Some questions about world war ii

[Dauragon 0]

Hey

as we approach the 60th anniversary of the allied assault in normandy i was thinking of a couple questions i wanted to ask

about World War II

1) What does the Wall of berlin have to do with the war? why

2) What was the event that ended the war and why?

thanks all in advance

[lukemax 0]

This sounds like a School topic question

[Dauragon 0]

This sounds like a School topic question

i don't go to school

[theavonlady 2]

This sounds like a School topic question

i don't go to school

Well, no wonder you're asking!

j/k

1) The Russians captured East Germany, the other Allies West Germany. But the actual wall didn't go up until the early 60's. See this site for history and other information about the wall.

2) The A-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the complete retreat, collapse and defeat of the German 3rd Reich are the events that ended the war.

[Dauragon 0]

This sounds like a School topic question

i don't go to school

Well, no wonder you're asking!

j/k

1) The Russians captured East Germany, the other Allies West Germany. But the actual wall didn't go up until the early 60's. See this site for history and other information about the wall.

2) The A-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the complete retreat, collapse and defeat of the German 3rd Reich are the events that ended the war.

lol

Thanks for the answers avon it clears some things up

[DarkLight 0]

Important events that had a strong influence on the war: (not chronologically)

-Stalingrad (Russia), 2nd of Febr.  1942, after a long, and often underestimated, battle the Russian army is able to push back the Germans.

-Midway and Pearl Harbour (United States Of America), the US fleet(sp?) wins back the pacific ocean.  

Japan had 'conquered' it at the beginning of the war...

-The allied forces invade Western Europe: D-day  (June 6 1944, you deserve a good beating if you don't know that )

-1942, Italy, one of the Axis, admits defeat.

-The allied forces are able to free North Africa: El Alamein

-1945, Germany, under great pressure from East (Russia) and West (Allied forces) has to admit defeat (edit: NOT victory )

-Berlin, 8 Mai 1945, V(ictory)-day, Allied victory

-And yes, to end it all, the atomic bomb dropped by the americans.  It forced Japan to admit defeat, however, many say that Japan actually would've admitted defeat anyway.  Some say that the real reason for the US to do this was to show Russia and teh rest of the world what powerful weapons they had.

Of course a lot more happened, but these are rather important...

[SpongeBob 0]

This sounds like a School topic question

i don't go to school

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>D-Day 1899 and President Denzel Washington is leading liberation of New Zealand from the Nazi's</span>

Quote[/b] ]

Telegraph.co.uk

By Chris Hasting and Julie Henry

(Filed: 30/05/2004)

It is 1899 and Denzel Washington, the American president, orders Anne Frank and her troops to storm the beaches of Nazi-occupied New Zealand.

This may not be how you remember D-Day but for a worrying number of Britain's children this is the confused scenario they associate with the events of June 6, 1944.

Pupils knew more about Saving Private Ryan than they did about the real events of the D-Day landings.

A survey of 1,309 pupils aged between 10 and 14 and from 24 different schools found alarming levels of ignorance about the invasion of Normandy 60 years ago.

Only 28 per cent of primary and secondary pupils who sat the quiz last week were able to say that D-Day, involving the largest invasion force ever mounted, was the start of the Allied liberation of occupied western Europe.

Many of them could only say that it was something to do with the Second World War - though 26 per cent were flummoxed by even that fact. Some thought it took place in the First World War, or was the day war broke out, the Blitz and even Remembrance Sunday.

"It's a day when everyone remembers the dead who fought," said a 14-year-old girl at a north Devon secondary school. Only 16 per cent of 918 participating primary school children had the answer right.

One 10-year-old in a Northamptonshire school thought it was the day the "Americans came to rescue the English" ( ) Another thought D-Day involved "the invasion of Portsmouth". Various dates for the assault were 1066, 1776, 1899 and 1948.

Children also had great difficulty in naming Britain's war-time prime minister. Less than half of the overall sample and only 39 per cent of primary school children correctly identified him as Winston Churchill; a significant number opted for Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair.

Seventeen per cent of the sample and only 38 per cent of secondary school children identified Franklin D Roosevelt as the then President of the United States. Other candidates offered by both age groups were Denzel Washington (the Oscar-winning actor), George Washington, John F Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and George W Bush. Some said simply: "George Bush's dad."

Ignorance about the Allied leaders, however, contrasted sharply with knowledge about Adolf Hitler. Overall, 71 per cent of the sample and 64 per cent of primary school children were able correctly to name the Nazi leader. Only one in three could identify the broad location of D-Day, with a number saying that it happened in New Zealand, Skegness or Germany.

Thirteen per cent could name two of the beaches involved, and only 10 per cent of the sample knew that Dwight D Eisenhower was the Supreme Allied Commander. Others thought that the invasion was led by Anne Frank, Private Ryan (the eponymous hero of the Steven Spielberg D-Day epic), or Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Eisenhower's deputy.

