Lesson 6: World War II and 20th Century Europe
February 5, 2019
Review:
Presentation:
- Geographic Focus: Europe + Russia
- Intro to “The War” by Ken Burns
- World War II in European Theater
- Estimated casualties by country (60M worldwide)
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- Timeline of Key Events
- Geographic time-lapse depiction of WWII European Theater
- 1939
- Hitler invades Poland
- Britain and France declare war on Germany
- 1940
- German Blitzkrieg overwhelms Belgium, Holland and France
- Churchill becomes Prime Minister of England
- Britain holds off German invasion in the Battle of Britain
- 1941
- Hitler begins invasion of Russia
- US enters war after Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
- 1942
- Ferocious Russian-German combat, millions of soldiers and civilians killed
- (recommended: City of Thieves by David Benioff)
- Holocaust begins at Auschwitz
- 1943
- German army suffers major defeat in Battle of Stalingrad
- Allies invade Italy
- 1944
- Russian Army advances into Eastern Europe
- Allies invade France on D-Day
- 1945
- Russian Army captures Berlin
- Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders
- Map of European Theater
- Post World War II
- European Recovery Program (The Marshall Plan)
- Iron Curtain
- NATO
- Cold War
- Iron Curtain
- Collapse of Soviet Union and opening of Eastern Europe (1989)
- European Union
- Maastricht Treaty, signed Nov 1, 1993
- Original Members: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands
- How Germany Became Europe’s Richest Country
Assignment:
- If you don’t know much about WWII and want a quick fix, you might try watching:
- For more in depth understanding, I recommend (not required):
