treatment of World War II in the secondary school national history textbook of the six major powers involved in the war, The

Journal of Social Studies Research, Winter 1999 by Santoli, Susan P, Weaver, Andrew

"War in Eastern Europe, 1939-1943"

The Japanese textbook addresses only one of six events under this topic area and provides only a "brief mention" of this event which is Hitler's Invasion of Russia (Table 2). By failing to provide more discussion about this topic, the Japanese text has neglected an entire front of the War. Both the U.S. and British texts omit only one topic, the Japanese text has neglected an entire front of the War. Both the U.S. and British texts omit only one topic, the Resistance; however, they provide little information on the Soviet Expansion in Eastern Europe which receives "extensive coverage" in the Russia text.

The amount of Russian coverage of this topic is understandable since the focus is on war in the East; however, the Russian text provides a great deal of information about countries other than Russia, such as its discussion of the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa activities. Interestingly, under the event of Hitler's Invasion of Russia, more information about Russian activities is contained in other countries' texts. It is suprising that the Russian author does not mention the battle Stalingrad, referred to by the French authors as the turning point in the war. The Russian text gives the battle of Moscow that distinction. Only the Russian and U.S. authors mention the Lend Lease aid sent to the U.S.S.R. and the Russian text is the only one to emphasize the controversy that existed among the Allies because of the fighting in North Africa.

The German text includes information about the war in North Africa in early 1942, which is surprising since that was a time of German success. Rommel is not mentioned by name, nor is there any mention of the Italian mistakes in North Africa. The German text is very frank in its discussion of certain aspects of Nazi Germany. However, the author has a tendency to avoid much discussion of any military activities, whether they be German victories or defeats.

The French and German texts provide the most in-dept coverage of the Holocaust, including information about the German antiJewish policies and actions, the concentration camps, and results of the Holocaust. The French text is only one of the six that uses the term "Holocaust," although both the German and French texts include the phrase "Final Solution." It is interesting that these two texts also contain some of the same document excerpts including the Wannsee Conference speech and the Nuremberg testimony of the Auschwitz commander.

There are discrepancies in the Russian interpretation of the Katyn massacre as compared to those by the French and German authors. The Russian text does not mention the massacre of Polish army officers, which is discussed in both the German and French texts; in fact, the Russian author attributes the destruction of the village of Katyn to Germany. This has long been a topic of disagreement between the Germans and Russians, and the texts of these countries reflect the controversial nature of this issue.

"War in the Pacific. 1939-1943"