The disclosure that school children know so little about D-Day comes a week before the country prepares to celebrate the anniversary and will again focus attention on what sort of history is being taught in schools.

Even in those schools where the Second World War is taught, the emphasis is not necessarily on military events or even wartime leaders. One primary school teacher said: "We do study the Second World War but we do not tend to concentrate on particular military events or leaders. We look at issues that are relevant to children themselves. They learn about evacuation for instance, or the issuing of gas masks."

Dr David Starkey, the historian and television broadcaster, said yesterday that the survey had uncovered what he called a climate of "unfortunately reduced horizons and expectations".

It was "absurd", he said, that children were spending so much time discussing Hitler and Stalin to the detriment of everything else connected with the war.

"There is nothing difficult about the concepts being discussed and no reason why a child of primary school age should not be able to understand."

He said that he did not want to go back to a situation where history teaching was nothing but dates and battles, but he said he feared that the pendulum had swung too far in the other direction.

"I think that trying to begin any subject by relating to a child's own experience is a useful tool. But education is about teaching children things they do not know."

Chris Grayling, the shadow education minister, said: "These are really very recent events that have shaped the lives of all of us.

"It is a real worry that so few children seem to know the basics of what happened during the Second World War. We must not allow this to continue."

There were some exceptions to the general ignorance. One teacher at Great Addington Church of England Primary school in Northamptonshire was amazed to find that one of his pupils had scored 100 per cent in the test.

He said: "I asked him how he knew material which we had not covered in school. He told me he had picked it up from a D-Day game he played on his computer."

[FSPilot 0]

1) What does the Wall of berlin have to do with the war? why

2) What was the event that ended the war and why?

1) That's more of a cold war question than a world war two question. After the war Berlin was split up between the Soviets and the US and UK. They each had their portion of the city and were seperated by a large wall (I think they got the idea from "I love lucy").

2) Japanese surrender, if you're looking for one event.

Italy surrendered, Germany surrendered, then Japan surrendered after we nuked them. To be completely accurate no one event ended the whole war.

[Gollum1 0]

Some said simply: "George Bush's dad."

No but this is scary, I thought we were talking about elemantary school children (err...7-13 in Finland), but what ages are primary and secondary school?

[Llauma 0]

1) What does the Wall of berlin have to do with the war? why

2) What was the event that ended the war and why?

1) That's more of a cold war question than a world war two question.  After the war Berlin was split up between the Soviets and the US and UK.  They each had their portion of the city and were seperated by a large wall (I think they got the idea from "I love lucy").

2) Japanese surrender, if you're looking for one event.

Italy surrendered, Germany surrendered, then Japan surrendered after we nuked them.  To be completely accurate no one event ended the whole war.

The french had a part too.. Germany was never meant to be divided into two countries but the increasing tension between USSR and the west led to USSR isolating their part of germany. As so many people moved to west from east the soviets built the wall in 1961.

There were still fights going on long after the official end of the war so it's not easy to answer the question but the surrender of Japan in september 1945 could be considerd as the end of the war.

[Viper -SF- 0]

the most decisive battle in the second world war was at stalingrad, it led to the defeat of the german 6th army and destroyed most of the 1st panzer divsion. this was then followed by a soviet victory at leningrad and the push from the soviet union all the way back to berlin, were it was seperated between the french, british, american, and soviets, who built a wall to secure their workers from fleeing to the so called "west" section of berlin to find better jobs.

but if the germans retreated from stalingrad and held postions some where near the ukraine or deeper in soviet territory, they would have exhausted the soviet counter attack and possibly regrouped and pushed towards moscow and the caucus region

[Badgerboy 0]

Funnily enough, all those kids recognizing Hitler doesn't surprise me, as part of the UK History sylabus is 'Hitler's Germany'. When I did it a few years back, we never focused on the actual operations of the war as a whole. (I did though, and proceeded to bore everyone silly with my facts)

[denoir 0]

It says "age 10-14". Perhaps not so surprising. By 18-19 they will probably know better.

Anyway, D-day coming up, I'm considering right now to slap in "the Longest Day" DVD into the player and spend the next three hours watching it.

[ran 0]

It says "age 10-14". Perhaps not so surprising. By 18-19 they will probably know better.

Anyway, D-day coming up, I'm considering right now to slap in "the Longest Day" DVD into the player and spend the next three hours watching it.

colourized version ?

[DarkLight 0]

2) What was the event that ended the war and why?

As I and other people said, a war doesn't just end like that, it was all of the events mentioned above that forced the Axis to admit defeat...

One by one they realized that they were beaten...

First Italy, then Germany and last Japan...

