bombson the Japanese cities of ___________ and ________________ Japan surrenderedafter the United States dropped the bombon _______________ .

Japan’s sphere of influence was in___________________, a region innortheastern China that was rich innatural resources. In 1931, Japan’s army

seized the entire region.

Germany’s last offensive of the war wasthe Battle of the ____________ in

Belgium.

As part of the Nazi plan to exterminatethe __________ , millions of people weresent to be killed or worked to death in________________camps.

The Allies began their offensive in the Pacific in August 1942 with the invasion of Guadalcanal.Draw arrows on this map to show how the Allies approached Japan.

The United States began sending armsto Great Britain under the

____________ Act.

45˚N

30˚N

15˚N

Equator 0

15˚S

INDIANOCEAN

Leyte Gulf

PACIFICOCEANCHINA

MONGOLIA

INDIABURMA

THAILANDFRENCHINDOCHINA

MALAYA

D U T C H E A S T I N D I E S

PHILIPPINEISLANDS

CAROLINE ISLANDS

KOREA

JAPA

N

MANCHURIA

1943

Midway

Saipan

Iwo Jima

Okinawa

Tarawa

Guadalcanal

CoralSea

1945

Burma Road &

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ChongqingShanghai

NagasakiHiroshima Tokyo

Beijing

Pearl HarborHongKong

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Areas under Japanese control, 1942

Major battlesGreatest extent of Japanese naval power, 1942

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0 1,000 2,000 mi.

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G. H.

I. J.

K. L.

The Nazi invasionof the Soviet Unionwas successfulat first, as theGermans usedbrutal____________tactics to driveinto Russia.However, they werestopped by the_______________ .

To protect Australia from Japan, theUnited States fought the Battle of the__________, which was fought entirelyby carrier-based aircraft . It was the firstnaval battle in which the enemies’warships never ______________.

Between 1931 and 1940, Japan invaded ______________ as well as a substantial portion of ______________ further south. They also seized __________ __________.

In their 1939 non-aggression treaty,Hitler promised Stalin a part of______________, and guaranteed______________a sphere of influence inEastern Europe. In return, ___________

pledged not to attack Germany.

U.S. President Harry S _________ hadthe difficult decision about whether todrop an ________ ________on Japan orto launch an ___________.

The defensive perimeter the Japanesehad established around Japandisappeared after ________________captured the key islands of _____ _____and Okinawa in early 1945.

Japanese Empire, 1930

Japanese invasion of Manchurianregion of China, 1931–1933

Japanese invasion of China, 1937

Japanese invasion of FrenchIndochina, 1940

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M O N G O L I A

A

PHILIPPINES(U.S.)

JAPANKOREACHINA

Manchuria

HAILAND

MALAYA(BR.)

Formosa

Kuri l Is .

Beijing

Nanjing

Tokyo

Hong Kong(BR.)

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O. P.

Q. R.

With the ______________, Hitler tookcontrol of Austria and furthered hisgoal of uniting all ethnic Germans in theGerman Reich.

_________ forces launched a finaloffensive in North Africa in ______,forcing Axis resistance to collapse.

The U.S. Congress passed several____________ Acts in the 1930s. Theseacts were designed to keep the countryout of conflicts brewing in Europe.

To hasten the end of the war in Europe,the Allies focused on an invasion of France in 1944. On the map, show the beginning and end points of the D-Day landings.

During the Battle of ___________, RAF pilots defended the nationagainst German bombing attacks.When Germany began targeting cities,Londoners called this period the___________.

As many as __________ people died inWorld War II—about half of themcivilians. More than ______________Europeans were made homeless by thefighting.

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M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a

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IRELAND DENMARK

GERMANY

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NETH.

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MOROCCOA L G E R I A

F R E N C H N O R T H A F R I C A

L I B Y A(IT.) E G Y P T

T U R K E Y

SYRIA

SAUDIARABIA

PALESTINE(BR.)

LEBANON

GREECE

BULGARIA

R O M A N I A

ALBANIA(IT.)

POLAND

S O V I E T U N I O N

TUNISIA

HUNGARY

EastPrussia(GER.)

CZECH.

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EN

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RW

AY

ICELAND

ITALY

YUGOSLAVIA

Ukraine

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VICHYFRANCE

(OccupiedNov. 1942)

Caucasus

Extent of Axis controlearly Nov. 1942Allies

Neutral nations

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U. V.

W. X.

The British bombed German ___________ to try to weaken civilian morale. The German city of ___________ was firebombed intoabsolute ruin.

Upon returning to England after signingthe _________ Agreement, Neville_____________ spoke triumphantly.He claimed to have achieved

“_________ for our time.”

The U.S. victory at the Battle of__________ stopped Japanese expansion

in the Central and South Pacific.

The Battle of __________ involvedfirebombs, fierce street-by-streetbattles, and a fight to the death inthe bitter winter cold. It was a______________ victory that forced the___________ to retreat.

The U.S. government established atop-secret program to develop an___________ weapon. PhysicistJ. Robert ____________ directed the LosAlamos laboratory in New Mexico whereit was developed.

Germany had great military success in the first year and a half of the war. Color in all of the countries that quickly fell under German control during that time.

NorthSea

Black Sea

Balt ic S

ea

GREATBRITAIN

NORWAY

POLAND

DENMARK

FRANCE

NETHERLANDS

BELGIUM

AUSTRIA

Rhineland

Sudetenland

ITALY

SPAIN

LUXEMBOURG

GERMANY

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

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Y. Z.

AA. BB.

CC.

The United States entered the war after____________ bombed the naval base

at _________________ .

After the end of the war, the Americansput General ________ __________ incharge of Japan.

U.S. President Franklin D Rooseveltand British Prime Minister Winston_____________ met in Washington inDecember 1941 to plan how to win thewar in ___________ .

Italy invaded ___________ in 1935 as

part of a quest to construct a New

Roman Empire under _____________.

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ETHIOPIA

ITALYALBANIA

The ____________ murdered 6 millionJews, or one-third of the world’s Jewishpopulation. This terrible slaughter wascalled the ___________ .

S T U D E N T H A N D O U T C

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Leaders and Nations

Allied Leaders Axis Leaders

United StatesPresident Franklin D.

Roosevelt

German ChancellorAdolf Hitler

British PrimeMinister Winston

Churchill

Italian Prime MinisterBenito Mussolini

Soviet Premier Josef Stalin

Japanese PrimeMinister

Hideki Tojo