Topic: Europe rebels. Revolutions of 1848 - Spring of Nations

Author of the script: Monika Piotrowska‑Marchewa

Target group

7th grade student of elementary school

Core curriculum

7th grade

XXI. Europe during the Spring of Nations. Student:

1) […] characterises the course of the Spring of Nations in Europe;

2) discusses the causes and effects of [...] the Spring of Nations on Polish lands.

The general aim of education

Students will learn about the Spring of Nations in Europe, including the revolutions on the Polish lands.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• shows on the map the areas covered by revolutionary actions;

• describes the most important events of the Spring of Nations;

• lists the political demands of the Spring of Nations, the achievements of its participants and the causes of its failure.

Methods/techniques

• exposing methods: talk, traditional lecture, explanations and comments from the teacher;

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

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text and map;

• conducting the SWOT analysis.

Forms of work

• collective activity;

• activity in pairs or in groups;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• computers with Internet access;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens;

• materials from e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or large screen with a projector to display the content of the e‑textbook for the whole class.

Before classes

The teacher asks students to read the subchapter of the e‑textbook entitled First Pan‑European Economic Crisis.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher explains to the students the subject of the lesson, its objective and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher discusses with the students the situation that prevailed in Europe before the Spring of Nations. The teacher reminds that the political events that shook Europe were based on the food and economic crisis that had started two years earlier.

3. Students do Exercise 1. On the basis of the map of Europe in 1848‑1849, they analyse which European countries avoided the revolutions of that time. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and provides feedback. Within the frameworks of the teaching session, the teacher explains the reasons for this situation and refers to the students' information about Europe in the years 1815‑1849.

Realization

4. The teacher asks the students to learn the information necessary for the SWOT analysis during the lesson. For this purpose, the teacher asks the students to do Exercise 2. Students analyse the most important events of the Spring of Nations, placed on the timeline. They note down the countries in which the revolution broke out. What were the slogans for the fight? How did the rulers pacify the speeches of the liberals and democrats? The teacher advises to what aspects of the problem should the students pay special attention (attitude towards independence, state unification, civil liberties, democratisation of the system, social equality, peasant reforms). The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and provides feedback.

5. Students – in groups of at least two (the larger the number of groups, the greater the involvement in the task) conduct SWOT analysis. For this purpose, they do Exercise 3. They place appropriate terms in the selected parts of the table. When doing exercises, the teacher uses tents or a set of cards in three colors: green, yellow and red. Students use the cards to indicate to the teacher whether they are having difficulty in fulfilling the instructions (green – I’m doing great, yellow – I have some doubts, red – I need help).

6. After completing the exercise, selected persons from each group present the results of their work to the whole class. Finally, the teacher asks the students to agree on a common approach to the analysed problem.

Summary

7. The teacher gives the students evaluation questionnaires in which they evaluate their own work, the work of the teacher and their colleagues during the lesson.

8. The teacher gives homework for volunteer students (it is not an obligatory part of the script): to prepare a poster advertising one of the slogans/postulates of the Spring of Nations. The poster should contain illustrations and excerpts from documents from the epoch: memoirs, correspondence, press. Students may organise an exhibition of the best posters in the classroom.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Europe rebels. Revolutions of 1848 - Spring of Nations

In the years 1848‑1849, revolutionary riots called the Spring of Nations took place all over Europe (except for Russia and Great Britain). In France, as a result of the French Revolution of 1848, the monarchy was overthrown and the Second Republic was established. Its president was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. Within the area of the Austrian Empire, there were riots on the streets of Vienna, while the Hungarians began their struggle for independence. Despite their efforts, they were pacified by the Austrian and Russian armies. Revolutionary movements reached also the German and Italian countries, wherein both cases attempts were made to unite the nation into one state. Revolutionary activities occurred also on Polish lands. An uprising was caused by the residents of the Grand Duchy of Posen, as well as Cracow and Lviv. Both riots were suppressed, but thanks to them Polish people from Wielkopolska gained representatives at the Prussian estates, and the Austrian authorities carried out an enfranchisement reform in Galicia.