There is no such thing as an event that ended the war, sure, the last 'big' thing that happened was the atomic bomb but at that time Italy and Germany had already been (as good as) beaten so in theory the war was already as good as over...

After the a bomb there probably still was some fighting, a war doesn't just end like that of course...

[denoir 0]

It says "age 10-14". Perhaps not so surprising. By 18-19 they will probably know better.

Anyway, D-day coming up, I'm considering right now to slap in "the Longest Day" DVD into the player and spend the next three hours watching it.

colourized version ?

Nope. B&W.

[ran 0]

It says "age 10-14". Perhaps not so surprising. By 18-19 they will probably know better.

Anyway, D-day coming up, I'm considering right now to slap in "the Longest Day" DVD into the player and spend the next three hours watching it.

colourized version ?

Nope. B&W.

well ... still a nice movie

[denoir 0]

Well.. sortof.. I'm always bored to tears while watching it. But I suppose it gives a fairly good overview of the events.

[ran 0]

Well.. sortof.. I'm always bored to tears while watching it. But I suppose it gives a fairly good overview of the events.

heh, there's no way in hell you can get bored infront of this movie

tonight on France 2 or France 3 (can't remember which one) there will be the BBC movie D-Day : Their longest day

I don't know what it's worth, i'm going to watch it

[denoir 0]

Well.. sortof.. I'm always bored to tears while watching it. But I suppose it gives a fairly good overview of the events.

heh, there's no way in hell you can get bored infront of this movie

I'm telling you, I have never been able to watch it in one piece. I can acknowledge that it's a good movie.. it just is not entertaining.

[ran 0]

Well.. sortof.. I'm always bored to tears while watching it. But I suppose it gives a fairly good overview of the events.

heh, there's no way in hell you can get bored infront of this movie

I'm telling you, I have never been able to watch it in one piece. I can acknowledge that it's a good movie.. it just is not entertaining.

heh, that must be it a simple rainfall entertains me ;)

[DarkLight 0]

Well.. sortof.. I'm always bored to tears while watching it. But I suppose it gives a fairly good overview of the events.

heh, there's no way in hell you can get bored infront of this movie

I'm telling you, I have never been able to watch it in one piece. I can acknowledge that it's a good movie.. it just is not entertaining.

heh, that must be it a simple rainfall entertains me ;)

You must have a very entertaining life

[Major Gripe 0]

-1945, Germany, under great pressure from East (Russia) and West (Allied forces) has to admit victory

Should I start speaking German?!

[cozza 24]

Just a question. What does the D in D-day stand for Me and my mum where talking about it when I was talking to her about joining the army

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]Just a question. What does the D in D-day stand for  Me and my mum where talking about it when I was talking to her about joining the army

http://www.ddaymuseum.org/education_studentsfactd.html

Quote[/b] ]

This is the most frequently asked question by visitors to The National D-Day Museum. Many people think they know the answer: designated day, decision day, doomsday, or even death day.

Our answer, like many answers in the field of history, is not so simple. Disagreements between military historians and etymologists about the meaning of D-Day abound.

Here are just two explanations:

In Stephen Ambrose's D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II, he writes, Time magazine reported on June 12 [1944] that "as far as the U.S. Army can determine, the first use of D for Day, H for Hour was in Field Order No. 8, of the First Army, A.E.F., issued on Sept. 20, 1918, which read, 'The First Army will attack at H-Hour on D-Day with the object of forcing the evacuation of the St. Mihiel salient.'" (p. 491) In other words, the D in D-Day merely stands for Day This coded designation was used for the day of any important invasion or military operation. For military planners (and later historians), the days before and after a D-Day were indicated using plus and minus signs: D-4 meant four days before a D-Day, while D+7 meant seven days after a D-Day.

In Paul Dickson's War Slang, he quotes Robert Hendrickson's Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins. Many explanations have been given for the meaning of D-Day, June 6, 1944, the day the Allies invaded Normandy from England during World War II. The Army has said that it is "simply an alliteration, as in H-Hour." Others say the first D in the word also stands for "day," the term a code designation. The French maintain the D means "disembarkation," still others say "debarkation," and the more poetic insist D-Day is short for "day of decision." When someone wrote to General Eisenhower in 1964 asking for an explanation, his executive assistant Brigadier General Robert Schultz answered: "General Eisenhower asked me to respond to your letter. Be advised that any amphibious operation has a 'departed date'; therefore the shortened term 'D-Day' is used." (p.146)

Brigadier General Schultz reminds us that the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 was not the only D-Day of World War II. Every amphibious assault-those in the Pacific, in North Africa, and in Sicily and Italy-had its own D-Day. The National D-Day Museum's opening exhibition explores the history and lessons of the Normandy invasion. In 2001 a special exhibition will highlight the D-Days of the Pacific Theater, North Africa, and the Italian Campaign.

Take a guess...