1. Meiji Japan: Analysing historical perspectives and sources

Simon O’Rourke

Seated Women (Meiji era Japan), Kusakabe Kimbei, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

Inquiry question: What were some of the perspectives on Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s arrival in Japan?

A)    Introductory activity

Watch Samurai, Daimyo, Matthew Perry, and Nationalism: Crash Course World History #34

1-Minute Writing Recap

• In one-minute, write down as many points as you can about the Meiji Restoration in relation to the concept of nationalism.
• Share with your table group.
• Take one more minute to write down the new ideas as fast as you can.
• Share your ideas with the class and add to your notes.

B)    Group task: Analysing perspectives

Source 1

Japanese 1854 print relating Perry’s visit, Author Unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Source 2

Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s visit of Kanagawa, near the site of present-day Yokohama on March 8, 1854 by Wilhelm Heine, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Discuss the contrast between the two sources using the following prompts:

• Describe the content of each image.
• What is the historical context? Describe the event represented.
• Describe the way the groups of people and individuals are represented in source 2.
• Whose perspective is represented in each source? What can you observe in the source that gives evidence of this?
• What differing points of view or historical perspectives are represented?
• Why do you think the sources were created?
• How does your knowledge of events change how you understand the images?

C) Individual activity: Source analysis

Source 1

Read the excerpts in this source: ‘Excerpts from Shinron (New Theses): “The Barbarians’ Nature” by Aizawa Seishisai’, which was composed in 1825, 28 years prior to the arrival of Commodore Perry’s fleet.

Portrait of Seishisai, Author Unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

• From this excerpt, what is Aizawa’s perspective on the West?
• What does he consider the biggest threat from the West?
• What language does he use to steer us to his viewpoint?

Source 2

The New fighting the Old in early Meiji Japan, author unknown, Printing Museum News N36, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Source 3

Sumo wrestler throwing a foreigner at Yokohama, Ippōsai Yoshifuji, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

• What views may have remained consistent from Aizawa’s time?
• How does source 1 challenge this view?

D) Small group activity: Source analysis

Source 1

President Millard Fillmore’s letter to the Emperor of Japan

• What proposal is President Fillmore offering?
• How would you describe President Fillmore’s intentions?
• How does this compare to Aizawa’s warnings from decades earlier?

Source 2

Translation of Japanese Reply to President Fillmore’s Letter

• What was the ‘imperative necessity’ that Moriyama mentions?
• What concessions to the original letter does Moriyama give?
• What could be meant by the exclusion of points made by President Fillmore?

Source 3

Commodore Perry’s letter to Senior Councillor Hayashi

• How does Commodore Perry react to the previous correspondence?
• What threat do you perceive from the letters?
• How would Emperor Tokugawa’s perspective have changed that allowed the opening of Japan?

Texting activity

Portrait of Millard Fillmore, unknown photographer, Wikimedia Commons, , Public Domain (cropped from original image)

Yoshinobu in Osaka,  The Japanese Book, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain (cropped from original image)

Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wikimedia Commons, , Public Domain (cropped from original image)

2. Reading between the lines: Frontier encounters in Australia

Chris Mayman

Tinted lithograph depicting the Waterloo Creek massacre by the New South Wales Military Mounted Police, by Godfrey Charles Mundy, Walton, W.L  Bentley, Richard Hullmandel & Walton, Wikimedia Commons and AWM, Public Domain

Activity

In this activity, you will analyse police patrol reports and historical documents from the early days of settlement in Australia with special regard to the experiences of the Indigenous Australian population and draw conclusions about what these reports may have been implying.

You will split into small groups and between yourselves allocate those responsible for analysing the separate police report texts provided, as well as texts from more recent times that provide contemporary historians’ analysis of some of the terms and euphemisms used in the reports. The groups will use the two sources to develop an understanding of what may be inferred from these reports about the lives of the local Indigenous populations.

Each student in the group is to answer one of the questions below (150-200 words) and share their findings with the others in their group.

Sources

Source 1 Patrol of Stations in Timber Creek and Wave Hill Districts 1947

Source 2 Miscellaneous Reports 1946 – 1949

Source 3 Indexes to correspondence relating to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the records of the Colonial Secretary’s Office and the Home Secretary’s Office, 1859 – 1896

Source 4 Enforcing assimilation, dismantling Aboriginal families: a history of police violence in Australia

Source 5 Police interactions with Aboriginal people are scarred by Australia’s violent frontier history

Questions

1. Using the information found in the patrol reports and historical documents, what reasonable inferences can be made about the attitudes of the settlers and the police toward Indigenous people?
2. What impact might this have had regarding the pursuit of justice for Indigenous people in the area?
3. What roles did Indigenous people play in the early settler societies of these regions? What influence do we think that could have on their ability to both integrate into settler society as well as achieve social mobility?
4. What can we learn from these texts about Indigenous perspectives on the settler societies of these areas?

3. The Sick Man of Europe: Using sources to explore the decline of the Ottoman Empire

Phillip O’Brien

Activity

In this activity, you will explore the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the notion of ‘the Sick Man of Europe’ by using the provided framework to analyse a source. Once completed, you then have an opportunity to expand your understanding through further application.

a) Review Source 1 “Turkey Limited” to complete the following questions:

Content:

1. How might you describe the gentleman pictured in the image? Use features from the source to support your description.
2. What clues suggest that the Ottoman Empire is declining?
3. Where was the source originally published?
4. Is the source providing a Turkish or an external view of the decline of the Ottoman Empire? Use evidence from the source to support your answer.

