IB2 STANDARD LEVEL - LESSONS

Wednesday 2/9: I started this lesson by letting you listen to Swedish Radio - from September 1st 1939. I then asked you if you recognized any of the persons mentioned. You spotted Chamberlain (British PM), Roosevelt (US President), Molotov (Commisar of Foreign Affairs - USSR) and Mussolini (Italian political leader - "Il Duce"). Good!
I then handed out the following papers;

  • "IB History - Higher & Standard Level"
  • "History at Hvitfeldtska Gymnasiet"
  • "Schedule"
  • "Syllabus - History guide"
  • "Article - Europe in 1871 and the Quickening Pace: A Survey"
The two first papers explains shortly what you are suppose to study in SL and HL IB History. The schedule is empty - until we will fill it with something... The syllabus is your most important document. It gives you information, in details, about the IB History course. Please bring that along to these first lessons. The article is your homework for Friday. You should also decide if you want to start with Germany in the late 19th century or Russia in the late 19th century. Don't forget your homework!!!

Friday 4/9: I started todays lesson with some music... (Vivaldi). Several scientists claim that music can enhance your memory and ability to learn. When I asked the class about previous experience of "Study Technique" it seemed like only a few students had experienced that. We have to do something about that. Now the moment of truth came - HOMEWORK. I told you that this part can be really stressfull - especially if you have not done your homework. So I'm counting on you to always do your homework - no excuses! Then I told the class about how I usually check homework. This time I let you sit in four different groups discussing one question each (we had four questions as homework). I wrote the following subtitles on the whiteboard;
  • Economy
  • Political
  • Geographical
  • Inventions
You got a little bit more than five minutes to prepare some main points. Somebody asked me if they could write some on the whiteboard... I said "Yes" - if you can give clear answers/arguments. If you can't you should not write on the whiteboard.
We spent the rest of the class going through the points made. When it was done I asked the class what they should do next with this new knowledge. Somebody said - "Rewrite your notes". I totally agreed and added that you should do that asap because you forget a lot of information fast (I showed a graph that pointed out very clearly how much you forget within 24 hours, a few days and a few weeks). I also added the importance of using the the written text together with your notes when you rewrite your notes. That makes it possible to add parts that you forgot or did not understand. If you do this all through the history course I can guarantee a good final grade. If you don't - it will be a bit harder...
At the very end of the lesson I asked what you want to start with - you said Russia. So Russia it will be! You will receive your books during the next lesson together with a full schedule for this year (2009-2010). Because you don't have any books yet I can't give you any homework.
Tuesday 8/9: I started todays lesson by repeating some of the main parts of the last lesson; Europe in the 19th century - geographical, political and economic development... and inventions! Then I started to hand out books. You will use "Morris and Murphy" and "Traynor". We looked at them together. I handed out a summary of this first part. It's especially important to read the parts about extended writing, historical sources, historical interpretations and examination techniques. The next part is an introduction to the basic text of the book - a summary of Europe 1870-1991. You should read pages 11-17 and answer the following questions to the next lesson (next Tuesday);
  1. Morris divides the History of Europe into three different periods - which ones?
  2. What was the reason for this division?
  3. Describe the main features of the first period:
  4. Describe the main features of the second period:
  5. Describe the main features of the third period:
  6. Morris mentions three different kind of historians - which ones?
  7. Describe the different kind of historians - what were their main focuses?
NOTE: Don't forget to read the explanations in the margins; "free market", "Cold War" and "Eastern bloc"
  1. Read the text about Europe's population. What was the general increase 1870-1914 and 1900-1950? Which countries had the biggest increase? Which countries had the smallest increase.
  2. What were the three main reasons for the population growth according tosocial historians and demographers? In what way did they explain the differences between different regions in Europe?
  3. What were the main economic developments in Europe during this period?
  4. Most people worked in the agrarian sector 1870. How did this sector change during the period?
  5. Describe the changing trade policies between the European countries during this period.
At the end of the lesson we also had a short look at the structure of "Traynor". You will have a lot of use for these books in your history course! See you next week - don't forget your homework!

Tuesday 15/9: In the beginning of this lesson we took a closer look at the questions at the beginning of the Chapter. I showed you that they correspond to the subtitles in the Chapter. Then I showed you the questions in the right hand corner on top of the first page of the Chapter and told you that you should be able to answer these questions once you studied this Chapter. We then started to go through your homework (which I did deliberately slow):
  1. Morris divides the History of Europe into three different periods - which ones?
  2. What was the reason for this division?
  3. Describe the main features of the first period:
  4. Describe the main features of the second period:
  5. Describe the main features of the third period:
  6. Morris mentions three different kind of historians - which ones?
  7. Describe the different kind of historians - what were their main focuses?
Most of the class were active when I asked these questions (or a few questions connected to todays homework) but a few of you were very anonymous. This is either a sign of you being shy or else you have not done your homework... We then started to go through the rest of the questions (I first asked you if you thought these questions were easier than the first ones - everybody agreed that they were):
  1. Read the text about Europe's population. What was the general increase 1870-1914 and 1900-1950? Which countries had the biggest increase? Which countries had the smallest increase.
  2. What were the three main reasons for the population growth according tosocial historians and demographers? In what way did they explain the differences between different regions in Europe?
  3. What were the main economic developments in Europe during this period?
  4. Most people worked in the agrarian sector 1870. How did this sector change during the period?
  5. Describe the changing trade policies between the European countries during this period.
We covered a few of the questions. We will do the rest tomorrow and then you will also get to work on the next bunch of questions. Once again - I went through these questions deliberately slow so that you had a chance to get used to Morris... See you tomorrow!
Wednesday 16/9: It's important to go through Morris well. I therefore took you through the five last questions again and made sure everybody heard what I expected you to write. The sooner you get into an "essay way" of thinking the better...
  1. Read the text about Europe's population. What was the general increase 1870-1914 and 1900-1950? Which countries had the biggest increase? Which countries had the smallest increase.
  2. What were the three main reasons for the population growth according tosocial historians and demographers? In what way did they explain the differences between different regions in Europe?
  3. What were the main economic developments in Europe during this period?
  4. Most people worked in the agrarian sector 1870. How did this sector change during the period?
  5. Describe the changing trade policies between the European countries during this period.
At the end of the lesson we also looked at all the explanations and the different questions in the margins of the book. Your homework to Tuesday next week (22/9) is to read the following pages in Morris: 18-24 - and answer the different questions expressed in the subtitles;
  • How did the political map of Europe change during this period?
  • What was the impact of two world wars upon the European state system?
  • 1.2 How were European states governed during this period?
  • Whay was monarchy so widespread in Europe in 1870, and why did it subsequently decline?
  • What have been the main aims and principles of liberal democracy?
  • To what extent was European government influenced by the Christian Churches?
  • 1.3 What political ideas had the greatest influence upon Europe during this period?
  • What is the significance of nationalism during this period?
  • How did nationalism develop in the course of the 20th century?
Don't forget to also look at the map (page 19), the explanations of "Puppet" governments, Protectorate, "Iron Curtain", Supernationalism, "Legitimacy", Kaiser, Constitution, Republic, Liberal democracy and the information about Georg Hegel. You also have some questions in the margin of page 20, page 22 and page 24. See you on Tuesday (except Higher Level that I will see Friday morning).
Tuesday 22/9: I went through todays homework slowly. Half the group answered questions - the rest were a bit more shy. We covered the main new ideas in the 19th century; Nationalism and Liberalism and then saw how they developed into bthe 20th century. I brought in the terms: "Splitting Nationalism" and "Unifying Nationalism". Some of the big empires - the Ottoman, the Habsburg and the Russian Empires were "victims" of the first category while Italy and Germany are thye results of the later category.
We also covered the different ways different countries were governed in Europe; from "Constitutional Monarchies" to the more modern liberal democracies. At the end of the lesson we came into some important nationalists; Giuseppe Mazzini, Johann Gottfried von Herder, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Georg Hegel. The rest of this first chapter will be "consumed" later. Tomorrow we will finally start with Russia 1894-1939. I want you all to just briefly "flip through" Traynor - pages 67-94...
Wednesday 23/9: At the beginning of this lesson I handed out a schedule for this schoolyear (see schedule above). I presented the different sections and showed when I plan to give the group an "in-class-essay". After receiving a few questions I started todays topic - "Russia 1894-1918". After my question "What do we need to know about Russia" you realized that we need to know;
  • What Russia looked like at the beginning of this period (late 19th century)
  • Causes, Course and Results of the Russian Revolution(s) 1917
I totally agreed. We therefore will focus on the situation in the late 1800's today, the crisis 1904-05 next Wednesday and then the development up to 1914 next Thursday! The two weeks after that will be focused on the 1917 revolution(s). You decided that our first test, an in-class-essay, will be written week 43, at Tuesday! After this decission I split the first part of information into four questions:
  • Explain the "geography" of Russia in the late 19th century - size of the country, population - ethnic groups, infrastructure, comparison rural areas - urban areas, etc...
  • Explain the "political system" of Russia in the late 19th century - government on a national, regional and local level as well as the existence of political opposition, etc...
  • Explain the "economy" of Russia in the late 19th century - Agriculture, Industrial, etc...
  • Explain the "social system" of Russia in the late 19th century - Tsar / Nobility / Church / Middle Class / Workers (urban) / Peasants, Men - women, etc...
The class was didvided into groups. Two groups will work with the "geography", two groups will work with the "political system", one group will work with the "economy" and one group will work with the "social system". Each group will write one paper (not both sides of the page - just one sida!). Present the information in "bulletform" and give it to me when the next lesson starts!

Tuesday 29/9: Each group got answered questions and presented their theme. After the presentations I received papers from each group (except one that sent it to me). I'm very satisfied with all of you doing your homework as well as being able to answer my questions. At the end of the lesson I handed out a "paper" about Russia 1894-1918. Here is a link to that paper:
RUSSIA 1894-1918
We will continue with Russia tomorrow - especially the years 1904-05.

Wednesday 30/9: At the beginning of this lesson I handed out copies of the papers you wrote to yesterday's lesson. I then went through the first pages of the paper RUSSIA 1894-1918. It's very important that you know what Russia looked like - economically, politically, socially as well as geographically at the end of the 19th century. This part took most of the lesson. The last part of the lesson went to the identification of "CAUSES" of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-05. Next time we will focus on the following themes:

COURSE of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-05 (Find out about how the war started, the first battles, major battles, problems that occured, reinforcements, etc... and in your opinion - when did the Japanese forces get the advantage that made them win this war - all this will be discussed in class)
RESULTS of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-05 (Make sure you can identify the main results of the Russian defeat and the Japanese victory - this will also be discussed in class)
CAUSES OF THE 1905 REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA - make one paper (only one side). You can either use "bullet points" or a "mind map". I will collect these during the next class so they need to be ready before class.
The last question I sent along was - "Was it a revolution?" - about the situation 1905 in Russia. You need to be able to answer this question and also motivate why you think it was a revolution or why you don't think it was a revolution. That was it!!!
Tuesday 6/10: I started this lesson by going through the "COURSE" of the Russo-Japanese War. Your task had been to find out how the war started, the first battles, major battles, problems that occured, reinforcements, etc... and in your opinion - when did the Japanese forces get the advantage that made them win this war?
Several of you participated in this discussion. We got several answers to the last question;
  • When the first battles were fought and it was obvious that the Russian troops were to few and weak
  • After the Battle of the Yellow Sea since the Russian Fleet now was completely locked in
  • After the Battle of Mukden
  • After the loss of Port Arthur and the Battle of Mukden...
All of these answers could be correct - as long as you cover your argument/statement with good enough evidence! Good participation from several of you students!
We then went to the next assignment... the "RESULTS" of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-05. You were supposed to identify the main results of the Russian defeat and the Japanese victory. Less students participated in this exercise. The answers given were based on the "TREATY OF PORTSMOUTH":
  • Russia recognized Korea as Japan’s sphere of influence
  • Japan took over the 25-year lease of Port Arthur + Hinterland
  • Japan also took over the lease of the Railroad in southern Manchuria (and its access to several strategic resources)
  • The southern half of the Sakhalin Island was ceded to Japan
  • Both Russia and Japan agreed to evacuate Manchuria
  • Russia did not have to pay any war indemnity
That's of course true but there were other results as well like:
  • The loss was very embarrassing for Russia (and Europe) who had been convinced about their superiority. Russia lost a lot of prestige…
  • The loss of the war contributed to the 1905 Revolution in Russia
  • The lost war in the Far East made Russia change the focus on her Foreign Policy. She now concentrated more on the development in Europe. Especially in the weak part in the South-East… the declining Ottoman Empire = the “Eastern Question"!
  • Japan became a power to count on and started her domination of China as well as other areas in the Far East. She would find a new competitor in the Pacific – USA
Another question that we touched several times was - "Why did Russia loose the Russo-Japanese War?"
  • Incompetence of officers and administrators! Contrasted by the bravery and sacrifice of the common soldiers
  • Japan was closer to the war. Russia had to transport men from Europe. They used the Trans-Siberian Railroad which took a while. The Trans-Siberian Railroad was single-track and about 150 km was missing in the region of Lake Baikal. Around 35,000 men per month was a maximum.
  • Japanese army and navy were better equipped and more efficient
  • Japan had more men than Russia already at the beginning of the war and could get reinforcements faster.
  • The loss of the naval initiative made Japan control her reinforcements as well as the landing along the coast, etc…
  • The Japanese soldiers and officers were more motivated and determined – Nationalism!
Before we left the results I showed you several different estimates on the Russian and Japanese casualties. I did this to remind you about the fact that "History" is not an exact science - it's based on theories and discussions about the past...
I then went around and gathered todays homework - One paper about the "CAUSES OF THE 1905 REVOLUTION". I continued by showing you a mindmap of a suggested answer (and then I forgot to give you a copy of it...).
The last part of todays Agenda was the question "Was it a revolution?" - about the situation 1905 in Russia. You started to give me arguments "YES" and "NO" + some evidence. After I asked you to please do something else before you continued the argumentation somebody realized the importance of defining the main term - "REVOLUTION". Good! You should always try to define the main terms - that's usually vital when you answer a question like this.
Tomorrow we will see a bit of "POTEMKIN" - a film by Sergei Eisenstein. We will also continue with Russia - now the period 1905-1914; the problems during 1905, the reaction from the Tsar, the different Dumas, Pjotr Stolypin and his reforms, the relatively good situation in the beginning of the 1910's and then WWI...
Wednesday 7/10: I said we would see a bit of "POTEMKIN" - I lied - we saw the whole thing. We will continue with Russia 1905-1914 next week; the problems during 1905, the reaction from the Tsar, the different Dumas, Pjotr Stolypin and his reforms, the relatively good situation in the beginning of the 1910's and then WWI. Prepare this class by reading these pages in the paper; RUSSIA 1894-1918 and in Morris 161-171 and Traynor 80-85.

