Although this idea isn't directly linked to the Weimar Republic, I had a small bit of inspiration whilst watching my new 'Blackadder' box set. Not everyone, likes 'Blackadder', but it reminded me how poignant the final episode of series 4, 'Blackadder goes forth' is.
A class always loves a DVD now and again, and particularly a comedy. This would hopefully keep a class interested long enough (the episode is only half an hour), to see near the end the fears of the soldiers, and them going over the top. It demonstrates the futility of war, and could be used to explain how difficult the decision to support a second world war must have been.
I think that often the facts of war take over a sense of the realities. Studies of the holocaust demonstrate this, on the one hand there is a set of statistics, on the other the reality of tragic and shocking deaths of real individuals, and the effect on their families.
Thanks Rachel, you are certainly making headway with your blog. I like the idea of flitting from Weimar to Black adder and you could do this well with Year 9 or year 10. It makes a good "hook" about the unwillingness of many states to go to war again.
ReplyDeleteSee if you can find David Low's cartoon from 1919 of the class of 1939 since it really does poignantly point to the inevitability of war felt in 1919 as a response to the peace treaties. This is a source that is quite common at gcse and key stage three.
For a level the topic is more complex. For this you may need to look at 1920s expressionism in Germany and at the left wing artistic movements and key figures such as Brecht, and his collaborators Kurt Weill and Hans Eisler who, working on the left, ultimately found they had to settle in the USA.
Ther remained quite. A militant right win in Germany, and revolutionary left wing and their various attempts at overthrowing government are usually studied at both Gcse and A level.