Oklahoma Social Studies MWH.C.7.1

MWH.C.7.1 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• MWH.C.7.1.A

  Explain the major consequences of World War II, including physical and economic destruction, civilian loss of life, mass displacement and expulsion of ethnic mi...

• MWH.C.7.1.B

  Compare the ideological, political, and economic distinctions between the United States of America and Western bloc versus the Union of Soviet Socialist Republi...

• MWH.C.7.1.C

  Explain how tensions escalated, fueled by the Berlin Blockade, Suez Canal Crisis, and subsequent uprisings by people in Soviet-dominated satellites (e.g., Polan...

• MWH.C.7.1.D

  Compare military power shifts caused by the war and a proliferation of nuclear armaments, describing the impact of transnational organizations and alliances (e....

01

What Students Need to Do

Students explain how destruction, civilian deaths, and forced migration weakened European empires after World War II. They compare Western and Soviet political and economic systems, then trace how crises, alliances, and nuclear weapons deepened Europe's divide. They explain why some countries chose not to join either bloc.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can use a map to explain Europe's division and the roles of NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the United Nations. They can explain how the Berlin Blockade, Suez Crisis, and uprisings in Soviet-dominated countries raised tensions. They can describe why newly independent countries might choose nonalignment.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may treat the United Nations as a military alliance or assume nonalignment meant staying out of world affairs. Some think the Iron Curtain was a wall across all of Europe. Others assume colonial rule ended as soon as the war did.

04

How to Assess It

Ask on an exit ticket: "How did one effect of World War II help divide Europe? How did the Berlin Blockade make that divide worse?"

1. 01

   Give pairs a 1955 Europe map and country cards; have them place NATO and Warsaw Pact members and mark divided Berlin.

2. 02

   Read excerpts from Truman's 1947 speech and Zhdanov's 1947 speech; ask, "How does each side describe the other's aims?"

3. 03

   Deal cards for the Berlin Blockade, Suez Crisis, Hungarian uprising, and Prague Spring; teams order them and name one tension each raised.

4. 04

   Print a recent UN Security Council voting record; students mark the five permanent members and explain how postwar power shapes the council.

• MWH.C.6.5

  Examine the significant events of World War II from a global perspective.

• MWH.C.6.4

  Analyze the economic, social, and political conditions that resulted in World War II.

• USH.C.5.2

  Analyze the series of events affecting the outcome of World War II.

• USH.C.6.3

  Analyze the escalation of international tensions by examining the series of events and their long- term foreign and domestic consequences during the height of t...