The 4 Main Causes of WWI- Six Minute Overview

Here's a great six minute review of the MAIN causes of WWI from "Made from History."

 

Using Images to Understand the Interwar Period

Atlantic Magazine published 45 black and white stunning black-and-white photographs of the interwar period around the world.

Among the 45 images are Hitler and Mussolini shaking hands in Germany, Japanese aircraft carrying out air raids over China, Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek sitting with the chairman of the Yunan provincial government, and four Italian soldiers taking aim in Ethiopia in 1935.

Together, the images offer a terrific overview of the rise of fascism and authoritarianism around the world in the 1920s and 30's.

Classroom Connection:  Last year, I gave students the link to the images and had them sort them at least four different ways. Then I asked them to log into a common Google Doc, which I posted on Google Classroom,  and create a descriptive title for each group. Students could easily see what others were posting with the common Google Doc.

The lesson took about 25 minutes and allowed students to analyze interesting images and manipulate them in ways that might help them better understand the interwar period.

Here is a link to the lesson.

Thanks to my colleague, Jeff Feinstein, who gave me the sorting idea for this lesson and Brenda Liz Garcia‎ who posted the link to the Atlantic story on Facebook.

World War I: China & Africa Participate

Show your students the extent to which World War 1 was global with this excellent Twitter thread from Eileen Cheng-yin Chow, Director of the Shewo Institute of Chinese Journalism. 

She notes that China contributed much to the war effort and outlines the untold story of over 140,000 Chinese laborers who fought on the European frontlines beside French, Russian, and British troops. The thread includes excellent images and a trailer for a movie from Yellow Earth Productions called "Forgotten" about China during the war.

After students review the Twitter thread,  they can analyze charts and graphs showing the number of Chinese laborers recruited by Europeans and a map showing their route from China to Europe from the South China Morning Post.

World War I was also fought in Africa.  Michelle Moyd, Associate Professor of History at Indiana University Bloomington, discusses in a podcast the participation of African colonial troops in the war and answers these questions: "What motivated Africans to fight in the armies of their colonial power? How did the war change the relationships between the empires and their colonies? "

Ten Historians: 10 Different Interpretations on Who Started WWI

Ten historians give 10 different interpretations on who started WWI in this BBC story.

Sir Max Hastings - military historian, argues that Germany was most responsible. "It alone had power to halt the descent to disaster at any time in July 1914 by withdrawing its "blank cheque..."

Another historian, Sir Richard J Evans -Regius professor of history, University of Cambridge, argues that Serbia was most responsible. "Serbian nationalism and expansionism were profoundly disruptive forces and Serbian backing for the Black Hand terrorists was extraordinarily irresponsible."

And a number of historians like John Rohl - emeritus professor of history, University of Sussexe, put the blame on Austria Hungary and Germany. He argues that "the war broke out as the result of a conspiracy between the governments of imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary to bring about war." 

These short arguments might be an interesting assignment for students. They could read the ten arguments and make their own assessment of who or what started the war.

Students will also see that historians do not always agree on causes and outcomes of historical events.

Opium Wars: CNN Millenium & The Story of China

Here are two clips about the Opium Wars.  One is from CNN Millenium, which I often show my students and the other is from Micheal Wood in The Story of China. Both are short, about 8 to 10 minutes.

In the CNN Millenim video, the Opium War starts at 28.49 and runs to 36.50. The clip from The Story of China is eight minutes long.

MIT's Visualizing Cultures: Opening Japan, Opium War

This MIT site "Visualizing Cultures," is a great resource for World History and AP World when studying imperialism. 

The site includes outstanding visual narratives on which curriculum units are based. Most of the curriculum units ask students to analyze various images. Some of the units include the rise and fall of the Canton Trade System and the First Opium War.

If you click on a unit like the Opium War, you can click on a lesson mini database, which opens up a series of images in a PDF.

I am thinking of incorporating some of these images when we cover the Opium Wars.

The Black Ships and Samurai Curriculum is really cool and includes events from both American and Japanese perspectives. One of the lessons include two letters advising the shogun on how to respond to the Americans who are trying to open Japan to the West with instructions on how to use them.

The Meiji Revolution: Excellent Clip from the Pacific Century

Here is an excellent 14-minute clip about the Meiji Revolution from the Pacific Century, the 1992 PBS 10-part documentary about the rise of the Pacific Rim.  Part two, from which the attached clip comes, is about the Meiji Revolution.

It is dated but still does a good job. It begins in 1868 when Mutsuhito became the Meiji Emperor.

Storymaps: WWI, Black Plague, Ancient Greece

Here are some great StoryMaps from Esri's GIS Systems

Their software includes story maps for over a dozen titles in World and US history, including the Age of Exploration, the First  Crusade, Ancient Greece, the Black Death, the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire, Egyptian Funerary Practices, and many more.

