End of the Year

Well, the time has come, little ones. You have finished 9th grade! Congratulations!

Because nothing in life is ever as fun as learning, I have made up a list of activities to keep your brains engaged in some historical activities through the summer months. Expect an assignment on the first day of school that will have to do with this!

You may also access the document here: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/36870779/2012%20Summer%20History%20Assignment.pages

Summer History Assignment

Being a well-informed citizen will help you have an informed perspective when looking into events of the past and how they have shaped today. It will also help build curiosity for what you will be studying. Below are ways you can increase your historical perspective and knowledge of current events over the summer to better prepare yourself for next year. Expect a follow-up assignment on the first day of school!

Listen to news on the radio: I recommend a non-biased radio station like 91.5 KJZZ. This will give you a broad perspective on current events in Arizona, in the United States, and around the world. Their Saturday programs are especially fun (Car Talk from 10-11am and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me from 11am-12pm). If you’re especially interested, you can go to NPR.org and find the article you were listening to and more information about it!

Watch PBS: If you’re going to avoid the summer sun watching TV, watch Channel 8! PBS has lots of excellent programming, especially any documentary by Ken Burns. Seriously, this guy makes the Civil War a nail-biter!

Read books: Another way to avoid the summer heat is to read a book! These books tackle a variety of world and American history topics, fiction and non-fiction. Select at least one book from the titles below:

A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

Any other book from the College-Bound Reading List from Ms. Kasel

As you read, practice those strategies you’ve learned this year. When you stop reading, ask yourself questions to clarify what you have read. Tell a friend or family member about what you just read. Look up words you don’t understand. Start a blog to share what you’ve learned!

Go to a museum: Check out the Phoenix area’s many museums to broaden your world-view. 

• Phoenix Art Museum is free on Wednesday from 3pm-9pm and from 6pm-10pm on First Fridays. 
• Heard Museum showcases American Indian Art and History; you can get in with your student ID for $7.50. 
• Musical Instrument Museum in Scottsdale is $10 and showcases the history of musical instruments throughout the world. 
• African American Multicultural Museum in Scottsdale is free for all.
• Arizona Capitol Museum documents Arizona’s story and is free for all.
• Check this website for more information about free museums in the area: 

http://phoenix.about.com/od/entermus/tp/freemuseums.htm

Check mrsanzursclass.blogspot.com all summer for fun updates and activities!

Have a smart and safe summer! Make Mrs. Anzur proud!

Wednesday/Thursday Activities

Source A


"The League had no means of enforcing its decisions other than the effect of world opinion. If a power chose to be defiant, there was nothing effective that the League could do." 

S. Reed Brett, European History 1900-1960 (1967).

S. Reed Brett was a textbook writer from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Source B

"The Gap in the Bridge," a cartoon from 1919 by Leonard Ravenhill in the British magazine Punch. 

Answer the question:

How much do these sources agree about the failure of the League of Nations? Explain your answer using details from the sources and your own background knowledge.

Answer source questions

Remember to use the steps in your packet to analyze these sources. The first two we will do in class. You need to analyze at least one source from below for your homework.

Watch me:


"The Austrians, taking advantage of a revolution in Turkey, annexed Bosnia. This was a deliberate blow at the neighboring state of Serbia which had been hoping to acquire Bosnia since it contained about 3 million Serbs among its population."

Norman Lowe, Mastering Modern World History (1982)

What can we learn from this source about who is to blame for starting the Great War? Explain.

Together as a class:

"You English are mad, mad, mad as March hares. What has come over you that you are so completely given over to suspicions quite unworthy of a great nation?...I have said it time after time that I am a friend of England...but you make things difficult for me...

The prevailing sentiment among large sections of the middle and lower classes of my own people is not friendly to England..."

An interview with Kaiser Wilhelm II, published in the Daily Telegraph, 28 October 1908

How useful is this source in explaining who started the Anglo-German Naval Rivalry? Explain.

