Materials

• A map of Europe at the time of WWII for each student
• A copy of Roosevelt’s War Message for each student
• Computer with Internet access

Instructional Activities

1. Review the content from the previous session, as needed.
   
   
2. Instruct students to mark a map of WWII Europe with Germany’s routes into Russia. Ask, “Was Germany making a mistake by fighting on two fronts — Britain and the Soviet Union? Why, or why not?”
   
   
3. Display the following notes on the board or overhead:
   
   In June of 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and attacked Leningrad, the Crimean Peninsula, and Moscow.
   
   When Germany invaded Poland, the United States remained neutral, but deals were unofficially worked out to aid allies Britain and France, the Soviet Union, and China.
   
   In the 1930s, Japan invaded parts of China and declared all-out war on China in 1937. In 1940, Japan signed an alliance with Germany and Italy (the Axis).
   Japan had militaristic and imperialistic ambitions like Germany, and both were invading their neighbors.
   
   The United States refused to recognize Japanese conquests in Asia and imposed an embargo on the sale of scrap metal and oil, which Japan desperately needed.
   
   Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act that allowed the United States to sell or lend war materials to “any country whose defense the president deems vital to the defense of the United States.” President Roosevelt compared it to “lending a garden hose to a next-door neighbor whose house is on fire.”
   
   While Japanese representatives were in Washington for negotiations, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
   
   Most of the United States Pacific Fleet was moored in Pearl Harbor. The United States lost 2,400 people, 19 ships, and 200 planes in the attack.
   
   
4. Ask students how the United States could have been so unprepared for this aggression. How could they have explained our Pacific Fleet becoming a “sitting duck”? Could the United States still have remained neutral?
   
   
5. Display the following notes on the board or overhead:
   
   On December 8, 1941, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war after “a date which will live in infamy.”
   
   Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
   
   The United States was fully engaged in a world war that included Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
   
   
6. Explain that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was the “9/11” of 1941. Instruct them to use their textbooks and other sources, including the Internet, to learn more about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. They should include damages, casualties, radio communications, heroes, and reactions of Americans and world citizens. Tell students to be ready to share with the class what they find.
   
   
7. Distribute copies of President Roosevelt’s War Message, found at <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0900147.html>, and have the students read and discuss it.