What were the long-term consequences of the peace treaties of 1919-23?
What were the consequences of the failures of the League in the 1930s?
How far was Hitler's foreign policy to blame for the outbreak of war in 1939?
Was the policy of appeasement justified?
How important was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
Why did Britain and France declare war on Germany in September 1939?
Although this topic is being tested in Paper 2 this year, it will also be tested in Paper 1. So it is a good idea to have a look at some of the past paper questions on International Relations 1919-39 as well.
1. Fling the Teacher Quizzes
During the course of this revision unit, I get students to play a "Fling" game at least once a lesson. The winner gets 20 points, the person in 2nd place 18 points and so on. I build up a "leaderboard" over the course of the whole revision unit.
a. The Peace Treaties
b. The League in the 1920s
c. The League in the 1930s
d. The League 1920s/30s (combination of above two quizzes)
e. The Wall St. Crash, the Depression, the Invasions of Manchuria and Abyssinia
2. Causes of World War Two: Past Exam Questions and Research Task
This GCSE History handout outlines the main causes of World War Two: The Peace Treaties, the Weaknesses of the League, the Depression, Hitler's Foreign Policy, Manchuria and Abyssinia, Appeasement, the Nazi-Soviet Pact. It also provides a list of past history examination questions. Students have to research different themes and produce a one-sided summary sheet for their classmates.
3. Connecting Factors: The Causes of World War Two
With the main themes revised, students now have to connect the factors together meaningfully and summarise three essential points of information about each theme using this flowchart.
4. Paper 2 Sourcework Focus - Markschemes and Sample Answers
Students can read through these sample answers and grade each one. For each question there is a good, average and below average answer. Can they spot which is which and explain why?
5. Paper 1 Structured Questions focus - Interactive Cartoon Analysis
A large range of cartoons covering the 1919-39 period. For each one, students are asked a sourcework question focusing on the message of the source, and then a three-part Paper 1 style question. When they have written their answer in timed conditions, the computer provides model answers for comparison.
Worksheets and activities: Causes of World War One
The main section on the ActiveHistory site, with comprehensive lesson materials.
How to do sourcework: animation | article
20th Century Cartoonists: David Low, Bernard Partridge
The University of Kent Cartoon Hub: Fantastic Database of Cartoons to search through
Classtools.net "PostIt" Tool: Import a cartoon into the template, then annotate it