Tuesday 13/10: I started the lesson by writing two names on the whiteboard; Witte and Stolypin. Under each name we wrote their main reforms... Then we covered the problems during 1905, the reaction from the Tsar, the Russian Constitution and the different Dumas. When we had come this far I handed out a paper to you. This paper consisted of three questions, explanation of the "key terms", examples of three different kind of essays, marks and what they stand for (0-20), some advice and finally grades - structure, content and analysis. Please take a look at this paper before next class. Tomorrow we will start by talking about the last part of this Chapter - the relatively good situation in the beginning of the 1910's and then the outbreak of WWI. Then we focus on your first essay-in-class next week...

Wednesday 14/10: We talked about the very last part of the previous Chapter - the situation in the Dumas (I handed out a paper we went through) as well as the reforms of the government. I also mentioned Hugh Seton-Watson who have a very clear opinion about Russia's possibility to develope into a constitutional monarchy after 1914 (if WWI had not come). Make sure you study well before the test next week. The rest of the lesson was spent on explaining how to write essays - the importance of understanding "key terms", the necessity in defining some words/expressions, the grading system as well as the three main categories I look into:
  • Structure
  • Content
  • Analysis
It's never a bad idea to first make an essay outline before you start writing. When you do that you clearly see what content you remember and you can easily plan which order to put them in. Another advantage is that you can start the essay by presenting the question and then make a short outline of what you will discuss in the main text already in the introduction... Good Luck next week!
Tuesday 20/10: In-class-Essay!!!
Wednesday 21/10: I made some general comments about the in-class-essay. The results in the class were in general good. A few students had focused on one or two aspects only which affected their markband/grade. With these and a few more comments I handed out yesterdays essays. If you are not satisfied with the result you can always rewrite it at home. If you do so I want the written essay at our first lesson together after the vacation (Tuesday November 3rd).
Our next task is Germany 1890-1914 - "Wilhelmine Germany". We got Traynor out and I asked you to please look at the photo and the cartoon of Wilhelm II on page 2. Since we will focus on the role of Wilhelm II I urged you to first learn the German Constitution and the formal powers it gave to the Emperor of Germany as well as the King of Prussia (see page 4-5). Then read pages 3, 6-12 to get a background of Wilhelm II. Continue with the text on page 16-17 to see what the historians think about Wilhelm II. Use this text together with the ones you still haven't read (page 12-16) and determine Wilhelm II's position in the German Empire. Was he a "Personal Ruler" or was he a "Shadow Emperor"? I want three written arguments for each category:
"Wilhelm II was a Personal Ruler"
"Wilhelm II was a Shadow Emperor"
We will have a short debate after the vacation so make sure you bring the arguments to class. Otherwise it's just for me to wish you a good vacation. Rest well...

Tuesday 3/11: I started this class by presenting the task - a discussion based on the following argument "Wilhelm II was a Shadow Emperor". Three students were picked out/volunteered for each group. One group supported this statement and the other group was against the statement. These are the main arguments the groups used:
  • YES - Argument 1: After Bismarck was forced to retire a power vacuum existed which was filled by different groups and interests
  • NO - Argument 1: Bismarck's forced resignation shows the personal rule of Wilhelm II
  • YES - Argument 2: The Chancellors used the weaknesses of Wilhelm II - several decissions made by them personally
  • NO - Argument 2: Wilhelm had the power to appoint and dismiss all the Chancellors and Ministers. When they didn't follow his ideas they were dismissed
  • YES - Argument 3: Wilhelm II personality + mental condition made it impossible for him to be a personal ruler
  • NO - Argument 3: All the important decissions were made by the Kaiser - Wilhelm II
Then we let the rest of the group in. Some of the arguments above were repeated but maybe more in-depth. The Kaisers influence over the Foreign Policy was also mentioned (which we will get back to later). At the very end of the lesson we let the two discussion groups back in. They now discussed different aspects of the mental health(!) of the Kaiser. We will continue with Kaiser Wilhelm II tomorrow. You need to study Traynor page 12-17. Make notes on each source if it shows Wilhelm II as a "Shadow Emperor" or a "Personal Ruler".

Wednesday 4/11: I did continue with Kaiser Wilhelm II. We covered all the different sources and evaluated them as indications of "Shadow Emperor" or a "Personal Ruler". This took most of the lesson. At the very end I presented a possible essay question: "Wilhelm II was a Shadow Emperor". To what extent do you agree with this statement?
In an introduction it's important to state what time we talk about (Wilhelm was Kaiser between 1888-1918), the country (Germany) and a definition of "Shadow Emperor". Then present the question and a short outline of the essay...
The background to the main text should include the German Constitution of 1871 (which explains the Kaisers political power in theory), the centralized political power under Otto von Bismarck (Authoritarian rule) and the previous economical progress of Germany.
Then you start to gather "YES" arguments (and evidence) and "NO" arguments (and evidence). In the end of the main text you discuss Wilhelm II your agreement with the statement. In the conclusion you summarize... - that's it!
We will continue with Wilhelm II next lesson. You have already read Traynor so it's time to go for the heavy artillery - Morris! Please study the following pages: 118-133
Tuesday 10/11: I really blew it today - bringing the wrong papers... I still tried to go through:
  • Bismarcks dismissal
  • The "ruling classes" of Germany - nobility and army
  • Economic progress of Germany
  • Political Parties in Germany
  • The specific policies of the different Chancellors
I will print a paper about "WILHELMINE GERMANY" to you but if you want to read it right away click on the link... Tomorrow we will start to cover Germany's Foreign Policy 1871-1914. Please browse through Morris: 133-137
Wednesday 11/11: I started to go through the German foreign policies. To be able to cover this well we first needed to hear about Bismarcks foreign policy. I therefore handed out a paper that summarized Bismarcks foreign policy 1871-1890. Here is a link: BISMARCK'S FOREIGN POLICY 1871-1890
This took most of the lesson. At the end I just briefly covered the time-line of the Wilhelmine foreign policy:
  • 1888 The start of the building of the Berlin-Baghdad Railroad
  • 1892 First part of the Berlin-Baghdad Railroad completed
    Franco-Russian Military Agreement
  • 1894 Franco-Russian Alliance
  • 1895 German lease of the Chinese town Kiaochow (99 years)
  • 1896 The Kruger Telegram
  • 1897/1898 The First Navy Law
  • 1898 German purchased a few Pacific Islands from Spain (Carolines + Marianas)
    Kaiser Wilhelm II visits Constantinople “my railroad”/“protector of Muslims”
    First British Approach
    Fashoda Crisis
  • 1899 Germany seized the eastern part of the islands of Samoa (Savaii and Upolu)
  • 1900 The Second Navy Law
  • 1901 Second British Approach
  • 1904 Entente Cordiale
  • 1905 First Morocco Crisis
  • 1906 The Third Navy Law
  • 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention
    Triple Entente
  • 1908 Amendment of the Navy Law
  • The Daily Telegraph Affair
  • 1908/1909 The Bosnian Crisis (the Blank Cheque)
  • 1911 Second Morocco Crisis
  • 1912 The Potsdam War Council
    Increase in ships and men…
  • 1912/1913 First Balkan War
  • 1913 Second Balkan War
  • 1914 WWI starts…
During the next lesson we will work with the following "events":
  • Berlin-Baghdad Railroad (1888)
  • Kruger Telegram (1896)
  • First and Second British approach (1898/1901)
  • First Morocco Crisis (1905)
  • The Daily Telegraph Affair (1908)
  • Bosnian Crisis (1908-09)
  • Second Morocco Crisis (1911)
  • The Potsdam War Council (1912)
  • German War Plans
Tuesday 17/11: I presented the following topics;
  • Berlin-Baghdad Railroad (1888)
  • Kruger Telegram (1896) + First and Second British approach (1898/1901)
  • First Morocco Crisis (1905)
  • The Daily Telegraph Affair (1908)
  • Bosnian Crisis (1908-09)
  • Second Morocco Crisis (1911)
  • The Potsdam War Council (1912) + German War Plans
You were divided in pairs. The only rule I had about you working in pairs was that you should not have worked together before. It took a little while but after the topics were given (and material was handed out) you started to work on your topics. I must say that I'm quite impressed with the work climate in this group. I hope you keep it up - then you will become one of the great history groups with hopefully really good grades... It looks very promising so far. Back to your task;
You should produce a PP presentation that should be ready at the beginning of the first lesson next week (Tuesday 24/11). We will continue with this work tomorrow.
Wednesday 18/11: You continued with the work from yesterday. At the beginning of the lesson I asked you to please notice two things;
  1. Make sure you try to notice to what extent Wilhelm II is involved in the foreign policy
  2. Germany was accused of being responsible for the start of WWI - can you see any signs of that when you work with your topic?
After these words of "wisdom" you continued your work. After a while I called for your attention again and we then took the decision about the date of your "in-class-essay" about Wilhelmine Germany. That essay will cover the domestic as well as the foreign policies in Germany 1888-1914. It will also cover Bismarcks foreign policy 1871-1890. You will receive five different essay questions - you will only write one! You decided that this test should take place in exactly two weeks - Wednesday 2/12.
The rest of the lesson was spent on your work. Make sure your PP presentation is ready to the first lesson next week (Tuesday 24/11). Then we will go through the Wilhelmine foreign policy. See you!

Tuesday 24/11: Today it was time to cover Wilhelmine foreign policy. We went through (you can click on the events...);
Tomorrow we will continue with;
...and we will go through the table in Traynor about Wilhelm II's involvement in foreign policy. So please read Traynor 18-25 and fill in the table (avoid ink) on page 24.
Wednesday 25/11: No Lesson!!! I'm sick! Make sure you prepare for the test next Wednesday (Bismarck's foreign policy 1871-1890 and Wilhelmine Germany 1888-1914).
Tuesday 1/12: We covered the last part of Wilhelmine foreign policy;
Interesting way of showing the Schlieffen Plan... At the end of the lesson we did half of your homework. We read the sources in Traynor and then we tried to determine who was the active part in the specific event described. You will find a fairly passive Kaiser when you cover the rest of the events... in other words much of a "Shadow Emperor".
As a short preparation for the in-class-essay tomorrow I reminded you about;
  • the importance of the foreign policy of both Bismarck and Wilhelm II
  • the importance of the German economy
Good Luck on the test tomorrow!

Wednesday 2/12: We had an in-class-essay. Here are the topics for the two of you who missed the test;
  1. In what respects can it be argued that the government of Germany during the Wilhelmine period was undemocratic?
  2. To what extent was Wilhelm II a “Shadow Emperor”?
  3. Compare the strengths and weaknesses of Germany’s diplomatic position in 1890 and in 1910.
  4. Summarize the impact of Weltpolitik upon Germany’s diplomatic relations with other European powers.
  5. Evaluate the importance of imperialism for, and its effects on, one European country during the nineteenth century.
Answer one of these questions and send it to me latest Sunday evening (this does just apply to the two students who were gone today)...

Tuesday 8/12: I spent this lesson talking about IA and EE (Internal Assessment in History and Extended Essay). It's important to start early. Therefore we will start now! You should present a topic for your IA latest January 20th. Then we will decide when your first draft should be done. The final version of your IA will be due in February 2011!
I also asked you to please think about if you want to do your EE (Extended Essay) in History. Let me know tomorrow and we will set up an appointment. We will try to get this started asap. Due date for your Extended Essay is November 2010.
Wednesday 9/12: I had to do some copying and finish an important conversation so I reversed the lesson. We started with a documentary about the situation just before WWI. I asked you to please take notes on different "CAUSES" mentioned in this documentary (we will cover those "CAUSES" during the next lesson).
When I returned the documentary was nearly over. I handed out your tests and said a few words about the general results and what each question implied. If you are dissatisfied with the result you may rewrite the essay at home. Hand it to me before the end of this semester (latest Friday next week - I have my pigeonhole in the North Building).
The last part of the lesson was spent on the IA. I handed out printed copies of an IA syllabus and five different "samples". You should look through these papers and essays when you have time so you know whats expected from you. Remember - you need to present a topic for your IA latest January 20th.
At the very end of the lesson I gave you homework - please read the following pages in Morris as a preparation for the next lesson: 172-187

Tuesday 15/12: We looked at the “CAUSES” of WWI (the first part taken from Morris). This included what had been covered in connection with “Wilhelmine Germany 1888-1914”, especially the foreign policy. Some topics were the “First” and “Second Moroccan Crisis”, the “Bosnian Crisis” and the two “Balkan Wars”.