Historical Context

1. The Ottoman Empire of the late 19th Century was known by some as ‘the Sick Man of Europe’. Review the provided information and suggest three reasons why.

Purpose

1. For whom was the source created? Who were the intended audience?
2. What does the source suggest about the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Britain, France & Russia?

b) The Tanzimat era was a period of reformation for the Ottoman Empire. Using the analysis framework, review Source 2: Greek Lithograph Celebrating the Ottoman Constitution.

4. Examining the Treaty of Versailles

Joni Stamatopoulos

The Treaty of Versailles in English by David Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson and Georges Clemenceau, Auckland War Memorial Museum Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

In this activity you will work in small groups to research significant individuals from the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century in order to complete the character profile table . You will then use this knowledge  to write a letter based on your selected individual following the Treaty of Versailles. It is important that you analyse significant events, characteristics, political agendas and ideologies when completing your table as this will greatly help in completing Part B. These activities will prompt you to think about the different perspectives of individuals following the first World War and provide insight into what may have caused World War 2.

Part A

Complete this table based on your selected key figure: Significant individuals and their contribution to political change by VCAA (n.d.) found in the drop down menu under Unit 1 Change and Conflict AOS1  Ideology: detailed example.

Part B

Put yourself in the shoes of your significant figure and imagine you are writing a letter that will be read at the Peace Conference. Using the source below for assistance, discuss how you feel with the decisions being made in the treaty, what you want from the treaty and what should be done to re-stabilise your country.

Source: The Versailles Treaty June 28th, 1919.

5. Treaty of Versailles role play

Jett Mathews

A newspaper article after the Treaty of Versailles was signed, Kallen2021, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Activity

In this activity, you will participate in a role play of the Treaty of Versailles Peace Conference. The class will be divided into four groups: Britain, France, Germany or the United States. For the purpose of the role play Germany will be given a say and dismissed, though it is important to note Germany was not invited to the conference.

1. The groups will be given two resources. The first resource is their country’s profile that outlines their nation’s current circumstance, their leader’s stance on how World War I should be resolved and their main concerns going into the Treaty of Versailles.

Country profiles

2. The second resource is a “fill in the gap” speech, that the group will collectively finish and present to the other countries. Close analyse of the country profiles will allow the groups to complete their speech.

3. Once the groups have completed their “fill in the gap” speech, the class furniture will be arranged so that the four groups are facing each other with their countries place cards in front of them, replicating a conference. Germany’s group must present their speech first, however, since they were not actually invited to the conference in Versailles, they will be told their concerns are irrelevant. Germany is included in this activity as it is important to understand their ambitions from the Treaty.

4. After the speeches, your teacher will question the you on how each country’s main priorities affect their own. For example:

• • What concerns do you share with France?
  • Do you disagree with any of France’s requests?
  • Is reducing Germany’s military fair?

5. At the end of the lesson, everyone will watch the video, ‘The Treaty of Versailles, Terms of the Treaty 2/2 and discuss the  actual terms agreed upon in the Treaty of Versailles in 1918.  Compare/contrast these terms with the decisions made during the role play.

6. Create your own political cartoon

Jett Mathews

Awaiting the decision from Paris 1919, author unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

In this activity, you will work in pairs  to research three political cartoons on the Treaty of Versailles. You will then analyse your selected political cartoons with a set of questions, which will challenge you to interpret how the images and text promote a political point of view/historical perspective.

After this activity, you will then create your own Treaty of Versailles cartoon. Finally, pairs are to swap cartoons and answer the  set of questions again with another pair’s cartoon.

1. Find three political cartoons on the Treaty of Versailles but try to find sources that have differing points of view and illustrations.

2. Answer these questions for all three political cartoons.

1. What individuals or groups are being displayed in the source?
2. Identify two visual codes that are used in this cartoon and explain why are they included?
3. What is the purpose of this carton?

3. Now create your own Treaty of Versailles cartoon using various visual codes.

4. Swap cartoons with a partner and answer questions above.

7. The Treaty of Versailles: Using sources to explore the aims and outcomes of different leaders at the Paris Peace conference

Chloe Morrison

The delegations signing the Treaty of Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors, Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

In this activity you will explore and interpret some of the aims and outcomes of the Treaty of Versailles. In groups of two or three, using the framework provided as a guide, you will evaluate and analyse three political cartoons published in 1919 to explore the content and purpose of the sources in their historical context.

1. Review Source 1 and complete the following questions using the analysis framework as a guide.

 Source 1: ‘Peace’ 1918   British Library  Public Domain

Content:

1. Who are the people in the cartoon? How might you describe the people in this image – what does body language and facial expressions suggest?
2. What clues tell you who or what is represented in this image?
3. What story or narrative does the setting or background suggest?

Historical Context:

1. 32 countries were represented at the Paris Peace Conferences. Why were these 8 people/countries represented in this image?
2. List five reasons for the positioning of each character/representative in relation to the others. (e.g., Who is on the same side? Where are they looking? Are there any signs of unison in goals or are all parties represented as individually motivated – in which case, what seems to be the motivation?)

Purpose:

1. What was the purpose of this source? Where do you think it may have been published?
2. What does the source suggest of the aims of the victors for a post war world?

