---
title: The Events Leading to WWII
description: Students will investigate key events during the interwar years that indirectly or directly lead to World War II.
image: https://ideas.pixton.com/hubfs/the_events_leading_to_wwii-001.png
---

**Subject: Social Studies**

**Lesson Length: 55 - 60 mins**

**Topic: The Interwar Years and the Events Leading to WWII**

**Grade Level: 7**

**Standards / Framework: **

- [C3: D2.His.1.6-8](https://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/2017/Jun/c3-framework-for-social-studies-rev0617.pdf)
- [C3: D2.His.14.6-8](https://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/2017/Jun/c3-framework-for-social-studies-rev0617.pdf)

**Brief Description:**  Students will investigate key events during the interwar years that indirectly or directly lead to World War II.

**Know Before You Start:** It helps for students to have an understanding of the effects of WWI. Remind students that the “interwar years” means the period of time between WWI and WWII. Terms to know: **League of Nations**, **Treaty of Versailles**, **Great Depression**, **reparations**.

**Hook:**

- Ask students to remember and discuss a significant event in their lives. 
- Introduce the expression “hindsight is 20/20” and discuss with students how they might change the course of that event after looking back at what happened. 
- Lead this into a discussion of how historians view the interwar years. 
- Read and discuss the sample comic.
  
    - What might have prevented an evil leader such as Hitler from coming to power?
    - Could anything have been done during the interwar years to prevent his rise to power?

**Activity:**

- Assign each student a significant event from the interwar years (1920-1939). Events may include: 
    - Benito Mussolini becoming Premier
    - The Beer Hall Putsch
    - The Munich Pact
    - Stalin takes control of the Soviet government
    - The Locarno Pacts
- Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a two-to-three-panel comic describing this event. Comics should include: 
    - The significance of the event and its connection to WWII.
    - The date of the occurrence.
    - The important people and/or places that played a role.

**Closure:**

- Have students create a class timeline using their printed comics or simply write the name of the event on a timeline on the board. 
- Have students present their finished comics to the class.

**Differentiation:**

- Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
- Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
- Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
- Display comic expectations for independent work.

**Resources:**

- [Comic](https://share.pixton.com/qi92x4d) to print or display

**Suggested Content:**

- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/1828458285796323328/thumbnail.png) World War II ](https://content.pixton.com/world-war-ii)
- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/2091897613527859200/thumbnail.png) The Diary Of Anne Frank ](https://content.pixton.com/the-diary-of-anne-frank)
- [![](https://ideas.pixton.com/hubfs/thumbnail-military.png) Military ](https://content.pixton.com/military)

**Suggested Story Starters:**

- [ Reorder Historical Events: World War II ](https://story-starters.pixton.com/reorder-historical-events-world-war-ii)
- [ Fill in the Blanks Historical Events: World War II ](https://story-starters.pixton.com/fill-in-the-blanks-historical-event-world-war-ii)

Assign Activity

## Related Ideas

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### [The Jewish Plight: Interwar Years](https://ideas.pixton.com/the-jewish-plight-interwar-years)

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[![](https://ideas.pixton.com/hubfs/jordan_cause_effect-001-1.png)](https://ideas.pixton.com/cause-and-effect)

### [World War II Cause and Effect](https://ideas.pixton.com/cause-and-effect)

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### [Cultural Events in My State](https://ideas.pixton.com/cultural-events-in-my-state)

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