Lesson Plan
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum

Harry Truman & the Potsdam Conference: Student Activity

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This activity allows students to see President Truman's perspective at the Potsdam Conference in 1945. Features include overview and firsthand accounts of conference, questions, vocabulary, and photos.
Website
National Archives (UK)

Cold War: The Potsdam Conference

For Students 9th - 10th
An in-depth study of international relations at the time of the Potsdam Conference. Includes political cartoons, primary source documents, and teacher resources.
Website
Other

Lebendiges Museum Online: Potsdamer Konferenz

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the Lebendiges Museum Online describes the events surrounding the Potsdam Conference which decided the future of the devided Germany. The site is entirely in German.
Website
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum

Tpml: Truman and the Bomb, a Documentary History

For Students 9th - 10th
This site offers a comprehensive list of primary source documents from Harry S. Truman regarding the Potsdam Conference and decision to use atomic weapons.
Primary
ibiblio

Ibiblio: The Potsdam Declaration

For Students 9th - 10th
ibiblio.org provides the actual text of the Potsdam Declaration, the tripartite agreement signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Soviet Russia concerning conquered countries.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: Harry Truman

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Portrait Gallery explores presidendtial actions in regard to the Cold War. Click on Harry Truman to see what actions and decisions he made during his term of office. Read about his meeting with Joseph Stalin at Potsdam, the...
Article
US Navy

Uss Augusta Transports President Truman

For Students 9th - 10th
[Archived Content] An article about the USS Augusta, a ship which transported President Truman to and from the Potsdam Conference.
Primary
Mount Holyoke College

International Relations: Communist Bloc Expansion in the Early Cold War

For Students 9th - 10th
This Mount Holyoke college site provides the text of Douglas J. Macdonald's "Communist Bloc Expansion in the Early Cold War: Challenging Realism, Refuting Revisionism."
Activity
National Archives (UK)

National Archives Exhibit: The Cold War

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource enables the viewer to explore various events and topics of the Cold War through learning games, primary documents, and a tour through an interactive bunker.
Unit Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Churchill and the Great Republic

For Students 9th - 10th
An interactive online exhibit about Churchill's life and especially his relationship with the United States.
Unit Plan
National Archives (UK)

The Learning Curve: Allies at War

For Students 9th - 10th
An extensive site chronicling the public consensus shown to the media among Allied members: the USSR, Great Britain, and the USA. Gives ample primary sources and student activities.
Unit Plan
National Archives (UK)

Cold War: Allies at War What the Public Did Not See

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive search into the growing distrust between Allied countries at the beginning of the Cold War. Includes great primary source documents and questions directed toward students.
Website
A&E Television

History.com: Vj Day: Victory Over Japan Day

For Students 9th - 10th
Comprehensive discussion of V-J Day or the day victory was declared in Japan. Includes details and facts about World War II and the war in the Pacific, the surrender, related photos and speeches, battle maps, and more.
Primary
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Wilson Center Digital Archives: Cold War History

For Students 9th - 10th
Presents a historical survey of the cold war by using documents. Explores the documents through an interactive site as a pathway through history.
Website
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum

University of Missouri Columbia: Truman and the Bomb

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the University of Missouri-Columbia offers a comprehensive list of primary source documents from Truman regarding the Potsdam Conference and decision to use atomic weapons.
Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: War, Victory and the Bomb

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of the final stages of WWII in which war in the Pacific and the Atomic bomb lead to Japanese surrender and criminal trials against Nazi generals.
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Library of Congress

Loc: Churchhill and the Great Republic

For Students 9th - 10th
This Library of Congress exhibit uses historic, primary documents to trace the life and accomplishments of Winston Churchill.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: From Wartime Allies to Cold War Enemies [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This timeline traces the devolution of the relationship between the United States and Soviet Union from the end of World War II, where these two countries were allies, albeit suspicious of each other, and almost a year after the end of...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Cold War Erupts

For Students 5th - 8th
World War II ended in 1945 and the Cold War began immediately. Read about the mistrust Western Europe and the United States felt towards the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin. Learn how the Soviets expanded their realm of influence and...
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Aftermath of the Decision [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
A touching and horrifying description of the devastation caused by the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which brought about the surrender of Japan in World War II. Suggested student exercises accompany the information....