Victory in Europe at the end of World War 2 was a huge endeavor. I’m not just talking we landed in Normandy one day in June and the war ended. No,it was a plan that took years to figure out. This makes for an interesting history lesson to walk through with kids.
(there are affiliate links in here)
Supplies for Victory in Europe, World War 2
Wondermaps (or make your own map), colored pencils (or vis a vis)
So, I am just so insanely glad to be going back to MOH (Mystery of History) next year. I just sat there thinking about how happy I was to go back to Ancient History last night as I wasn’t sleeping. The last time around when we reached the Great Wall of China, we built it on our map out of playdough. I’m thinking this time around I’m going to have the kids use some extra bricks at our house and build one out of bricks………
End my random musings from not sleeping last night
Now let’s get started on the Victory in Europe lesson
The kids and I read through the chapter covering the victory in Europe and all I got from them was a bunch of blinking eyes. So, I ran downstairs and found a blackline map of World War 2 Europe (if you’re covering modern history, this is a great packet of maps, it’s got most major wars during that time). The first step to winning: Take French Algiers. This was necessary for two reasons: 1. They needed to get the oil fields there, and 2. They needed a launching ground for the next step.
The next step: take Italy. First, because Italy had been an aggressor, and also because we needed Italy as the staging for the next steps.
Next we took back France. We nominally worked with the French Resistance, but primarily this was an operation with the British. The Allies spent months working on how to land and training the soldiers on how to get out of the boats. Each soldier had less than a minute to de-boat, and it was an impressive undertaking to this day. At this point, we also colored in Germany so the kids could understand what the ultimate goal was (Side note, I got to be in France during the 50th anniversary of D-Day, and that was the souvenir t-shirt I got from there).
Important note on Victory in Europe
We covered this when we were studying US history. If we were studying world history, we would have also included what the Russians were doing at the time. This was all a big pincer movement designed to destroy every hope Hitler had of winning. Eventually, it became a bit of a race between the military commanders on both sides who wanted to take more ground. The leaders of the different Allied Powers had worked out a very carefully planned choreography of who would take what.
Back to the lesson
Then we retook the rest of France, which was an arduous process, and lost many men during this time.
The final step was taking Germany, which was split between us and the Russians. There was a gentleman’s agreement between the two generals delineating which side would take what. This is also the point when Miracle of the White Stallions took place {I should see if I ever had a copy of that book, or did I just check it out from the library 2 million times}.
Another side note
Huh, I did talk about how the Russians took the other half of Germany.
Back to the lesson
Victory in Europe was declared on May 8, 1945, with the total surrender of Germany. Peace was negotiated and it was split in half, with the Soviet Union “administering” one half, and the rest of the Allies administering the other half (and this will cause problems in and of itself later on).
So, that’s how victory in Europe in World War 2 was won. Obviously, this is much simplified and doesn’t delineate all of the battles and deaths during these campaigns. We didn’t go into the Pacific campaign that much this time around because to be honest I don’t know as much about it, and I could tell their interest was waning, so we’ll catch it next time around.
Lindsay @ Bytes of Memory says
Great job explaining as usual! Yay for wondermaps! I got this recently too! You will love it!
maryanne @ mama smiles says
Great visualization of history, as always!
Phyllis at All Things Beautiful says
You win the Best Find of The Year Award for that map set! Love your lesson!
iGameMom says
This is a great way learn history. I will have to keep it in mind and use it sometime.
Julie says
How is Wondermaps different from the Knowledge Quest Map Trek maps? Should I be regretting my Map Trek purchase? I didn’t know about Wondermaps at the time.
Ticia says
Hmmm, I haven’t looked at Map Trek too much, at the time I first saw that I was having so much trouble with the kids on maps I was thinking I’d never buy a map program.
I remember looking at it and thinking it was a very cool program. I think…….. (and this is without doing a good comparison) they’re similar in quality and abilities, but since I haven’t used either of them yet, I can’t say for sure.
I’d say if you like Map Trek, then it’s a good purchase for you.
Andrea @ No Doubt Learning says
I can’t wait to do WW2 with my kids. My grandmother lived through it so we have lots of interesting stories! On a side-note: I’ve heard a lot a lot about Mystery of History. It’s something I’ll have to look into at the next curriculum fair.
Ticia says
That would be an awesome resource! Sadly all the people we know who lived through WW2 and remember it have passed away, or are suffering from a stroke and can’t talk. I would love to be able to interview someone.
Jimmie says
Just added this to the May Notebooking Round-up! Great visuals.
Claire says
Fabulous lesson as ever Ticia. I know I say this all the time but I’m so looking forward to the wars. T11 is going to be in war heaven!