Wednesday 16/12:We finished the “CAUSES” today within what has been covered by Morris. In the end of this class I showed a WWI “documentary” – with Black Adder. The attitudes expressed were not farfetched but actually fairly accurate (even if the story line were a bit farfetched). You need to study the paper about the historians’ view of who started WWI. We will go through that when we meet at the first lesson after the holidays.

Tuesday 12/1: I covered the historians view (up to Fritz Fischer) about the responsibility of starting WWI:
Written report presented at the Versailles Peace Conference:
  1. The war was premeditated by Germany and its allies and resulted from "acts deliberately committed in order to make it unavoidable"
  2. Germany and Austria-Hungary deliberately worked to defeat "all the many conciliatory proposals made by the Entente powers to avoid war."
This view is also expressed in Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles:
"The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."
The German Government promoted a revisionist campaign during the inter-war years to reverse this verdict. They released 15,889 official documents in 54 volumes during the 1920's and historians like H. Rothfels and Erich Brandenburg assisted the Government.
H. Rothfels stressed "collective responsibility"
Erich Brandenburg argued that Germany did not plan for war in 1914. He blamed Russia for wanting control over the Balkans, and France for wanting revenge for the loss of Alsace-Lorraine.
Sidney Fay (American Historian) wrote 1930 that no European power wanted war in 1914 and that all, to greater or lesser degrees, must share the blame (collective responsibility). In this Germany did not plot the war and was a casualty of its alliance with Austria-Hungary.
The idea of "Collective responsibility" became the first strong view - the "Orthodox interpretation". Instead of finding the "guilty part" the historians concentrated the "long-term causes"; the alliance system and old-style diplomacy, imperial rivalry, the growth of militarism, nationalism, the arms race, and the development of inflexible war plans.
In 1951 one of the leading German historians, Gerhard Ritter, concluded: "The documents do not permit attributing a premeditated desire for a European war on the part of any government or people in 1914. Distrust was at a peak, ruling circles were dominated by the idea that war was inevitable. Each on accused the other of aggressive intentions; each accepted the risk of war and saw its hope of security in the alliance system and the developments of armaments."
During the 1960's two American political scientists used a computer to get a verdict about the responsibility. They fed the computer with 5000 key views from all the verbatim documents of unquestioned authenticity of the key decision-makers in Germany , Russia, Austria-Hungary, Britain and France during the July Crisis of 1914. The computer made the following conclusions;
  1. All the major powers felt that their rivals were antagonistic, and saw themselves as being friendly.
  2. The major leaders became obsessed with short-term decisions during the July Crisis.
  3. All the major powers felt that they were the injured party in the crisis.
The computer came to the same conclusion as most historians - no power was solely responsible for the outbreak of war!
In 1961 another German historian, Fritz Fischer - professor of history at Hamburg University, published a book on the topic. It was 900 pages long and entitled "tariff nach der Weltmacht" (Grab for world power). In 1967 it was published in English with the title "Germany's aims in the First World War". The book apportioned chief responsibility to Germany for preparing and launching the First World War! Fischer had gone through the archives of four key German figures; the Kaiser, Bethmann­ Hollweg (the Chancellor), Gottlieb von Jagow (the foreign secretary) and Helmuth von Moltke (the chief of the army's general staff). He especially concentrated on the aims and policies of these four men. The major part of the book shows the vast expansionist aims of Germany during the war. Even though the Fischer "thesis" is connected to the German responsibility of the war its only one chapter in the book that deals with the origins of the war.
This is weher I ended the lesson. I then gave you the following homework for next week: Write down Fritz Fischers arguments from his two books - either as bullet points or make a nice mindmap. You then need to give this one(!) paper to me at the beginning of the lesson next Tuesday (19/1). Tomorrow we meet 20 minutes in the classroom - then we will go to the University Library...
Wednesday 13/1: I presented part of the following schedule for WWI:
  1. Tuesday 19/1: Historiography - War Aims - Outbreak of WWI
  2. Wednesday 20/1: War on the Western & Eastern Front
  3. Tuesday 26/1: War on the Southern Front - War at Sea - War in the Air
  4. Wednesday 27/1: Weapons - Strategies - new technology - Home Front
  5. Tuesday 2/2: 1917-1918 - Wilson's 14 points - Armistice
  6. Wednesday 3/2: Role Play - the Versailles Treaty
  7. Tuesday 9/2: Peace Treaties - Results of WWI - Film...
  8. Wednesday 10/2: Essay-in-class
When I asked what you could participate with we made the agreement that you will specifically study a country each (most people will work in pairs). Here are the countries:
  • Germany
  • Great Britain
  • France
  • USA
  • Italy
  • Poland
  • Serbia
Belgium, the Netherlands and Russia was also suggested, but since they didn't participate in the Versailles Treaty I decided to exclude them. After this we went to the University Library! Don't forget your homework for next week: Write down Fritz Fischers arguments from his two books - either as bullet points or make a nice mindmap. You then need to give this one(!) paper to me at the beginning of the lesson next Tuesday (19/1).

Tuesday 19/1: We started this lesson by you handing in your homework – a paper about Fritz Fischer’s ”thesis”. I had received a few through emails – I now nearly received all the rest. Good! After this I reminded Higher Level about the test this Friday. Three students will be gone and they need to do it next week – and they need to decide which day/time!
We had agreed on you working with a specific country during the formal WWI lecture series, but we had not decided on who was going to work with what country, what exactly you are supposed to do as well as how you will present what you have done. I suggested that you write a paper with some specific features on like; type of government, military strength, main characters, economy, propaganda, etc…
Your only homework for tomorrow is to try to decide what you all should cover. Here is a list of how is going to work with what country:
Germany – Fraser and Alexander M
Great Britain – Hugo and Laura
France – Cristoffer and Ivar
USA – Seth and Birger
Italy – Beatrice and Daniel
Poland – Alex and In Pyo
Serbia – Axel
You will work with these countries at the same time as we have lessons according to the decided schedule (with other words – you will not get any lesson time for this work).
This took some time but then we started the actual lesson with the arguments of Fritz Fischer:
  • (1961) – Germany was prepared to go to war in order to become a great power (“Weltpolitik” – naval expansion + colonies)
  • (1961) – Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary to start a war with Serbia (“blank cheque”)
  • (1961) – Germany developed a clear set of aims to gain large territorial gains in central and eastern Europe (Potsdam meeting 1912 – September program 1914)
  • (1969) – World War I was a way of diverting the German population from Domestic problems (“Primat der Innenpolitik”)
  • (1969) – Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg was the prime mover of German policy during the July Crisis and he was a key figure in Germany’s expansionist aims once the war began
Tomorrow we will continue with the critique of Fritz Fischer from Gerhard Ritter. During the following lessons I will then present the development of these two “schools” – the Orthodox view of “Collective responsibility” and the Revision view of “Germany’s responsibility”.
This part was followed by some tables from Traynor (page 26-27 – “Germany and the Origins of the First World War”). These tables showed some resources of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.
Year
Triple Alliance
Triple Entente
Population
1913
154.1 million
(Italy = 35.1)
260.4 million

Military + Naval Personnel

1914
1 581 000
(Italy = 345 000)
2 794 000
Naval Strength
1914
416 ships/submarines
(Italy = 82)
847 ships/submarines

It’s not so important to remember the exact numbers but you should know that the Triple Entente had nearly the double amount of population, double amount of military and naval personnel and more than double the amount of ships/submarines…
At the rest of the lesson we went through different plans before WWI:

French Plan XVII - a flexible plan of offensive over the German borders from Belgium (the Ardennes) or Lorraine – it did not include a fixed military strategy. This plan left only one division soldiers to defend northern France but French planners were convinced that Germany would not invade through Belgium because that could lead to war against Great Britain. The Naval plan was based on the protection of the French colonies in North Africa and an engagement and destruction of the Italian and Austrian fleet.

Germany – The Schlieffen Plan – The idea was to win the two-front war against France and Russia. Germany should mobilize very fast, disregard the neutrality of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands and then let the German right wing sweep through Belgium and Northern France. Meanwhile a smaller defensive division should hold out against the French expected attack through Lorraine. Paris should fall within 39 days and France should capitulate within 42 days. Then all efforts would be put into the eastern front – against Russia. This plan counted on more men that were available, weak resistance from Belgium, Great Britain not getting involved and Russia mobilizing slowly. The Naval plan was to rely on modern technology in order to fight a war of attrition against the British Navy. Once the odds were more even heavier ships should deploy in frontal battles.
Great Britain – In 1905 Britain started to count on an involvement in a European war – still she concentrated her efforts on the Empire. The main strategy of a European war was that the BEF (British Expeditionary Force – based on volunteers) should be transported to the European mainland and eventually meet French troops in Maubeuge (Northern France close to the Belgian border). Then Britain would start a campaign for recruiting more soldiers. The Naval plan was to protect the movement of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) to the continent, protect the British Isles and the French coast, assist the French fleet in the Mediterranean, blockade the enemy coast and prevent contraband being supplied at sea and of course to seek out and destroy hostile Naval forces and commerce raiders throughout the world.
Austria-Hungary - had two variations. Plan B was concentrated on the Balkans with a defensiv smaller army against Russia. Plan R was a combination of a more active war against Russia and Serbia (the Balkans). Plan B concentrated three armies to invade Serbia dn three armies to guard the border against Russia (in Galizia). Plan R concentrated four armies in Galizia (against Russia) and only two to invade Serbia. This plan counted on some German help. It was Plan R that Austria-Hungary put into effect!

Serbia - a simple plan. Upon the declaration of war the army should be doubled (from five to ten divisions) and place at alert against the Austrian-Hungarian troops. When Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia would counterattack (the expected attack was around Belgrade)...

Russia - also had two variations. The first one was to be used against Austria-Hungary and Germany if the attacked Russia - the other one was to be used if Germany attacked France. It was the latter one that was used. This was based on a Russian attack against East Prussia on day number 15 after the first mobilization. Four additional armies would be mobilized against Austria-Hungary in Galizia. They were supposed to engage in battle against the Austrian-Hungarian armies in Galicia. The Naval plan was very defensive. The Russian Fleet based in Kronstadt (outside St Petersburg) should protect the country against the German Baltic Fleet in case it attacked.

Belgium - would try to fight a defensive war. Most of the Belgian Army would concentrate west of the Meuse River to defend Antwerp. The should avoid battle with superior troops and maintain contact with Antwerp. The rest of the Belgian forces should be gathered around the forts at Liege, Namur and Antwerp (to defend the principal crossings on the Meuse River).

That's it! We will continue with the actual war during the next lesson...

Wednesday 20/1: The very first part of this lesson was spent on Gerhard Ritters' critique of Fritz Fischers' thesis:
  • There is no evidence of a unified German plan for war or world domination
  • Germany acted defensively throughout the July Crisis
  • The German main aim was to support Austria-Hungary, her only firm ally
  • The German government realized too late that the conflict could not be localized
  • The German government relied too much on military planners - they were the ones that pushed Germany into war
  • Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg tried to keep Germany out of the war but he also became a victim of the military planners
Then we covered the last "war plans" (look above). Finally it was time to start the war... We covered the actions on the West and East Front chronologically. I will not write them together here but treat one first and then the other one. I'll start with the Western Front:

