World War I and Its Aftermath in Germany

About This Lesson

In this lesson, students will begin to examine how the facets of human behavior they have learned about in previous lessons—including stereotypes, prejudice, racism, and antisemitism—influenced people and events in this unit’s historical case study: Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. They will begin the case study by exploring some of the brutal realities of World War I, unexpected to most nations when they joined the war. They will also learn about Germany’s surrender in 1919 and the terms imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles, both of which shocked Germans and contributed to conditions that would provide fertile ground for the rise of the Nazi Party in the decade that followed.

Essential Questions

Unit Essential Question: What does learning about the choices people made during the Weimar Republic, the rise of the Nazi Party, and the Holocaust teach us about the power and impact of our choices today?

Guiding Questions

• How was the reality of World War I different from what many people and nations expected?
• How did World War I end for Germany, and how did Germans respond to the war’s aftermath?

Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to explain how the brutal realities of World War I conflicted with the expectations of quick victory shared by many nations.
• Students will be able to explain why the Treaty of Versailles shocked and upset many Germans.

Lesson Plan

Day 1

Activity 1: Reflect on Patriotism and National Pride

Begin the lesson by asking students to respond to the following prompt in their journals:

What are some ways that people express pride in their country? What are the benefits of patriotism? Can feelings of national pride ever go too far? If so, how?

Have students discuss their responses using the Think, Pair, Share strategy.

Explain to students that the countries that fought in World War I were motivated by a belief that the people of their nations were superior to the people of the nations they fought. This is a more extreme form of patriotism called nationalism, and, like racism, it involves the belief that one group of people is distinct from and superior to another.

Before delving into more detail about the war, briefly discuss the following question with students: How does war affect people’s feelings of pride in and loyalty toward their country? Make sure students understand that war almost always amplifies people’s feelings of loyalty toward their country.

Activity 2: Introduce World War I

Students may or may not know much about World War I at the beginning of this lesson. By examining a map of Europe and the Middle East during World War I, students can learn some basic facts about the war.

Have students draw a blank, three-column K-W-L chart in their journals. Also create a blank class K-W-L chart on the board or a piece of chart paper. Add “World War I: 1914–1918” to the class chart, and have students copy the same into their journals.

Pass out the map World War I in Europe and the Middle East. Lead students through an analysis of the map to gather some basic facts using the questions below. While you record basic facts in the “Know” column on the class K-W-L chart, students can record them in the same column in their journals:

• What information does the map provide about the two sides that fought the war? What was each side called? What countries and empires were part of each side?
• What does the map suggest about where most of the fighting in the war took place in Europe?
• What else does the map suggest about the story of World War I?

After gleaning basic facts about the war from the map, have students take a few minutes to add questions to the “Want to Know” column of their K-W-L charts.

Use the Think, Pair, Share strategy to have students share their questions, first with a partner and then with the entire class.

Tell students that since World War I is such a pivotal event in world history, over the course of this lesson the class will likely generate more questions in the “W” column of the K-W-L chart than they will be able to answer in this lesson and unit.

Activity 3: Examine Statistics about the Brutal Realities of World War I

One of the reasons World War I had such a profound impact on the history that followed was because victory was far more difficult to achieve and the fighting was far more brutal than most leaders and people of the nations involved (who all believed in their own superiority) expected. The reading The Brutal Realities of World War I, includes data about the military deaths and casualties suffered by each country in the war, offering one way to get a sense of the profound impact the war had on the world.

Pass out the reading The Brutal Realities of World War I. Also project it at the front of the room, if possible. Read aloud the introductory paragraphs.

If necessary, take a few minutes to practice with students how to read the chart and extract data. To do so, you might ask students to answer specific questions (for example: How many French soldiers were wounded in the war?). After each question, choose a student to walk up to the screen, if you are projecting the chart for the class, and show how he or she found the answer. You might also ask students to use the map World War I in Europe and the Middle East to locate countries listed in the chart (note that some countries are not included on the map).

Next, give students time to look closely at the casualty chart and complete a 3-2-1 exercise using the following guidelines:

• Write down 3 numbers from the chart that seem significant to you, and explain why.
• Write down 2 questions about World War I that the data in this chart raise for you.
• Come up with 1 hypothesis, based on the chart, about how World War I affected people in Germany and other European nations in the decade that followed.

Have students share their 3-2-1 responses with a partner before debriefing with the entire class.

Return to the K-W-L chart. Ask students to contribute any new conclusions about World War I that they can add to the “L” column. Also, ask students to suggest new questions for the “W” column that this activity raised for them. As you add new items to the class chart, students should copy them into their journals.

Day 2 

Activity 1: Evaluate the Treaty of Versailles

Explain to students that even though an armistice (truce) ended fighting on November 11, 1918, the war was not officially over until a treaty was signed. The Allies determined the terms of the treaty in negotiations in 1919, and Germany and other Central powers had no choice but to sign the treaty in 1920.

Before looking at some details about the Treaty of Versailles, pause to ask students to reflect on the purposes of a treaty to end a war. Have students respond to the following question in their journals and then discuss their responses with a partner:

• To what are the victors entitled at the end of a war? How should the countries that surrendered and lost a war be treated?

Pass out the reading Negotiating Peace, containing excerpts from the Treaty of Versailles. Read the excerpts from the treaty either individually or as a class. Next, have students respond to the following questions in their journals and then discuss their answers with the same partner from the previous journal exercise:

• Based on the information you have about the Treaty of Versailles, what do you think its goals were?
• Who benefited from the treaty? How? Who was harmed by the treaty? How?
• Do you think the treaty was fair?

Have each student re-read the handout and write a newspaper headline, in 15 words or less, that summarizes the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany. Invite students to share and discuss their headlines using the Wraparound teaching strategy.

Return one final time to the K-W-L chart. Ask students to contribute any new conclusions about World War I that they can add to the “L” column. Also, ask students to suggest new questions for the “W” column that this activity raised for them. As you add new items to the class chart, students should copy them into their journals.

Activity 2: Discuss the Impact of the War on National Pride

End the lesson with another brief discussion about patriotism, national pride, and nationalism. In particular, ask students to respond to the following question in their journals:

How do you think the outcome of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles might have affected Germans’ feelings about their nation? How might people respond to evidence that their belief in their nation’s superiority is wrong?