The Second World War: outbreak and course
Answers are for parents and teachers.
1
Write the ten most important dates of 1939–1945 in a chronological table.
1939.09.01 Poland; 1940.06 France; 1941.06.22 USSR; 1941.12.07 Pearl Harbor; 1942–43 Stalingrad; 1943 Italy’s surrender; 1944.06.06 Normandy; 1945.05.08 Germany; 1945.08 atomic bombs; 1945.09.02 Japan.
2
Explain three causes of the Second World War.
Weakness of the Versailles system; economic crisis and totalitarian regimes; appeasement.
3
How did the anti-Hitler coalition take shape? Write four sentences.
British–Soviet co-operation from June 1941, the Atlantic Charter in August, the USA from December, the declaration of 1 January 1942.
4
Write a neutral account of the relations of the USSR, Germany and Poland at the start of the war.
The pact of 23 August 1939, the attack of 1 September, the Soviet entry on 17 September, the secret protocol.
5
Why did the attack on Pearl Harbor widen the war to a global scale?
The USA began to take part in the Pacific and European fighting and resources shifted in favour of the Allies.