Vanishing Generation, Part 1 - Introduction - Episode 1

World War II is the most important event of the 20th Century. It changed everything.  Fifty million people died in World War II, including 405,000 Americans. The United States became a world power, the leading world power,  because of World War II. 

Over a thousand World War II veterans are dying every day. Soon such important personal stories will be lost forever... unless we record them now.

Standards

• Along with the rest of the world, the United States and South Carolina experienced economic instability during this period. As a result, political instability and worldwide conflict consumed the world in the 1940s. Following World War II, the United States emerged as a world leader through political policies and economic growth.
  • This indicator was developed to promote inquiry into how the U.S. government viewed its position in world affairs. Further, inquiry is encouraged through a focus on governmental policies such as Lend Lease, the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s, and the pe...
  • This indicator was developed to promote inquiry into how America’s international leadership evolved before, during, and after World War II. This indicator was also designed to promote inquiry into the different alliances that were formed by the ...
• This indicator was designed to promote inquiry into military and economic policies during World War II, to include the significance of military bases in South Carolina. This indicator was also developed to foster inquiry into postwar economic developments and demographic changes, to include the immigration of Jewish refugees following the Holocaust.
  • 8.5.CO Compare South Carolina and U.S. wartime contributions and demobilization after World War II.
• This indicator was constructed to facilitate inquiry into how economic conditions prompted an evolution of fiscal and monetary policy featuring significant turning points. This indicator also supports inquiry into the laissez-faire policies of the 1920s, the balance of free markets and government intervention of the 1930s, and the command economies during World War I and World War II.
  • USHC.4.CO Develop a comparative analysis of the motives for and outcomes of American policies regarding foreign intervention.
  • USHC.4.E Utilize primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of changes in American foreign policy, worldwide conflicts, and business cycles in capitalism.

Resources