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Igniting The Holocaust - Facing History and Ourselves: 3: Germany in the 1920s

This LibGuide takes 5th grade students through the human behavior and historical events that precipitated WWII. It is based on the first 3 steps of the Facing History & Ourselves process and is designed to be used as a supplement to classroom discussion.

Germany After WWI, Life in the Weimar Republic

“I am convinced that if this peace is not made on the highest principles of justice, it will be swept away by the peoples of the world in less than a generation.” -- Woodrow Wilson, just before the Treaty of Versailles

“[...]today German honor is being carried to its grave. Do not forget it! The German people will, with unceasing labor, press forward to reconquer the place among the nations to which it is entitled. Then will come vengeance for the shame of 1919.” -- Deutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, in response to the Treaty of Versailles

       

                                                 Europe in 1914                                                                          Europe in 1919, after the Treaty of Versailles

In class, we'll be looking more closely at the political, economic, and social situation in Germany after WWI.  This section of the LibGuide will help you think about some of the details, so you'll be able to contribute to class discussions!

You will have three assignments to complete.

  1. Click here to complete your first assignment, reading and responding to what people in Germany were saying, feeling, and experiencing after WWI -- the social situation in the Weimar Republic.
  2. Click here to complete your second assignment, reading and responding to Germany's reaction to the Treaty of Versailles -- the political situation in the Weimar Republic.
  3. Click here to complete your third assignment, reading and responding to the first of the two financial crises that happened in Germany during the 1920's -- the economic situation in the Weimar Republic.  (The second financial crisis was the Great Depression; we've talked a lot about how that affected economics in the United States and around the world.)