unit: the interwar years, 1918-1939 - william and marylesson+-+how...unit: the interwar years,...

Unit:

The Interwar Years,

1918-1939

Overview: This lesson will be taught to high school sophomores in mid-March at a high school

in Virginia. The "Interwar Years" unit will last 4 days, plus a 5th day for a test. Provided pacing

holds true, I will begin teaching students about the rise of dictators in the interwar period on the

third day of the unit. This lesson is designed to kind of bridge the gap between SOL Standards 11

and 12a pertaining to the World History II course. It will, ideally, help review the information in

Standard 11 while preparing students to achieve Standard 12a.

Lesson objective(s):

1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the economic developments during the

Interwar Period by citing causes of worldwide depression (SOL WHII.11).

2. The student will demonstrate knowledge of the worldwide impact of World War II by

a) explaining economic and political causes [of the war] (SOL WHII.12a).

3. By completing this inquiry-based lesson, students will be able to understand how

events and conditions of the Interwar Period laid the foundation for World War II.

4. Students will engage with primary and secondary sources by critically reading,

annotating, and analyzing these documents.

5. Students will use primary and secondary documents to locate evidence to answer the

inquiry around which the lesson is organized.

Procedure:

Activity 1:

1. Students will be organized into 6 groups with roughly equal numbers in each.

2. Once students have been grouped, they will remain in these groups for the majority of

the lesson and will be rotating to 6 different stations.

3. At each station, there will be a different document(s). (See Appendixes A-F). Each

document(s) at each station relates to at least one of the SOL-relevant (WHII.12a) causes

of World War II. These causes are:

I. Failures of the Treaty of Versailles

II. Aggression by totalitarian powers (Germany, Italy, Japan)

Subject: World History II

Grade Level: 10th

Day of Unit: 4

Topic: Setting the stage for World War II

SOL Standard: WHII.11/WHII.12a

Kind of Lesson: Inquiry

Inquiry Question: What conditions in the Interwar Period helped cause World War II?

III. Nationalism

IV. Weakness of the League of Nations

V. Appeasement

VI. Tendencies towards isolationism and pacifism in the U.S./Europe

VII. Economic depression

4. Before beginning to read the documents, the teacher will review the above potential

causes of WWII with the students together as a whole class. These will be written on the

board for student reference during the inquiry lesson activity.

5. Students will be given X minutes at each station (will depend on class/students).

I. At each station, students will read or "read" through the documents at that

station.

II. Students will then write down which of the SOL-approved causes of WWII

that document best supports on their inquiry worksheet (Appendix G).

6. After rotating through all the stations, the groups will have to pick which of the causes

they think was most responsible for causing WWII and give an explanation as to why.

I. The teacher will mark tally marks on the board next to the causes as students

select/nominate them for most influential cause.

Activity 2: 1. Teacher will direct the lesson to the rise of Hitler to power in Nazi Germany.

I. Students will also be given a primer on the film Triumph of the Will, so that

they have the necessary context/background knowledge before watching.

2. Students will receive a worksheet with questions about the Leni Riefenstahl film,

Triumph of the Will (Appendix H).

I. Link for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4gVcHE2HcU

3. Students will answer the questions on the worksheet about the film.

Assessment: Formative

Small group work/cooperation, worksheet on stations, engagement during

Triumph of the Will, Triumph of the Will questions

Document A:

Article 231of the Treaty of Versailles

(aka the "War Guilt" Clause) _____________________________________________

In November 1918 the fighting in the first Great War ended with the signing of the armistice. In

the summer of 1919 after six months of negations the Treaty of Versailles was signed. This

treaty did many things. One of the more impactful articles in regards to Germany was article 231.

This was the first article in part VIII of the Versailles Treaty called Reparations.

Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, known as the War Guilt Clause, was a statement that

Germany was responsible for beginning World War I. It reads as follows:

"The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts

the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and

damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their

nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed

upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."

The War Guilt Clause was added in order to get the French and Belgians to agree to reduce the

sum of money that Germany would have to pay to compensate for war damage. The article was

seen as a concession to the Germans by the negotiators. It was bitterly resented, however, by

virtually all Germans who did not believe they were responsible for the outbreak of the war. This

article was a constant thorn in the side of the Weimar leaders who tried to meet the terms of the

agreement while trying to have these terms modified.

Document B:

Graph and Political Cartoons

Document C:

Political Cartoons

Document D:

Political Cartoon + Speech on Munich Agreement by Neville Chamberlain

… We had populations inflamed to a high degree; we had extremists on both sides ready to work up

and provoke incidents; we had considerable quantities of arms which were by no means confined to

regularly organised forces. Therefore, it was essential that we should quickly reach a conclusion,

so that this painful and difficult operation of transfer might be carried out at the earliest

possible moment and concluded as soon as was consistent, with orderly procedure, in order

that we might avoid the possibility of something that might have rendered all our attempts at

peaceful solution useless. . .