War on the Western Front: Germany launched the Schlieffen Plan (defeat France within 42 days) on August 4th. The Belgian resistance was stronger than German expected and that bought time for British and French troops to mobilize. A BEF (British Expeditionary Force) landed in France - and met German troops at the Belgian town MONS (23 August). The British troops did not stop them or defeat them but they did slow the German advance.
The French troops faced bigger problems. According to Plan 17 (French troops should charge across the frontier and attack deep into Germany, forcing surrender) France launched a direct attack on Germany. From the 20th of August to the beginning of September (during 12 days) France lost over 200.000 men! France abandoned Plan 17 and regrouped their forces to defend Paris.
When Russia mobilized faster then expected and attacked East Prussia Germany was forced to pull 100.000 troops out of France.
Still, after the first delays the German army advanced fast towards and into France. Then another problem arose - logistics! Supplies of food and ammunition could not keep up. Germans soldiers were soon underfed and exhausted.
At the River MARNE the combined forces of France and Great Britain were able to stop the German advance. A counter-attack pushed the Germans back to the River AISNE.
By the 8th of September troops on both sides were digging trenches, setting up machine guns and barbed wire. The war of movement started to become the WAR OF TRENCHES.
Schlieffen Plan
War on the Eastern Front: At August 17th the Russian Army moved into East Prussia. General Alexander Samsonov advanced slowly into the south-west corner. The intention of this attack was to link up with the other major Russian army coming from the north-east (under General Paul von Rennenkampf).
Battle of Tannenberg and Battle of the Masurian Lakes: August 20th 1914 – the Russian General von Rennenkampf defeated a German force at Gumbinnen. Paul von Hindenburg and Erich von Ludendorff realized the threat and decided to move a few divisions from the Western front to the Eastern front (around 100 000 men). They made contact with the Russian troops August 22nd 1914. The two Russian armies were separated by 80 km. This made it possible for Hindenburg and Ludendorff to tackle them individually. Samsonovs troops were surrounded and defeated outside Tannenberg (“Battle of Tannenberg” August 26th-29th 1914 ) and Rennenkampf’s Army was defeated two weeks later at the “Battle of the Masurian Lakes”. Out of 150 000 Russian soldiers only around 10 000 managed to escape. General Samsonov committed suicide!
Results: GERMAN VICTORY but with a high price - the Schlieffen Plan failed!
Battle of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes
So why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?
  1. Belgian resistance delayed the German forces
  2. BEF (British Expeditionary Force) therefore managed to come to assistance at the Belgian town of MONS which further delayed the German forces
  3. When the German troops started to move faster - they moved too fast. The logistics - food and ammunition could not keep up. Soon the soldiers were underfed and exhausted.
  4. Russia attacked within two weeks which was unexpected fast. Germany therefore had to send 100 000 men from the West Front to the East Front.
  5. The original plan had been altered. The right wing that was supposed to be the strongest part of the German attack had been weakened. Some of the men that should have been there had been sent south to meet the French troops in Lorraine. Others were forced to leave to strengthen the Eastern Front (100 000 men) and then the German Generals decided to move more directly towards Paris...
Then I started to go through the German September Programme:
The general aim of the war is security for the German Reich in west and east for all imaginable time. For this purpose France must be so weakened as to make her revival as a great power impossible for all time. Russia must be thrust back as far as possible from Germany's eastern frontier and her domination over the non-Russian vassal peoples broken.
  • France. The military should decide whether we should demand cession of Belfort and western slopes of the Vosges, razing of fortresses and cession of coastal strip from Dunkirk to Boulogne from France
  • France. The ore-field of Briey, which is necessary for the supply of ore for our industry, to be ceded in any case. Further, a war indemnity, to be paid in instalments; it must be high enough to prevent France from spending any considerable sums on armaments in the next 15-20 years.
  • France. Furthermore: a commercial treaty which makes France economically dependent on Germany, secures the French market for our exports and makes it possible to exclude British commerce from France. This treaty must secure for us financial and industrial freedom of movement in France in such fashion that German enterprises can no longer receive different treatment from French.
  • Belgium. Liége and Verviers to be attached to Prussia, a frontier strip of the province of Luxemburg to Luxemburg.
  • Belgium. Question whether Antwerp, with a corridor to Liége, should also be annexed remains open.
  • Belgium. At any rate Belgium, even it allowed to continue to exist as a state, must be reduced to a vassal state, must allow us to occupy any militarily important ports, must place her coast at our disposal in military respects, must become economically a German province. Given such a solution, which offers the advantages of annexation without its inescapable domestic political disadvantages, French Flanders with Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne, where most of the population is Flemish, can without danger be attached to this unaltered Belgium. The competent quarters will have to judge the military value of this position against England.
  • Luxemburg. Will become a German federal state and will receive a strip of the present Belgian province of Luxemburg and perhaps the corner of Longwy.
  • We must create a central European economic association through common customs treaties, to include France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Austria-Hungary, Poland "sic", and perhaps Italy, Sweden and Norway. This association will not have any common constitutional supreme authority and all its members will be normally equal, but in practice will be under German leadership and must stabilize Germany's economic dominance over Mitteleuropa.
  • The question of colonial acquisitions, where the first aim is the creation of a continuous Central African colonial empire, will be considered later, as will that of the aims to be realized vis-à-vis Russia.
  • A short provisional formula suitable for a possible preliminary peace to be found for a basis for the economic agreements to be concluded with France and Belgium.
  • Holland. It will have to be considered by what means and methods Holland can be brought into closer relationship with the German Empire.
In view of the Dutch character, this closer relationship must leave them free of any feeling of compulsion, must alter nothing in the Dutch way of life, and must also subject them to no new military obligations. Holland, then, must be left independent in externals, but be made internally dependent on us. Possibly one might consider an offensive and defensive alliance, to cover the colonies; in any case a close customs association, perhaps the cession of Antwerp to Holland in return for the right to keep a German garrison in the fortress of Antwerp and at the mouth of the Scheldt. (From Fritz Fischer, Germany's Aims in the First World War, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1967)
The reaction of the German September Programme was strong. The public opinion of Great Britain, France and Russia demanded action which made the governments declare:
  • Elimination of "Junker militarism"
  • Elimination of the German navy
  • Elimination of the German colonial Empire
  • Return of Alsace-Lorraine to France
  • Russia was promised influence over Constantinople and the Straits (Dardanelles + Bosphoria). Britain and France would be compensated in Egypt and the Near East...
Except the ordinary homework - three of you HL students need to decide which day/time next week for the History test. All of you also need to decide what the obligatoric information about your countries should be; type of government, military strength, main characters, economy, propaganda, etc...? Email me about your thoughts.
Tuesday 26/1: We had to first deal with some unsorted questions:
1. The three HL students that missed the in-class-essay Friday will do it this Thursday at 16.00 - in N213
2. The start of EE in History will take place Monday at 13.00. We will meet outside N213!
3. We talked about your own work - what should be obligatoric information about your country? Lets start with the countries adjustment to war:
  • ECONOMY - how did your country adjust the national economy to WWI? (Ex. Great Britain - "DORA")
  • POLITICS - how did the political power of your country adjust to WWI? (Did the country change government to adjust to the war - like a broad coalition government?)
  • SOCIAL - were there any groups that were especially affected by the war? (Ex. Great Britain - women)
  • Propaganda
  • Censorship
  • Military strength
  • Main Characters
This was enough for today. We will get back to this next lesson. This work should be done when we have covered WWI. Unfortunately we are a little bit delayed (look at the adjusted schedule). Here is an adjusted schedule:
  1. Tuesday 19/1: Historiography - War Aims - Outbreak of WWI
  2. Wednesday 20/1: War on the Western & Eastern Front
  3. Tuesday 26/1: War on the Western & Eastern Front
  4. Wednesday 27/1: War on the Southern Front
  5. Tuesday 2/2: Weapons - Strategies - new technology - War in the Air - War at Sea
  6. Wednesday 3/2: 1917-1918 - Wilson's 14 points - Armistice
  7. Tuesday 9/2: Home Front - Your presentations!!!
  8. Wednesday 10/2: Role Play - the Versailles Treaty
  9. Tuesday 23/2: Peace Treaties - Results of WWI - Film...
  10. Wednesday 24/2: Essay-in-class
You will then present your countries during one lesson - 10 minutes per country. I suggested a written presentation... At the end of this lesson I actually spent some time going through something about the war on the Western Front... We will continue tomorrow!

Wednesday 27/1: I started this lesson by handing out a text from BBC that covered comments from contemporary newpapers and newsagencieys about the start of the Battle of Somme. You commented on the way they were written - no mentioning about own losses, lots of adjectives, positive estimation about the losses of the enemies, etc...

After this I covered four fronts. I started with the Western Front after the Battles of Verdun and Somme (the low numbers of casualties on the German side were questioned - I will try to give you some numbers from different historians next lesson):
1917 - A new French General - Nivelle started another offensive. The Germans knew of his plans and retreated to new stronger positions (the Hindenburg Line). General Nivelle refused to change his plans so the casualties were huge! Several units from the French army mutinied… General Pétain was called in. He solved the crisis by ruthlessly punish the leaders of the mutiny and at the same time improving the conditions for the ordinary soldiers. The British and Canadians had some successes - like the Canadian capture of VIMY Ridge in April 1917. Then US joined... (that's where we ended the Western Front)

Next front covered was the Eastern Front:

1914 September - 1915 August: Russian troops invaded Galicia. Lvov (Lemburg) was captured by Russian troops in September 1914. This revealed the fact that the Austrian-Hungarian army was poorly organized. The Russian army fought well but they also had some problems which would make a difference in the long run; poor and split leadership, not enough equipment and they were underfed! The Austrian-Hungarian armies were forced to retreat to the Carpathian Mountains. Then German re-enforcements under General Ludendorff arrived. The German soldiers were in general better equipped, well supplied, better trained and they were often transported by trains between the different battle zones which made them arrive fairly rested. During the German Austrian-Hungarian campaign in the Carpathian Mountains (May 1915) and the German campaign through Poland (Warsaw captured August 1915) the Russian forces were forced to retreat. By the end of 1915 the Russian lines had withdrawn some 450 km.

Results: RUSSIAN INITIAL VICTORY against Austria-Hungary. GERMAN VICTORY through two campaigns in 1915; Campaign in the Carpathian Mountains and the Campaign through Poland.

1916: Early in 1916 France called upon Russia to help relieve the pressure on Verdun by launching an offensive against the Germans on the Eastern Front, hoping Germany would transfer more units to the East to cope with the Russian attack. The Russians responded by initiating the disastrous Lake Naroch Offensive in the Vilno area, during which the Germans suffered just 1/5 as many casualties as the Russians.
In the summer of 1916, the British Somme Offensive designed to the same end had resulted in a quagmire, and the western Allies called upon the Russians again to help relieve German pressure on their front. In response, General Aleksei Brusilov presented his plan to Stavka, the Russian high command, proposing a massive offensive by his Southwestern Front against the Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia. The main purpose of Brusilov's operation was to take some of the pressure off French and British armies in France and the Italian Army along the Isonzo Front, and if possible, to knock Austria-Hungary out of the War.

1916 June/September - the Brusilov Campaign: Three of General Brusilovs four armies reached an immediate success – within less than a week Russia had broken through the lines and taken over 70 000 prisoners. He used a new tactic - "Shock troops" were sent through the weak parts of the Austro-Hungarian lines and then the main army used the roads cleared by these troops. This is a forerunner to the Blitzkrieg Germany used in WWII. It was only in the northern sector of the Russian front where the army under General Evert stood still (General Alexei Evert, commander of the Russian Western Army Group, favored a defensive strategy and was opposed to Brusilov's offensive).
Encouraged by the positive Russian results Romania decided to join the war on the Entente side. By early August the offensive came to a halt. The Romanian forces were now in trouble and the defensive tactics of General Evert had resulted in an unsuccessful half-hearted offensive in the north. Russia now lacked resources; both reserve soldiers and supplies. At headquarters different groups of militaries tried to change the original plan which led to confusion and weakened the offensive and then Austria-Hungary received more German support. Against the will of General Brusilov troops were moved from the northern sector (General Evert) to reinforce the campaign in Galicia. This together with the Romanian army problems (General Brusilov had to send some of his army to help the Romanian army that were being overrun by German and Austro-Hungarian troops) were the main factors behind the halt of the offensive.
Results: RUSSIAN VICTORIES. The Western front as well as the Italian front was relieved. Russian troops gained territory in Galicia. The Austrian-Hungarian poor performance had a very negative effect on its fighting forces. Russia had been very close to defeat Austria-Hungary – it was only with German assistance the Dual Monarchy stayed in the war. By the end of 1916 German troops started an offensive which resulted in Russian retreat.
Russian casualties, forced retreat and economic hardship leads to revolution; The enormous losses in human life’s as well as the strained Russian economy brought Russia into a collapse in February 1917.
This was were we ended the campaigns on the Eastern Front - just before the February Revolution 1917!
Then we focused on the Italian Front:

Changing partners; The History of Italy during the 19th Century is clearly anti-Hapsburg. The Entente offered old Hapsburg territories in South Tyrol and some down the Adriatic coast for Italy to join the war. Since France and Italy had earlier reached an agreement about the colonies in North Africa and the fact that Italy had this anti-Hapsburg feelings made it easy for her to change partner 1915 – from the Triple Alliance to the Triple Entente.
When the war broke out 1914 Italy declared neutrality. In May 1915 Italy joined the war on the Entente side – after she had been promised Trento, South Tyrol, Trieste, Dalmatia and some other areas along the Adriatic coast.

War of attrition; The Italian campaign started with an attack along the line of the river Isonzo (north-west Italy). Austria-Hungary occupied a line of mountainous defensive positions. Italian Historian P. Pieri said; “the river could not be crossed until the mountains had been seized and the mountains could not be seized until the river had been crossed.” Between June 1915 and August 1917 the Italian troops engaged in 11 separate battles along the Isonzo river without being able to break this stalemate situation. Italy lost nearly a third of her army strength and it was fairly easy for a few Austrian divisions to keep the Italian Army down. This meant that the Entente (Italy) saw no success at the Italian front and it was not good for diversion either…

Battle of Caporetto; In October 1917 a combined German-Austrian/Hungarian offensive at Caporetto (near Kobarid in todays Slovenia) nearly defeated Italy. She lost territory, the morale was low due to the high casualties (over 300 000 men) and so was the ammunition. An allied campaign in the Balkans, an exhausted Austrian army and domestic problems inside the Dual Monarchy diverted the attack. This gave the Italians a chance to regroup. First of all - the Italian Supreme General Luigi Cadorna was replaced by General Armando Diaz. He was the one that now reorganized the troops, blocked the enemy advance and stabilized the front-line around the Piave River. This situation would remain over half a year.

Battle of the PiaveRiver; The main assault, fought 15-22 June 1918, was a response to German demands upon their ally to launch an offensive across the Piave River. The Austro-Hungarian army of June 1918 was quite different from the one that had triumphed at Caporetto eight months earlier.  It was demoralized, equipment and other supplies were perilously low, and even if Austria-Hungary had as many divisions (or even a few more) they were weak. The attack failed and the Austro-Hungarian Army had to go back into their old positions after loosing over 190 000 men…
Battle of Vittorio Veneto ; As part of an all Entente offensive in September 1918 the Entente Command tried to talk General Diaz to launch an attack over the Piave River. He had after the success of the Battle of the Piave River preferred smaller local operations. Now the Entente leaders tried to convince him to launch a bigger advance. After the continuous success of the Entente on the Western front and the fact that it seems like the war was close to an end it was important for Italy to gain as much as possible before the Peace Treaties would be discussed. The attack opened on 23 October 1918 with an Italian advance in the mountains. After some initial problems the Italian army managed with the help of British and French forces to advance. A week later Vittorio Veneto fell. This split the defending Austro-Hungarian Army. With the Allies' succeeding in advancing 24km along a 56km front a truce was finally agreed on 2 November with the capture of Tagliamento; an armistice came into effect the following day, signed at Padua.  Hostilities were formally concluded on 4 November 1918. The Italians lost some 38,000 casualties, a figure dwarfed by the 300,000 prisoners suffered by the Austro-Hungarians.  Simultaneous political turmoil completed the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The war was over for the Dual Monarchy!

