Test: 2nd quarter final exam review

Your 2nd quarter final exam review is located here.

In class: Russian Revolution slide presentation

The Russian Revolution slide presentation from November is located here.

In class: Ho Chi Minh's letter to Truman

Date assigned
Thursday, January 17


Assignment
Read Ho Chi Minh's 1946 letter to US President Harry Truman (link here).  Write a letter to Truman, in the role of his advisor, telling him what the United States should do in response to Ho Chi Minh's letter.  Should the US support Vietnamese independence from France?  Should the US support the French effort to recolonize Vietnam?  Should the US stay out of the situation entirely?  Give reasons for your recommendation.


Due date
Thursday, January 17, end of class

In class: Vietnam War slide presenation

The Vietnam War slide presentation from Tuesday, Jan. 22 and Thursday, Jan. 24 can be found here.

In class: French colonialism in Vietnam slide presentation

The French colonialism in Vietnam slide presentation from Thursday, Jan. 17 is located here.

Supplement: Vietnam War pictures

Two photo essays of the Vietnam War:

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/04/30/captured-a-look-back-at-the-vietnam-war-on-the-35th-anniversary-of-the-fall-of-saigon/1781/

www.vintag.es/2011/02/35-years-after-fall-vietnam-war-in.html

Homework: MLK - "Beyond Vietnam"

Date assigned
Tuesday, January 22


Assignment
Listen to/read Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech, "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence" (link).  Highlight or underline the speech (no annotation), and answer the following questions:

1. Why did Dr. King think that people should have opposed the Vietnam War?
2. How did Dr. King connect the Vietnam War to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States? 
3. What difficulties did Dr. King see in opposing the Vietnam War?
4. What was Dr. King referring to when he spoke of “deadly Western arrogance that has poisoned the international atmosphere”?
5. How does Dr. King describe the actions of the United States Vietnam War as he imagined it through the eyes of the Vietnamese people?
6. Dr. King stated, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”  Explain what this quote means to you.
7. Write at least 5 quotes that jumped out at you while reading/listening to this speech.

Due date
Thursday, January 24

In class: Video propaganda project examples

Industrial Revolution video propaganda project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IULUiJnY0Y4&safe=active

Holocaust/World War II video propaganda project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIWaxwyKRtI&safe=active

In class: Pearl Harbor slide presentation

The Pearl Harbor slide presentation from Wednesday, January 2 is located here.

In class: Atomic Bomb slide presentation

The Atomic Bomb slide presentation from Thursday, January 3 is located here.

In class: Cold War slide presentation

The Cold War slide presentation from Monday, January 7 is located here.

In class: United Nations slide presentation

The United Nations slide presentation from Tuesday, January 8 is located here.

In class/homework: Microteach the Cold War

Date assigned
Tuesday, Jan. 8


Assignment
Each person in your group will teach the rest of the group about one conflict in the Cold War:

#1 - Berlin Blockade (1948-49)
#2 - Korean War (1950-53)
#3 - Suez Crisis (1956)
#4 - Berlin Crisis (1961)
#5 - Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

While researching your conflict, answer the following questions:

- Which countries were involved in your conflict?  What was each country's interest in your conflict?

- What were the root causes of your conflict?

- What happened during the course of your conflict?

- What did this conflict have to do with the big issues in the Cold War (communism vs. capitalism, United States vs. Soviet Union)?

- Were people killed during your conflict?  If so, who was killed, and why?

- How did your conflict end?  Did anyone win?  If so, who won, and what did they win?

Prepare a 1-page handout to give each of your group members for them to follow along with while you teach (you will also turn in a copy of this handout). 

Due date

Be prepared to teach your group about your conflict on Tuesday, January 15.


Resources

Berlin Blockade
http://www.history.com/topics/berlin-blockade
http://www.coldwar.org/articles/40s/berlin_blockade.asp
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX49.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/airlift/timeline/timeline2.html

Korean War
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/us-history/v/korean-war-overview
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/korea_hickey_01.shtml
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX58.html
http://www.history.com/topics/korean-war


Suez Crisis
http://www.history.com/topics/suez-crisis
http://www.economist.com/node/7218678
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/suez_01.shtml
http://www.unac.org/peacekeeping/en/un-peacekeeping/fact-sheets/the-first-missionsuez-crisis-1956/

Berlin Crisis
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/berlin.htm
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2011/fall/berlin.html
http://www.foia.cia.gov/BerlinWall/Essays/BerlinWallOverview.pdf
http://future.state.gov/when/timeline/1946_cold_war/berlin_crisis.html

Cuban Missile Crisis
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/us-history/v/cuban-missile-crisis
http://www.history.com/topics/cuban-missile-crisis
http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Cuban-Missile-Crisis.aspx
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/cubanmissilecrisis

In class: "Fog of War" free write

Date assigned
Thursday, January 3


Assignment
Watch a clip from the documentary "Fog of War" about former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (found here) from 30:11 to 43:14.  Do a free write for 8-10 minutes on the following questions that Robert McNamara asks during the film:

1) In order to end a war, should you kill 100,000 civilians in a single night?

2) What makes it immoral if you lose, but not immoral if you win?


Due date
Thursday, January 3, end of class

Homework: Losing the War

Date assigned
Thursday, January 3


Assignment
Read, highlight/underline, and annotate Lee's Sandlin's essay, "Losing the War," about World War II.  Answer the following questions in no less than 2 typed, double-spaced pages:

1) Sandlin says that the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor "a defining moment" in the lives of Americans in 1941, with the assassination of John F. Kennedy similarly defining the lives of Americans in 1963.  What has been the defining moment of your life as an American?  Ask your parents the same question, and record their answer: what has been the defining moment of their lives as Americans?

2) Consider the way Sandlin portrays American journalism during World War II.  Why did journalists have such a difficult time describing the war accurately and truthfully?

3) What happened at the Battle of Midway?  Why does Sandlin say it should not have been called a battle?

4) Why does Sandlin say the Allies invaded Italy in 1943?

5) What did the US think would happen when they invaded the Japanese island of Okinawa?  What actually happened?

6) Even though the Battle of the Bulge was an Allied victory, Sandlin says that was the moment when many civilians and Allied soldiers "finally lost hope."  Why was this the case?

7) Why weren't Germany and Japan more realistic about their situations?  Why were both countries so committed to fighting to the bitter end even though it was increasingly obvious they were going to lose?

8) Why do World War II veterans (including Sandlin's father) dislike telling war stories?


Due date
Thursday, January 10, beginning of class.