World War II Webquest

Tomás Monzón April 31st, 2008
US History 2nd Period
World War II
Webquest
The following webquest encompasses several important aspects of the
Second World War. From here on in, all QUESTIONS will be in bold font,
while all the answers will be in regular font.
1. Read about the after-effects of World War I and the Treaty
of Versailles
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_versailles.htm
How many people were killed and wounded in total? Who were
the Big Three? What were the four areas of the Treaty? What
was Germany’s reaction to the Treaty of Versailles? What two
choices was Germany given in relation to the Treaty of
Versailles?
1. In total, 8.5 million were
killed between all nations, in
addition to 21 million being
wounded.
2. The Big Three, composed by
David George Lloyd of
Britain, Clemenceau of
France, and Woodrow Wilson.
The Big Three were the ones
in charge of deciding what
the Versailles treaty would Figure 1 The Treaty of Versailles was signed
at the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of
contain, and what Germany’s Versailles.
treatment should be after the
war.
3. The treaty contained the following sections: territorial,
financial, general, and military. In the territorial section,
certain pieces of land were taken away from Germany and
given to countries such as Denmark and Belgium; in the
military section, Germany’s army was minimized; in the
financial section, it was severely industrially punished; and in
the general section, Germany assumed responsibility for the
war and the League of Nations was created.
4. The Armistice formally ended the First World War, and the
Germans agreed to it in November of 1918. Following this, the
World War II Webquest

Germans were promised that they would be consulted by the
Allies on the contents of the Treaty. However, this did not
occur, and the Germans only saw the terms of the treaty only
weeks before they were due to sign it at the Palace of
Versailles. Even though Germany was angry, its war machine
had disintegrated, and it could not start war. Thus, Germany
was given two choices – sign the Treaty or be invaded by the
Allies. Despite lack of support from the German public, the
German government had to sign the Treaty and agree to the
punishments it imposed. The German public felt as if they
were being punished for the war their government had
started, and that they had not agreed with.
2. Go to the following site and scroll through the timeline.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm
#stpaul
A. What year did Adolph Hitler become the leader of the

National Socialist Nazi Party? (Hint - look in the 1920's)
1. On July 29th, 1921, Adolf Hitler became the leader of the
National Socialist Nazi Party.
B. Go to 1925. Click on Mein

Kampf. What does Mein
Kampf mean? (Third or
fourth paragraph)
2. Mein Kampf was the
book “written” by Adolf
Hitler, in which he talks
about his youth, ideas
on politics and race,
etc. Mein Kampf, which
means MY Struggle, or
My Battle The original
title, Four and a Half
Years of Struggle
against Lies, Stupidity,
and Cowardice was
considered too long by
the publisher, whom
then changed the title
to Mein Kampf.
Figure 2 Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf.

C. What is an Aryan, according to Hitler? (Around the fourth
paragraph)
3. In the book, Hitler places the Germanic man with “fair skin,
blond hair and blue eyes” at the top of the pyramid of
humans, which is based on physical appearance. He refers to
this type of person as an Aryan, which he expresses is the
master race.
D... Look at the bottom of the article, when did this book
become hugely popular? To answer this, you have to read the
article, and then go back to the timeline to find out when
Hitler became Chancellor.
4. Despite poor initial sales, after Hitler became Chancellor of
Germany (Jan. 30, 1933), Mein Kampf sold like hotcakes –
millions of copies were sold. Such a book would become
proper to give to newlyweds or high school graduates, even if
few Germans ever read it cover to cover.
E. What year did the Nazis hold a book burning? List some
authors whose works were destroyed.
5. The Nazis held a book burning on May 10th, 1933. They
burned books that expressed ideas contrary to the Nazi’s –
“unGerman ideas” – written by people such as Sigmund
Freud, Thomas Mann, Jack London, Albert Einstein, H.G. Wells,
etc.
F. Scroll down to 1941. Look at December. What happened on

Dec. 8 and Dec. 11?
6. On Dec. 8, 1941, the US and Britain declared war on Japan; on
Dec. 11, Germany declared war on the US.
G. Scroll to the very end. Click on the Statistics of World War