So, we covered the Italian Front all the way to the end... The last front to be covered today was the Serbian Front:

WWI starts with strong Serbian resistance; Austria-Hungary started the First World War by attacking Serbia July 29th 1914 (the Declaration of War had been sent by telegram the day before). Austro-Hungarian troops bombarded and took the Serbian capital Belgrade during the two first weeks of the war. Then they were pushed back by Serbian forces with the loss of over 100 000 men.

Retreat through Serbia; Huge casualties as well as diseases weakened the Serbian resistance. In the later half of 1915 Serbian forces were forced to retreat towards the south after German troops had intervened and Bulgaria had entered the war (September 1915 – after the Bulgarian King had noticed Russian losses in Gorlice (the German-Austro-Hungarian campaign in the Carpathian Mountains) and Entente losses at Gallipoli (Turkey) he joined Germany, the Dual Monarchy and Turkey in WWI). The combined German-Bulgarian-Austro-Hungarian Army managed to push the small Serbian Army south. Eventually they reached Albania and Montenegro where French ships carried the few remains of the army and Serbian civilians to Greek islands (especially Corfu). The Serbian troops would then be transported to Salonika in Northern Greece. Here some French and British troops had landed in an attempt to divert the attack on Serbia. Unfortunately for the Entente, the pro-German King Constantine I (he had been educated at Heidelberg University in Germany, trained in the Prussian army, and he was married to Kaiser Wilhelm II's sister, Princess Sophie of Prussia) dismissed the pro-Entente Greek government of Eleftherios Venizelos, before the allied expeditionary force had even arrived.

Salonika and Greece 1915-1918; Due to the views of the Greek King Constantine I the Entente troops in Salonika were stuck for the moment. It became a joke in 1915 that Salonika was the largest German prisoner of war camp. The Commander of the Entente forces, the French General Sarrail broke this situation. He forced the Greek Army to demobilize and then move their troops to the south of the country. The front then stabilized roughly around the Greek border. In 1917 General Sarrail threatened King Constantine I with large Entente reinforcements which would be used against the Greek if they did not join the war on the Entente side. This made the King abdicate. His second son Alexander replaced him (the first son was not accepted by General Sarrail since he had also received his education and military training in Germany).

Breaking the stalemate in Greece 1918; Only at the very end of the war were the Entente powers able to make a breakthrough, which was after most of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been removed, leaving the Front held by the Bulgarians alone. The Bulgarians suffered their only defeat in the war in the battle of Dobro Pole (present day Macedonia – at this time part of Bulgaria) but days after this they decisively defeated the English and the Greeks in the battle of Doiran, which saved the country from enemy occupation. The defeat in Dobro Pole and threats of Entente reinforcements led to Bulgaria’s signing an armistice on September 29, 1918. Bulgaria was now out of WWI!

Offensive through Serbia; The French General Franchet d'Esperey led a combined French, Serbian, Greek and British army out of Greece. After the batlles against the Bulgarian Army he attacked north and defeated the German and Austrian forces that tried to halt his offensive. By October 1918 his army had recaptured all of Serbia and was preparing to invade Hungary proper. The offensive halted only because the Hungarian leadership offered to surrender in November 1918.

This ended todays fronts. At the beginning of the next lesson I'll cover the front in "Mesopotamia" and the front in Palestine. Remember these two important dates;
  • Tuesday 9/2: Home Front - Your presentations!!!
  • Wednesday 24/2: Essay-in-class
See you next week - Tuesday!

Tiistai 2/2: Hyvää iltaa herra M! Joku ei tullut kouluun - joku väitti, että opettaja ei ollut tulossa - joku oli väärässä...
We started the lesson by talking about the South Front or the Turkish/Ottoman Front in 1914:
The Ottoman Empire's entry into World War I occurred on October 29, 1914 when ships of the Ottoman navy shelled Odessa (Russian Navy Base at the Chrimean peninsula). Their entry threatened Russia's Caucasian territories and Britain's communications with India and the East via the Suez Canal.

1914: The first battles were on the Mesopotamian Campaign (see above), which was opened during the 1914. It was fought in Mesopotamia mainly in the Tigris River valley region of what is now Iraq and included battles on the Persian Gulf coast, Basra, numerous struggles around Kut, and Baghdad.

The Caucasus Campaign was fought in the Caucasus and eastern-Anatolia. The Ottoman Empire in Battle of Sarikamis had a defeat in December-November.
1915: Initially the Ottomans were successful in repelling enemy incursions in Mesopotamia. However after the disastrous Siege of Kut things reversed.
The Russians went on the offense in the Caucasus. The mountains were very high, which made the military movement very difficult, but Russians gained significant achievements.
The Battle of Gallipoli took place at Gallipoli from April 1915 to January 1916 during the First World War. A joint British and French operation was mounted in an effort to eventually capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul). The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides but it was a valuable lesson to both sides and they learned from the confrontation. In Turkey, the campaign is known as the Çanakkale Savaşları, after the province of Çanakkale. In the United Kingdom, it is called the Dardanelles Campaign or Gallipoli, and in France, Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland it is also known simply as “Gallipoli.” Here is a link for more information: GALLIPOLI

Then we covered the last fronts - the Mesopotamian and Palestinian Campaigns:
The Mesopotamian Campaign was a campaign in the Middle East fought between the Entente, troops from the British Raj (mostly Indian troops), and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey).
British and Turkish interests in the area; The British interests were to protect their oil refinery at Abadan and to defend their allies in the area (Persia and Kuwait). Ottoman interests were to maintain the status quo. Shortly after the war started in Europe , the British sent a military force to protect Abadan, one of the world's earliest oil refineries. The British didn't use much oil at the start of the war but they had already started building warships which would be fueled by oil instead of coal by 1912 so the oil refineries were not unimportant.

British occupation and advance 1914-1915; In 1914 a British force attacked and took the Turkish fort at Fao Landing. Two weeks later, the British occupied the city of Basra. In 1915 the British General Townshend was ordered to advance to Kut or Baghdad if possible. The Ottoman Empire sent an old German general, Baron von der Goltz, to take command of the Ottoman army in the field.

Battle at Ctesiphon 1915; General Townshend and Goltz fought a battle at Ctesiphon, 25 miles south of Baghdad. The battle was inconclusive as both the Ottomans and the British ended up retreating from the battlefield. However, Townshend concluded a full scale retreat was necessary so he withdrew in good order back to Kut, then halted and fortified the position.
Siege of Kut 1915-1916; Defending Kut as opposed to retreating back to Basra was a mistake. Kut was isolated, and while it could be defended, it could not be resupplied. The Turkish forces built defensive positions around the land side of Kut, laid siege to the British, and built fortified positions down river designed to fend off any attempt to rescue Townshend. The British made three major attempts to break the siege, but each effort was unsuccessful. Townshend surrendered April 29, 1916 and his 8,000 soldiers became captives of the Ottomans.
The British viewed the loss of Kut as a humiliating defeat. It had been many years since such a large body of British Army soldiers had surrendered to an enemy. This loss followed only four months after the British defeat at the Battle of Gallipoli. Nearly all the British commanders involved in the failure to rescue Townshend were removed from command. The Turks proved they were good at holding defensive positions against superior forces.
Battle of Baghdad 1916-1917; For the next six months the British trained and organized a new army under the command of General Maude. An offensive was launched on December 13th 1916. The British advanced up both sides of the Tigris river, forcing the Ottoman army out of a number of fortified positions along the way. General Maude's offensive was methodical, organized, and successful. The British recaptured Kut in February of 1917, destroying most of the Mesopotamian-based Ottoman army in the process.
On March 11th, 1917 the British entered Baghdad. Amidst the confusion of the retreat a majority of the Ottoman army (some 9,000 soldiers) were captured.
End of the War; The British resumed their offensive in late February 1918 capturing Kifri and Hit (previously called Khanaqin). In October the British went on the offensive for the last time and fought a battle at the Battle of Sharqat, routing the Turkish army. General Marshall accepted the surrender of Khalil Pasha and the Turkish 6th Army on October 30 1918. British troops marched unopposed into Mosul on the 14 November 1918. The British lost 92,000 soldiers in the Mesopotamian campaign. Turkish losses are unknown but the British captured a total of 45,000 prisoners of war. The vast majority of the British empire forces in this campaign were recruited from India.

...and then the Palestinian Campaign:
Starting in 1915, the British based in Egypt tried to incite the Arabs living near the Red Sea and inland (in modern-day Saudi Arabia) to revolt against the Ottoman Empire. The British High Commissioner in Cairo negotiated with Husain Ibn Ali, the Sharif of Mecca. The British government promised to support the restoration of the Caliphate under his leadership… This "deal" was expressed in the McMahon-Hussein Correpondence.
Sinai and Palestine Campaign: The Ottoman Empire launched an attack across the Sinai with the objective of destroying or capturing the Suez Canal. The attack was unsuccessful.
1916: In 1916 the Sharif Hussein Ibn Ali of Mecca began the Arabian revolt. The leadership of this revolt was given to two of his sons: Faisal and Abdullah though the planning and direction for the war was largely the work of Lawrence of Arabia.
The Ottoman Empire launched two attacks across the Sinai with the objective of destroying or capturing the Suez Canal. Both attacks (1915 and 1916) were unsuccessful, though not very costly by the standards of the Great War. The British then went on the offensive and attacked east into Palestine. Two failed attempts to capture the Ottoman fort of Gaza resulted in sweeping changes to the British command and the arrival of General Allenby, along with many reinforcements.
The British and French governments concludes a secret agreement in May 1916 concerning the future of the Middle East. It’s often called the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
1917: British Empire forces reorganized and captured Baghdad in March 1917 in the Mesopotamian Campaign. When Russia withdrew from the war in 1917 the Ottoman Empire managed to regain the prewar territories under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
The Arab revolt was a success, aided immensely by General Allenby's conquest of Palestine in 1917. Late in 1917, Allenby's Egyptian Expeditionary Force had smashed the Ottoman defences, captured Gaza and then captured Jerusalem. A representative of the British Government made an agreement with the growing Zionist movement - this "deal" is called the Balfour Document. The victory over the Ottoman Empire in Palestine was widely promoted in the Allied press. The British capture Jerusalem and the surrounding area was strategically of minimal importance, this event was later the key in the creation of Israel as a separate nation in 1948.
1918: The Battle of Megiddo of September 19 - 21, 1918, and its subsequent exploitation, was the culminating victory in British General Edmund Allenby's Palestine Campaign during WWI.
The Turks were taken by surprise when the British attacked Meggido in a sudden storm. The Turkish troops started a full scale retreat, the British bombed the fleeing columns of men from the air and within a week, the Turkish army had ceased to exist as a military force.
Australian Lighthorse troops marched unopposed into Damascus on September 30, 1918. T.E. Lawrence and his Arab troops entered Damascus the next day to receive an "official" surrender. The war in Palestine was over. The Turkish government signed an armistice on October 28, 1918 and outright surrendered two days later. 600 years of Ottoman rule over the Middle East had come to an end.

At the end of this shorter lesson we talked a bit about "Weapons" in WWI:
New weapons revolutionized combat in World War One. Combat morphed from a rapid, noble and relatively ephemeral thing to a new model: trench warfare. This new style of warfare was brought about principally by new technology that arose from the furnaces and factories of industrial Europe. Principally, the weaponry can be divided in 8 types:
  • Machine guns: These weapons were first used in the American Civil War to devastating effect. But with World War One their effectiveness reached frightening new levels. Firing up to 600 bullets a minute (the equivalent of 250 men with rifles), Machine Guns were then deemed to be ‘weapons of mass destruction’.
  • Artillery: These were the new and upgraded versions of cannons. Never in the history of man, where there so many cannons used in one war alone. For four years the British had been using artillery and firing 170 million shells in that time. But Germany had a plan up their sleeve. For years, German scientists were developing the biggest artillery ever known. It was call the ‘Big Bertha’. Big Bertha was so powerful it could fire at the heart of Paris from 120 kilometers away. The cannons weren’t the only things that had been improved. The shells were upgraded as well. Instead of ordinary shells, new high-explosive shells were developed. The Shells were thin casings and were filled with tiny lead pellets. This was so effective, that artillery fire killed hundreds and thousands of men. It also blew the ground, which made hiding much more difficult.
  • Gas Grenades: These were highly toxic and very effective weapons. The Germans had invented 3 main gas grenades. The first was Chlorine gas, which was used at the battle of Ypres in 1915, killing thousands. Second was Phosgene gas and third was Mustard gas. This burned the lungs of the inhaler leaving them to die in agony. Gas masks were issued to everyone in the country, but they weren’t so useful and many people died.
  • Transportation: transportation greatly increased, as more troops were needed at battlefields and other places. British forces used everything from trains to trucks and even taxis. They transported 500 men in 1914; 250 taxis took the reserve troops to the Battle of Marne and thousands of lorries were used to transport troops to Verdun in 1916.
  • Communication: In 1914 both radios and telephones were the main ways of communication. These were very vital for the troops in trenches. However, that did not mean that messengers, dogs and pigeons were out of business.
  • Tanks: Tanks were known as ‘The Chariots of God’ at first, they were giant blocks of metal that could carry 1-2 personnel and traveled at about 5 kilometers per hour. But scientists and developers kept making new and improved tanks and by 1918 the Anglo-American Mark 8th could carry up to 8 men, and at the same time fire 208 shells and up to 13,000 bullets. Although these beasts were powerful, they were not so reliable. Most broke down and a good example is the battle of Amiens. The British sent 525 tanks, and after four days, only 25 were left in working order. Rolls Royce also joined in the development of these tanks, by building their own armored car! It could travel up to 88 kilometers and had 8mm machine guns.
  • Planes: These were the new types of weapons use in advanced technological warfare. They had everything from mini scout planes to huge blimp like bombers called Zeppelins. Air warfare was not seen as important as any other type so it did not have its own category.
  • Naval Units : Naval ships were counted very important for some of the war. British specialized in Ships such as battleships, and the Germans specialized in Submarines.
We ended the lesson here. Tomorrow I will try to cover something about "War at Sea", "War in the Air", the last years of war (1917-18), Wilsons 14 points and the Armistice...
Notice that we have changed the order of our lessons a little bit:
  1. Wednesday 3/2: War in the Air - War at Sea - 1917-1918 - Wilson's 14 points - Armistice
  2. Tuesday 9/2: Role Play - the Versailles Treaty
  3. Wednesday 10/2: Peace Treaties - Results of WWI - Film...
  4. Tuesday 23/2: Home Front - Your presentations!!!
  5. Wednesday 24/2: Essay-in-class
See you tomorrow (...ja entä te herra M?)

