This activity was designed for more able students working towards a Modern World History GCSE in Year 10. It leads towards the election poster lesson that features on the outstanding lessons section of the website. This is not a full lesson as such: rather, it is a ‘smart task ’ to be the start of the lesson. It was designed to be used with an upper ability class.
The smart task
Looking only at the map provided, resource 1, what seem to be the key events taking place in Germany between 1920 and 1923?
- What are the main patterns you can detect? We’ll then see if the textbooks agree.
- What questions does the map raise? Does the textbook answer our questions?
My observations about patterns
Here is a list of just some of the ideas the students came up with:
- There were a number of challenges to the new Weimar government from both left and right wing groups throughout the period.
- The Communist revolts took place throughout the period, mainly in Berlin and the north e.g. Hamburg and in the Ruhr. But there also seems to be some activity in the south. In Saxony there were Communist attempts to take
