Lesson plan (English)
Topic: Aftermath of World War I
Target group
7th‑grade students of elementary school
Core curriculum
XXVII. Europe and the world after World War I. Pupil:
1 ) describes the cultural and civilizational consequences of the war.
General aim of education
Students learn the consequences of the war, highlighting the revolutionary and ideological aspects of its consequences.
Key competences
communication in foreign languages;
digital competence;
learning to learn.
Criteria for success
The student will learn:
to characterize the dangers associated with the post‑war period;
xplain the causes of revolutionary tensions in Europe (in Germany, Italy, and Hungary);
to understand the ideological outcomes of World War I.
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
Before classes
The teacher asks students to read the introduction to the lesson and to review or acquire knowledge about the population losses resulting from World War I.
Introduction
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.
The teacher asks students to do Task 1 - describe the territorial changes after the World War I. The teacher displays the map on the multimedia board. He provides feedback to students. He explains what political model was preferred in post‑war Europe (democracy) and why this was the case.
Realization
The teacher asks students to prepare the arguments necessary to carry out an assessment of the threats and chances of a democratic system in Europe immediately after the World War I. As part of the introduction to the problem students carry out the Task 2. They get acquainted with an interactive illustration describing the cultural effects of the war.
The teacher displays on the board the timeline from the e‑textbook and divides the class into several groups (to improve the work). Each team will prepare in the course of the lesson the arguments „ordered” by the teacher, based on the issues appearing on the timeline. The teacher tells the students the facts about the revolutionary moods in Italy. Students get acquainted with the problems of revolutionary occurrences that echo the Bolshevik revolution and the effect of building influence by Soviet Russia (Comintern).
Each group does Tasks 3 and 4 (finds and discusses posters encouraging to save in times of inflation, and also creates biograms of the revolutionaries mentioned in the task), then Exercises 1 and 2 (describes inflation in Europe and war effects). In Exercise 2, students should further justify their choice. The teacher makes sure that the tasks have been correctly completed and gives feedback.
Students carry out Task 5. Work on it requires the essential support of the teacher. His task will be to explain the students the concept of „Judaomun” (especially its propaganda overtones) and related myths (e.g. based on Paweł Śpiewak's text in: Pomocnik Historyczny. 100 pytań na sto lat historii Polski (1918‑2018), „Polityka” 5 / 2018, or others).
In the course of their joint work, the students note: the factors threatening democracy are on yellow cards, and on green cards - factors that favor it. In addition, they can give them (by marking on sheets) from one to three stars depending on their „power”. Students can also reach for English‑language materials on the Internet (non‑obligatory).
Then the students in each group stick their cards on a sheet of paper, in the triangle box (with the entry „Democracy” in the middle) turned vertically down. Favorable factors „support” it, and those unfavorable try to „overturn” it. After completing the task, the representative of each group presents the effects of the group's work. The teacher and / or students prepare a photograph of the work.
Summary
The teacher or the designated student sums up the lesson.
The teacher gives students an evaluation questionnaire, in which they evaluate their own work, colleagues and the class. Then he discusses results with students.
Homework
The teacher sets homework (it is not an obligatory part of the script): Prepare a multimedia presentation about the goals, activities and importance of the Comintern.
The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson
Terms
Freikorpsy – ochotnicze formacje paramilitarne o nacjonalistycznym charakterze działające w Niemczech w latach 1918–1922, założone przez zdemobilizowanych żołnierzy.
Hiperinflacja – bardzo wysoka inflacja, przekraczająca zazwyczaj 50 proc. miesięcznie, powodowana zwykle przez całkowite załamanie systemu finansowego kraju i ogromny deficyt budżetowy finansowany przez dodruk pieniędzy.
Reparacje – rekompensata za szkody i straty wojenne, którą wypłaca państwo uznane za winne wywołania konfliktu wojennego. Wysokość reparacji jest ustalana na mocy układów pokojowych.
Reglamentacja – wprowadzone na stałe lub czasowo ograniczenie wolnego obrotu pewnymi dobrami lub towarami, spowodowane przeważnie niedostatkiem tych dóbr lub towarów i koniecznością ich z góry ustalonego przydziału.
Etatyzm gospodarczy – rodzaj polityki społeczno‑gospodarczej państwa oznaczający przejmowanie przez państwo administracji prywatnymi przedsiębiorstwami lub tworzenie nowych przedsiębiorstw państwowych za pomocą kapitału państwowego.
Pandemia – epidemia obejmująca swoim zasięgiem bardzo duże obszary.
Inflacja – w systemie pieniądza papierowego inflacja najczęściej przejawia się poprzez wzrost cen.
Związek Spartakusa – organizacja lewicowych socjaldemokratów niemieckich, którzy początkowo w latach 1917–18 byli w składzie Niezależnej Socjaldemokratycznej Partii Niemiec (USPD); w 1918 uznali, że Niemcy znalazły się u progu rewolucji socjalistycznej, będącej częścią rewolucji światowej i wbrew stanowisku USPD domagali się przekazania całej władzy radom i uzbrojenia robotników (rewolucja listopadowa 1918 w Niemczech); 11 XI 1918 powstał samodzielny Z.S. (K. Liebknecht, R. Luksemburg, F. Mehring), który w 1919 przekształcił się w Komunistyczną Partię Niemiec.
Komintern – (Międzynarodówka Komunistyczna) międzynarodowa organizacja partii komunistycznej, działająca 1919–43; kierowniczy ośrodek ruchu komunistycznego na świecie, tworzący tajne siatki, opierając się na legalnych (Francja, Belgia) i nielegalnych partiach komunistycznych; za cel stawiała sobie walkę wszelkimi sposobami, włącznie z walką zbrojną, o stworzenie międzynarodowej Republiki Rad jako państwowej formy tzw. dyktatury proletariatu.
Texts and recordings
Aftermath of World War I
On the 11th of November, 1918, a ceasefire ending operations on the fronts of World War I was concluded in France, Compiègne. The warfare resulted in a decrease in the size of the European population. Nearly 9 million people died during the war. Severe damages took place in the territories of all countries involved in the conflict. Tangible goods were devastated. Excessive raw materials economy and abusive exploitation of industry were applied. The incomes of individual countries were insufficient to cover their expenses. As a result, Hyperinflation occurred, in some countries reaching up to a million percent. The war revealed the weakness of the great empires. Tsarism in Russia collapsed as early as in 1917, overthrown by the February revolution. At the beginning of November 1918, the German Sailors revolt in Kiel broke out. William II abdicated and left the country and Germany was proclaimed a republic. Friedrich Ebert became its first president. The German communists, after the fashion of the Bolsheviks, demanded the absolute rule of the proletariat. Therefore, at the beginning of January 1919, they caused an armed uprising in Berlin, pacified by volunteer corps (Freikorps). Also in Hungary a revolt took place and on March 21st, 1919, the communist republic was proclaimed in Hungary. Béla Kun became its leader.