II. Which country had the most fatalities? How many
countries were involved with World War II?
7. The USSR had the most fatalities (20,600,000). In total, 25
countries were involved in WWII.
3. Look at this website and write the definition of Fascism in

your own words. What countries were fascist during the WW2
era?.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
1. Fascism is basically a form of a totalitarian government that

attempts to control every single aspect of society – culture,

ideology, etc. –, in other words, it goes beyond economy and
politics. It does not tolerate difference, either – it supports
unity and purity, a homogenous nation.
2. During WWII, Italy and Germany were the two fascist
countries.
4. Go to http://www.bartleby.com/65/to/totalita.html
and find the definition for “totalitarianism”
1. Totalitarianism is a “modern autocratic government in which
the state involves itself in all facets of society, including the
daily life of its citizens.”
Name the 3 countries and their leaders who had a totalitarian

system. What are the two most common characteristics
shared by totalitarian governments?
1. The 3 countries most commonly described as totalitarian are:
Joseph Stalin’s USSR, Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, and
China under Mao.
2. In all totalitarian systems, two main characteristics that are
always present are: 1. an ideology that includes and controls
all aspects of life to achieve the goal it has in mind, and 2. a
single party hat controls the government, and through which
people are mobilized to produce energy and support.
5. Now go to http://www.besthistorysites.net/WWII.shtml
A. Scroll down until you see a link titled Japanese American

Internment. Click on that and then click on “The Camps”.
Where were the Internment camps in Arizona located?
1. There were relocation
centers in Gila River, AZ as
well as Poston, AZ. There
was also an assembly
center (holding camps; held
the prisoners until they
were taken to the
relocation centers) in
Mayer, AZ.
B. Go back and scroll down to

“Shootings”. Read that section.
What were the prisoners told
Figure 3 The Japanese in the United States were

sent to internment camps around the nation.
who asked about the two sick prisoners that had been
separated from the group?
2. The rest of the camp’s prisoners were told that the prisoners
were being taken care of; that they were receiving medical
care.
6. Go to http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/nrule.htm and read

through this site. When you are done exploring, click on the
Nazi Propaganda tab at the top. Which American writers were
banned, why, and by whom?
3. Once Germany was turned into a totalitarian government by
the Nazi, an enormous propaganda campaign was launched to
win the “loyalty and cooperation” of the German public. The
Nazi Propaganda Ministry, led by Dr. Joseph Goebbels, took
control of all forms of communication in the country. In 1933,
during the spring of that year, Nazi professors, librarians, etc.
picked out books and written texts that they believed went
against Nazi ideas or beliefs. Books by American authors such
as Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, and Jack London were
burned, as well as the books of Helen Keller. Books by these
authors were burned and, of course, banned.
7. Go to the following website.
http://www.lclark.edu/~history/HIROSHIMA/ Click on The

Gallery. Go to collection 3. Hiroshima Collection. Click on
pictures #2 and # 18. Read the captions under the pictures.
Explain your thoughts on how the Japanese must have felt
immediately after the Atomic Bomb was dropped on them.
1. Recall the mushroom cloud characteristic of atomic bombs. It
rises more than 10,000 feet into the sky, manifesting itself as
an evil demon, of sorts. And certainly, this is what the
Japanese must’ve felt after the atomic bomb was dropped on
them. Their entire city wiped out, their friends, dead, all by
this piece of metal with nothing but the objective to destroy
and annihilate. They may have also felt as if they’d just

witnessed the end of the world – the entire sky lighting up,
everything close to the epicenter of the explosion obliterated
– absolute chaos.
8. The next website is about a female spy during the war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
What was her name at birth? Where was
she born? How old was she when she died?
She was an SOE. What do the initials stand
for? What was her code name? Why were
her wireless reports to SOE headquarters so
important?
1. Violette Szabo, an Allied WWII secret spy
was born Violette Bushell in the city of
Paris, France. She died at the age of 23,
after having been captured by enemy
forces. An SOE (Special Operations
Executive) agent, her code name was
Louise. When she embarked on a mission Figure 4 Violette Szabo.
near Cherbourg, France, and reorganized a French resistance
network there, the wireless reports she sent to the SOE were
so important because they included information on the local
factories producing wartime products for the Germans
allowed the establishment of critical Allied bombing targets.
9. Navajo code talkers.
A. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmcode1.html This site

