Topic: Why ‘Great’? Why ‘World’? War of 1914‑1918

Target group

7‑th grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum:

XXV. The First World War. Student:

2) lists the main causes of war - political and economic, direct and indirect ones;

3) discusses the specificity of warfare: trench warfare, maneuver warfare, air and sea operations;

4) characterizes technical progress during the First World War;

3) describes the revolution and civil war in Russia.

General aim of education

The student gets acquainted with the causes and course of the First World War.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Lesson objectives

Student:

• tells why the conflict of years 1914‑1918 is called a world war;

• lists the Entente and Central countries and is able to show them on the map;

• tells about the causes of the outbreak and the consequences of the First World War;

• is able to list the 19th and 20th century inventions that were used during the war;

• understands the senselessness of wars and the enormity of destruction brought about by the Great War.

Methods/techniques

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook; using multimedia;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text;

• exposing methods: explanations and comments from the teacher.

Forms of work

• collective activity;

• activity in groups.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• multimedia material.

Before classes

The teacher asks the students to recall inventions of the 19th century and early 20th century. In particular, the teacher asks them to pay attention to those that led to the revolution in transport and communication.

The students should also watch a film on p. 3 of e‑textbook - the First World War. Alliances, read by A. Chwalba).

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher determines the purpose of the classes. He/she gives the students the criteria for success.

2. The teacher describes political situation in Europe at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The teacher tells about Germany's growing power and its extremely intensive economic development. The teacher also explains that the Europeans of that time were expecting war and even waiting for it, because the situation on the continent was very tense.

Realization

1. The teacher asks the students to perform Exercise 1 - a caricature. Then, the teacher helps students to understand the meaning of the saying “Balkan powder keg”. The teacher characterizes formation of military blocks - the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente, students perform Exercise 2. The teacher makes sure that the exercises have been correctly completed and provides feedback.

2. The students fulfill Task 1. Continuing, the teacher emphasizes that in fact the war was in the air and only a pretext for its outbreak was needed. This was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo, which started a series of events that soon led to the outbreak of the world‑wide conflict.

3. Referring to the homework, the teacher asks the students to fulfill Task 2 and perform Exercise 2. The teacher starts a discussion with students on how the achievements of technology contributed to the course of the war and how they were used. The teacher asks the students to read Task 3. The teacher makes sure that the tasks have been correctly completed and provides feedback.

4. The teacher divides the class into two groups – the first group will represent the countries of Triple Alliance, the other group – Triple Entente. Then, based on the previously watched film, the students perform Exercise 4, Exercise 5, Exercise 6. The teacher comments on the exercises performed.

5. Continuing, the teacher asks the students a question – What do they associate war with? Students should describe war as senseless evil and a manifestation of cruelty. The teacher adds that the great war was the bloodiest conflict that took place in history for the people of that time, and its methods and scale were unprecedented in history. To sum up the discussion, the students fulfill Task 4 and perform Exercise 7. The teacher briefly informs about the consequences of the war.

Summary

1. The teacher together with the students summarizes the most important information from the lesson in the form of a discussion.

2. For homework, the students perform Exercise 8, Exercise 9, Exercise 10.

Summary of the most important contents of the lesson

1. Reflection on the cruelty and senselessness of war.

2. Learning about the military alliances and countries taking part in the war.

3. Learning about the causes, course and consequences of the First World War.

4. Learning about the use of science and technology in the military activities of the Great War.

5. The ability to analyze a caricature and historical photographs.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Why ‘Great’? Why ‘World’? War of 1914‑1918

In 1914 a war broke out, which was later called the Great War or the World War. The reason for this were the conflicting interests of European superpowers. They formed two large blocks: The Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria‑Hungary and Italy) and the Triple Entente (France, United Kingdom and Russia). The ‘spark that set off the powder keg’ was the murder of the Austrian successor to the throne, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo.

The Italians joined the Triple Entente. Other European countries also joined the war. Bulgaria and Turkey fought on the side of the Triple Alliance (called the Central Powers). On the side of the Triple Entente – Serbia, Belgium, Romania, Greece, and at the end of the war – the United States. Some countries declared neutrality. For four years there were fierce struggles, both on the European continent and in the colonies. Fights took place on land, at sea and in the air.

New weapons and technologies appeared and developed – heavy artillery, machine guns, aircraft, tanks, combat gases and submarines. The war ended in the autumn of 1918 with the defeat of the central powers. Many millions of soldiers died, and European countries plunged into an economic crisis. A wave of revolutions swept through Europe, abolishing the Russian, German and Austro‑Hungarian monarchies. Poland regained independence as a result of the collapse of all its three partitioners.