1. Do Now
Please get out something to write with

2. Comparing the American and Soviet Wartime Experience
In your groups you will consider the impact of WWII on the United States and USSR. You will work in your groups to organize the events and information to describe the appropriate superpower.
Directions:
Organize the information into two columns, one for the US and one for the USSR. The information can go in any order in each column.
Once you have reached a group consensus, compare your organization with a neighboring group.
Finally, compare your organization with the class.

3. Comparing the American and Soviet Wartime Experience
On the back of your paper, please answer the following questions as a group:
Which country sacrificed more in terms of soldiers, civilians, resources, and morale?
How could this sacrifice impact the country’s perspective at the end of the war?
What sort of things might the country ask for?

4. US and USSR Foreign-Policy goals
On the back of your packet, at the top of your paper, copy this rectangle:
Read along with me as I read aloud the Yalta and Potsdam article. After each article, identify results of each conference and possible tensions that could arise as a result of each conference.
Yalta Conference Results
Potsdam Conference Results
How did this create tensions?
How did this create tensions?

5. US and USSR Foreign-Policy goals
On the back of your packet, underneath the rectangle, make a T-Chart. On one side write US and on the other side write USSR
In your groups, discuss and respond to the question, “Based upon their WWII experiences, what should be the top three foreign-policy goals of the US in 1945? What about the Soviet Union?”
For each foreign-policy goal you choose, write it in the appropriate column and support with a piece of evidence either from your wartime experience chart, or the Yalta and Potsdam reading