has information about the Navajo code talkers. Who came up
with the idea to use the Navajo language? Why? Why were
the code talkers heroes?
1. Philip Johnson, whom was the son of a missionary to the
Navajos and one of the few non-Navajo people who spoke
their language fluently, proposed the idea that the language
should be used for secret, secure communications, and for
several reasons – it is unwritten (thus having no alphabet or
symbols), extremely complex, and simply unintelligible to
anyone whom has not received lots of exposure to the
language, as well as training; lastly, it is spoken only on the
Navajo lands situated in the American southwest.
B. Go to this website to find Navajo code words used in WWII:

http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123032028

Go to the section titled:” The Navajo Code Talker’s Dictionary”.
What was the Navajo code word for submarine? (Hint: it
means “iron fish” when translated into English). What was the
Navajo code word for fighter plane? (Hint: it means
“hummingbird” when translated into English).
2. Besh-lo was the Navajo code word for submarine.
3. Dah-he-tih-hi was the Navajo code word for fighter plane.
10. Concentration camps.
A. http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blmap.htm
This site has a map of all the concentration and extermination
camps. What was the camp to the furthest point north? Which
was the closest extermination camp to the city of Warsaw,
Poland? What was the name of the concentration camp in
France?
1. Kaiswerwald, located near Riga in Latvia, was the
concentration camp farthest north in Europe.
2. Treblinka was the closest extermination camp to the Polish
capital Warsaw.
3. Natweiler was the sole concentration camp in France.
B. http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/timeline/camps.htm The site

shows a timeline of the holocaust. Go to the year 1941 and
find the word Einsatzgruppen, then click on the definition box
(DEFN). From which two groups did the Einsatzgruppen get
selected? What was their responsibility? Go to the year 1942
and find a (WEBLINK) box that refers to the “Final Solution”,
and click on it. What was the Madagascar Plan? On the same
WEBLINK, look at the
section titles “Nazi Murder
of Non-Jews”. List 5 other
groups the Nazis murdered
during the Holocaust.
1. The Einstazgruppen
were mobile units was
to kill all those who
threatened the Aryan
ideology, including
Jews, communist
Figure 5 Extermination camps took the lives of many functionaries, the
innocent people during the war.
handicapped, etc., and
they were selected from the Security Police and SS Security
Service.
2. Hitler’s original plan to eliminate the Jews from Germany was
not to mercilessly annihilate them, but instead by way of

forced emigration. In 1940, a plan was devised to send all
Jews under Nazi control to the Indian Ocean island of
Madagascar. It would not be until 1941 that Nazi bureaucrats
would refer to the murder of European Jewry.
3. 5 other groups murdered during the Holocaust in addition to
the Jews were: Gypsies, Polish Christians, Ukrainians,
homosexuals, and followers of the Jehova’s Witness religion.
C. http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/holocamp.html This is a site

showing the Nazi extermination camps. Look at the Timeline
for Nazi Extermination Camps. There is a chart of how many
were killed at each camp and how. Which two camps had the
highest rate of deaths?
4. The two extermination camps with the highest rate of deaths
were Majdanek (1,380.000) and Birkenau (1,200,000).
11. D-Day
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/world/d-
day_/newsid_3754000/3754731.stm Use the 5 main links to
answer the following questions:
A. What was D-Day? (Use link #1) What happened on D-Day?

