Teacher's Guide for Cobblestone: World War II: Americans in Europe

FROM THE EDITOR (page 2)

1. What two political movements were emerging in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s? What common beliefs did they have?
2. What conditions in Italy and Germany led to these movements' popularity? What view did they share with Japan? By what name did the combined forces of these three countries become known?
3. Why was the United States hesitant to become involved with problems overseas?
4. What made it clear that the United States must change its position on overseas involvement?
5. What was the human and dollar cost of this war?
6. Why does the editor state that "the war had been necessary"?

1. What restrictions and penalties placed on Germany at the end of World War I helped bring Adolf Hitler's Nazi party to power? What did the Nazi party promise the German people?
2. The 1920s and 1930s gave rise to what other aggressive nations?
3. What did Congress attempt to do by passing the Johnson Act of 1934?
4. What message did the Johnson Act of 1934 and the Neutrality Act of 1935 send to the rest of the world?
5. What did these U.S. positions cause Germany, Italy, and Japan to believe about the United States?
6. What actions did Hitler and Benito Mussolini take that tested France and Great Britain's resolve to avoid another war?
7. What two actions forced France and Great Britain to declare war on Germany and Italy?
8. What position did the United States take? What did President Franklin Roosevelt ask Congress to do? To what did Congress agree in November 1939?
9. Describe Hitler's "lightning war," or blitzkrieg, across western Europe in the spring of 1940.
10. The United States passed the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941. What did the provisions of this act allow America to do?
11. What actions did Japan take in the Far East?
12. What pledge did Roosevelt and Winston Churchill make in August 1941?
13. What event on December 7, 1941, forced the United States to declare war on Japan? How did Germany and Italy respond?
14. What major change in U.S. foreign policy was caused by its involvement in World War II?

Select one of the men featured in this article. Go to the library and find additional information on him. Write a one- or two-page report on his life, including his involvement in World War II.

Imagine that you were a newspaper reporter during World War II and had an opportunity to interview these soldiers. Write an article to be published in the United States that describes their daily lives.

1. What had been Lois Berney's job in Washington, D.C.?
2. To be closer to the war, what job did Berney take with the Red Cross?
3. In what way was her work a morale booster for the fighting men?
4. What was the unusual circumstance of her first night in Italy?
5. For what did she earn a citation?
6. Describe the conditions she endured as she crossed Italy.
7. Do further research on women's involvement in the armed forces in World War II. Write a brief paper or make an oral report to your class on what you learned.

1. Describe two acts of courage by Chips in the battle in Sicily.
2. Why couldn't Chips receive the three medals the men of his unit had recommended?
3. What was his reaction to General Dwight Eisenhower's pat on the head?
4. How many dogs did American families donate to Dogs for Defense?
5. What roles did most dogs play in the war effort?
6. What special training did dogs that went overseas receive?

1. Describe the defenses that German general Erwin Rommel helped develop to prevent the Allied invasion of Europe.
2. Why did the Germans believe that the attack would occur near Calais, France?
3. How many soldiers were sent against the Normandy coast in Operation Overlord?
4. What two things did U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower hope would be on his side?
5. Briefly describe the D-day invasion of "Utah," "Juno," "Gold," and "Sword" beaches.
6. Describe the Allies' landing on "Omaha" beach. Why was the German resistance more successful on Omaha than on the other beaches?
7. Despite the confusion and savage fire, how far back did the weary Americans drive the Germans by nightfall?
8. Within two weeks of D-day, how many men and vehicles were sent against Adolf Hitler's defenses?
9. By late August, what French city had been recaptured?

1. Why did Pyle become the infantryman's favorite reporter?
2. When and where was Pyle killed? What was he doing at the time?

1. Why were Adolf Hitler and his generals desperate in December 1944?
2. What was Hitler's plan to delay the Allied advance into Germany?
3. Why did Hitler believe the Germans could still win the war?
4. What German general led the attack? What happened to the one hundred twenty Americans who surrendered at Malmedy?
5. What was the name of the American general who tried to stop the Germans at St. Vith?
6. Where did the Americans decide to make one more stand to stop the German advance?
7. What was General Anthony McAuliffe's answer to the German demand for surrender?
8. Who took his Third Army troops to relieve the besieged soldiers at Bastogne?
9. What factors led to the final victory by the Allies at Bastogne?
10. Why had Hitler's desperate gamble failed?

1. Why was rationing introduced during World War II?
2. Why did most Europeans believe that American troops were very well off?
3. Describe one unusual method of making ice cream.
4. Try this recipe to get a feel for the problems of wartime cooking.

1. Why did Henry Kissinger and his family leave Germany in 1938?
2. What was Kissinger's position in President Richard Nixon's cabinet?
3. What did Kissinger win because of his efforts to end the Vietnam War?
4. What refugee scientists worked to get President Franklin Roosevelt to start the Manhattan Project? Why did they do this?
5. What did this project create for the United States?

World War II: The Home Front (December 1985),
World War II: Americans in the Pacific (January 1994),
Famous Dates (January 1995).

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Updated: 5/23/13 08:51 pm
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