2. Review Source 2 and complete a source analysis using the guide and your previous analyses.

Source 2 ‘Peace and future cannon fodder’, Will Dyson, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

 ‘Peace and future cannon fodder’ is one of the best known and analysed cartoons from the immediate post war period. It is rich with material for analysis, including the wording in the caption, the title and images. Ensure you include links between the image and written analysis in your three to five paragraph response.

Optional Extension Questions:

“The great international expectation in 1919 was that after the ‘war to end all wars it might prove possible to construct a new world order based on the liberal outlook of the winners.” (Overy 2010:4)

1. What does the timeline of the production or publication of these three sources tell you about popular and/or shifting opinion of the Peace Treaties?

2. Write a two to three paragraph response, discussing your analysis of the three sources. Considering the historical context, what signs of an international view of optimism or pessimism are there during this period of time?

3. The following webpages and websites provide further assistance and guidance to support your analysis of primary sources and cartoons.

For further advice/assistance in your analysis, access and explore the following websites:

• Heritage of the Great War
• History Skills
• Spartacus Educational
• State Library of Victoria
• HTAV: Art reveals how Weimar and Nazi Cultures Diverged

8. The Treaty of Versailles: Role play

Chloe Morrison

Prime Minister Billy Hughes 1919, Fairfax Corporation, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

On June 28, 1919, 66 representatives from 32 different countries met in Paris to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The five Principal Allied and Associated powers of Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States made all of the major decisions in the creation of the treaty. Two delegates from each country met to define the peace terms of the treaty in what was known as the “Council of Ten” (later replaced by the “Council of Five”, made up of the respective foreign ministers).

(O’Neill A 2022, Statista)

In this role play activity you will start by drawing a role from from a hat. You will either be a representative of one of the five principal powers, an adjudicator, a minute taker, or scribe for the debate.

In groups of three or four, you will have time to research the position that your country was in at the end of the Great War and prepare to work with other world leaders to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome for your country. You will need to elect a Head of State in your group. The Head of State is the only team member allowed to vote. Other group members are delegates and civil servants.

Preparing for the role play

Your team will discuss and decide what outcomes you want from this settlement. You are limited to six motions that you may present to the delegation.

In your teams, you will prepare a series of motions that you wish to carry at the conference. In preparation you will need to consider:

• The systems of alliances and conditions which existed between European countries and throughout the world in 1914.
• Changes, costs, outcomes for your country resulting from the war.
• Changes, costs, outcomes for the other countries, in order to consider their likely goals and aims – are they likely to support your motion?
• Each motion must be seconded (supported) by another country before it can be passed to vote – some collaboration between heads of state is expected prior to the conference. There is no point wasting a motion if it has no secondary support.
• Any reparations or consequences you concede or expect from other countries.
• Racial, political, social attitudes and beliefs conditions of your country and internationally at the time. *

*Important note: This is an exercise requiring you to develop your historical skills in researching and the concepts of historical consciousness and empathy in context. You need to prepare and research deeply to ‘become’ the person or country you represent in 1919. Your challenge is to create a treaty without the benefit of 110 years hindsight, but from the position that your country or state was in at the time. (Why don’t you dress in costume appropriate to the times and person you represent to really immerse yourselves in character?)

The role play

There will be a world map projected on one white board that the scribe can annotate and refer to throughout the conference. A second large whiteboard will mirror the motions, minutes and results as they are taken by the minute taker.  Each team will sit at a table for the proceedings. Motions will be passed to the chairman (teacher) and read in turn.

Any motion that assumes knowledge unavailable to the original participants you represent at the time, or assumes an attitude of mind inconsistent with the participants will be nullified. See debate rules.

Some websites to get you started:

• 40 Maps that explain World War 1
•  A century later: The treaty of Versailles and its rejection of racial equality
• The Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920 – A Yugoslav Perspective
• Exerts from Count Brockdorff-Rantzau’s Speech, May 7 1919
• National Archives: What did the different leaders want from the Treaty of Versailles?
• Signatories per country of the Treaty of Versailles
• Synopsis of obligations, including war aims of major powers

Watch:

• BBC Documentary: The Peacemakers: The Treaty of Versailles 

9. Consequences of World War 1: The Treaty of Versailles

Nicholas Panagopoulos

A Peace Conference at the Quai d’Orsay by Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

 Activity

The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 was significant as it ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers, however, not all delegates at the treaty saw eye-to-eye. Whilst the ‘Big Three’, Prime Minister of France Georges Clemenceau, President of America Woodrow Wilson, and Prime Minister of England David Lloyd George agreed war must never take place again, they did not agree on how this may take place and wanted different things from the peace treaty.

Individual Task

This activity encourages you to practise your skills in exploring historical perspectives by imagining you are one of the ‘Big Three’ at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. For the purpose of this activity, you will each be assigned one of the ‘Big Three’ and your job is to write a 500 to 600 word journal entry in the weeks leading up to the peace treaty.

In your journal entry, you may take into consideration the following questions:

1. What should happen to the entire Germany Army, including the air force and navy?
2. How much should Germany pay in reparations (in damage done) for the war?
3. Should Germany lose any territory? If so, how much?
4. Should the treaty conclude that Germany is completely to blame for the war?
5. How can we ensure a war such as this never takes place again?

