Mr. Larsen's Amazing unit plan, Featuring wwII
With so many other wars,
why is ww2 crucial to understand
World War II is the most cataclysmic event in modern world History due to its scope and impact. As the industrializing world began imperializing more and more, newly defined nations were struggling for supremacy. As the world was changing, so were the ways people viewed it. New philosophies of governing, economics, and racial supremacy became the conversations dominating the intellectual scene. At this point in human social evolution, there were an abundance of conflicting viewpoints, which translated into conflicting governments, which turned into a global conflict resulting in the death of 60 million people. World War II was the result of imperial countries, emboldened by nationalism, coming to an inevitable spear head. Most European powers that would soon enter the war saw amazing years of progress up until this point; totalitarian and democratic nations alike were building railroads at home and colonizing abroad. The majority of peoples everywhere supported the powers at hand because of said progress. Yet after the dust settled and the history books have had their say, we seem to focus on the ‘evil’ natures of the governments that lost WWII. In talking to Italian citizens, many believe that had it not been for the war, Mussolini would still be in power. How is it that a man paralleled with the likes of Hitler and Stalin could be viewed so positively by many? The time period we are about to study is a cauldron of ideologies, experiments, and harshly different results. Studying WWII encompasses social, political, and economic history, sociology, and psychology.
So, why should we study it? Everything stated above sounds important, but how does it pertain to me in today’s world?
To begin, if WWII had not happened, you most likely would be saying the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ not with your right hand over your heart, but rather outstretched like the Nazis did. Many of the social norms that we follow today were a direct result of the war. Anti-semitism was a popular sentiment worldwide before, now it is a horrific reason to hate someone aside from a few fanatical groups. Your dad’s mustache might have been an ugly, tiny spec of hair on the center of his lip. If events had not flowed the way they did, the world could be speaking German as the primary language rather than English. Much of the reason why racism is intolerable in today’s society, aside from US slavery, is the way Social Darwinism was used to kill those whom others deemed lesser. Britain owned ⅓ of the world prior to war, yet soon saw the errors of their ways. Many of the movies you watch and video games you play pit Nazis as the enemy, yet there was a time when they had the respect of many around the world (not just of other sinister folk). We need to know about WWII because geopolitics as we know it today, was defined by the results of that war. Our world was changed in horrible and amazing ways, and studying this period of human history showcases it.
So, why should we study it? Everything stated above sounds important, but how does it pertain to me in today’s world?
To begin, if WWII had not happened, you most likely would be saying the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ not with your right hand over your heart, but rather outstretched like the Nazis did. Many of the social norms that we follow today were a direct result of the war. Anti-semitism was a popular sentiment worldwide before, now it is a horrific reason to hate someone aside from a few fanatical groups. Your dad’s mustache might have been an ugly, tiny spec of hair on the center of his lip. If events had not flowed the way they did, the world could be speaking German as the primary language rather than English. Much of the reason why racism is intolerable in today’s society, aside from US slavery, is the way Social Darwinism was used to kill those whom others deemed lesser. Britain owned ⅓ of the world prior to war, yet soon saw the errors of their ways. Many of the movies you watch and video games you play pit Nazis as the enemy, yet there was a time when they had the respect of many around the world (not just of other sinister folk). We need to know about WWII because geopolitics as we know it today, was defined by the results of that war. Our world was changed in horrible and amazing ways, and studying this period of human history showcases it.