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Module 4: The interwar years and World War II

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What is genocide, and how did the world respond after the Holocaust to protect human rights?

Explain genocide as an enduring issue and the postwar response: the Nuremberg Trials, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and later genocides (Armenia, Cambodia, Rwanda, the Balkans) (Framework Key Ideas 10.8 and 10.10).
A Framework-level answer on genocide and human rights for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: what genocide is, the postwar response (Nuremberg Trials, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), and later genocides in Armenia, Cambodia, Rwanda, and the Balkans, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How did the failures of the peace, aggression, and appeasement lead to World War II?

Explain the causes of World War II: the unresolved tensions of World War I, the Great Depression, the aggression of Germany, Italy, and Japan, the failure of appeasement, and the weakness of the League of Nations (Framework Key Idea 10.8).
A Framework-level answer on the causes of World War II for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: the unresolved tensions of World War I, the Great Depression, fascist and Japanese aggression, the failure of appeasement and the League of Nations, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How did the Great Depression spread worldwide and destabilize governments?

Explain the causes and global effects of the Great Depression: how the economic collapse of the 1930s spread through an interconnected world economy and created conditions for political extremism (Framework Key Idea 10.7).
A Framework-level answer on the Great Depression for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: the causes of the 1930s collapse, how it spread through an interconnected world economy, its effects of mass unemployment and hardship, and how it created conditions for totalitarianism, with worked exam questions.
11 min answer →

What is totalitarianism, and how did fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism gain and hold power?

Explain the rise of totalitarian regimes between the wars: how fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany, and Stalinism in the Soviet Union used crisis, propaganda, repression, and state control to gain and hold power (Framework Key Idea 10.7).
A Framework-level answer on the rise of totalitarianism for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: what totalitarianism is, and how Mussolini's fascism, Hitler's Nazism, and Stalin's communism used crisis, propaganda, terror, and total state control to seize and keep power, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How was World War II fought worldwide, and what was the Holocaust?

Explain the course and global scale of World War II and the Holocaust: the major fronts and turning points, the war's unprecedented destruction, and the systematic Nazi genocide of Jews and other targeted groups (Framework Key Idea 10.8).
A Framework-level answer on World War II and the Holocaust for the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: the global scale and major turning points of the war, its enormous human cost, the atomic bombs, and the systematic Nazi genocide of six million Jews and other groups, with worked exam questions.
13 min answer →