As with every journal entry, please ensure it is written in first person and appropriately dated.
The following resources are good starting points to help you research the detail you need to write your journal entry:

1. The Treaty of Versailles
2. The Treaty of Versailles,
3. Versailles Treaty
4. Treaty of Versailles Explained – End of WWI 1919,

This activity also challenges you to use the internet to conduct your own investigation and research.

Optional Extension: You may look to extend your research and include the perspectives of the other leaders and/or the anticipated German response to the treaty in your journal.

Group Activity

Once your journal entries are complete, split into groups of three with each group having one of each of the ‘Big Three’. Discuss the similarities in historical perspectives and differences from your own analysis.

10. Analysing and evaluating sources from the roaring 20s

Monica Sheehan

Life Flapper 1922, Cover by F. A. Leyendecker, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

From the four sources below that were created in the 1920s, your task is to analyse and evaluate TWO of these sources relating to women’s lives in the 1920s. Then you will construct a historical argument containing your sources.

• The Flapper, cover of Life Magazine by Frank Xavier Leyendecker in 1922
• Otto Dix’s painting Metropolis painted in 1927
• Image of Peggy Petite a cabaret performer in 1927
• Image of La Folie du jour in 1927

Answer the following questions in relation to each source (Remember you only need to analyse two sources):

Once you have analysed and evaluated your two chosen sources you need to compare the two sources and think about these questions:

• How do these sources differ?
• Why do they have different historical perspectives?
• Do they have many similarities?
• How did the life and experiences of the main subjects of the sources change in the 1920s compared to each other? For example, Women? Men? Race?

These questions allow you to explore historical perspectives; remember to keep in mind the actions, beliefs, values and attitudes of people in the past as this is a major aspect of historical perspectives (VCAA 2020:6).

Using these questions and your sources, write two paragraphs to construct a historical argument addressing one of the following prompts in relation to your sources:

1. To what extent did life for women change during the 1920s?
2. World War I had a significant impact on all aspects of life for women. To what extent do you agree?

11. Source analysis activity: Women in the 1920s USA

Jessie Smith

Beauty Show 1922, National Photo Company, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

You will work in small groups to discover more about the context of women in the United States of America during the 1920s through primary source analysis. Firstly, you will read Source 1 and answer first order questions that will help build your knowledge on the modern woman and various movements/events that occurred in this era that contributed to a change for women in society.

You will then need to evaluate one of the additional three sources and answer both substantive knowledge (facts about the content being analysed, ‘what we know’ e.g., dates, names, quotes etc.) and procedural knowledge questions (concepts and skills, how do we know what we know? e.g., how, why, impacts of events etc) (Sharp et al. 2021:32). You will then present your findings to the class and the class will ask you additional substantive knowledge and procedural knowledge questions on a shared Google Doc.

You will need to research the answers to these, record in the Google Doc and present back to the class.

Part 1

Use Source 1 to answer the below substantive knowledge questions.

1. What was the ‘modern woman’ referred to as and what were the characteristics of this type of woman?
2. Who is Margaret Sanger and what is her significance to women in the 1920s?
3. What was the Nineteenth Amendment and what is its significance?

Part 2

Pick one of the below sources and answer the following questions – you may conduct additional research if you wish.

A Flapper’s Appeal to Parents

• According to the newspaper entry, what are the characteristics of a flapper? Are there different types?
• How does this article and the way it is written suggest different attitudes towards the modern woman movement in the United States during the 1920s? Use quotes to support your answers.
• How did WWI contribute to this modern movement?

Adoption

• What/who is Lowe referring to when she writes ‘illegitimate children’?
• Read the recommendations stated by Lowe, what does this suggest about the way women were viewed in society at the time?
• How do you think the Modern Woman movement would have responded to such recommendations?

Feminism – New Style

• What is Bromley’s opinion of modern young women? Use quotes to support your answer.
• How does Bromley describe the ‘Feminism – New Style’ movement and how does this differ from the modern woman she is describing?
• Why do you think Bromley has these opinions?

Part 3

Each group will present their findings/answers from their source analysis. Using the Google Doc, formulate first and second order questions for the other groups in the class. Each group will research the answers to the questions asked of them and formulate responses in the Google Doc.

12. Flappers on Fakebook

Jessie Smith

Fakebook by Sean MacEntee 2010. (CC BY 2.0)

Activity

In this activity you are going to apply historical perspectives to a contemporary communication tool. Your task is firstly to create a Fakebook (Class Tools n.d.) profile from the perspective of a person in the 1920s and create posts to be displayed on their timeline. Secondly, you will also need to create comments on your posts from different characters and include different perspectives. You may conduct additional research to assist you and revisit the themes observed over the unit and from the previous activity.

Examples of ‘characters’ you could create:

• Flapper woman
• Conservative person
• Parent of a flapper
• Partner of flapper

Requirements:

• The posts need to span over a minimum of a year, with a minimum of five posts.
• The posts can be text and can include copyright compliant pictures.
• Your posts need to address the changes experienced in the U.S.A at the time and the relevance of these changes to the individual making the posts.
• You will also need to demonstrate different perspectives by posting comments on your character’s posts..

Prompts to Assist You:

• Consider what year you will begin posting in – what was happening for women in society at that time and in society in general?
• What changes happened over this time period?
• How would these changes be reflected and experienced in different people’s lives?
• How do you think your characters would be reacting or behaving in response to societal changes or movements?
• When considering one person’s perspective, also consider the opposite perspective? How can you demonstrate these differences in your posts?
• Use images to tell the story.

