| S7 History |
Last
update -
17 May 2023 |
Official European
School History S7 Syllabus:
English,
French,
German |
 |
|
Europe 1945-57 - 'Between Unity and Disunity'
- Examined through a document study |
|
Key Questions |
Lessons |
Additional materials and external links |
| So... what
is history after all? or 'reality no longer is what it was when
it was; it cannot be reconstructed’ |
This first unit of
study is available as a
website
and a downloadable work
booklet and
PowerPoint.
S7 4hour summary
syllabus (PDF). |
Selected
extract about the problem of memory from Milan Kundera's
Ignorance.
Extract from EH Carr's
What is History? on the subjectivity of Stresemann's
archive.
Extract from Keith Jenkins's post-modern classic
Rethinking History.
History
as art and science - J Bronowski -
video |
|
What was the impact of WWII on Europe? |
Video on the
war in Eastern Europe.
Notes from the film. Video - World
at War - The classic series from the 1970s
Video - World War II Behind Closed Doors
Essay on the events of WWII in Europe.
|
Video on
World War II. See my IB
website
for an extended version of the essay.
Walsh
GCSE Modern World History
Chapter 10 279-316 provides an informative well illustrated
overview from a British perspective. |
What were
the main events in European History 1945-57
|
Worksheet 1 -
Timeline of essential information. |
Quiz
on the details of the timeline. |
| What were
the earliest origins of the Cold War? |
Worksheet 2 and
diagram to complete - the origins of the Cold War. Extract
from
Steve Phillips,
The Cold War.
|
The UK National Archive has an excellent
website that includes a fascinating look at documents from
the period
before 1939 and during
WWII.
See the wonderful
John D Clare for clear link-rich explanations of all
features of the early Cold War.
 |
People's Century
video
which examines the Cold War 1945-61. A good introductory
overview. |
|
|
What were the decisions and resulting tensions of
Yalta and Potsdam? |
Summary
tables of Yalta and Potsdam.
Walsh
GCSE Modern World History
318-323
Video on the conference
at Potsdam.
|
|
|
What were the three main European sources of tension
between the USA and the USSR in the post-war period? |
Cold War 1945-47
PowerPoint.
Worksheet 3. Edited extract from Geoffrey Roberts on why the
Cold war began between 1945-47. Full original
article.
|
Walsh
GCSE Modern World History
318-323 |
|
Source of tension 1: How did the Soviet Union gain control of central
and eastern Europe? |
Learn the details of the geography and timing of the takeover.
Annotated map.
Video on the
'salami tactics' takeover of central and eastern Europe.
Worksheet 4 - Summarise the concerns
of Western governments in a letter to President Truman. Walsh p.330
GCSE Modern World History
|
Walsh
GCSE Modern World History
322-30
Extra
information
from James Mason
Modern World history to GCSE |
| Why was
the Marshall Plan so significant? |
Worksheet 5 based on an edited extract from Tony Judt's
Postwar
|
The
unedited version of the Judt extract. Detailed
presentation
on the Marshall Plan.
Full text of the
Marshall Plan speech. |
| How did
Poland and Czechoslovakia come under Soviet control?
What led to the Tito-Stalin split? |
Worksheet 6 and
table to be completed.
Worksheet 7 on the Slansky Trial.
Worksheet 8 on the Tito-Stalin split. |
| |
|
 |
British born Ivy Norman Kovanda
witnessed the Czechoslovak purges first hand. This is
her
personal account. |
| |
|
 |
L'Aveu
a 1970 French-Italian film directed by Costa Gavras and
stars Yves Montand. It is based on the true story of the
Czechoslovak communist Artur London, a defendant in the
Slánský trial. |
|
|
What was de-Stalinization?
How did
the USSR maintain control of Central and Eastern Europe in the
period 1953-1956? |
Worksheet 9 - De-Stalinization in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
Worksheet 10 - Khrushchev's Secret Speech.
Edited
video extract from Cold War about De-Stalinization in Poland
as seen in the lesson.
Hungary 1956
worksheet.
Edited
video extract from Cold War about the Hungarian Uprising as
seen in the lesson.
Walsh
GCSE Modern World History Walsh –
400-403
|
Video about
the Hungarian Uprising. The highly reliable
Wikipedia, the
BBC and
John D Clare on the Hungarian Uprising,
 |
In the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games
the Hungarian water polo team played the Russians in the
infamous 'Blood
in the water' match.
The event has been subject to
two recent films, the 2007 Feature film - Children
of Glory and the 2006 documentary Freedom's Fury. For
more information see this excellent
worksheet by Alex Nice of EEBII |
|
| How did
the Communists stay in power so long? |
Worksheet 11.
PowerPoint
|
Fascinating three part
BBC
documentary series on life in the GDR, Czechoslovakia and
Romania.
|
|
Source of
tension 2: What was the 'German problem' and why was it so
central to the early stages of the Cold War? |
What
was the affect of World War II on Germany?
Worksheet 12
Extra info -
Worksheet
from James Mason
Modern World history to GCSE
|
Walsh
GCSE Modern World History
318-323. Films about the
Nuremberg Trials. Denazification images from the outstanding
GHDI website.
|
|
How did allied attitudes to Germany change in the
post-war period? |
Morgenthau to Marshall: the story of two plans.
Worksheet 13. Why did French attitudes to Germany change?
(Worksheet
14
with questions extract from Tony Judt's
Postwar)
|
|
|
What were the causes and consequences of the
Berlin Airlift? |
Worksheet 15 Short
video as seen in the lesson. |
President Truman library
activity on the Berlin Airlift. Old British
newsreel about the Airlift.
|
| How did
East and West Germany develop in the 1950s? |
Worksheet 16
PowerPoint
Short
video as seen in the lesson.
|
|
|
Source of tension 3: How was Europe reconstructed
after the war and what were the origins of the European Union? |
PowerPoint
introduction to the origins of the European Union.
Worksheet 17 on the origins of the EU with source based questions
to be answered.
Winston Churchill's 1946
Zurich speech and text. |
More detailed
extract from Tony Judt's
Postwar on the Origins of the EU.
Tony Judt on Postwar
Benelux and why Britain didn't join.
The
European Virtual School project on the history of the EU.
|
| European
integration and its limitations in the 1950s. |
Worksheet 18 extract from Tony Judt's Postwar.
Essay
planning sheet in downloadable Word format and suggested
outline.
|
|
| A Third
Europe: in addition to the satellite states of the USSR and the western
states constructing the EEC what other situations exist 1945-57? |
Paired
research activity and presentation on one of the European
states not in the USSR sphere of influence or the original EU
six. All groups are expected to complete a one page
fact sheet. |
My website
has relevant sections on
Spain
and the
UK.
Other relevant countries include Greece, Yugoslavia, Nordic
countries, Austria, Portugal. Tony Judt
on postwar
Austria. |
| End of
Unit Assessments - November
Factual knowledge, document paper and A Third Europe
presentation. |
Fling the teacher quiz
Multiple choice quiz
Essay
planning sheet in downloadable Word format and suggested
outline. |
|
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