Semester Test Blog

[3Kara]

7. Students will understand the causes and effects of the Great Depression:

One cause was overproduction. Farmers continued to produce more and more food due to technological advances like the tractor and soon crop prices began to drop. Farmers reacted by boosting their production even further, tilling their land like crazy so the soil began to lose its nutrients. To make things worse, the midwest United States was hit by a terrible drought, drying up the land even more and causing the Dustbowl. Another cause was the crash of the stock market. People began to increasingly invest their money in the stock market to drive the prices up and then would sell it to make a lot of money. When the crash occured, people stopped buying things to save money. Then businesses would stop making as much money and were forced to fire employees and then those people weren't making any money to spend either. This resulted in a vicious cycle and banks began to close because everyone was withdrawing their money. Also the Smott-Hawley Tariff restricted imported goods and limited trade with the rest of the world. The effects included a high rate of unemployment, destruction of crops, foreclosure of banks, sucicide, etc.

 

1. Students will understand the impact the Great Depression and the New Deal had on the U.S:

The Great Depression had a huge impact on the US. Our country was left devestated and the economy was shattered. Many people lost their self-worth and some comitted sucicide. People no longer trusted the banking system and would not put their money in them. Also, one reason why the US got involved in WWII was to get our nation out of the Great Depression. The New Deal was a program set up by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to help Americans get out of the Great Depression. Some goals included Reflief, Recovery, and Reform. This helped the unemployed through the Social Security Act and the Public Works Administration. Also was aimed at helping farmers, factory workers, young people, home owners, banks/businesses, Native Americans, and the elderly. The New Deal also tried to get the economy going again by priming the pump and putting in government money to help stimulate it.

 

2. Students will understand the causes, effects, and major events of WWII:

The League of Nations formed the Treaty of Versailles after WWI which basically outlined their punishments and said that Germany was responsible for the whole war through the War Guilt Clause. This made the German people very angry as they believed they were being treated unfairly by having to pay war reparations which put them into a Great Depression of their own. Adolf Hitler came to power, appealing to the German people during this time of suffering and was heavily supported as a result. Hitler vowed that he would take back the land that Germany had lost through the Treaty of Versailles and was successful in doing so because the League of Nations never tried to stop him. Some effects of this was that a lot of people died as countries were invaded and taken over. Hitler also tried to create a perfect Aryan race by breeding blond hair, blue eyed children and wiped out thousands of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other unfit people in the Holocaust. Some major events include the Battle of Midway, the Holocaust, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Doolittle's Raid, D-Day invasion, and VE Day, VJ Day, and the Yalta Conference which split Germany into four zones.

 

3. Students will understand how/why the Allies won WWII:

The U.S. had a lot of support from our Homefront and people were rationing food and clothing and making goods for the soldiers. Because of this we had a lot more supplies than the Axis countries did. We also had enough soldiers to fill our needs while the enemy was losing men fast. ULTRA and MAGIC made it possible for the U.S. and Great Britain to decipher German and Japanese codes to find out where their ships and submarines were located so that we could attack them without them knowing. Germany lost a lot of their men and supplies during Operation Barbarossa and was kicked out of France in the D-Day invasion. We alsos defeated Japan in the Battle of Midway, turning the tide of the war and badly damaging their navy forces. Lastly, we dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing them to surrender and lose the war.

 

4. Students will understand the causes, effects, and major events of the Cold War:

**(What is Cold War-definition, major instances that occurred, US goals (contain communism) and how it  came to an end)**

Def: The Cold War was not really a war at all but a political and strategic struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States.

Causes: The Soviet Union had a communist government while the US had a democracy. The United States feared a communist attack while the Soviets feared democracy would take over their nation. The United States' main goal was trying to keep the Communist Party from spreading to other European nations and taking over the world (Policy of Containment). Also the Nuclear Arms Race helped to spur on the conflict even more because both nations were developing nuclear weapons and always trying to outdo eachother.