13. Social change and women in the USA: Exploring historical perspectives

Sarah Jaeschke

Promotional photo for motion picture Dancing Mother’s( 1926) Clara Bow as Catherine “Kittens” Westcourt, Famous Players-Lasky, Wikimedia Commons,  Public Domain

Remembering the skills used and applied in understanding source analysis, students are to undertake a comparative analysis utilising the website Clash of Cultures. This site will help students understand and make comparisons and connections about the changing roles of women in the 1920s American context. Students can observe image and document analysis, keeping in mind the following when gaining an understanding;

• What is being presented in the document/image?
• Whose perspective is represented?
• Is there a message/motive/argument being presented?

Step 1: From the Clash of Cultures database, select two images or documents (or one of each). Try and aim for two opposing sources!

Step 2: Identify the title, date, and category of these sources in the table below.

Step 3: Fill in the table provided, this will help you in drawing similarities and comparisons from the two sources. The table will help you draw deeper connections between the experiences of women in the 1920s and the changes in society.

Step 4: Based on your findings, what do Source 1 and Source 2 depict about the lives of women in 1920s American society? In your response, compare the two sources while thinking about the shifts and changes in society.

14. League of Nations: Gathering information and analysing a source

Abby Kampl

Big Four Paris, Edward N. Jackson (US Army Signal Corps), Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

Information Gathering Activity

This activity is setting you up to create a poster based on the League of Nations. You will use the information collected here to create your poster. Within this activity there are questions that will guide you. There is also a source analysis to help further your analysis of the League of Nations. Sources have been provided for you to use during your activity, but you are free to expand your research and find information on your own.

Links to website for you to use:

• Britannica
• National Library of Australia
• Office of the Historian
• Alpha History
• Alpha History
• Parliament of Australia
• ABC News

Guiding Questions

1. Identify the countries who were involved within the League of Nations. Identify the major countries, as well as influential individuals that were a part of the League of Nations.
2. Describe the League of Nations.
3. Explain the influence the League of Nations had on post-war life.
4. How did the League of Nations affect the countries who were involved within it?
5. Describe the effectiveness of the League of Nations.
6. What did the League of Nations do that was significant?
7. What topics did the League of Nations discuss and have a say in?
8. How was Australia involved within the League of Nations and how was Australia impacted?

Source Analysis

If we were the League of Nations, author unknown, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

1. Who are these figures and what country do they represent?
2. How does the League of Nations seem to be affecting the countries represented?
3. What does the positioning of these two figures suggest about who is in power?
4. What event is the source portraying?
5. This source is dated 1920, what was happening within the League of Nations at this time?
6. What was happening within the post-war period when this cartoon was created?

15. League of Nations: Informational slides

Abby Kampl

Australian Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce, at the League of Nations, Commonwealth of Australia, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

For this activity, you will use the information you have gathered from the last activity (see previous) to create informational slides based on one of the following questions. If you require more information, you can do some further research. The slides will be created on Google Slides; head to the slide that has your name. This way everyone can see each other’s slides in the end.

• What is the significance of the League of Nations?
• What were the consequences of the League of Nations?
• Using the source provided in the previous activity, use this as a starting point and explore the ideas it proposes about the League of Nations.
• Different countries had different views on the League of Nations. Explore the different views.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the League of Nations.
• Choose a country that was a part of the League of Nations. What was their involvement and how did the League of Nations affect their country?
• Look at the first five years after the league of nations was formed and explore how political and economic conditions changed.
• Explore how Australia was involved within the League of Nations and the impact it had on Australian Citizens.

16. Analysing the successes and failures of the League of Nations using political cartoons

Chloe Goodie

‘Here is your Olive Branch. Now get Busy’,(Punch Magazine 1919, author unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

In the discipline of history, historians evaluate drawings, images and political cartoons created in the past. Historical source evaluation involves ‘student[s] [undertaking] a process of source identification, attribution, contextualisation and close analysis’ (VCAA n.da.:Evaluation of historical sources). Analysing primary sources, provides historians a gateway into understanding the attitudes, perceptions, and values of the past (History Skills n.d.: para.1).

In this activity, in groups of three to four you will analyse one political cartoon to explore and evaluate the successes and failures of the League of Nations and how this event contributed to the development of World War Two.

1. I do: Your teacher will select a source to analyse with the students, modelling the key skills of analysing the image using the analysis questions.

Source Analysis Questions

2. We do: The whole class analyses a source together.

• Write down first initial thoughts about the image, stating what you first notice about the image.
• Using the question sheet, work through the questions together.
• Share points of view on the image and the the teacher will share own analysis and support this with evidence. (FHAO n.d.:Procedure).

3. You do: In groups of 3-4 choose an image from the recommended images below. Using the guide questions, analyse and evaluate the source’s context, content, origin, and motive regarding its depiction of the League of Nations successes and failures in contributing to the cause of World War Two (FHAO n.d.Procedure).

4. Share: Groups will then share with the class their findings about their chosen source, highlighting how the image depicts the League of Nations successes and failures and showcases the attitudes of those from the period.

Example political cartoons

1: ‘The Gap in the Bridge’ 

2: ‘Here is your Olive Branch. Now get Busy’

3: ‘USA resists League of Nations 1919’

17. Researching and evaluating the credibility of digital secondary resources (websites)

Chloe Goodie

Photo by Sergey Zolkin Unsplash

Activity

Doing history, you encounter multiple types of sources both digital and print and primary and secondary. However, not all sources are credible and accurate. Historians must ensure they are using sources that are both relevant and accurate to help evaluate and analyse events, peoples, groups, and attitudes of the past.