Keskiviikko 3/2: Hyvä nähdä teidät! Tässä on päivittäinen historiaraportti...
I started this lesson by asking "Why did the USA get involved in WWI?". I received several answers. Out of those I cared most for:
  1. The German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare was resumed
  2. the sinking of Lusitania
  3. the Zimmerman telegram
There has been a discussion among historians if the Lusitania carried some munition from the US to Great Britain. It has been denied from the Cunard Line as well as US and British authorities. I handed out a paper to everybody in the class which brought this question up. From an archive at an American insurance company we could see an interesting list of items insured at Lusitania. 1271 cases of ammunition was listed and 90 tons of "lard, butter and cheese" consigned to the Royal Navy's Weapons Testing Establishment at Shoeburyness, Essex. The large amounts of rancid dairy products to this establishment has never been explained... In 2006 a diving time from Cork Sub Aqua Club discovered munitions aboard Lusitania (15,000 rounds of 0.303 caliber rifle ammunition - this is the caliber that was used by the British Army in all of their battlefield rifles and machine guns during WWI). In December 2008, Gregg Bemis discovered a further four million rounds of .303 ammunition... - so Lusitania did carry war material!
The arrival of the US did not really make that much difference in the beginning - why not?
  • The Americans had not arrived in force
  • The French armies were still reeling from the mutinies of early 1917
  • The Russians had decided to make peace with Germany (Russian Revolution!) so several 100.000 German troops were transferred to the western front.
Still - in the beginning of 1918 Germany still thought they might win the war so when President Wilson in January offered a plan for peace - Wilsons 14 points - it was rejected by Germany.
  1. There should be no secret diplomacy between states. All international treaties should be openly negotiated, and all their terms should be published.
  2. The use of the high seas should be freely available to all nations without restriction.
  3. Economic barriers to international trade should be removed.
  4. All states should agree to a reduction in armaments.
  5. All states should work towards the dissolution of their colonial empires, and the independence of the territories that they had colonized.
  6. German troops should evacuate all occupied Russian territory.
  7. German troops should evacuate all occupied Belgian territory.
  8. Alsace and Lorraine should be returned to France.
  9. The frontiers of Italy should be readjusted in such a manner as takes account of the nationality of the inhabitants.
  10. The nationalities governed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire should be allowed to determine their independent political futures.
  11. German troops should evacuate all occupied territory in Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and the independence of those states should be guaranteed.
  12. The nationalities governed by the Ottoman Empire should be allowed to determine their independent political futures, and the Dardanelles should be opened permanently to international shipping.
  13. An independent state of Poland should be created with access to the sea.
  14. An international association of nations should be formed to safeguard peace and to guarantee the independence of all states, great and small.
In March 1918 Germany started a huge offensive on the Western Front (now the war was over on the Eastern Front. Germany won that part of the war and gained a lot of territory directly or inderectly at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The harsh demands of the Germans against Russia would be brought up against them in Versailles in June 1919). The Ludendorff offensive was first very successful!
The Allies retreated which forced the German troops to stretch themselves. More American troops arrived every week and the French Army called in reserve troops. In making this breakthrough Germany lost 400.000 men and they had no reserves to call in! The German soldiers lacked food and supplies which made them stop the advance at times to loot food and supplies from captured trenches or villages. Between May and August the Germans made no further progress. Now it was only a matter of time before the Allies would defeat Germany!
On August 8 1918 the Allies started a counter-attack along much of the western front. By late September they had reached the old Hindenburg Line. By October the Germans were in full retreat and at 11.00 am the 11/11 1918 the armistice (cease-fire) came into effect. Germany's allies had already accepted armistice on their respective front - WWI was now officially over!
  1. Effective six hours after signing.
  2. Immediate clearing of Belgium , France, Alsace-Lorraine, to be concluded within 14 days. Any troops remaining in these areas to be interned or taken as prisoners of war.
  3. Surrender 5000 cannon (chiefly heavy), 30,000 machine guns, 3000 trench mortars, 2000 planes.
  4. Evacuation of the left bank of the Rhine, Mayence, Coblence, Cologne, occupied by the enemy to a radius of 30 kilometers deep.
  5. On the right bank of the Rhine a neutral zone from 30 to 40 kilometers deep, evacuations within 11 days.
  6. Nothing to be removed from the territory on the left bank of the Rhine, all factories, railroads, etc. to be left intact.
  7. Surrender of 5000 locomotives, 150,000 railway coaches, 10,000 trucks.
  8. Maintenance of enemy occupation troops through Germany.
  9. In the East all troops to withdraw behind the boundaries of August 1, 1914, fixed time not given.
  10. Renunciation of the Treaties of Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest.
  11. Unconditional surrender of East Africa.
  12. Return of the property of the Belgian Bank, Russian and Rumanian gold.
  13. Return of prisoners of war without reciprocity.
  14. Surrender of 160 U-boats, 8 light cruisers, 6 Dreadnoughts; the rest of the fleet to be disarmed and controlled by the Allies in neutral or Allied harbors.
  15. Assurance of free trade through the Cattegat Sound; clearance of mine fields and occupation of all forts and batteries, through which transit could be hindered.
  16. The blockade remains in effect. All German ships to be captured.
  17. All limitations by Germany on neutral shipping to be removed.
  18. Armistice lasts 30 days.
I covered the end of WWI on some other fronts as well:

Russian Front; The enormous losses in human life’s as well as the strained Russian economy brought Russia into a collapse in February 1917. What first looked like a normal strike turned into a revolution and within a few weeks the Tsar abdicated. The Romanov dynasty came to an end after over 300 years of rule! The new Provisional Government continued the war. The period between February and October 1917 saw several Russian defeats. The most serious one hit the country in June 1917 (Galician offensive). In October 1917 Lenin and the Bolsheviks made a second revolution. They had promised to end the war. Germany granted Russia an armistice but after waiting nearly two months for some kind of agreements Germany continued the war. Russia gave up after just a few weeks and another armistice was granted.

Italian Front - Battle of Vittorio Veneto ; As part of an all Entente offensive in September 1918 the Entente Command tried to talk General Diaz to launch an attack over the Piave River . He had after the success of the Battle of the Piave River preferred smaller local operations. Now the Entente leaders tried to convince him to launch a bigger advance. After the continuous success of the Entente on the Western front and the fact that it seems like the war was close to an end it was important for Italy to gain as much as possible before the Peace Treaties would be discussed. The attack opened on 23 October 1918 with an Italian advance in the mountains. After some initial problems the Italian army managed with the help of British and French forces to advance. A week later Vittorio Veneto fell. This split the defending Austro-Hungarian Army. With the Allies' succeeding in advancing 24km along a 56km front a truce was finally agreed on 2 November with the capture of Tagliamento; an armistice came into effect the following day, signed at Padua .  Hostilities were formally concluded on 4 November 1918 . The Italians lost some 38,000 casualties, a figure dwarfed by the 300,000 prisoners suffered by the Austro-Hungarians.  Simultaneous political turmoil completed the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The war was over for the Dual Monarchy!

Mesopotamian Front; The British resumed their offensive in late February 1918 capturing Kifri and Hit (previously called Khanaqin). In October the British went on the offensive for the last time and fought a battle at the Battle of Sharqat, routing the Turkish army. General Marshall accepted the surrender of Khalil Pasha and the Turkish 6th Army on October 30 1918. British troops marched unopposed into Mosul on the 14 November 1918. The British lost 92,000 soldiers in the Mesopotamian campaign. Turkish losses are unknown but the British captured a total of 45,000 prisoners of war. The vast majority of the British empire forces in this campaign were recruited from India.

Palestinian Front - the Battle of Megiddo of September 19-21, 1918, and its subsequent exploitation, was the culminating victory in British General Edmund Allenby's Palestine Campaign during WWI.
The Turks were taken by surprise when the British attacked Megiddo in a sudden storm. The Turkish troops started a full scale retreat, the British bombed the fleeing columns of men from the air and within a week, the Turkish army had ceased to exist as a military force.
Australian Lighthorse troops marched unopposed into Damascus on September 30, 1918. T.E. Lawrence and his Arab troops entered Damascus the next day to receive an "official" surrender. The war in Palestine was over. The Turkish government signed an armistice on October 28, 1918 and outright surrendered two days later. 600 years of Ottoman rule over the Middle East had come to an end.

Balkan Front - breaking the stalemate in Greece 1918; Only at the very end of the war were the Entente powers able to make a breakthrough, which was after most of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been removed, leaving the Front held by the Bulgarians alone. The Bulgarians suffered their only defeat in the war in the battle of Dobro Pole (present day Macedonia – at this time part of Bulgaria) but days after this they decisively defeated the English and the Greeks in the battle of Doiran, which saved the country from enemy occupation. The defeat in Dobro Pole and threats of Entente reinforcements led to Bulgaria’s signing an armistice on September 29, 1918. Bulgaria was now out of WWI!
Offensive through Serbia; The French General Franchet d'Esperey led a combined French, Serbian, Greek and British army out of Greece. After the batlles against the Bulgarian Army he attacked north and defeated the German and Austrian forces that tried to halt his offensive. By October 1918 his army had recaptured all of Serbia and was preparing to invade Hungary proper. The offensive halted only because the Hungarian leadership offered to surrender in November 1918.

In the papers I handed out you could read these texts as well as the "Naval Warfare" and the "Air Warfare". Here are the links:
German Naval Warfare WWI
German Air Warfare WWI
NOTE! In the paper I handed out you could also find 14 (13) essay questions. I will use five of those questions on the in-class-essay Wednesday 24/2!
During the next lesson we will start the Versailles Treaty Role Play! Germany will join us over Skype at 10.45 Tuesday morning (9/2) - if I understand it correctly this will be 12.45 local "Qatar time".
Due to some changes of individuals we have to do some reassignments. Here is the new list:
Germany – Axel, Seth and Alexander M
Great Britain – Hugo and Laura
France – Cristoffer and Ivar
USA – Samu, Fraser and Birger
Italy – Beatrice and Daniel
Poland – Alex and In Pyo
See you next Tuesday...
Tuesday 9/2: Today it was time to carry out the Role Play! We gathered and everybody did great. It's interesting to see how well you took the role of your countries and characters - and in the end produced a Versailles Treaty fairly similar to the "real one". The only disappointment was the lack of contact with our three "Germans". No contact through Skype, MSN, Facebook or ordinary e-mail. What happened dudes? Did you forget the appointment?
No homework for tomorrow. We will look at a "drama documentary" about the Versailles Treaty. See you...

Wednesday 10/2: We saw a film about the Treaty of Versailles. Here you got to see the "Big Three" in action. You also saw some famous persons like the British Historian Arnold Toynbee, "Lawrence of Arabia", Ho Chi Minh, etc... The film emphasized that noone was satisfied with the treaty. I also handed out a paper "Peace Treaties" and asked you to please read that to the next lesson (Tuesday 23/2 - after the vacation). Don't forget that we have an in-class-essay on Wednesday 24/2. Have a great vacation!
Tuesday 23/2: Today we went through the different Peace Treaties. Here is a link to WWI Peace Treaties... Tomorrow it's time for the in-class-essay - on the topic WWI!

