Topic: The international situation of Poland before the outbreak of the Second World War

Target group

8th‑grade students of an elementary school

Core curriculum

XXIX. Second Polish Republic in 1921‑1939. Student:

5. presents the main directions of the foreign policy of the Second Polish Republic (system of alliances and the policy of balance).

XXXI. Road to war. Student:

5. lists the consequences of the Ribbentrop‑Molotov Pact.

General aim of education

The student will learn about the international situation of Poland before the outbreak of World War II.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• why Poland pursued a balancing policy;

• what Poland's relations with Czechoslovakia and Lithuania were at the end of 1930s;

• what Hitler demanded from Poland;

• what the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was and what its consequences were;

• what the public feeling in Poland on the eve of the outbreak of war was;

• who the allies of Poland were in 1939.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher states the subject of the lesson, explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

2. The teacher plays the recording of the abstract. Every now and then he stops it, asking the students to tell in their own words what they have just heard. This way, students practice listening comprehension.

Realization

1. Reading the content of the abstract. The teacher uses the text for individual work or in pairs, according to the following steps: 1) a sketchy review of the text, 2) asking questions, 3) accurate reading, 4) a summary of individual parts of the text, 5) repeating the content or reading the entire text.

2. Discussing information presented on the timeline. The teacher then divides the class into groups - as many as there are events on the axis. Each team works on one assigned issue, deepening the information contained in the abstract. Then the students present their discussions.

3. The teacher together with the students sums up the current course of classes.

4. Students analyze the illustration and execute Task 2. To answer the question, they can use Internet sources or other publications. The teacher checks the correctness of the answer and provides feedback to the students.

5. The teacher plays the voice‑over recording. Every now and then he stops it, asking the students to tell in their own words what they have just heard. This way, students practice listening comprehension. Next the students answer the questions posed in the task.

6. Students perform Task 4. They prepare their answer in writing. The teacher controls the correctness of their statements, supplementing it with additional information if necessary.

7. The teacher displays the map from Exercise 1. He reads out the task and, if necessary, helps student work out the answers.

8. Students in pairs solve the Exercise 2.

9. Students in pairs solve the Exercise 3.

Summary

1. The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

2. The teacher asks the students questions:

   • What did you find important and interesting in class?

   • What was easy and what was difficult?

   • How can you use the knowledge and skills you have gained today?

   Willing/selected students summarize the lesson

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. Make at home a note from the lesson, for example using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The international situation of Poland before the outbreak of the Second World War

In 1930s, Poland pursued a balancing policy towards its powerful neighbours – Germany and USSR. Józef Beck, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time, tried not to get involved in treaties, which would place Poland in opposition to them in any way. He kept rejecting German offers to commit to anti‑Soviet policy and sign the Anti‑Comintern Pact (1935). However, he tried to use the good relations with the Western neighbour and solve the current problems, especially those related to minorities (the treaty of 1937).

Polish diplomacy also tried to develop the idea of the “Intermarium”. However, the troubled relations with Lithuania stood in its way. They managed to normalise them in March 1938 with the use of the confusion caused by the Anschluss of Austria, by delivering to Lithuania an ultimatum to renew diplomatic relations.

Another aggressive step of the Polish foreign policy was the demand for the return of Zaolzie lost in 1919, addressed to Czechoslovakia in 1938. The use of the difficult situation of Poland’s southern neighbour – the German demand of incorporation of the Czech Sudetes – made an impression that Poland cooperated with the Third Reich, making Poland one of the aggressors.

Soon, Germany’s foreign policy also turned against Poland. A few repeated demands for the incorporation of Danzig into the Reich, construction of an extraterritorial corridor or joining the Anti‑Comintern Pact were rejected thanks to, among others, the guarantees of independence granted by the United Kingdom and France in March 1939. It led to Germany’s termination of the Non‑Aggression Pact and gave rise to Germany’s closer relations with the Soviet Russia.

The German policy openly pushed for a conflict and a war with Poland. The secret negotiations conducted by the Third Reich finally led to the signature of a treaty with USSR, called with the names of the ministers of foreign affairs of both states the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1939. Apart from official declarations of cooperation and non‑aggression, a secret protocol on the spheres of influence in the Central and Eastern Europe and the partition of Poland was attached to the Pact. It lead to the forming of a military alliance with the United Kingdom (25.08.1939). However, it did not succeed in preventing the war whose date had already been set. The date of aggression, which was originally set to take place on 26 August 1938, was rescheduled by Hitler with a few days for 1 September 1939.