Using credible online resources helps further support historical claims and helps academics avoid ‘reaching the wrong conclusions’ due to misinformed and inaccurate resources (UWA 2022b). As students of history it is important we use the ‘RIGHT’ sources and not ‘CRAAP ones’ (UWA 2022b).

In this activity you will search the internet and find five digital secondary sources (websites) about the League of Nations. After finding five sources, you will use acronym ‘RIGHT’ and questions provided to question the reliability and validity of the source (UWA 2022b).

1. Find five secondary sources (at random) online concerning the successes and failures of the League of Nations.
2. Using the acronym ‘RIGHT’ and questions above, analyse the credibility and relevance of information in the five chosen sources.
3. After evaluating the five sources against the ‘RIGHT’ criteria acronym, rank the sources from most credible to least credible.
4. Combine sources with a partner and rank them again.

18. The rise of Nazism: Constructing an historical argument with evidence

Joel Lindeman-Collins

Adolf Hitler at Prague Castle, author unknown, Wikimedia Commons, German Federal Archives CC BY-SA3.0 DE

Activity

Part 1

Complete the different steps of essay writing using the essay structure provided. Make sure to include the evidence sourced in other learning where necessary.

Task: Using the essay prompt below, complete the questions.

1. Write a contention responding to the essay prompt. (Tip: Your contention will be your overarching argument and response to the prompt and should underpin your entire essay.)
2. Think of three key ideas that support your contention and write them below. (Tip: Your key ideas will each be explored in the body paragraphs of your essay. For this piece you could dedicate one idea to each aspect of Nazi Germany society (political, social & economic)).
3. Using your evidence, select one piece of evidence that supports each key idea chosen (Tip: You do not have to copy the entire piece of information. Only write down the key words that you may be able to use in your essay)
4. Write a body paragraph focusing on one of your key ideas. (Tip: Follow the TEEL structure provided to ensure your paragraph flows correctly. Your writing should be in full sentences.)

T: Topic Sentence (restate your key idea)

E: Evidence (provide a piece of evidence that supports this key idea)

E: Explanation (explain the evidence and how it supports your key idea)

L: Link to Contention (explain how this idea supports your overall contention – link to next paragraph where possible)

    5. Write a conclusion summarising your ideas and contention. (Tip: Do not introduce new ideas. Write three to four sentences explaining how your key ideas help to justify your contention.)

Part 2

Find another student and swap essays. Use the weather gauge model to provide each other with warm and cool constructive feedback.

Warm comments can be framed as statements that describe what your partner has done well and cool feedback can be framed as questions to prompt thinking about how the essay can be improved.

E.g. Warm feedback: “You have done a good job identifying a clear contention in your introduction.”

Cool feedback: “I wonder, how could you strengthen the argument in paragraph three by using supporting evidence?”

19. Fascism: Annotated timeline activity (part 1)

Kristiana Markovski

NSDAP Burg Propaganda Nazi Party Nuremberg Rally Postcard by Uncredited Illustrator, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Activity

You will be engaging in a Jigsaw-style task, where each student will be allocated one of three expert groups investigating fascism in either Germany, Italy, or Japan. Groups will be required to investigate and find examples of propaganda that were used during the inter-war period to promote fascist ideology. Groups will create an annotated timeline detailing the causes and consequences of events, individuals, and ideas present in their nation state.

Once the expert groups have completed their timelines, new groups will be formed with a mix of  ‘expert’ students representing each nation, who will present their findings to the new group. These groups will discuss their findings and discuss the similarities and differences found in fascist propaganda between the nation states.

Students can use  the following sources to help create their annotated timeline and are strongly encouraged to conduct their own investigative research:

Facing History & Ourselves – Germany

Libraries Exhibits – Italy

Chapman University – Digital Commons – Japan

20. Create your own propaganda poster (part 2)

Kristiana Markovski

Propaganda poster of Manchukuo. The caption: “With the cooperation of Japan, China, and Manchukuo the world can be in peace.” Manchukuo State Council of Emperor Kang-de Puyi. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

Utilise your knowledge of fascist propaganda from the previous activity to create your own propaganda poster. Identify and apply the specific features of propaganda found used by your group’s nation state. You could have a go at translating a slogan as well.

This site compares the use of imagery by different nation states: World War Propaganda Posters

Once complete, come together as a class, present your poster and have a go at analysing each other’s posters.

21. Social media ‘influencers’ in the lead up to World War II

Mason Camanzi

Iosif Stalin author unknown, Wikimedia Commons CC0 1.0

Activity

(Teachers Note: it may be beneficial to brainstorm names at the beginning of the task so students have a list of individuals they can choose from or, provide a list of individuals that you have studied throughout the area of study.)

You are to create a social media profile and post based on one of the significant individuals studied. Think about how these individuals could use social media to push their views, arguments and influence change.

The profile can look any way you wish and presented any way you wish. Think about what your favourite social media apps look like. You may like to use the provided template to guide your work.

In the social media profile, you will need to include:

1. Two images found using reputable sources (from sources that are reliable). Explain the significance of these images (what does it tell us?)
2. Two quotes from the significant individual that you can use as text posts. These can be written (letters, documents, etc.) or from a speech.