Wednesday 24/2: In-Class-Essay!!!
Tuesday 2/3: I started this lesson by showing some updates at my homepage (that works again!!!). Then I wrote the three main areas we will cover the coming weeks:
  • Results of WWI
  • League of Nations
  • Weimar Republic
At Tuesday (30/3) week 11 we will have the next test. It might be an in-class-essay or a Paper 1. I will let you know week 11. Then we started to go through what Morris said about the "Results of WWI". He covers this part in three parts. The first one covers the background to the decissions made in Versailles;
What forces shaped the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
  • November 1918 – Armistice – not peace!
  • Harsh terms for Germany (show the terms)
  • Six months of preparation of the terms of peace between the “Big Four” – France, Great Britain, USA and Italy that was dictated to Germany when they were allowed to appear in France
  • Great hopes… failed!
  • Several comments about the unjust peace
The political pressures
  • British Prime Minister David Lloyd George was in the process of fighting a general election – faced a lot of anger and demands of “justice” – “Hang the Kaiser”…
  • French President Georges Clemenceau also faced a lot of anger and even stronger demands of revenge and “justice”
So what did the big powers want?
  • France wanted future security at any price
  • Great Britain also wanted security. The scuttling of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow (June 31st 1919) had given her that. They were now concerned with the power balance of Europe. Germany could not be made to weak. The threat of Communism from the Soviet Union needed to be balanced out…
  • President Woodrow Wilson wanted to replace the outdated and corrupt criteria of European diplomacy with a lasting and just peace – “a peace without victory”. He could back his demands because the USA had the strongest manpower and financial resources to continue a struggle if necessary
This was the "background" to the decissions made. The second part was the actual Peace Treaty;
The desire to punish Germany
440 clauses in the Peace Treaty – four major issues;
  1. Germany bore the main burden of guilt for the outbreak of WWI – Clause 231!
  2. General disarmament desirable – Germany was forced to start (Army = 96 000 men and 4000 officers – all serving a period of 12 years to hinder the build-up of great reserves. No tanks, heavy artillery, powered aircraft, submarines and capital warships).
  3. Adjustment of Germany’s borders – to satisfy the neighbors. Alsace-Lorraine returned to France; Eupen-Malmedy became Belgian. North Schleswig became Danish territory. Poland received territory in Posen and West Prussia (most infamous was the “Polish corridor” which gave Poland access to the sea. At the end of this corridor was the German city of Danzig which now became a “free City”…). France wanted the Rhineland to become either French or at least an independent and neutral state – this was opposed by the USA and Britain. Solved by a
    1. Temporary occupation of the Rhineland
    2. Permanent banning of all German forces from the Rhineland
    3. Guarantee from the US and Britain in maintaining that settlement
4. Reparations to be decided by an Inter Allied Reparations Commission – based on material damage as well as expenses for pensions for war widows and war wounded. In May 1921 the total sum of £6,600 million was presented
Dismantling the Austro-Hungarian Empire
The peace treaty with Germany dominated the attention but four other treaties were also made;
  • With Austria at St Germain en Laye
  • With Hungary at Trianon
  • With Turkey at Sevres
  • With Bulgaria at Neuilly
The most significant result for Europe was the disappearance of the Habsburg Empire that had dominated Europe for five centuries… It became a small German State – Austria (forbidden to associate with Germany ) and a number of new states. Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Poland were created… Hungary found itself stripped of Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Ruthenia. The resentment against these losses would dominate politics in central and Eastern Europe the coming two decades.
The third and last part describes the result of the implementation of the Versailles Treaty
Why was the Versailles settlement unsatisfactory?
The peace settlement of 1919 was unsuccessful! A.J.P. Taylor claims that WWI was in large a repeat performance of WWI. In 1815 (Congress of Vienna) the statesmen of Europe regulated the territories of one state – France . Now it tried to regulate four Empires; Germany, Austria-Hungary (Habsburg Empire), Turkey ( Ottoman Empire ) and Russia . This was too much and too hard.
German resentment
Germany had not been defeated – they had accepted the Armistice while their troops were still on foreign soil and their representatives were confident in a settlement around President Wilson’s “Fourteen Points”. Then Germany was presented with a dictated peace treaty;
  • Lost 25,000 square miles of its European territory (13%)
  • Lost 7 million inhabitants (10%)
  • Nationality was a proclaimed principle at the Peace Treaties – but not for Germany
  • Germany was forced to disarm – the other countries retained their weapons
  • Germany lost all her colonies – the victors actually added to their colonial Empires
Still, in just a few years Germany started to regain her strength. In 1925 she produced twice the amount of steel compared with Great Britain. Since the Russian Empire had been crippled and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire had been dismantled Germany became a relatively stronger state in comparison with the situation before WWI.
The disintegration of the wartime allied alliance
The alliance between Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the US was already falling apart in 1918 - two years later it was in ruins!
  • Russia faced two revolutions 1917. The second one, the October Revolution, brought the Bolsheviks to power under Lenin. They introduced a new doctrine - Communism. Hungary (March 1919) and Bavaria (April 1919) tried to follow. This shocked the established governments of Western Europe. They now saw Communism as a big threat. Russia became diplomatically isolated and Great Britain saw a new Conservative Germany as a possible bulwark against Russian Communism. France was still more concerned with her own security...
  • USA was a split nation about the involvement in Europe. When the first peace treaties were presented to the US Senate (November 1919) they refused to ratify them. A year later the Democrats lost the election in the US and the new Republican government once again choose the path of isolationism.
Keynes and the controversy over reparations
J.M. Keynes – The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1920). The harsh economic terms threatened the stability of the whole European economy of which the German was one part. Keynes said that it would threaten the health and prosperity of the Allies as well…
E. Mantoux – The Economic Consequences of Mr Keynes (1944). The productivity of the German industry in the 1930’s (esp. the armament industries) showed that the levels of reparations set in 1921 were within Germany’s capacity.
Was the Versailles settlement doomed from the outset?
Before the end of WWII most historians and authors condemned the Versailles Treaty;
Winston Churchill: "The Versailles Treaty was a turbulent collision of embarrassed demagogues"
Keynes emphasized the economic ignorance

Harold Nicolson saw the failure to stick to original high ideals

Modern historians have a more complex attitude to the origin of WWI;
Maurice Baumont (The Origins of the Second World War - 1978) - "as a whole the peace conference righted age-old wrongs"
Anthony Adamthwaite (The Making of the Second World War - 1977) claimed that the terms of the treaties were OK - the problem was all the hope that everybody had on a just peace for everyone. This created a lot of disappointment
Jacques Néré (The Foreign Policy of France from 1914 to 1945 - 1975) claimed that the terms were OK but the failure to enforce them caused problems
That's Morris view of the Peace Treaties in Paris. Now you need to study Traynors presentation - pages 95-117. This is your homework together with pages about the League of Nations; Morris - pages 338-349 and Traynor - pages 118-131. We will do the "German part" of the failure of the League of Nations when we study the Third Reich...
If you still want to do your Extended Essay in History - please send me your outline and research question asap... See you in two weeks!

Tuesday 16/3: In the very beginning of this class I told you I had done a temporary correction of your essays. The temporary grades range from 3 to 7... Nobody answered the two last questions (which actually is quite understandable). I continued the lesson by asking you how Germany took the Paris Settlement (Versailles Treaty). You agreed that they were both chocked and upset. This would lead to a period of turbulence in Germany, both domestically and in foreign policy. We will cover that next week when we go through the Weimar Republic.
I then repeated part of what we covered before you got busy with "Group 4 Project" - the "Peace Treaties" after WWI:
The Peace Settlements, 1919-23 and Carrying out the Peace Treaties
These papers added two Peace Treaties - Riga 1921 and Lausanne 1923. They are also a result of WWI... During the rest of the lesson I covered the "League of Nations":
The Covenant of the League of Nations was part of the peace treaties after WWI. It was founded in 1919 and it closed its business 1946. In 1920 it had 42 members - but USA (never joined), USSR (joined 1934 - expelled 1939) and Germany (accepted 1926 - left 1933) were not in it. The League of Nations reached its peak in 1937 with 67 members when the last country joined (Egypt).
During the 1920's the LoN had certain success, but then came the WALL STREET CRASH (New York 1929). During the 1930's the LoN faced several big crisis;
  • Manchurian Crisis (Japan, a permanent member of the LoN Council, invaded and occupied Manchuria 1931)
  • Abyssinian Crisis (Italy, another permanent member of the LoN Council, invaded and occupied Abyssinia 1935)
  • German rearmament and Anschluss (Germany started to break several of the agreements from the Versailles Treaty and in 1938 Austria were joined "Anschluss" with Germany - very much against the Versailles Treaty)
  • Spanish Civil War 1936-39 (some historians have seen the Spanish Civil War as part of WWII...)
I showed you the new part of IB material that's been added:
"LEAGUE OF NATIONS"
I covered the three "bodies" of the League of Nations:
The Assembly (all member states)
The Council (the "board" of the LoN)
The Secretariat (the "office")
After that I showed you several Committees that was set up by the League of Nations. Many of these would survive the downfall of the League and they are now part of the UN!
Committees, etc...
One important factor when the League was formed was the absence of the US. The whole idea of the League came from US President Woodraw Wilson so why did they not join?
Why did the US not join the League of Nations?
In the end of the lesson I covered the COVENANT as well as the AIMS of the League;
Covenant of the League of Nations
Aims of the League of Nations
With all these good intentions and the establishment of great committees - why did the League of Nations fail. To be able to answer that question you must look at several of the disputes, conferences and crisis that the League faced during the 1920's and the 1930's. Try to make a brief list of success and failures to the lesson tomorrow. See you...

Wednesday 17/3: "Happy St Patricks Day!" Today I ran a long lesson... I used my homepage and showed you the success and failures of the League of Nations in the 1920's and the 1930's;
League of Nations in the 1920's - Success and Failure
League of Nations in the 1930's - Success and Failure
Most of the events (disputes, crisis, border clashes, conferences, etc...) had been filled in. You need to cover the LOCARNO TREATY and you need to answer the following questions at the beginning of the next lesson:
1. Who was responsible for the Manchurian Crisis?
2. What forces were behind the Italian attack on Abyssinia?
3. How did the League of Nations react to these crisis?
See you next week...

Tuesday 23/3: I started this class by talking about the Genoa Conference 1922 (April-May). At this conference, the representatives of 34 countries convened to speak about monetary economics in the wake of World War I. The purpose was to formulate strategies to rebuild central and eastern Europe after the war, and also to negotiate a relationship between European capitalist economies, and the new Russian Communist economy. Both Russia and Germany were invited. Both these countries were eager to break the diplomatic isolation they experienced since the end of WWI. Unfortunately it seemed like some European countries were not ready to go along with that unless they both paid their debts - both loans and war indemnities. Facing these demands they decided to meet outside this conference. During a break they went to Rapallo...

The Treaty of Rapallo was an agreement that was made in the Italian town of Rapallo on April 16, 1922 between Germany (the Weimar Republic) and Soviet Russia under which each renounced all territorial and financial claims against the other following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and World War I. The two governments also agreed to normalise their diplomatic relations and to "co-operate in a spirit of mutual goodwill in meeting the economic needs of both countries". This meant trade and also some opportunity for Weimar Germany to build and work with armament in Russia (air planes, tanks, etc...) - all forbidden according to the Versailles Treaty!
The Treaty was signed during the Genoa Conference by Georgi Chicherin, foreign minister of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, and his German counterpart Walther Rathenau. At the Avalon Page (Yale Law) you can read the full treaty!

I continued with some facts about the 1925 meeting in Locarno;
The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland on 5 October – 16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on December 1, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, in return normalizing relations with defeated Germany. Locarno divided borders in Europe into two categories: Western, which were guaranteed by Locarno treaties, and Eastern borders (of Germany), which were open for revision.

The Locarno discussion arose from exchanges of notes between the United Kingdom, France and Germany over the summer of 1925 following German foreign minister Gustav Stresemann's February 9 proposal for a reciprocal of his country's western frontiers as established under the unfavorable 1919 Treaty of Versailles, as a means of facilitating Germany's diplomatic rehabilitation among the western powers.
At least one of the main reasons Britain promoted the Locarno Pact of 1925, besides to promote Franco-German reconciliation, was because of the understanding that if Franco-German relations improved, France would gradually abandon the Cordon sanitaire, as the French alliance system in Eastern Europe was known between the wars. Once France had abandoned its allies in Eastern Europe, thereby creating a situation where the Poles and Czechoslovaks having no Great Power to protect them from Germany, would be forced to adjust to German demands, and hence in the British viewpoint would peacefully hand over the territories claimed by Germany such as the Sudetenland, the Polish Corridor and the Free City of Danzig (modern Gdansk, Poland).
The principal treaty concluded at Locarno was the "Rhineland Pact" between Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The first three signatories undertook not to attack each other, with the latter two acting as guarantors. In the event of aggression by any of the first three states against another, all other parties were to assist the country under attack.
Germany also agreed to sign arbitration conventions with France and Belgium and arbitration treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia, undertaking to refer disputes to an arbitration tribunal or to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
France signed further treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia, pledging mutual assistance in the event of conflict with Germany. These essentially reaffirmed existing treaties of alliance concluded by France with Poland on 19 February 1921 and with Czechoslovakia on 25 January 1924.

The Locarno Treaties were regarded as the keystone of the improved western European diplomatic climate of 1924-1930, introducing a hope for international peace, typically called the "spirit of Locarno". This spirit was seen in Germany's admission to the League of Nations, the international organization established under the Versailles treaty to promote world peace and co-operation, and in the subsequent withdrawal (completed in June 1930) of Allied troops from Germany's western Rhineland.
In contrast, in Poland, the public humiliation received by Polish diplomats was one of contributing factors to the fall of the Grabski cabinet. Locarno contributed to the worsening of atmosphere between Poland and France (despite the French-Polish alliance), and introduced distrust between Poland and Western countries. Locarno divided borders in Europe in two categories: those guaranteed by Locarno, and others, which were free for revision. In the words of Józef Beck: "Germany was officially asked to attack the east, in return for peace in the west.” The failure at Locarno may be also one of the contributory factors in the decision of Józef Piłsudski to overthrow parliamentary democracy in Poland. With regard to Locarno, Piłsudski would say "every honest Pole spits when he hear this word [Locarno]". Later, when a French ambassador assured him that France would always back Poland and stand up to Germany, Piłsudski, foreseeing the appeasement, would say: "No, no, believe me, you will back down, really, you will."
One notable exception from the Locarno arrangements was, however, the Soviet Union, which foresaw western détente as potentially deepening its own political isolation in Europe, in particular by detaching Germany from her own understanding with Moscow under the April 1922 Treaty of Rapallo. Political tensions also continued throughout the period in eastern Europe. Therefore this treaty made Germany pay $50 million to the Soviet Union.
In 1930, after the death of Stresemann the year before, German politics became less cooperative again. In 1933 Hitler came to power; he believed in bilateral, not multilateral negotiations. Proposals in 1934 for an "eastern Locarno" pact securing Germany's eastern frontiers foundered on German opposition and on Poland's insistence that her eastern borders should be covered by any western guarantee of her borders. Germany formally repudiated her Locarno undertakings in sending troops into the demilitarized Rhineland on 7 March 1936.
In both 1925 and 1926 the Nobel Peace Prize was given to the lead negotiators of the treaty, going to Sir Austen Chamberlain in 1925 and jointly to Aristide Briand and Gustav Stresemann in 1926. Here is the translated text of this treaty from the Avalon Project (Yale Law):

Locarno Treaty 1925
We continued with the two big crisis that greatly affected the peace work of the League of Nations; the Manchurian Crisis 1931-1933 (Japan, a permanent member of the Council in the League of Nations, occupied and annexed the northern Chinese region of Manchuria) and the Abyssinian Crisis 1935 (Italy, another permanent member of the League of Nations, occupied the African country of Abyssinia and made it into an Italian colony). I divided the class in two groups. We started with the Manchurian Crisis 1931-1933. One group gave arguments that supported Japan's actions and annexation of Manchuria. The other group gave arguments against the Japanese actions... The groups got 15 minutes to write their arguments on the whiteboard. Then we went through them. The idea of this exercise was to show you that the incident has arguments that support the aggression and arguments that condemn the aggression.

