Task Booklet

Causes of World War II

A Soviet cartoon, published shortly after the Munich Agreement, showing Daladier and Chamberlain directing Germany towards the East.

Name ________________________ Form _____________

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Key Question 1: How did Hitler challenge and exploit the Treaty of Versailles in the period 1933 to March 1938?

TASK ONE Read through pages 2-7 in your information booklet, and then answer the following questions. Each question will need a good paragraph. a) What were the main aims of Hitlers foreign policy? b) What did Hitler mean when he used the terms Aryan Race and Lebensraum? c) How did Hitler rearm Germany? d) Why do you think that Hitler saw rearmament as a key priority for Germany? e) Explain how Hitler re-militarised the Rhineland? f) How did Hitler achieve the Anschluss with Austria?

TASK TWO Design an Austrian or British newspaper front-page for the date 15th March 1938.

TASK THREE Exam type assessment on Hitlers expansionist policy 1933 - March 1938 a) According to Source A why did Hitler see the remilitarisation of the Rhineland as daring? (3) Source A b) How reliable is Source B as evidence of the popularity of Hitlers remilitarisation of the Rhineland? (6) Describe how Hitler achieved the Anschluss with Austria. (6) Was the remilitarisation of the Rhineland the main reason for Hitlers successful expansionist policy, 1933 March 1938? Explain your answer. (10)
Even later, when Hitler was waging war against almost the entire world, he always termed the re-militarisation of the Rhineland the most daring of all his undertakings. We had no army worth mentioning. If the French had taken any action, we would have been easily defeated: our resistance would have been over in a few days. Albert Speer writing about how Hitler saw the re-occupation of the Rhineland by the German army

c)

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Source B: German troops marching into the Rhineland.

Key Question 2: Why did appeasement fail to prevent the

outbreak of war in 1939?

TASK FOUR Presentation task Read pages 8-13 in your information booklet, and a selection of textbooks. You may also get information from the Internet. There are some very useful sources on page 44-5 of the Modem World History AQA textbook. In small groups put together a presentation to put forward the views of either Churchill or Chamberlain, after the Munich Conference. You are reporting to the British Government. Try to use a selection of presentation methods, for example; PowerPoint, video clips, handouts of maps, handouts of speeches, diagrams on the whiteboard and of course persuasive speeches.

TASK FIVE The Nazi Soviet Pact Look at sources C and D. With a partner or small group discuss the meaning behind the cartoons. Now work through Worksheet 14 from the AQA which is at the back of this booklet. Next either design your own political cartoon about this topic. Or write an imagined interview with Hitler and Stalin asking them to confidentially explain why they entered this pact.

Source C

A Soviet cartoon, published shortly after the Munich Agreement showing Daladier and Chamberlain directing Germany towards the East.

Source D
A British cartoon published after the Nazi - Soviet Pact.

RENDEZVOUS
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TASK SIX With the help of page 39 of your Modem World History AQA textbook, colour in the map below with the key.

Hitlers territorial gains, 193539.

Now write a sentence or two for each of the dates:

Jan 1935

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March 1936

March 1938

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Oct 1938 ________________________________________

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March 1939 ________________________________________

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Sept 1939 ________________________________________

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TASK SEVEN

35 - 43 of the AQA textbook.

TASK EIGHT In a small group do an extended timeline of the work you have covered between the dates of 1935 - Sept 1939. This should be a visual aid to go on the wall. It should be bold and colourful using symbols and pictures.

TASK NINE Essay task: Why had international peace collapsed by 1939 Use your booklet, textbooks, the work you have already completed and the following essay plan (p.10 of task booklet) will help you to structure your essay.

Essay Plan Why had International Peace collapsed by 1939? Your introduction should be something like this: In 1918 people said that the Great War should be the War to end all Wars. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations were meant to ensure peace but by 1939 International peace had collapsed. Then do paragraphs as below: When Hitler came to power in 1933 he wanted to . (explain about Aryan Supremacy and Lebensraum and how he wanted to tear up the Treaty of Versailles) He began by re-arming Germany .... The industrial region of Germany known as the Saar .... Hitlers next action was in the Rhineland .... One of his main aims was the Anschluss with Austria .... Chamberlain the British Prime Minister believed in appeasement, he did not want to go to War with Germany because .... The Sudetenland .... At the Munich Conference .... Hitler broke his word however and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia . Hitler and Stalin . Britain and France declared war on Germany . Although this essay has a lot of paragraphs they do not need to be very long. All the information required is in your booklets. You then need a conclusion which should answer the question. What do you think the most important reason was?
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REINFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES: These two activities are designed to help you if you have found this topic difficult. 1) Below is a list of events that took place between 1933 and Sep 1939. Put them into the order in which they occurred. 1. Hitler and Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact. 2. Hitler achieved the Anschluss with Austria. 3. The Saar was returned to Germany. 4. Hitler began to rearm. 5. Britain and France declared war on Germany. 6. Hitler remilitarised the Rhineland. 7. Chamberlain attended the Munich conference. 8. Hitler took the rest of Czechoslovakia.

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2) Complete the following word search one

APP RE LE LU RH AN CH SU HIT ST
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(Refute means to argue against something)

Those who welcomed the Munich conference and its solution represented it as a victory for reason and conciliation in international affairs appeasement as it was called at the time. The opponents of Munich saw in it an abdication by the two democratic powers, France and Britain; a surrender to fear; or a sinister conspiracy to prepare for a Nazi war of conquest against Soviet Russia. Munich was all these things. From A. J. P. Taylor, The Myths of Munich, 1969.

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