(Answer this question by
summarizing in one
paragraph the 5 points
listed on Link #2) What
were the names of the 5
beaches where the
invasion forces landed?
(Use link #3)
1. D-Day was one of the
most important and
dramatic invasions in
the history of the
Figure 6 D-Day was one of the most important invasions
in the history of the war. Second World War,
having taken place on
June 6 , 1944 following five years of war with Germany.
th
2. The D-Day offensive began when Allied planes and warships

bombed German positions along the coastline, making it
easier for the landing troops to later take the beaches. As this
was going, a multitude of planes and gliders dropped
thousands of Allied soldiers into positions behind the German
defenses. These troops took control of important roads and
bridges, making it harder for coastline enemy positions to call
for backup. Thirdly, thousands of ships, assisted by 13,000

planes, set out from the south coast of the England, and
crossed the English Channel overnight. The landing troops
storm the beachheads at 6:30 AM on June 6th. By day’s end,
156,000 troops had come ashore.
3. Landing troops came ashore at the following beaches: Utah,
Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword.
B. Inside link #3 click on the link to open the interactive map

of the landing beaches. Click on the Utah flag. Which
American division landed here and at what time? The waves
and strong winds at Utah beach meant the first soldiers landed
2km to the south of their target. Why was this a good thing?
4. The US 4th Infantry Division landed on Utah Beach at 6:30 AM
on D-Day. The first soldiers to disembark, as stated, landed
2km south of their target as a result of the waves and strong
winds, which turned out to be a good thing because where
they ended up, there were less German defenses. Thus, it can
be said that the rest of the troops landed at the “wrong place
at the wrong time’.
C. Click on the Omaha flag. Which division landed at Omaha

beach? How many U.S. soldiers were killed or wounded trying
to land ashore? How many troops landed by the end of the
day?
5. The US 1st Infantry Division landed on Omaha Beach, with
116th regiment of the 29th division. The beach, being the
toughest place to land at, caused 2,400 killed or wounded. By
the end of the day 34,000 US troops had landed on the beach.
D. Click on the Gold flag. Who landed at Gold beach? How

many casualties (dead or wounded) were there and how many
troops landed?
6. This was a British landing beach; the British 50th Infantry
Division, as well as the 47th Royal Marine Commando, landed
here. By the end of the day, 25,000 troops had come ashore;
400 casualties occurred.
E. Click on the Juno flag. Who landed on Juno beach? How

many casualties were there and how many landed?
7. This was the sole Canadian landing beach; the 3rd Canadian
division, accompanied by tanks from the British Hussars,
landed here. 21,000 troops came ashore, out of which 1,200
were dead or wounded.

F. Click on the Sword flag. Who landed on Sword beach? What
were their orders? How many casualties were there and how
many landed?
8. This was the second British landing beach; the 3rd Division,
along with French and British commandos, stormed Sword
Beach. Their goal was to capture the city of Caen, the centre
of the local road network. Following this, they would meet up
with Allied airborne troops who’d secured some vital bridges a
few miles inward from the coast. 29,000 soldiers landed on
the beach, with 630 casualties.
G. Click on What was D-Day? to the left of the map. Read the
last paragraph. How long did D-Day last and what was its final
outcome?
9. Operation Overlord (D-Day was the one day that the invasion
began), otherwise the Invasion of Normandy, lasted for eleven
months. It allowed the Allies to enter the Fatherland –
Germany – and go all the way to its capital, Berlin; all the way
to “the bunker that was Adolf Hitler’s headquarters”.
12. Battle of the Bulge
http://ice.mm.com/user/jpk/battle.htm
Click on the link and scroll through the site to get an idea of
how immense it was. Go to Battle Facts. How many soldiers
fought and for which country? How many casualties were
there for each country? Go to Battle Action Credits and read
the first paragraph. Why was the Battle of the Bulge so
devastating for the Germans?
1. In total, over a million men fought – 500,000 German soldiers,
600,000 American soldiers, and 55,000 British soldiers. 3
German armies and 10 German corps; 3 American armies and
6 American corps.
2. As far as casualties,: 100,000 German casualties (killed,
wounded or captured); 81,000 American casualties (incl.
23,554 captured and 19,000 killed); and 1,400 British
casualties, 200 killed.
3. Recall that the Germans fought a “lightning war” style kind of
battle – they went in fast, shot quickly, escaped quicker. The

