S2, Honors History Blog 2

How/Why are World Wars 1/2 important today? How do they impact and/or inform our world today? hint: think about alliances, democracies around the world, cultures, international institutions, nuclear (and other) technologies, etc.

World War 2
During WWII, in America, women had to take over men's jobs in factories and other workplaces, as men were fighting in the war. When the war was over, women were so proficient in the workplaces that it was more acceptable for them to work in heavy type jobs that were limited to males before. "Rosie the Riveter" became an icon of female work in factories and manufacturing plants.

WWII especially affected Germany. Germany made many enemies and few allies in WWII. Germany was given a choice to either be invaded by the allies or sign the treaty, so officials felt they had no choice to sign it. Through the treaty of Versailles, a large amount of land would be taken away from Germany (13% of land given to France, Belgium, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, and Poland). The militant forces were to be reduced to 100,000, and Germany was forced to admit to being the main cause of the war, even though that is not entirely true. Germany was also to pay for a large amount of money to allied countries (approximately $32bil USD) in which it the country is still paying off today. Through this, Germany has taken measures

After WWII, the United Nations was formed, more specifically, in 1945. The UN formed after the League of Nations proved to be a failure. The United Nations originally consisted of the Allies Nations in WWII, but now consists of every country of the world (excluding antarctica). The purpose of the United Nations is to keep security and cooperation between the countries, internationally.

Sources:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/versailles.htm
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1656.html
http://www.un.org/en/
http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/index.html

WW2 Letters

1. You are a soldier at ... Iwo Jima. Write a letter to a friend or family member. Think of what might be in a letter like this: it would be on a specific date & from a specific city. this letter might describe your hopes, feelings, expectations, fears, etc. It might reference current events (or, then-current events), technology, or politicians. It might describe people, places, settings, technology and more. It might include the other person's life, perspective or questions. In fact, the person the letter is written to might be one of the people on that list!

February 18, 1945
Dear (insert loved one's name here),

Tomorrow we will attack Iwo Jima, a Japanese island. It will be our force's first attack on a Home island of Japan.

I am very nervous about what will await us tomorrow. I heard that there are over 10 miles of tunnels under the ground from where the Japanese can attack. Us on the American side have plenty of ways to attack the island, from the water, land, AND sky, and with the help from napalm and other gases, it should be no trouble exterminating the Japan side, and yet, I am uneasy if it will work.

Our plan has been set. First, two troops will land near Mount Siribuchi, a mountain on the island. They will secure the mountain along with securing the west side of the island. From there, we will go from the south up in order to take over the island. We will attack from land using flamethrowers and other artillery, along with napalm gases and others to poison them from aboveground. Then we will do aerial attacks using bombs dropping from over-going aircraft.

Love,
Mr. Marine Man

S2, Blog 15

After WWII, the ministry of education ordered the kanji count in the Japanese language to be condensed to only 1,945. Also, words created in Japanese after WWII would be in English, but in katakana (For example, English "CD" is japanese "Shiidii" and English "DVD" is japanese "DEEBEEDEE"). This is interesting because, in a while, Japanese will literally be half English.

Ideas such as the microprocessor and computers were branched from WWII during the Manhattan project, when the idea of multitasking machinery was considered. The first were punchcards fed into such a machine and would spit out information.

S2, Blog 14

1. What are the most interesting aspects of World Wars 1 and 2?

2. What do you hope to learn about these wars?

3. How/Why are these wars important today? How do they impact and/or inform our world today? hint: think about alliances, democracies around the world, cultures, international institutions, nuclear (and other) technologies, etc.

1. The most interesting aspects of world wars 1 and 2 are the causes that brought the wars to be. For example, I'm aware that World War 1 started because of the controversial assassination of Franz Ferdinand (not sure much what happened after that, which I hope to learn).
2. I hope to learn what conflicts initially started these wars. I believe I know what start WWI (franz ferdinand) but what else? Also, what triggered WWII at first?
3. These wars are important today because, without them, things that were fought for during the World Wars (i.e., extermination of nazism, and other aspects)


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