Alabama Social Studies SS24.5.9a
The Standard
- SS24.5.9
- Describe the reasons for the United States’ entry into World War II and identify its contributions toward the defeat of the Axis powers.
Compare totalitarianism and democracy as represented in the Axis and Allied powers prior to war in Europe.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare how Britain and France were governed with how Nazi Germany and Italy were governed before war began in Europe. They use elections, opposition parties, and control of newspapers to explain what choices people had.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can name a multiparty election in Britain or France and the ban on opposition parties in Nazi Germany. They can explain why holding a vote does not make a government democratic if voters have no real choice.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think every country that later joined the Allies was democratic, but the Soviet Union was not. They may also think any government that holds an election is a democracy.
How to Assess It
- Ask: Before 1939, how did voters' choices differ in Britain and Nazi Germany? Give one fact about each country.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs four fact cards about Britain, France, Germany, and Italy; have them sort the cards by whether opposition parties could run.
Ask, 'Can a country hold a vote without giving people a real choice?' Have students answer using Germany's 1933 ban on other parties.
Play a matching game with cards for free press, party bans, multiple candidates, and censored newspapers; require students to explain each match.
Compare a sample two-candidate school election ballot with a single-name ballot, then ask which gives voters a real choice and why.
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Related Standards
- SS24.WH.10a
Analyze the role of major Axis and Allied leaders during World War II, including both political and military leaders.
- SS24.WH.8a
Compare and contrast political ideologies that emerged in Europe following World War I, including communism, fascism, and social democracy.
- SS24.WH.9
Summarize the conditions of the global Great Depression and explain how they led to the rise of totalitarian states and the weakening of democratic nations.
- SS24.WH.13b
Compare political ideologies that existed within the United States, the Soviet Union, and People’s Republic of China after World War II.
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