Major Events: The Berlin Wall was put up splitting East (communist) and West (democratic) Germany and then eventually taken down. Also the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in which the Soviets had missiles in Cuba and the US came very close to a nuclear war with them. The Berlin Blockade and Airlift was when the US flew over Berlin and dropped down food and supplies for the people of West Germany after the wall was put up.

Effects: A lot of people died and the Soviet Union eventually fell apart.

End of Cold War: The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan leaving them exhausted, taking all their resources, and led to their people getting very tired of it. Mikail Gorbachev came to power and was more willing to work with the United States towards getting rid of communism. He changed his policies to Parastroika (reconstructing) and Glasnost (openness) which gave people more freedom and started capitalism. Detente also made times more peaceful and the US and Soviet Union got along better. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed by Reagan and Gorbechev which called for a reduction of nuclear weapons.

 

5. Students will understand the causes, effects, and major events of the Korean Conflict:

• Known as Forgotten War because it is overshadowed by the Cold War and Vietnam Conflict
• After WWII, Korea was split into two parts
• There was going to be an election held that the United Nations would supervise in order to reunite the country
• Neither side, however, wanted this to happen because they thought they might lose
• Instead, the North (communist) invaded the South (democratic)
• American forces were pushed south and the UN waged war
• The UN (made up of 90% American forces) moved towards communist China, pushing the North back
• China got nervous and began to help North Korea
• McArthur wanted to use atomic bombs against China but was fired by Truman
• China and the North pushed us back
• Eisenhower promised to end the Korean War and succeeded
• Today we have thousands of troops stationed at the DMZ line (demilitarization zone)
• The two countries signed an armistice and are still technically at war today
• The Korean people in the North are starving and most countries will not trade with them while the South is prospering and have a successful economy

6. Students will understand the causes, effects, and major events of of the Vietnam Conflict:

• Occurred from 1950-1975
• Vietnam was a part of French Indo-China and had been ruled by France for many years
• The leader of Vietnam's Communist Party (Ho Chi Minh) asked for independence of Vietnam after WWI and was promised this by the US
• After WWII, France tried to keep control of Vietnam and they were not granted their independence
• They eventually pulled out and the US took over because they were Communist
• We were willing to do anything to contain Communism and keep it out *(Policy of Containment)*
• Vietnam split in two as well, North (communist) and South (democratic)
• There was supposed to be a trial but the U.S. didn't follow through with it because they knew that Ho Chi Minh would win
• JFK started sending special forces to Vietnam (Green Barets), military advisers, and combat forces to help the south keep out Communism
• In the summer of 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed which gave President Johnson the power to take action against Vietnam
• More and more troops were sent over (about half a million)
• In 1968, the Ted Offensive took place which was when the North launched a huge offensive against every city in the South
• The US absolutely demolished the North but it is still considered to be a loss
• The American people thought the government had been lying to them because they said the North was on their heals and we would win if we sent in more troops
• Nixon called for Vietnamization of the war which would pull out American troops and let Vietnam fight for themselves
• In 1973, Nixon officially pulled out of Vietnam and all of Vietnam becomes Communist in 1975
• For test: Focus on "Escalation" (how the whole thing started and got worse)

7. Students will understand why we went to war with Iraq and Afghanistan and the current situtation there:

• On September 11, 2011, a terrorist group from Afghanistan called Al Qaeda hijacked four planes and waged an attack on the United States
• Two planes landed in the Twin Towers in New York, one hit the Pentagon, and another was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers revolted against the terrorists
• The Taliban was Afghanistan's government led by Osama Bin Laden and was responsible for the attacks
• American troops invaded Afghanistan, overthrew the Taliban, and set up a democracy there
• Finally after 10 years of searching for Osama Bin Laden, he was killed by the Navy Seals just a few weeks ago and the US is hoping to pull out our troops shortly
• We went to war with Iraq because we thought they had nuclear weapons when in reality, they did not
• Eventually Sadam Hussein is caught, put on trial, and put to death
• Today, we only have advisors there because unlike Vietnam, we don't want Al Qaeda to take over so we have not pulled out entirely