On your own (choose one):

"If the nations want peace, the League gives them the way by which peace can be kept. League or no League, a country which is determined to have a war can always have it." 

The 1930s historian H.A.L. Fisher in his book, A History of Europe (1938).

What can we learn from this source about the failure of the League of Nations? Explain.

"An unjust war has been declared on a weak country. The anger in Russia shared fully by me is enormous. I foresee that very soon I shall be overwhelmed by the pressure forced upon me and be forced to take extreme measures which will lead to war. To try to avoid such a calamity as a European war I beg you in the name of our old friendship to do what you can to stop your allies from going too far. Nicky"

Telegram from Tsar Nicholas II to Kaiser Wilhelm II, 29 July 1914. 

Nicholas and Wilhelm were cousins, and had been great friends.

How accurate is this source as a source of information about the start of World War One? Explain.

YOUR HOMEWORK:

Choose one cartoon and one text source to analyze for your homework. Follow the steps that we went over in class today (from your study guide). Bring your analysis in to class on Monday/Tuesday!

"The Accuser" by Rollin Kirby of the World Journal Tribune (American publication)

A cartoon by FH Townsend in Punch (British magazine), 12 August 1914

"If the nations want peace, the League gives them the way by which peace can be kept. League or no League, a country which is determined to have a war can always have it." 

The 1930s historian H.A.L. Fisher in his book, A History of Europe (1938).

What can we learn from this source about the failure of the League of Nations? Explain.

"An unjust war has been declared on a weak country. The anger in Russia shared fully by me is enormous. I foresee that very soon I shall be overwhelmed by the pressure forced upon me and be forced to take extreme measures which will lead to war. To try to avoid such a calamity as a European war I beg you in the name of our old friendship to do what you can to stop your allies from going too far. Nicky"

Telegram from Tsar Nicholas II to Kaiser Wilhelm II, 29 July 1914. 

Nicholas and Wilhelm were cousins, and had been great friends.

How accurate is this source as a source of information about the start of World War One? Explain.

Good luck on your exams!!

Missing Pictures from the Study Packet

Sorry about the missing pictures from the study packet. I've included them below as necessary.


#8 and #9 from the Germany Revision section:


Source A i

Source A ii

Source B






#3 from Road to War section


Source D

References for other websites/sources

For those of you who used the info about the cost of nuclear weapons: 

Schwartz, S. I. (1998). U.S. Nuclear Weapons Cost Study. Retrieved from http://

www.brookings.edu/projects/archive/nucweapons/weapons.aspx

For those of you who used the account of Futaba Kitayama:

Kitayama, F. (unknown). Her memories. Retrieved from http://www.activehistory.co.uk/

main_area/worksheets/gcse/cold_war/8_Atomic_Bomb.pdf

MAKE SURE YOUR REFERENCES LIST IS ALPHABETICAL BY AUTHOR!!!

Explain how the Treaty of Versailles caused World War Two.

The Treaty of Versailles blamed Germany for the start of World War One. Taking the blame made Germany mad; Hitler used this to his advantage to get into power. Once appointed Chancellor, Hitler gained ultimate power through the Enabling Law and thus eliminated all opposition to him. He then began to destroy the terms of the Treaty of Versailles by stopping payment on reparations, secretly rearming the country, regaining lost territory, including the Anschluss with Austria, and remilitarizing the Rhineland. At this time, the League of Nations (Britain and France) appeased Hitler, thinking that if they gave him what he wanted, he would eventually go away. Through this, Hitler saw that no one would stop him as he broke the Treaty. He took advantage of this and continued to take new territory, including the Sudetenland. It wasn’t until he broke a promise with Chamberlain about Czechoslovakia that anyone thought they needed to stop him. At this point, Britain informed Hitler that if he touched Poland, they would declare war. He did invade Poland, and World War Two started.