106th Infantry Division, which fought in the Battle of the Bulge,
played an important role because it pinned down the
Germans in the St. Vith area. Time, which was a crucial
component in the Nazi’s style of fighting, was lost, and much
of the precious battle resources of the Nazis were used in this
holdup. The Nazis were not able to recoup ever again. This
was a key factor in their downfall – the loss of their resources,
“both human and equipment”.
WWII in Europe ended with the surrender of German forces on

May 7, 1945. May 8th was proclaimed V-E (Victory in Europe)
Day.
13. North African Campaign
Go to
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/launch_ani_nor
th_africa_campaign.shtml
and launch the animation. Read the information below the

map.
Why was it so important for the Germans to control North
Africa? Give 3 reasons.
1. Controlling North Africa would allow the Axis powers to gain
access to the Middle East oilfield. In addition to this, they
would be able to starve Britain of oil, cut Britain off from
Indian, and threaten the Russian southern flank.
Play all the animations (always click on the key) until you get
to “Rommel Advances to El Alamein”. Play this animation and
read the information under the map. Based on the animation,
when was the battle of El Alamein? Based on the reading,
when was the 2nd battle of El Alamein?
2. A desperate series of counterattacks circa July 1st, 1942,
compose the First Battle of Alamein. The Second Battle of El
Alamein, which occurred on October 23rd, 1942, was launched
by the British general Charles Montgomery.
Continue playing the animations until you get to “the Allies
Land in Morocco and Algeria” and play the animation. Based
on the animation, in which 5 cities did the allies land? In
which cities did the Axis troops land?
3. The Allies landed at the following cities: Safi, Casablanca, Port
Lyautev, Casablanca, Oran, Algiers. The Axis troops landed at
Bizerte, Tunis.
Now play the animation” Allied Victory in North Africa” and
read the information under the map. According to the reading,

where and when did Rommel launch his major offensive?
Where did the Allies make the final assault? When did the
Allies declare victory? How many prisoners did they take?
4. Rommel launched his major offensive against the American
troops at the Kasserine Pass, on the 14th of February, 1943.
The final allied assault begins on the 3rd of May of that year –
on May 7th, the Allies enter
Tunis, and later Bizerte on May
9th. Victory is finally declared
on May 13th, 1943, and
275,000 prisoners are taken.
After the Japanese victory at Pearl

Harbor, the United States Pacific
fleet was so badly damaged that it
took 6 months for it to recover its
battle readiness. From December
1941 to April 1942, the Japanese
war machine conquered many
areas in Asia. These included
Burma, Singapore, Malaya, the
Dutch East Indies, and the
Philippines, were they again
defeated the United States. The
Figure 7 Erwin Rommel, out of uniform.
Doolittle Raid marks the first
offensive military action taken by the U.S. again Japan since
Pearl Harbor. It was a psychological shock to Japan, because it
proved that they were not protected from invasion as they
believed.
14. The Fall of the Philippines
A. Go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Philippines_(1942)
Who was the American general in command at the Philippines?

How many Americans were killed, wounded, and captured?
1. General Douglas MacArthur was
the American general in command
at the Philippines.
2. As far as losses, 2,500 American
troops were killed, 5,000 were
wounded, and 100,000 were
captured.

B. Go to http://www.historyanimated.com/PhilippinesPage.html
After reading the introductory paragraph, click on

“Animation”. Click on all the blue animation squares to look at
the animations and to hear historic
Figure 8 General Douglas Macarthur
radio broadcasts. When you get to the was in charge of the American troops
blue square called “The Death March”, during the Battle of the Philippines.
listen carefully to the audio as you
watch the animation. How many U.S. and Philippine soldiers
died on the death march? In 3 – 5 sentences, describe the
experience of the U.S. soldiers using examples from the audio.
How does this make you feel?
1. Approximately 600 US troops had died on the Death March;
between 5,000 and 10,000 Philippine soldiers died there as
well.
2. Torture is worse than death, and this is a prime example of it.
Even the soldier speaking said it would’ve been better had he
died. I feel nothing but sadness for these American troops –
forced to walk a sort of “walk of shame”, or certainly it
seemed like it, as their Japanese captors would laugh at them
and beat them senseless because they’d lost the battle. They
would not even allow the captors to live out their lives calmly;
they would torture them, hit them, beat them, injure them
severely. It reminds me about the evils of this world.
15. Midway
Go to
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552739/Battle_of_Mid
way.html
Why was this

battle so
significant?
When did it
take place?
Which American
and Japanese
forces fought in
it? How many
ships did the
Japanese lose?
How many ships
did the
Americans Figure 9 The Battle of midway was a turning point in the Pacific theater of
lose? WWII.