In making your profile, consider:

1. Who they were, what did they do, when were they their most influential, where are they from?
2. Why are the sources you selected significant?
3. Counsell’s 5 Rs of historical significance (Counsell 2004:32):
   • Remarkable
   • Remembered
   • Resulted in Change
   • Resonant (Ripples)
   • Revealing
4. How do these sources show evidence of political change?

‘INFLUENCER’ Template

22. Source analysis group task: Pre-World War II Europe and the USA

Mason Camanzi

Depression: Breadlines,long line of people waiting to be fed: New York City, author unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

 Activity

In answering the questions, think of different aspects of the Area of Study, including:

• Consequences of WWI
• Significant ideologies that strengthened, challenged or weakened empires and/or nation states, such as:
  • Self-determination
  • Nationalism
  • Militarism
  • Nazism
  • Isolationism
• Significant individuals who contributed to change
• Significant causes of WWII

Source 1: Long queue for food at a grocery store, Berlin, 1923, adapted from the German Government

Bundesarchiv, Schlange vor Lebensmittelgeschäft (Queue in front of grocery store), author unknown, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE

1. Using Source 1 and your own knowledge, explain three significant causes of World War II in 1939. (5 marks)
2. Using Source 1 and your own knowledge, demonstrate how the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles led to World War II. (5 marks)
3. Discuss the historical significance of Source 1, and analyse how it depicts political and economic change pre-1939. (10 marks)

Source 2: Cartoon depicting Uncle Sam, who “Should have stayed home” from World War 1, 1919

 Uncle Sam should have stayed home, Dart, H G, June 26 1919, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

1. Identify and describe the ideology depicted in Source 2 and analyse its impact moving into World War II. (5 marks)
2. Using your own knowledge and Source 2, evaluate how ideologies challenged, strengthened and/or weakened political systems. (5 marks)
3. Compare and contrast the USA New Deal and the Third Reich of Germany. In doing so, consider what the new political structures were aiming to achieve. Use Source 2 and your own knowledge (10 marks)

Source 3: British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s “Peace in Our Time” Speech, 1938.

1. Using Source 3 and your own knowledge, explain the impact of the Munich Agreement and how it was a help or hinderance to “peace in our time”. (5 marks)
2. There were many significant individuals who contributed to political change. Compare and contrast Neville Chamberlain and one other individual in how they made contributed to change, using Source 3 and your own knowledge (5 marks)
3. Many peace treaties were signed post-World War I and pre-World War II. Using your own knowledge and Source 3, analyse the effectiveness of these treaties in maintain peace in Europe, including the Treaty of Versailles. (10 marks).

23. Understanding ideology

Mia Treacey

Puyi (last emperor of China) at the Zhang Garden in Tianjin or Japanese Legation Beijing Author unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

Essential question: What is an ideology, and what role did ideologies play in WWI and WWII?

PART 1: IDEOLOGIES

1.  Provide a definition of each term listed in the table below.
2.  Evaluate and indicate which terms are an example of an ideology.

PART 2: COUNTRIES, POLITICAL SYSTEMS & IDEOLOGIES – WWI vs. WWII

1 WWI: For each nation – at the time of WWI – indicate what its ruling ideology and political system was and what its alliance was during the war.
2 WWII: For each nation – at the time of WWII – indicate what its ruling ideology and political system was and what its alliance was during the war.

Warning: some countries – change sides during a war, and others may not exist during a war!

24. Hexagon mind-map: Understanding inclusion and/or exclusion of groups from society

Monica Sheehan

A Jewish boy surrenders in Warsaw, unknown author, Wikimedia Commons,
Public Domain

 Activity

This activity will allow you to shape your thoughts and ideas surrounding key methods and consequences of inclusion or exclusion of particular groups in society, particularly surrounding Germany and the Holocaust OR Stalinist Russia.

Step 1: You will receive pages of hexagon shapes. Inside these hexagon shapes, you are to write the key events, key themes, key dates and key evidence (you need to find these in your notes).

Examples of things you might like to put in your hexagons:  Nuremberg Laws, Germany, Stalinist Russia, roles of women, inclusion, exclusion, Fascism, anti-Semitism, The Great Purge, communism, famine, The Holocaust, 1935, 1936-1938, Historical and/or Historian quotes.

You should use a highlighter to colour code your hexagons, for example, yellow for key events, blue for key dates, pink for key themes and green for key evidence

Step 2: Then you need to cut out your hexagons. This might take up a bit of time, but this exercise can be used repeatably for different purposes. YOU WILL NEED A PLASTIC POCKET TO STORE THE HEXAGONS SO THEY DO NOT GET LOST.

Move the hexagons around to make a honeycomb pattern by discussing the connections/relationships between them. See how many different honeycomb configurations you can make by identifying different connections.

Step 3: Once you have done this, you can use the hexagons to map out an essay plan for one of the following topics:

• How did Stalin maintain and reinforce his power in the 1930s? Did this have an impact on particular groups? Discuss.
• What impact did the Nuremberg Laws have on antisemitic views in Germany?
• Discuss how women were perceived by the Nazis and incorporated into Nazi society. Did German women respond to Hitler and his program for them positively?
• Antisemitism underpinned many Nazi actions and policies during the 1930s. Explain how the Nazi regime attempted to extract German Jews from positions of influence. Use specific examples.
• Referring to specific examples, explain how propaganda promoted Nazi ideas about society, family and gender and how this impacted specific groups of people in the 1930s.

