Topic: Poland, Europe, World after World War I (revision)

Target group

7th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

XXVII. Europe and the world after World War I. Student:

1. describes the cultural and civilizational consequences of the war;

2. characterizes the provisions of the Paris Conference and the Locarno Treaty; assesses the functioning of the League of Nations and the order of Versailles;

XXVIII. The rebirth of the Polish state after the First World War. Student:

1. discusses the formation of a central center of state authority - from the October declaration of the Regency Council to the „Small Constitution”;

2. presents the process of forging borders: the decisions of Versailles and the phenomenon of the Wielkopolska Uprising and the Silesian uprisings (west) - a federal dilemma and the incorporation effect (east);

3. describes the Polish‑Bolshevik war and its consequences (the Riga room).

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

1. characterizes the scale and consequences of wartime destruction and industrial heritage;

2. characterizes the political system of Poland based on the March constitution of 1921;

General aim of education

The student will learn and describe the situation in Poland and in Europe and the world after the First World War

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to name the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles with Poland;

• to describe the Polish military’s engagement in the fight for Poland's borders after 1918;

• to characterize the factors hindering the integration of the Polish state, the most important reforms of the Grabski’s government and the principles of the March Constitution.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion;

  • debate.

• exposing

  • exposition.

• 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

Before classes

1. The teacher informs the students about the need to repeat the knowledge from the completed e‑textbook section: Poland, Europe, and the world after the First World War.

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. Students interpret the cover illustration, indicating its relationship with the subject and goals of the lesson.

3. The teacher explains that the main purpose of the repetitive lesson will be to carry out an open debate on the topic selected / drawn by students.

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. The teacher asks the students to perform the following Exercises in pairs: 1, 2 and 3. During the students' work the teacher provides the feedback.

3. The students write down their suggestions for discussion. For example: Did Poland betray Ukraine by signing a treaty with Bolsheviks?; Was the victory of the Poles in the war with the Bolsheviks a miracle?; Żeligowski's rebellion - a prank or a brilliant diplomatic operation?; The creation and activity of the League of Nations - a success or a missed opportunity for peace? The draw is taking place. The purpose of the further work is to prepare arguments for a 7‑minute discussion on the subject proposed and drawn by the students.

4. The teacher chooses two students who will conduct the debate on the topic chosen by the students. The third student acts as a secretary: he measures the time of the participants' speeches, he monitors the order of the discussion, allows the willing to speak.

Summary

1. The teacher sums up the debate, adds (if necessary) further conclusions. He places them in the context of the most important phenomena of the 1920s.

2. The teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer?
   If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

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

Poland, Europe, World after World War I (revision)

On November 11, 1918, a ceasefire was concluded in Compiègne, France, ending operations on the fronts of World War I. The new order introduced the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, with Germany. Separate peace treaties were signed with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. New countries appeared on the map of Europe: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, the Kingdom of SHS, Ireland and Iceland as well as Austria and Hungary. The League of Nations was established.

In the course of the Greater Poland Uprising in 1918, the Poles managed to control almost the whole of the Greater Poland. The dispute over Upper Silesia was to be resolved by conducting a plebiscite, but the tense socio‑political situation led to three Silesian uprisings. The Council of Ambassadors finally granted Poland around 30% of the disputed areas. In Warmia and Masuria, Poland lost the plebiscite. The Council of Ambassadors set the border in Cieszyn Silesia. Attempts to establish the eastern border began during the I World War. In Galicia, October 1918, the Ukrainians took Lwów and announced the establishment of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (Zakhidnoukrayins’ka Narodna Respublika - ZUNR). The Poles managed to regain the city and in 1919 to oust the Ukrainians over the river Zbrucz. In April, 1920, Józef Piłsudski formed an alliance with the leader of Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR), Semon Petlura, and began an offensive against the Red Army (Kiev expedition).

The Bolshevik counter‑offensive reached the forefield of Warsaw. On August 15, 1920, the decisive Battle of Warsaw took place, during which the units of the Red Army were destroyed. The war ended with the peace treaty, signed on March 18, 1921, in Riga. Even before the conclusion of the Treaty of Riga, the problem of the Vilnius region („Żeligowski's rebellion”) was solved.

On November 10, Józef Piłsudski came to Warsaw and a day later the Regency Council, representing Poles in the Kingdom, gave him military authority. Piłsudski appointed the cabinet of Jędrzej Moraczewski, who introduced a series of reforms and systemic changes. However, he did not have the support of all political forces in the country. Piłsudski, in agreement with Roman Dmowski, created the cabinet of Ignacy Paderewski. On March 17, 1921, the constitution was passed. On December 9, 1922, the president, Gabriel Narutowicz, was elected. A week later, in Warsaw's Zachęta, he was shot by a sympathizer of the National Democracy. Stanisław Wojciechowski became the next president.

Hyperinflation prevailed in the country. In December 1923, the President decided to establish the so‑called government of specialists, appointed by Władysław Grabski, equipped with special powers. He carried out an agrarian reform. In 1924, a new currency was introduced, the zloty. As a result of customs wars with Germany, new markets for Polish goods were found. The construction of the port in Gdynia, opened in 1923, also begun.