The Treaty of Versailles caused World War Two because the Treaty forced Germany to pay reparations. The cost of the reparations was extremely high and Germany was unable to afford the annual payments. In 1923, France invaded the Ruhr because they demanded their missed reparations payment. The Weimar Government told the folks in the Ruhr to stop working (passive resistance). When this occurred, there were no goods to be had, so France began to take, by force, anything that was owed to them. The Weimar Government printed more money in order to pay off the French, but this caused hyperinflation. Stresemann then created a new currency to get out of hyperinflation and borrowed money from the USA (Dawes Plan). In 1929, the American Stock Market crashed, causing a depression. America demanded its money back from Germany, causing Germany to then fall into a depression. Through the depression, Adolf Hitler came into power, telling the German population, who had fallen into desperation, that he would help them out of the depression by creating jobs, abolishing the Treaty of Versailles, and restoring Germany to its splendor. Once appointed Chancellor, Hitler gained ultimate power through the Enabling Law and thus eliminated all opposition to him. He then began to destroy the terms of the Treaty of Versailles by stopping payment on reparations, secretly rearming the country, regaining lost territory, including the Anschluss with Austria, and remilitarizing the Rhineland. At this time, the League of Nations (Britain and France) appeased Hitler, thinking that if they gave him what he wanted, he would eventually go away. Through this, Hitler saw that no one would stop him as he broke the Treaty. He took advantage of this and continued to take new territory, including the Sudetenland. It wasn’t until he broke a promise with Chamberlain about Czechoslovakia that anyone thought they needed to stop him. At this point, Britain informed Hitler that if he touched Poland, they would declare war. He did invade Poland, and World War Two started.

The Treaty of Versailles caused World War Two because it wasn’t fair to everyone: Germany was treated more harshly. Germany was blamed for the starting of World War One; Germany also had to pay reparations for the cost of the war; Germany also lost 10% of its territory; and Germany was forced to reduce its army. 

Germany losing its territory led to World War Two because losing its territory caused them to be upset and consequently work to regain that territory in later years. According to the Treaty, Germany was never allowed to unite with Austria again. This upset one individual in particular, Adolf Hitler. Hitler believed that Austria and Germany should be united because Austria was Hitler’s homeland; he believed that the two countries should be one and the same. 

Hitler used the destruction of the Treaty of Versailles, including regaining lost territory, as a platform to come into power in the 1930s. Once appointed Chancellor in 1933, Hitler assumed total power through the Enabling Act. He then began to systematically destroy the Treaty of Versailles by rearming Germany, remilitarizing the Rhineland, and reuniting Austria and Germany (Anschluss). During this time, however, Britain and France were appeasing Hitler. They never stopped him, thinking that if he got what he wanted and abolished the Treaty, he would eventually go away. However, Hitler saw that no one would oppose him, so he pushed as far as he could go. It wasn’t until after the Munich Agreement settling the issue with Sudetenland, that he went too far. He invaded the remainder of Czechoslovakia to the anger and dismay of Britain and France. At this point, they told him that if he proceeded into Poland, they would declare war on him. He invaded Poland in 1939 and Britain and France declared war: World War Two had started.

The Treaty of Versailles caused World War Two because Germans were mad and wanted revenge. They wanted revenge because they were forced to lose their army. This made Germany weak and vulnerable to attack or invasion by other countries. Adolf Hitler used the weakness of Germany, forced upon them by the Treaty of Versailles, to get into power through his speeches, etc. He grew in popularity until he was put in place as Chancellor in 1933. Once in power he passed the Enabling Act, making him a dictator. He then quickly and secretly rearmed Germany, building up its stores of weapons, tanks, planes, etc. He also remilitarized the Rhineland, against the terms of the Treaty, and he bombed Guernica in Spain during the Civil War, showing that he had successfully restored Germany to power. This put other nations on alert, though they did nothing until the debacle in Czechoslovakia. It was then that the British and French issued him a warning about invading Poland; Hitler still invaded and Britain and France declared war.