1. The Battle of Midway was an important naval encounter
between US and Japanese aircraft carriers of WWII, and it took
place in June 1942, near the Midway Islands. On the American
side – American fighters and bombers, along with three
aircraft carriers, fought the battle, with ship losses being the
Yorktown (an aircraft carrier) and one destroyer. On the
Japanese side, an armada of 185 ships, along with aircraft
carriers, cruisers, and a slew of aircraft; as far as losses, these
included four aircraft carriers, two cruisers, and three
destroyers.
2. The significance of this battle in the war’s history is due to the
fact that the prevention of the Japanese capturing the Midway
Islands also prevented the possible invasion of Hawaii, which
may have come next. The encounter also turned the Pacific
Ocean war tide in favor of the United States.
16. Iwo Jima
Go the following link and watch the video. (Great American

History Quiz: Iwo Jima)
http://www.history.com/media.do?action=clip&id=gahq_aw_teri
_garr_broadband
(immediately minimize your other windows and click on the

“video gallery” link on the bottom task bar. If the video
already started, just rewind and begin again.)
Write the question and correct answer shown on the video
quiz.

1. What was the strategic importance of Iwo Jima to the
US? It was a good base for US planes.
Figure 10 The most famous photograph of the way – US soldiers raise the American flag at Iwo
jJima.
17. Okinawa
Go to
http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/Japan/04/vaughn/vaug
hn.htm
What was a significant historical WWII fact about the Battle of

Okinawa? (Hint: it has to do with when it happened). What
was the military code name for the Battle of Okinawa? How
many U.S. soldiers died? How many Japanese soldiers died?
How many civilians died? What was the Japanese goal in
Okinawa? The Japanese used Kamikaze planes in Okinawa.
What was the pilots’ responsibility?
1. A significant historical fact about the battle – it began on April
1st, 1945, and Japanese resistance ended eighty-two days
later.

2. The military code name of the Battle of Okinawa was
“Operation Iceberg”.
3. 12,250 US soldiers died.
4. 109,629 Japanese soldiers died.
5. The Battle took the lives of over 150,000 civilians.
6. The Japanese goal in the battle was basically to hold back the
American advance, and defeat it. This is because Okinawa
was the last line of defense for them – were they not to win,
the invasion of Japan would likely be imminent.
7. The kamikaze pilot’s responsibility was to aid in bringing down
the Americans by ramming their planes into the side of US
naval forces, i.e. their ships. Although somewhat effective, the
tactic was not sufficient to wipe out the US naval forces.
18. Planned Invasion of Japan
The capture of Okinawa made it possible for the United States

to prepare an invasion of Japan. The invasion was planned but
never happened. It never happened because the U.S. dropped
two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima
(8/06/45) and Nagasaki (8/09/45), resulting in Japanese
surrender and the end of WWII.
Go to http://www.waszak.com/japanww2.htm
What was the code name of the planned invasion? What

percentage of total American servicemen were going to take
part in this massive invasion? According to General Charles
Willoughby, how many estimated American casualties would
there be by the fall of 1946?
1. The code name of the planned invasion was Operation
Olympic.
2. More than 40% of American servicemen were going to
participate.
3. General Charles Willoughby (chief of intelligence for General
Douglas MacArthur) estimated one million American
casualties.
19 Hiroshima & Nagasaki
According to some estimates, more than 240,000 Japanese lost

their lives when the bombs fell in both cities. Thousands more
have died from radiation illnesses up until 1950, and many

babies who were born weeks and months after the blasts,
were born with birth defects.
Go to
http://www.history.com/media.do?action=clip&id=mf1_atomicb
ombings_63
A. Watch the video of the atomic bombs and then re-read An