The story maps are engaging and include images, maps, graphs, and primary sources presented in an engaging manner like the excerpt below from the First Crusade story map.

In addition to the First Crusade,  I also looked at the Black Death, World War I, and ancient Greece, which has many maps, amazing images,  and even a video of a drone flight over the Acropolis.

Student worksheets with each story map include charts and questions for students to complete as they move through the story map. Here is a hyperdoc I made from those questions for the Black Plague. 

Russian Revolution: Short Documentary

Here is a good 33-minute documentary about the Russian Revolution.  It starts with the Revolution of 1905 and continues through Russia's withdrawal from World War 1. 

It comes from Lucas Films and is better than most I've seen over the years.

In addition, here's a great website about the Russian Revolution, called  1917, Free History,  from Yandex Publishing.  It includes diaries, letters, memoirs,  and newspapers. 

Did Reconstruction Have Elements of Genocide? " I Saw Death Coming"

Teaching Reconstruction in US History?  Here is a fascinating overview from the viewpoints of the many freed slaves who experienced it.

Kidada Williams begins her book, "I Saw Death Coming" by reviewing developments immediately after the Civil War.  Some of these important events include the passage of the 13th Amendment, the development of the Freedman's Bureau, the Southern Black Codes, sharecropping, and the Civil Rights Act.  

Despite some of the early barriers, like the Black Codes, many blacks made some progress. For example, some blacks owned small farms, while others used skills that they developed as slaves, like working as carpenters or blacksmiths. According to Williams, another sign of progress towards land ownership was the tens of thousands who opened accounts at the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. 

Perhaps because of these gains, Williams notes in Chapter 2, whites began to halt the reconstruction of black freedom. One way these vigilantes, known as the Ku Klux Klan, did this was through night riding, which William argues was intentional, not spontaneous. 

One claim that Williams makes is that the effort to halt reconstruction had some of the hallmarks of genocide. For example, the Ku Klux Klan specifically targeted the formally enslaved. Their actions were intentional, not spontaneous, and they used propaganda to justify their actions, suggesting that blacks were always plotting to rebel against whites. 

Some of the cases of violence were horrific. According to Williams, a surgeon at a Montgomery Hospital noted that one overseer shot one woman, cut the ears off of two other women and a man, and severed another man's chin. Southern whites continued to dismiss reports of atrocities and downplay the attacks on blacks. 

While much of the violence was random, some of it was not. After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, election violence became prominent. And as more blacks voted, the more prominent the violence became.

In subsequent chapters, Kidada outlines the impact of night riding on former slaves. "Strikes were unbelievable: victim's minds struggled to make sense of what was happening.  The events undid many individuals and families. And survivors faced no end of existential questions. Would they live through a raid? How could this have happened?"

Excerpts from Kidada's book might work well in the Reconstruction unit, especially the first chapter which outlines many of the developments affecting the formerly enslaved right after the Civil War.

Global Pandemics: The Plague of Athens

Studying Greece? Here's a great interactive website about the Plague of Athens that provides context for Covid 19. And here is a hyperdoc that students can use as they explore the site. 

Follow an Athenian doctor, Nikos, as he tends to the sick and dying. Those infected by the endemic faced a horrible death. Some of the symptoms included intense fever and laceration of the bowels along with diarrhea. According to the historian Thucydides, many developed “small pustules and ulcers.” 

Nikos struggles to help his patients. One asks him to help him end his life. Bound by the Hippocratic oath, Nikos is not so sure that he can comply but he understands his patient will die a painful death. 

Decide for yourself what would you have done if you were Nikos and find out what Athens looked like during this time using this multimedia website. Click on the “Chromebook Web App.” Once the website loads, click the down arrow at the bottom of your screen. 

Your students will learn about Athens just as the plague breaks out. They will learn about possible pathogens like typhus and smallpox and what the endemic did to the political stability of Athens. The plague stretched Athens to its limits. Athenians blamed the gods, and ostracized leaders like Themistocles and Alcibiades, the most popular citizen after Socrates' death.

The Haitian Revolution: Understanding Liberte and Equality

Here are some excellent ideas for teaching the Haitian Revolution from Professor Julia Gaffield, author of Haitian Connections in the Atlantic World: Recognition after Revolution.

In the short video clip below, Professor Gaffield explains how different stakeholders in revolutionary Haiti understood equality and liberty. 

In addition to the video,  you can explore Professor Gaffield's website,  Haiti and the Atlantic World here. It includes links to both primary and secondary sources.

And here's a link to a terrific essay about Jean-Jacques Dessalines in The Conversation called Meet Haiti’s Founding Father, whose black revolution was too radical for Thomas Jefferson. Professor

Were all slaves illiterate? Not necessarily

Here's an interesting story from the PBS NewsHour about a Muslim slave from West Africa who was kidnapped and brought to Ameria in the 1800s.

