Histoire THE USA & CONFLICT 1941-2011

Introduction

2. Method: Commenting on 2 documents

Stage 1: introduction - Presenting the documents
Similarities: These documents both / these 2 documents / this corpus of documents / both documents deal with the USA waged and won the Second World War against the Axis powers at a time when this conflict which had started in 1939 in Europe but involved the USA only on 7 December 1939, was over in Europe since 8 May 1945 but only ending in Asia. .
Differences: The speech by U.S. President Truman broadcast to the American people recaps the involvement of the country after Japan's unconditional surrender on 1 September 1945 while the front page headlines of the New York Times focuses on what happened to Hiroshima on the previous day, 6 August 1945.
Announce structure: In a first part, we are going to

Stage 2: Analysing the documents

 DESCRIBE THE DOCS - What you see
 structured (≠ parts) and detailed description		 Structure  INTERPRET THE DOCS - What you know
  add & structure definitions of key notions

Speech:
§P1 Remember the shock of Pearl Harbour
In 1941, the whole world was shocked by the attack on civilisation itself against the USA in Pearl Harbour. But this threat is over.

1. Entering WWII:
Speech P1

1. Pearl Harbour, the USA attacked
- the facts:
- war of aggression:
- dissymmetric war:

§P2 Remember the Americans who won this war
- on the frontline : U.S. armed forces died to protect civilisation and ensure victory
- on the home front : U.S. population worked to give them and their Allies the means to win the war

2. Fighting WWII:
Speech P2

2. A US population fully involved
- war of liberation:
- total war:
- the Allies:

Front page:
Headlines : the first atomic bomb
- the fact, the novelty, a new weapon ;
- its overwhelming power of devastation ;
- warning more is to come meaning we can do it again we are that powerful
Other titles : 2 domestic titles and 4 article about bombings and war destruction		 3. Winning WWII:
Front page		 3. Hiroshima, the ultimate weapon
- dissymmetric war:
- annihilation war:
- dirty war:
- WMD:

Stage 3: Concluding
Assess docs (reliable/biased justified): To conclude, we can say that both docs are reliable (official, historic speech ; quality paper) but biased (US point of view).
Sum-up ideas (+ nuance/opening): To recap, tthey show U.S. determination to win the war at all cost and erase the Pearl Harbour trauma thanks to the atomic bomb which will become a deterrent in the forthcoming Cold War as it was the 1st WMD too devastating to be used.