AP European History AMSCO Guided Notes
8.8: World War II
AMSCO Guided Notes
AP European History Guided Notes
AMSCO 8.8 - World War II
Essential Questions
- How did technology and innovation affect the course of World War II and the 20th century?
I. World War II Begins
1. What were the major Axis and Allied powers and who led each side?
2. What was blitzkrieg and how did Germany use it to conquer territory between 1939 and 1941?
A. Polish Campaign of 1939
1. How did the German invasion of Poland in 1939 lead Britain and France to declare war?
2. What role did the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact play in the partition of Poland?
B. France Surrenders
1. How did Germany's blitzkrieg tactics lead to France's surrender in 1940?
2. What was Vichy France and how did it differ from German-occupied northern France?
3. How did General Charles de Gaulle and the French resistance respond to German occupation?
C. Operation Barbarossa
1. Why did Hitler launch Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union in 1941 despite the non-aggression pact?
2. How did Soviet resistance during Operation Barbarossa differ from Germany's initial expectations?
II. Path to the Allied Victory
1. What advantages did the Allies possess that helped them overcome Germany's military strength?
A. Britain Holds Out
1. How did Britain's Royal Air Force prevent German invasion during the Battle of Britain?
B. Russian Endurance
1. What were the major Soviet victories that turned the tide against Germany on the Eastern Front?
2. Why was the Battle of Stalingrad a turning point in the war?
C. The War in North Africa
1. Why did Hitler consider North Africa strategically important and what did the Allies accomplish there?
D. The War in Italy
1. What was the strategic purpose of the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy?
III. The War in Western Europe
1. What was D-Day and why was it a crucial turning point in the war against Germany?
2. How did the Allies overcome German forces after breaking through at Normandy?
3. What was the Battle of the Bulge and what did it demonstrate about Germany's military situation?
IV. The Yalta Conference
1. What were the major agreements reached at the Yalta Conference regarding Germany's occupation and Eastern Europe?
2. How did Stalin's actions in Eastern Europe after Yalta differ from the agreements made at the conference?
V. The End of the Pacific War
1. What role did the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki play in Japan's surrender?
VI. Unprecedented Casualties
1. How did the total casualties in World War II compare to World War I, and what does this reveal about the nature of the conflict?
VII. The Technology of Industrial Warfare
1. What was total warfare and how did it enable rapid advancement in military technology?
2. What specific technological advances in tanks, aircraft, ships, and bombs made World War II more deadly than previous wars?
3. How did industrialized warfare contribute to the Holocaust and other atrocities committed by Nazi Germany?
Key Terms
Axis powers
Allies
Winston Churchill
Franklin D. Roosevelt
blitzkrieg
Operation Barbarossa
Pearl Harbor
Yalta Conference