Start with a major theme or event hexagon and  connect to all the hexagons with relevant details. Then discuss why you made those decisions with the people around you.

Using this plan, write the essay.

25. Ideology timeline

Jemima Stafford

 1901 Federation Celebrations in Brisbane – illumination of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Aussie Mobs, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

This activity will get you working in groups to map the dominant ideologies of various nation states at various times.

• A variation of countries will be written on the board; running horizontally across the board. These will include all nations mentioned in the curriculum: Britain, Australia, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, Japan, India, America, China. Running vertically to the left of the countries will be years that you must use in order to place the given cards.

Board layout:

• The ideology cards will have different colour coordinated ideologies on them (ranging of shades between red and blue to represent the ideas of right and left-wing ideology). They include:
  • Socialism
  • Communism
  • Republic
  • Democray
  • Capitalism
  • Dynastic
  • Tsarism
  • Totalitarianism
  • Nazism

• The ideology cards must be placed on the board where your group believes each country went from one ideology to the next; for example, Russia moving from Tsarism to Socialism and so on.

Board layout:

Here are some examples of what it might look like at some stage during the activity.

26. Germany and Italy cropped

Jemima Stafford

Ballilla-Italian Fascist Children’s Organisation, Author unknown, Wikimedia Commons,  CC0 1.0

Materials Provided:

Four enlarged primary source images split in two or four parts (depending on the image layout).

Directions:

• You will be allocated a group and given one section of a propaganda image (the whole images may be presented on the board for them to provide adequate context as well as the relevant information applicable to it OR your group can have a doing its section wothout seeing the other section).
• One student should be allocated as a scribe and another as a spokesperson for later in the activity.
• Students should consider imagery, connotations, language, other text, colour, symbolism, context of time, place and creator and how this all comes together within the source.
• Students that were allocated as spokesperson will present the different findings and these will be brought together with the other sections of the same source to provide a holistic analysis of the source.
• Group discussion prompt: What persuasive elements have been used within this piece of propaganda? What would make it successful? What was its intended message and purpose?

Source 1: ‘Behind the enemy lines: the Jew’, circa 1942 courtesy of Helmut Eschwege United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Public Domain

Images provided to groups 1 and 2:

Source 2:  “Remember the Maine! And Don’t Forget the Starving Cubans!”, American cartoon published in 1898 by Victor Gillam, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Images provided to groups 3 and 4:

Source 3: L’Entente Cordiale: Alliance signed between United Kingdom and France, Library of Congress, Public Domain. Images provided for groups 5 and 6:

Source 4: , “The Attack”, propaganda against the Russification of Finland, 1899, by Edvard Isto, Wikimedia Commons,  Public Domain.

Images provided for groups 7 and 8:

27. Fishbone diagram: Causes of WWII

Steph Cahill

Photo of Adolf Hitler, Gregor Strasser, Rudolf Hess, Heinrich Himmler and at the Right the SA at the Nazi Party Rally Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1969-054-53A, unknown author,  Wikimedia Commons & German Federal Archive CC BY-SA 3.0 DE

Activity

This activity explores the factors that contributed to World War 2. Focusing on what we have discovered about the emergence of Nazism and how it swept over Germany, you will build a fishbone diagram which is also sometimes called a root cause diagram, in which you will be adding specific events accompanied by sources you believe to be directly linked to a key event or ideology that contributed toward World War 2.

In this activity you will be gathering your own research on the political and economic climate that contributed to major changes in relationships between nations and ideologies spread through states. This should be presented in the form of a journal of historical questioning that can be referred back to when needed.

To help us better understand cause and effect, utilise the following Historical Thinking website.

Whilst researching your cause-and-effect fishbone diagram, answer the following questions:

1. What is the historical significance of this event/ideology?
2. Who was involved?
3. What do we know about this?
4. What evidence do you have to support its significance?
5. Does the chronology of the event/ideology have significance?
6. What historical sources relate to this event/ideology?

28. Causes and consequences of exclusion in the USA

Phoebe Thomas

African American primary school classroom 1930s, author unknown, Wikimedia Commons and Flickr Commons

Activity

Part A

In small groups of three or four, research the causes and the consequences of exclusion of African Americans in the USA during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Use your findings to create a consequences wheel or use the cause and consequences diagram template below to that maps the cause and consequences of key events, ideas and policies. For example, you could start with a key cause in the middle of your wheel, such Jim Crow laws.

Part B

Pair up with someone in another group and use your both your wheels or diagrams to create a larger, more complex wheel or diagram.

29. The Great Purge: Source analysis

Samantha Babic

Pianist Khadija Gayibova, executed in 1938. Author unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Activity

Instructions

• Explore the different types of sources and their importance or how they can be used and analysed.
• Look at each source and annotate them with anything that stands out to you or that you notice as important or interesting
• Answer the below questions
• After answering the questions complete the similarities and differences table using the colour coding to determine which sources are being referred to.

Source 1: Leon Trotsky, The Trial of Seventeen (22nd January 1937), Spartacus Educational

Source 2: Lenin’s General Staff of 1917: Stalin the executioner alone remains from Socialist Appeal October 1941

Source 3: The Great Terror by Lewis Siegelbaum, Seventeen Moments in Soviet History ** historical interpretation/secondary source**

Source 4: Choose a primary source from The Great Terror Images.