Truly understanding why the globe launched itself into a second world war in just two decades is challenging. Textbooks try to highlight a few terms/events to sum up a very complicated international political economy. In the textbook our school uses, Alan Brinkley’s Unfinished Nation, he highlights: Dawes Plan, Kellogg-Briand Pact, Lebensraum, the Neutrality Acts, Rome-Berlin Axis, Anschluss and the Munich Conference. Obviously, reading the chapter is not enough, which is why students took their seats in my classroom the next day. Only--this time, it wasn’t a classroom, it was an international diplomatic table of countries involved in the lead-up to WWII
Procedure:
First, I divided the students up into the different countries including a League of Nations. Then, I had them take on the issues. Naturally, I didn’t like Brinkley’s terms, so I made my own list. At the beginning of class, students quietly worked with their fellow ambassador (if they had one) to write a press release about each event and thus play model UN without being in model UN!
After they wrote their press releases, I let them debate the issues. This was a lot more challenging. When I do this lesson again next time, I’m going to give them their countries before hand so they can do some background research to better defend their positions with proof.
Results:
Students certainly better understood the lead up to WWII. But, this lesson also taught students what it’s like being a politician/diplomat/ambassador. They also played around with writing a formal press release. When some countries/students had more formal, articulate press-releases, the other groups tried to keep up. In the end, they were all really good!
After the classed hummed along for a while,I figure I would detail the opening movements of the war in Europe. But, I didn’t get far. When we started talking about the Munich Agreement and Germany taking over the Sudetenland, one of my students drew a parallel to the current situation going on in the Ukraine--the exact parallel former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton made two days later--I might add. Clearly they were thinking like diplomats!
Then I embarked on a sweet tangent about how history relates to current events. And on that note, I’m going to read the news.
