Locate Academic Alignments For - WHO WILL COMMAND?

Identify Allied and Axis powers during World War II and describe the wartime goals of each.

Identify the basic causes, course, and consequences of World War II, including: allies and axis powers, major regions of conflict, and major turning points in the war (e.g., Normandy and the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan).

Understand significant events of World War II, including: major battles at Midway, Normandy, Stalingrad, Kursk, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge; key political leaders of the Allies and Axis powers, including: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin; the human cost of the war; the decision to drop the atomic bombs.

Understand the aftermath of World War II and the polarization of the Allied powers into Eastern and Western blocs; describe the concept of “sphere of influence” and its relationship to postwar strategies of former Allied nations.

Understand circumstances prior to U.S. involvement in World War II (e.g., rise and aggression of totalitarian regimes in Italy, Germany, and Japan; American responses to German, Italian, and Japanese aggression in Europe, Africa, and Asia from 1935 to 1941; appeasement, isolationism, and war debates in Europe and the U.S. prior to the war; the bombing of Pearl Harbor and events that brought the U.S. into the war).

Understand significant aspects of World War II (e.g., failure of the policy of appeasement; major battles at Midway, Normandy, Stalingrad, Kursk, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge; turning points of the war and reason for Allied victory; key political leaders of the Allies and Axis powers, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin; characteristics of the European, African, and Pacific theaters of battle; role and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the unique contributions of military special forces such as Tuskegee Airmen and Navajo Code talkers; the human cost of the war; the decision to drop the atomic bombs and the consequences of this decision).

Understand the impact of World War II on the home front (e.g., impact of mobilization for war, including the location of industry, the use of resources, war bond drives, and women and minorities in the workforce, including its long-term effects; major developments in aviation, weaponry, and medicine; constitutional issues and impact of internment of Japanese Americans and restrictions on German and Italian resident aliens; the roles and growing political demands of African Americans).

Understand the causes, course, and outcome of World War II (e.g., how the failure of the League of Nations contributed to the outbreak of World War II; the role of appeasement, nonintervention, and domestic distractions in Europe and the U.S. prior to the outbreak of war; major turning points of the war, including the attack on Pearl Harbor and the battles of Midway, Kursk, Normandy, Iwo Jima, and the Battle of the Bulge; principal theaters of conflict, key strategic decisions of the war; political, diplomatic, and military leaders, including Churchill, Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, MacArthur, and Eisenhower; the internment of Japanese Americans and the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan.