Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII
OverviewIn this two-part lesson, students explore the concept of appeasement and the path to World War II.Projected Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes (two 50-minute parts)Implementation time will vary across classroom contexts.Discussion Questions: ●On-ramp:If a hostile nation threatens to attack unless you give them territory, should you give in to save millions of lives?●Central Historical Question (CHQ):Given what he knew at the time, did Chamberlain make the right decision around the policy of appeasement? ●Off-ramp:In this case, appeasement did not work as a strategy for maintaining international peace and led to disastrous results. Do you think this is always true?Preparation for Discussion Facilitation●Establish classroom norms for discussion. If you've already established discussion norms this year, plan to revisit them briefly with your students. If you haven't yet set any norms for discussion, we suggest taking 5-10 minutes to ask students to brainstorm a list the class can agree to (e.g., active listening, sharing air-time, being respectful). Ask students, “What norms do you think we should have in class when we have discussions? How should we treat each other?” Give students a few moments to independently record their own thoughts, then solicit ideas from students. You could give each student a couple of sticky notes to write their ideas on and have them add them to a board in the front of the room, have them submit their ideas using a virtual poll, or just call on students to share their ideas aloud. Based on what studentsshare, generate a list of class norms for discussion. You may want to ask additional probing questions (e.g., how should we respond when someone has a different perspective than we do?).●Consider students’ social-emotional learning. When preparing for discussions, keep in mind that different topics can be sensitive for different students. As you plan, consider how you will support students’ social and emotional needs and address any misconceptions that could cause harm.●For further guidance and support facilitating discussion, see the Deeper Discussions PD Toolkit.Table of ContentsPart 1: Appeasement Thought Exercise and Timeline AnalysisPart 2: Central Historical Question DiscussionUnderstanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII
Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII1Part 1: Appeasement Thought Exercise and Timeline Analysis Students Will:●Reflect on the concept of appeasement by discussing the costs and benefits of yielding to a conflict.●Analyze a timeline of Chamberlain and other European leaders’ actions related to appeasement in the 1930s and evaluate their decisions. Materials: ●Slide deck: Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII●Appeasement Thought Exercise Worksheet (student versionand teacher version)●Appeasement Timeline●Appeasement Timeline Worksheet (student versionand teacher version)●Optional Materials: ○Appeasement OER Project articleOpener: Introduction to Appeasement (~5 minutes)1.Have students briefly discuss the following scenario with their neighbor: If a hostile nation threatens to attack unless you give them territory, should you give in to save millions of lives?(Slide 2)2.Ask a few students to share their choice and rationale. 3.Introduce how the term “appeasement” is used in an everyday sense, such as giving your lunch to keep peace with a bully, and how it is used in global politics. (Slide 3)○Everyday definition: Pacifying or placating someone (i.e., making them less angry or hostile) by agreeing to their demands. ○Definition in global politics: The policy of agreeing to the demands of a potentially hostile (unfriendly) nation in the hope of maintaining peace.4.Share with students that they will be learning about a well-known and very serious historical case of political appeasement that happened between countries in World War I and World War II (Slide 4). They will think about what they might have done if they were a leader in that situation.Political Appeasement Thought Exercise: Introduction to Chamberlain’s Dilemma(~20 minutes)5.Pass out the appeasement thought exercise worksheet. Tell students that they are the leader of Country X and that they’ll be learning some important information about the nation’s situation so they can make a decisionabout whether to lead the nation to fight or appease. Ask students to make annotations as they listen, paying special attention to possible reasons to fight (mark it with an “F”) and possible reasons to appease (mark it with an “A”) (Slide 5). Refer to the teacher version of the reading and worksheet for possible student answers. 6.Have students annotate as you read the worksheet aloud at a pace conducive to annotation. Encourage and clarify any questions.
Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII27.In the table provided at the bottom of the reading, have students jot down their initial thoughts about possible reasons for and against fighting and for and against appeasing. (Slide 6)8.Have students briefly discuss in partners or small groups what they would do as a leader of Country X. Would they fight or appease? Why? (Slide 7)○Note to teacher: Time permitting, have a few students share what their group discussed. You can let students know this is an initial discussionand it is okay to be unsure or change their minds later. They will learn and discuss more later.9.Set up Chamberlain’s dilemma by presenting Slides 8–9 using the talking points in italics below. The important thing is for students to understand that the fresh, horrific memories of WWI made avoiding another war the absolute highest priority for leaders and citizens, which directly drove their policy of appeasement. Speaker Notes (Slide 8): Here’s a quote from Neville Chamberlain that I want you all to keep in mind as we move onto the next part of the lesson. Can someone volunteer to read the quote out loud? What do you think Chamberlain means here? [Elicit responses.] It is incredibly important to recognize how deeply affected Britain was by WWI, which ended less than 20 years before Hitler’s government started moving Europe toward war again. As we continue, I want you to keep this in mind: Though Chamberlain did not fight in WWI himself, he witnessed the horrific destruction of the first truly modern war. Trench warfare was brutal, demoralizing, slow, and deadly. Britain lost more than 800,000 soldiers in WWI. New weapons introduced in WWI (poison gas, barbed wire, machine guns, airplanes, submarines) allowed both sides to slaughter each other at unprecedented rates.Speaker Notes (Slide 9): The thought exercise we just engaged in was a high-level introduction to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s real dilemma. He was trying to keep Adolf Hitler from starting World War II through appeasement, but was ultimately unsuccessful. In the mid-1930s, millions of Europeans thought that limited German expansion might satisfy Hitler. Appeasement was a very popular idea at the time because:●WWI Trauma: Citizens and leaders had the death of WWI fresh in their minds; they did not want another war with Germany at almost any cost.●Treaty of Versailles: Many believed Germany’s actions in the Rhineland were justified because the Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh. ●Political Fears: Many in the West actually favored fascism over communism. As Hitler continued to violate the Treaty of Versailles and began invading Germany’s neighbors, people in Britain and France grew concerned and many condemned German expansion. Still, the British and French governments took no serious action.10.Inform students that in the next activity, they will learn more details about this history of British and French appeasement and discuss the Central Historical Question: Given what he knew at the time, did Chamberlain make the right decision about the policy of appeasement with Hitler in 1938?
Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII3Activity: Timeline Analysis on Lead-up to WWII (~25 minutes)11.Tell students that they will now dig into a timeline of events leading to World War II and explore how the choices to fight or appease unfolded over time. They will think about whether Chamberlain made the right decision with the information he had back then and whether they would have done things differently. 12.Start the slide deck at Slide 10. Tell students that they will now look carefully at a timeline of how Germany, Britain, and France acted from 1935 to 1938 to prepare for the discussion of the Central Historical Question: Given what he knew at the time, did Chamberlain make the right decision about the policy of appeasement with Hitler in 1938? 13.Distribute the timeline and worksheet. Have students read the timeline one row at a time, and for each row, indicate in the margin whether they would have made the decision for the country to fight (“F”) or appease (“A”) if they were Chamberlain at that point. Refer to the teacher version of the timeline and worksheet for potential student answers, and post the directions on Slide 11. ○Note:You may want to do part of this as a whole class to ensure that students understand the directions. For the annotation, you could let students know that perhaps everyone might start thinking appeasing is appropriate, but may differ on whether and when they think fighting is a better strategy. It may be good to tell students to keep their answers to themselves for now to build momentum for the discussion. 14.After reviewing and annotating the timeline, post the directions on Slide 12 and have students fill out the worksheet with at least three evidence-based reasons on whether it was right or wrong for Chamberlain to appease Hitler in 1938. Tell students that they may pull evidence from both of their appeasement worksheets.
Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII4Part 2: Central Historical Question DiscussionStudents Will:●Make a historical argument about whether, given what he knew at the time, Chamberlain made the right decision around the policy of appeasement using your interpretation of evidence from secondary sources.●Consider the effectiveness of appeasement as a strategy for maintaining international peace.Materials: ●Slide deck: Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII●Appeasement Thought Exercise Worksheet (student versionand teacher version)●Appeasement Timeline& Appeasement Timeline Worksheet (student versionand teacher version)●Optional Materials: ○Appeasement OER Project articlePreparation:●Set up your classroom arrangement to support the discussion structure you’d like to use during the lesson (i.e., whole class, groups of four or more students).●Review the student reflection exit ticket questions and decide which you will use.Opener: Preparing for the Discussion (~5 minutes)1.Remind students that today you’ll be having a class discussion, andtell students that at the end of the lesson they will have an opportunity to share their feedback on the lesson with you. You’ll use their feedback to improve future class discussions. 2.Have students take a seat in your preferred discussion structure (i.e., whole class, groups of four or more students), and take out their worksheet from the previous day. 3.Take a few minutes to review your classroom norms for discussion.4.Ask students to identify one or two goals that they have for themselves during today’s discussion (e.g., bringing in evidence to support their points, being an active listener). Central Historical Question Discussion:Given what he knew at the time, did Chamberlain make the right decision around the policy of appeasement? (~20 minutes)5.Tell students that they will be using evidence from their appeasement thought exercise reading and worksheet and their appeasement timeline and worksheet so they can have a longer discussion on the Central Historical Question: Given what he knew at the time, did Chamberlain make the right decision around the policy of appeasement with Hitler in 1938?Place the question in a prominent place in the classroom for students to refer backto through the discussion (you can use Slide 13 in the slide deck). Give students 2–3
Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII5minutes to independently review their worksheets and jot down ideas of how they might answer the question at this point. 6.Tell students, “We are going to have a 15–20 minutediscussion. During the discussion, I want you to engage deeply with the Central Historical Question, bring in evidence from the sources you’ve read and analyzed, bring in insights from your own background knowledge and life experiences, and really listen to the points that your classmates make and respond to them.”7.Open the floor for a class discussion on the Central Historical Question: Given what he knew at the time, did Chamberlain make the right decision around the policy of appeasement with Hitler in 1938?Remember to prioritize student voice over teacher voice; however, if the discussion has trouble starting or sputters, consider using some of the suggested facilitation moves below to support students in deepening their discussion. You could also ask theselesson specific probes:○How many of you thought it was wrong for Chamberlain to appease Hitler? ○For those of you who thought so, can you start us off by sharing when (which year) was the point of no return, or the year where you thought there’s no way out of this except through fighting? ○What was your reasoning?ChallengePotential Teacher Facilitation Moves If studentsaren’t engaging deeply with the CHQ,you might try ...●Probe for elaboration: Can you say more to the group about that? And can you tell us more about where you’re coming from? ●Return to CHQ: Let’s come back to our Central Historical Question. Where are we with that? If studentsaren’t engaging with each other, you might try ...●Uptake student comment:I’m hoping a few of you can share your reactions or questions to the group about what [student] just shared about ...●Expose the discussion structure:I’m hearing [student A] say [this], and [student B] say [that]. Can we do a show of hands onwhich argument you agree with at this point? ... Can you discuss with each other to see if you can come to an agreement, or at least figure out where you disagree? If studentsaren’t engaging with the sources, you might try ...●Pressing for textual evidence:Where do you see evidence for that in the text? ●Marking text:Let’s bring our attention to [specific place in the text]. If studentsaren’t bringing in their knowledge from outside of the text,you might try ... ●Pressing for broader evidence: Are there things in your personal experience, or any knowledge from outside of the texts, that supports or challenges what we’ve discussed so far about [historical topic or question]? ●Exploring student perspective:We’ve been connecting to the text a lot, and that’s really important, but I also want to hear your actual thoughts about [historical topic or question].
Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII6Off-Ramp Discussion: Contemporary Examples of the Strategy of Appeasement (~5 minutes)8.Explain to students that appeasement was a failed policy. Speaker Notes (Slide 14): On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and we date that as the beginning of the Second World War. That attack finally provoked Britain and France, who had armies that could actually confrontthe Axis Powers. Britain and France had been reluctant to confront these expansionist states. But Poland had alliances with France, and more recently with Britain, so when Germany invaded Poland, the British had to react. By late 1939, Britain and France (and their colonies) were at war with Germany. The invasion of Poland forced Chamberlain’s hand. He soon came under attack from all political sides after the disastrous first months of war, when many believed Germany would win a rapid victory. Unable to form a national government himself, he resigned in May 1940 after the failure of the British efforts to liberate Norway. He died soon after his resignation.9.Ask students to discuss in small groups:In this case, appeasement did not work as a strategy for maintaining international peace and led to disastrous results. Do you think this is always true?○Probing question: Should this be a rule of thumb in the global community all the time? ○Note to teacher: Time permitting, see where your students go with this and have them share out or exchange perspectives across groups. Your students might mention modern examples such as Ukraine and Taiwan. Activity: Independent Writing (~15 minutes)10.Tell students that now that they’ve had the opportunity to hear various arguments and discuss the evidence, they will write a paragraph sharing their own individual conclusion about the Central Historical Question. To build a strong argument, they should use multiple pieces of evidence. Share this prompt:Write a paragraph responding to the following prompt. Make sure to support your claim with evidence from the sources you’ve analyzed: Given what he knew at the time, did Chamberlain make the right decision around the policy of appeasement?Closer:Exit Ticket & Reflection (~5 minutes)11.Share the exit ticket questions you selected or adapted from the choices in the box on the next page and have students take a few minutes to reflect and share their feedback on the discussion. Tell them: “As you answer the exit ticket questions, I want you to think back to the goals that you set for yourself during the discussion. Please be honest and thoughtful in your reflections, because your answers will help
Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWII7improve the way that I might teach this lesson in the future and the ways that I decide to facilitate future discussion lessons.”CategoryPotential Exit Ticket QuestionsWe suggest that you either pre-select one question from each of the categories below, or have your students pick one from each category that they’d like to answer. Historical content●How did today’s discussion deepen or change your understanding of [historical topic]?●If you could go back in time and ask someone from history a question based on today's discussion, who would you talk to and what would you ask them? Discussion experience●How confident did you feel contributing to today’s discussion? What helped or held you back?●What was one perspective shared by a classmate that made you think differently about the topic? How did it change your thinking?●Overall, how do you think the discussion went? Why did it go well or not go well?Planning for the next discussion●What is one specific goal you have for improving your participation in future discussions?●What could we do as a class and what could I do as your teacher to make the discussion better next time?
Understanding Appeasement and the Road to WWIIThe creation of these materials was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A220457 to Digital Promise. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute orthe U.S. Department of Education.This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0.