Invasion Not Found in the History Books on
http://www.waszak.com/japanww2.htm
B. In one paragraph, write a

persuasive response to the
following question:
Should the U.S. have dropped

the two Atomic bombs on
Japan, or should they have
invaded Japan instead? Why?
1. While it may sound
inhumane to say so, I do
believe that the US was
strategically correct in
dropping the atomic
bombs. The reason why I
say this is the following:
the invasion of Japan could
present several setbacks,
even if the tide of the war
was in favor of the Figure 11 The mushroom cloud characteristic of
atomic bomb explosions.
Americans. More than 40%
of American servicemen would participate, in two amphibious
invasions, and casualties were expected to be extremely
heavy. Even though the Japanese war machine was already
tired and worn out, the Japanese still were building up their
defenses for the invasion – artillery, amphibious tanks – the
works. The US risked getting a lot of its men killed, wounded
or captured. And, dropping the atomic bomb was a more
surefire way of winning the war. Had the US invaded Japan, by
luck, skill, or whatever other motive, the Japanese could’ve
won. They would’ve used all the resources they had left
against the Americans, and they could have won. Whereas
the atomic bomb, despite the fact that I still believe it is a
horrible creation of mankind, was a more surefire way to
victory for several reasons: 1. it had never been used before,
and thus using it would be a demonstration of the American

society’s intelligence and skill at war, 2. the weapon was
extremely effective on its own, and 3. it was the most awing,
horrific, intimidating way of an attack. Recall the mushroom
cloud, and the “end of the world” kind of feeling that is
characteristic of atomic bomb. This would horrify the Japanese
population, and the rest of the world, and certainly force the
Japanese government to surrender. Besides, the people
would protest were the government not to do this, because
the people care only for their welfare, and have no interest in
politics or economy, especially in such a time of desperation,
worry, grief, and death.
Use information from the reading on question 19 above, the

video and the reading of the planned Japan invasion to support
your answer.
V-J (Victory in Japan Day was proclaimed on August 15th, 1945,

when Japan promised to surrender unconditionally. World War
II formally ended on September 2nd, 1945, when Japan
formally surrendered to the United Nations
20 Consequences and Aftermath
With 55 million dead, over one trillion dollars in money spent,

and billions of dollars in damage, WWII was the most
destructive war in the history of the world
A. Go to
http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=226140
and read the section “Costs of the War”. Then answer the
following questions: How many countries participated in
World War II? Which country spent the most money on the
war? Which country suffered the most casualties (dead and
wounded)? How many? How many total Allied human losses
were there, both military and civilian? How many total Axis
human losses?
1. All in all 61 countries and 1.6 billion people participated in the
war, with the United States spending the most money on the
conflict (about $341 billion).
2. The largest toll was taken on the USSR, whose military and
civilian deaths amount to more than 20 million killed.
3. The Allies sustained 44 million military and civilian deaths; the
Axis, 11 million.

B. The end of WWII changed the military balance of power in
the world. Go to the last paragraph of “Human Losses”
Which countries lost power and which two countries became
the world’s only superpowers?
4. Britain, France, Germany, and Japan ceased to be
superpowers. Instead, the US and the Soviet Union became
the world’s new superpowers, and between them, a bitter
political conflict would take place – the Cold War.
Congratulations! You have reached the end of this web quest

and are now a certified expert on World War II!!!
Figure 12 Following the war, a bitter space and arms race began between the world’s two new
superpowers: the US and the Soviet Union. Ever since then, more conflicts have come to the
world - the Korean War, Vietnam, the current War in Iraq, etc. Perhaps the sole possibility of
peace may be found somewhere out in the universe. At the current rate of development of
space technology, living in space may soon be a reality. Perhaps there we will begin a new
race, one that does not see death and war.. But, for now, we must cope with the evils of the
world and try to find happiness in other things, smaller things perhaps. Love, success, and
welfare are three things one ought to be proud to have – for nothing is better in this world than
to be alive to experience it all.

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Tomás Monzón April 31st, 2008

US History 2nd Period