We also started with the second crisis - the Abyssinian Crisis 1935. Now the group that had supported the Japanese took a different stand. They now were against the Italian actions in Abyssinia. The group that previous had been agaisnt the aggression of Japan now got to support the aggression of Italy... Time ran out - we will finish this little exercise tomorrow...
Somebody asked about the test next week so I said - We will have a test in class next week! It will be a Paper 1... I will show you one of those tomorrow. If you wonder what Paper 1 is - look in your Syllabus - or click on this link;
Paper 1
See you tomorrow...

Wednesday 24/3: In the beginning of the lesson I showed you Paper 1 – from the Syllabus. Then I handed out a thick paper that covers all of that. You should read it and then we will evaluate it together. To get a good start I asked you to please read about the “Abyssinian Crisis” in this paper. Meanwhile I handed out your arguments from yesterday – for and against the Italian activity in Abyssinia. You got to add a few arguments – then we went through them together. You also received two papers from Wikipedia – the “Manchurian Crisis” and the “Abyssinian Crisis”. At the end of the lesson we covered the first part of the “Weimar Republic”. Here is a link to the PP presentation I used:

WEIMAR REPUBLIC 1919-1923
At the very beginning of this lesson I had asked you if we could change the test date from Tuesday next week to Wednesday. I found out that several students have a test in Physics on Wednesday. I still want to change day because we need to go through a Paper 1 before you try to write your first one. So everybody will come to the Tuesday lesson and we will then cover a Paper 1 together. On Wednesday we will have the test. Students that write Physics that day will be excused from this test if they think it’s too much. See you next week…

Tuesday 30/3: This whole lesson was spent on ”Paper 1 questions”. We covered a complete Paper 1 about the "Rapallo Treaty". Now you know what the different questions covers;
1a and 1b - identification (IB often asks you to make an interpretation of a cartoon, a photo, etc...)
2. Compare and contrast two different sources
3. Write about the origin, purpose and then evaluate the value and limitations of two different sources
4. The last question is a "half-essay" question - you will be asked to use the sources available and your own knowledge to answer the question
Since you only have an hour use your time well; not more then 10 minutes on 1a and 1b, 10-15 minutes on 2, 10-15 minutes on 3 and at least 20 minutes on 4...
We will write a Paper 1 in class tomorrow - about the... (Oh yes - you did not want to know). See you!
Wednesday 31/3: So good that everybody showed up today and did Paper 1. What a great class you are! Have a nice vacation. Try to rest...

Tuesday 13/4: I spent the whole lesson going through Paper 1. If you were not satisfied with your result you can redo the Paper 1 at home and give it to me within two weeks. Tomorrow we will start with Germany 1918-1939 (1945).

Wednesday 14/4: To be able to explain the Weimar Republic it's very important to know some details about it's formation and the first turbulent years. I handed out 26 fairly detailed questions:
  1. Who was in charged of Germany when the World War One ended with the German acceptance of an armistice 11.00 at 11/11 1918? (Read the texts you received and describe the changes Germany went through to adjust to the peace negotiations by the end of the war. You need to identify the old leaders, the temporary new leaders and the establishment of a temporary government 11/11 1918)
  2. Why did Germany change the leadership and set up a temporary government by the end of World War One? What specific problems did this temporary government face? How did they deal with these problems?
  3. What happened with the German Kaiser Wilhelm II at the end of World War One?
  4. Explain the “Dolchstosstheorie” (“Stab-in-the-back theory”). You also need to explain where this theory came from and what impact it had on Germany in 1918-1923.
  5. Explain the “Ebert-Gröner agreement”. You also need to explain what was behind this agreement.
  6. Bavaria became a Socialist Republic by the end of World War One. How was this possible? Go through the background to this establishment; who took over and what did the new republic look like? How long did it last and in the end – why did it fall?
  7. In January 1919 the “Spartacist uprising” took place in Berlin . Who was behind this uprise? What was the reason behind this uprise? Why did it fail? What happened to the leaders of the uprise?
  8. Who were the “Freikorps”? Where did they come from? How many were they? Did they have any political preferences? Who paid for them? How did the government react to the Freikorps?
  9. Try to make a list on the different leftist riots, mutinies, upraises and revolution attempts in Germany 1918-1919. Make three columns. Put the specific event in the left column, who was behind it in the middle column and the result of the event in the right column.
  10. At January 19 th 1919 an election to a constitutional assembly took place in Germany . Who got to vote? How many people used their right to vote? What political parties could they vote on? What were the main ideologies behind the main parties? What was the result of this election? Comment?
  11. The Constituent Assembly started to work on the new Constitution – the Weimar Constitution. Explain why it’s called the Weimar Constitution. Describe the main parts of the new Constitution. In what way was it different to the old constitution? What was the strength of this new constitution? What was the weakness of the new constitution? Who supported the new constitution and who opposed it?
  12. On 1 May 1919 , at a time when delegates of the Constituent Assembly were finalizing detail of the new constitution details of the terms demanded by the Allies were released. What were the first German reactions to these demands?
  13. On June 16 th 1919 the German delegates were formally presented with the 440 Articles of the Versailles Treaty. Make a list of the main demands and then explain the German reactions to the treaty. What were the options to the demands discussed in Germany ? Who took the decision to sign the treaty? Who opposed the signing of the treaty? What was the immediate reaction to that decision?
  14. Who signed the Versailles Treaty on June 28 th 1919? What were the political and economic effects of the Treaty for Germany and what was the reaction to the actual signing?
  15. Was the Versailles Treaty a just Peace Treaty? Make a list of Yes and No arguments.
  16. One of the questions historians ask is “Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the beginning?”. Just as the previous question – Make a list of Yes and No arguments.
  17. Describe the threat against the Weimar Republic in 1919.
  18. In June 1920 Germany had an election to the Reichstag. Discuss the results of this election compared with the results of the election to the Constituent Assembly in January 1919.
  19. How many different governments did Germany have between 1919-1923? Make a list of the different governments; when they were in charge, what political parties that were involved, who the Chancellor was and in the end a comment on the political stability of Germany during this period.
  20. Try to make a new list on the different leftist riots, mutinies, upraises and revolution attempts in Germany 1920-1923. Make three columns. Put the specific event in the left column, who was behind it in the middle column and the result of the event in the right column.
  21. There was also a threat from the Right. Do as above - make three columns. Put the specific event in the left column, who was behind it in the middle column and the result of the event in the right column.
  22. Try to evaluate the German economy between 1919-1923. What was the impact of the Versailles Treaty and how did Germany deal with it? What suggestions were discussed in the Reparation Committee? When did Germany start to pay any war debts? When was the final sum decided and how big was it (in marks, dollars and pounds)? What was the reaction to the announcement of the reparation sum in Germany ? What do historians think about the amount Germany should pay (make two columns – historians and economists that think the reparation sum was payable and the ones that thought it was a catastrophe)? Germany had problems paying the debt during this period – explain why and what happened?
  23. What was the background to the Hyperinflation crisis in Germany 1923? Who were the victims of this hyperinflation? What were the reactions in Germany to this crisis? How was the economical crisis solved?
  24. Both during a short period in 1921 and in 1923 French and Belgian troops invaded the Ruhr region. What were the reasons behind these invasions? How did the occupational powers try to change the situation in the region? What was the result of these occupations and did they fail or succeed? What was the German reaction to these invasions?
  25. Evaluate German Foreign Policy 1919-1923 – from complete isolation to???
  26. The very last thing that happened during this period was a Putch attempt in Munich November 1923. Explain the background to this event; who was behind it? How was the putch carried out? What was the aim of the putch in the beginning and how + why did this aim change? Did it fail or succeed?
Most of you received two questions as homework to the next class (a few received one question). Ivar will do Q1 and Q2. Fraser will do Q3 and Q4. Birger will do Q5 and Q8. Beatrice will do Q6. Christoffer will do Q7 and Q9. Seth will do Q10 and Q11. Hugo will do Q12 and Q13. Alex will do Q14 and Q15. Alexander will do Q16 and Q17. Samu will do Q20. In Pyo will do Q21. Axel will do Q22 and Q23. Daniel will do Q24. Laura will do Q25 and Q26. Make sure you get them done before 20.00 Monday night. That's the deadline to send them to me.
To be able to give good answers I gave you a more detailed text about this period in class. After class I copied another text which I put in the class pigeon hole. So now you have all possibilities in the world to give good answers... Don't forget the IA!
Tuesday 20/4: I was very pleased about the fact that everybody had done their question(s). Thank you! Today I started with an oral presentation of the early Weimar Republic (1919-1923). This presentation outlined the period. You can find it here:
Early Weimar Republic
I then handed out todays paper - your answers to the question about the early Weimar Republic. We covered the first 10 questions. Tomorrow we will continue with question 11 to 26. Please read these answers at home. Don't forget the IA...

Wednesday 21/4: I covered the rest of the questions (quite in detail). At the very end I turned on a dramatization of Hitler, his childhood and his life as a young artist in Vienna. We will continue to watch this dramtization next lesson. Please study the other parts of the Weimar Republic as well (Morris pages 299-304). You can find some short versions of the periods here:
Stresemann Years 1923-1929
Late Weimar Republic 1929-1933
Don't forget that your improved Paper 1 is due next week (this is totally your choice - if you want to redo the Paper or not) - at the Tuesday lesson! See you next week...

Tuesday 27/4: At the beginning of this lesson I handed out a paper about Adolf Hitler's early life. We will compare the description in this paper with the film later... Then I presented an idea about "Propaganda". I gave you the following paper:

NAZI PROPAGANDA 1919-1939

Study the main ideas of National Socialism in Germany during the period 1919-1939. Pick a few main themes and then apply it to your kind of media. The only theme you can’t pick is a theme that points out a specific group of the society. Otherwise you are free to pick any theme. We will use English as our “German language” – so no attempts on writing this in German please. Here you can find a list of the Medias we will use:

Media:

  • Newspaper article: Make an outline with a few clear arguments and then show it to me. If approved - write the article. It should be typed and it should contain between 300-400 words. Bring a printed version to class.
  • Comic strip: Make an outline of a comic strip. It should have 4 frames with text. Make sure you have a valid message (valid messages). Present the idea to me. If approved start to create your originals. Pick pictures, characters, etc… Remember to make each frame big.
  • Poster: Make a suggestion (actually three suggestions) of posters and then present them to me. If I approve them pick some pictures/photos. Use a program that gives you the possibility to manipulate the picture/photo chosen (like Photoshop). Choose text to go along with the picture/photo. Create three posters and bring them to class (either printed out or on a USB memory stick).
  • Film (3-5 minutes): Write a short description – plan on what you want to film and what message(s) you want to show. Present these suggestions to me so I can approve the idea. You will then get to borrow a video camera and film from me (if you need to). Film, edit and burn a DVD. We will look at it in class.
  • Radio: Make a short outline of a radio program that takes up some important arguments. Present the outline to me. If approved make a short broadcast (microphone and computer). Edit your broadcast and then burn an audio CD. We will listen to it in class.
  • Meeting: Make a short outline of a plan to the Reich National Party Convention in Nürnberg (the Nuremberg rally 1923-1938). This includes a specific theme for the rally. Discuss the outline and theme with me. Create a more detailed plan with a drawing over the actual place. The plan should include the program as well as technical equipment, how it should be used, the audience, special invited guests, etc… Present and explain the drawing in class.
  • Photos: Make an outline of a photo exhibition that brings up the advances of NSDAP and Germany . Present it to me. If I approve it put together 10 contemporary photos with text. Print them and bring them in to class for a short exhibition…
Students - Choice of media:
Newspaper article: Beatrice and Daniel
Comic strip: In Pyo
Poster: Samu and Laura
Film: Herra Mäkelä
Radio: Axel and Fraser
Meeting: Seth and Christoffer
Photos: Ivar and Birger
One good website to visit is "German Propaganda Archive" made by Professor Randall Bytwerk (Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan). Here is a link:
GERMAN PROPAGANDA ARCHIVE
A very famous Propaganda Movie was Leni Riefenstahls:
TRIUMPH OF THE WILL
During the rest of this lesson we watched some more of the dramatization of Adolf Hitler's early life. We will watch the end of that film tomorrow. We will also try to cover the Stresemann years and the founding of the NSDAP... See you tomorrow!
Wednesday 28/4: We saw the rest of the film - up to the events of November 1923. Then I started to go through the "Golden years" of the Weimar Republic (could also be called the "Stresemann Years"). Here is a link to that period:
Stresemann Years 1923-1929
When we meet next week we will finish the propaganda lesson. Make sure you prepare for that - email me your ideas and suggestions. NOTE - We will meet in N205 next Tuesday (4/5). See you...