I pass from that subject, and I would like to say a few words in respect of the various other

participants, besides ourselves, in the Munich Agreement. After everything that has been said

about the German Chancellor today and in the past, I do feel that the House ought to recognise

the difficulty for a man in that position to take back such emphatic declarations as he had

already made amidst the enthusiastic cheers of his supporters, and to recognise that in

consenting, even though it were only at the last moment, to discuss with the representatives of other

Powers those things which he had declared he had already decided once for all, was a real and a

substantial contribution on his part. With regard to Signor Mussolini, . . . I think that Europe and the

world have reason to be grateful to the head of the Italian government for his work in contributing to

a peaceful solution…

Ever since I assumed my present office my main purpose has been to work for the

pacification of Europe, for the removal of those suspicions and those animosities which have so

long poisoned the air.

Document E:

Excerpts from Hitler's Obersalzberg Speech

… After all there are only three great statesmen in the world, Stalin, I and Mussolini.

Mussolini is the weakest, for he has been able to break the power neither of the crown nor

of the Church. Stalin and 1 are the only ones who visualise the future. So in a few weeks

hence I shall stretch out my hand to Stalin at the common German-Russian frontier and

with him undertake to re-distribute the world.

Our strength lies in our quickness and in our brutality; Genghis Khan has

sent millions of women and children into death knowingly and with a light heart.

History sees in him only the great founder of States. As to what the weak Western

European civilisation asserts about me, that is of no account. I have given the command

and I shall shoot everyone who utters one word of criticism, for the goal to be obtained in

the war is not that of reaching certain lines but of physically demolishing the opponent.

And so for the present only in the East 1 have put my death-head formations' in

place with the command relentlessly and without compassion to send into death

many women and children of Polish origin and language. Only thus we can gain the

living space [lebensraum] that we need. Who after all is today speaking about the

destruction of the Armenians?

… To be sure a new situation has arisen. I experienced those poor worms Daladier and

Chamberlain in Munich. They will be too cowardly to attack. They won't go beyond a

blockade. Against that we have our autarchy and the Russian raw materials.

Poland will be depopulated and settled with Germans. My pact with the Poles was

merely conceived of as a gaining of time. As for the rest, gentlemen, the fate of

Russia will be exactly the same as 1 am now going through with in the case of

Poland. After Stalin's death-he is a very sick man-we will break the Soviet Union. Then

there will begin the dawn [and spread] of the German rule of the earth…

Document F:

Name: ______________________________ Date: _______________________ Page: _______

Worksheet: Critical Reading and Analysis of Documents

Setting the Stage for WWII in the Interwar Period

Directions: After reading and analyzing each document, circle or highlight the cause that is best

supported by the document. You can only choose one cause per document(s) at a single station!

You must include the part of the document (i.e. a phrase, a sentence, a feature in the political

cartoon, etc.) as your evidence as for why you chose that cause as being best represented by the

document(s) at a given station.

1. Document A: ________________________________________________________________

Evidence:

2. Document B:________________________________________________________________

Evidence:

3. Document C: ________________________________________________________________

Evidence:

Failures of the Treaty of Versailles

Aggression by totalitarian

powers

Tendencies towards isolationism

and pacifism in the U.S./Europe

Nationalism

Weakness of the League of

Nations

Appeasement



powers



Nationalism


Nations

Appeasement



powers



Nationalism


Nations

Appeasement

4. Document D: ________________________________________________________________

Evidence:

5. Document E: ________________________________________________________________

Evidence:

6. Document F: ________________________________________________________________

Evidence:



powers



Nationalism


Nations

Appeasement



powers



Nationalism


Nations

Appeasement



powers



Nationalism


Nations

Appeasement

Name: _______________________________ Date: _______________________ Block: ______

Film Viewing:

Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will

(Some questions taken from: NC Civic Education Consortium website)

Clip 1: Hitler's Arrival

1. What do you think the scene of Hitler's plane descending from the sky is trying to represent?

2. Why do you think the filmmaker wanted to show Hitler’s drive from the airport to the hotel?

Clip 2: Hitler Youth Rally

1. Why do you think Hitler organized the “Hitler Youth” movement?

2. What are some of the ideals taught to the “Hitler Youth?”

Clip 3: Closing Ceremonies

1. Do you think the responses of the crowd during Hitler’s speech are forced or genuine?

2. If you were unaware of Hitler’s actions and had just watched this film, would you think Hitler

was a good leader? Would you follow him?

The following are cinematic devices. Make a check next to the ones that you think you see or

hear in images and/or scenes from the movie.

_____ Hitler as a god-like figure

_____ Use of Nazi Party symbols

_____ Use of music and camera movement to emphasize a scene, a person, an image, or

a speech

Response or Discussion Questions:

1. What kind of community does the film suggest Nazi Germany is? Are the members of the

community militaristic? Are they peaceful? Religious? Powerful?

2. As a totalitarian regime, Hitler and the Nazis wanted total control in Germany. To do this, they

used propaganda. Do you think this film was a work of propaganda, carefully staged and edited

to serve a specific purpose? Or was it a documentary film made while recording a historical

event? Maybe both?

3. Do you think this film was supposed to appeal to the head or the heart? Why?

5. What is the purpose of this film? Why was it made?

4. Compare the "Be Prepared" scene from The Lion King with a military march scene from

Triumph of the Will. Are the two similar? If so, how? If so, was it appropriate for Disney to

include such references to Nazism in a children's movie?

.