Name: ___________________

Date: _______________

Class: ____________

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Directions: Read the two Articles about World War 1 and 2.When done using the Venn
diagram included to compare and contrast the two wars. Make sure after completing the
Venn diagram that you answer the Essential Questions in 2-3 complete sentences.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Essential Question: How did the actions of Japan effect the United States involvement in
the World War 2?
Essential Question: What was the reason for the sinking of the Lusitania by German
submarines in World War 1?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------World War 1
World War 1 started on July 28, 1914.At the time of the War it was referred to as
The Great War or The War to End all Wars. There were two sides, the central and
allied powers. The Central powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and
Turkey. While the Allied Powers included England, France, and Russia. The Allied Powers
were also considered the Triple Entente.Although, Russia had a withdraw from the war
but within the same year the USA would join the war siding with the allied powers.
At first the United States said that they did not want to be associated with this
war .President Wilsons campaign slogan was He kept us out of war, but he had no choice.
German propaganda had sent out warnings saying they would sink any ship that they
thought would be giving England contraband. The Lusitania was one of those boats and
was sunk. This resulted in the killing of 128 American soldiers, but the USA still did not
join the war.
President Wilson was running for office again having his same promise of keeping the
United States out of the war. Although this time he may not be able to. The final straw
for the USA was the Zimmerman Telegraph. This was when Germany had attempted in
getting Mexico to attack the USA.Germany had continued to harass the USA killing
soldiers on the Lusitania and then continuing to sink ships. The United States began to
take action by training soldiers otherwise known as doughboys, inventing new weapons, and
strengthening the Triple Entente.

President Wilson wanted to have an international peace organization called the

League of Nations. This is where they settled their international disputes many of the
Germans were upset by how this turned out since they were given harsh surrender
conditions. This is when the Nazi party began to rise for the vengeance. The Great War
or World War 1 ended on November 11, 1918 only to have another one trailing right behind.

World War 2
World War 2 started on September 1, 1939.At first the United Sates wanted no
part in this war, but when with the attack on Pearl Harbor we had no choice. On December
7, 1941 Japan bombed a Naval Base in Pearl Harbor; Hawaii. Their reason for doing this is
that we had a temporary sanction on them and because we were trading with other
countries. To a lesser extent another reason would be because of the land the USA would
supposedly be taking at the end of the war was land that they had wanted. As a result of
all this we joined World War 2.
The United States had currently been working on and inventing a bomb never
before seen in history, the atomic bomb. President Truman and the government had sent a
message to Japan warning them. It said that we were in possession of the most
destructive explosive and if they did not surrender then the bomb would be dropped on
them. When there was no response to the warning sent to Japan we dropped the bomb in
Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 killing about 70,000 people immediately.
Now they may have thought that it was over but they were terribly mistaken. The
USA sent out yet another warning telling them to surrender. We dropped papers in Japan
saying they were going to be bombed so we could warn the people. Although; once again
there was no response to our warnings leaving us with no other choice but to bomb them
again. The second bomb was dropped in Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 killing about 40,000
people immediately.
Later on in the spring of 1945 troops pushed into the areas of the concentration
camps were they found millions of Jews and/or undesirables. Some of them being dead
and others barley surving.The killing of these 6 million Jews is known as the holocaust. On
September 2, 1945 World War 2 had ended leaving its permanent mark on people
everywhere.