The slave, Omar Ibn Said, wrote his autobiography in Arabic so it could not be edited or censored by masters or even abolitionists.

Said begins his autobiography with a quote from the Quran that says only God has true possession of human beings.

It's an interesting story because it dispels the idea that slaves were illiterate or incapable of culture.

The Library of Congress digitized the autobiography. 

It also has a link to a podcast called the Long Journey of Omar Ibn Said and a video about the preservation of Said's manuscript.

Finally, you can read a blog post about how to use the manuscript in the classroom.

Nationalism Explained

Here is one of my favorite clips to show students when discussing revolutions.

Max Fisher explains the origins of national identity in this excellent five-minute clip for the New York Times. He notes that the idea of a national identity is relatively new.

Just before the French Revolution, for example,  France was not really a nation. Half the people could not even speak French.  Ethnicity did not line up with borders either.

Over time, the idea that language race, and borders should equal a country developed.  And then nations began to create myths to suggest that their nation always existed.

Check it out. This short clip might help students understand the importance of nationalism.

TheTaiping Rebellion: The Bloodiest Civil War in History (video clip)

Why was the Taiping Rebellion a turning point in Chinese Civilization?

Scholar Rana Mitter describes the rebellion for Facing History. He notes that it was probably the single most bloody civil war in history and perhaps one of the most bizarre because it involved a figure who claimed to the younger brother of Jesus Christ.

The French Revolution: Senseless Violence?

Teaching the French Revolution?  Was it just ten years of senseless killing?

That's what columnist Peggy Noonan suggested in an essay for the Wall Street Journal.

Two historians, Mike Duncan, a revolutionary history podcaster, and David A. Bell, a history professor at Princeton, took Noonan to task on Twitter for not knowing her history.

Both historians suggest that the revolution, while horrifically violent,  made significant contributions to the world.

Here are PDFs of Duncan's and Bell's Twitter threads about Noonan's essay.

Bell reminds us of the development of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the abolition of slavery throughout the empire, the abolishment of the noble class, and the right to vote for adult men. And Professor Duncan analyzes every sentence in Noonan's essay.

Sites of Encounter- The Medieval World

One of my favorite sites for teaching medieval cities like Mali, Calicut, and Quanzhou is called  Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World.  It comes from The University of California at Davis and includes lessons with primary sources, maps, charts, and graphs.

The lesson on Calicut, for example, explores the importance of the spice trade in food and medicine and even includes medieval recipes.

A lesson about the monsoon winds in India includes a chart of monsoon sailing dates between 1480 and 1500. Students analyze the chart and figure out the best times for sailors to travel from Hormuz to Calicut or how long you would have to wait before you could sail to Malacca?

The website also includes a terrific interactive map showing the spread of religion, trade routes, states, the Black Plague, and Ibn Battuta's voyages. Take a look at the trade map below.

Islamic Art & Culture: Terrific Twitter Threads

Here are some fascinating Islamic art and architecture threads from the Arabic Art House Bayt Al Fann.

They include threads about Islamic calligraphy, Islamic gardens, unique mosques in Africa, the dome interiors of mosques worldwide, and the use of geometric patterns in Islamic art.

These threads, which I have saved as pdfs, could work well in a unit on Islam in World History.  Groups might work on one of the topics, create a short Google slide show, and then present.

• Arabic Calligraphy
• Islamic Gardens
• Geometric patterns and Islamic art
• 20 Famous and Unique Mosques in Africa
• 24 Dome Interiors in Mosques Across the World

Should we throw out everything we’ve learned about the Silk Roads?

Should we throw out everything we’ve learned about the Silk Roads? 

 The writer William Dalrymple thinks that we should in this fascinating essay for the Guardian titled "The Silk Road still casts a spell, but was the ancient trading route just a Western invention?"  He notes that the term “silk road” was a Western invention popularized by a Prussian geographer in 1877 and did not appear in English until 1938. 

Since then, Dalrymple says, “the term has captured the global imagination.” Indeed, we now teach the Silk Road as an east-west exchange over which goods like silk traveled from China to Rome. 

But, according to Dalrymple, silk was “never the main commodity imported to the west from the East.” Goods from China reached Rome through India. 

 “The best place to buy silks,” argues Dalrymple, “are the ports of Gujarat, where much of the silk that reached the west was manufactured.  If China and the west ever came face to face, they did so here in the quays, ports and bazaars of coastal India.”

Should we change how we teach the Silk Roads?
 

New Ways to Teach about Revolutions

Here is a fantastic resource for your revolutions unit called "Age of Revolutions."

It is an open-access academic journal with essays, roundtables, and book reviews.

In an ongoing series called "Teaching Revolutions,"  you can read essays that offer new ways to frame the way you teach revolutions.  

In "Finding Genres of Revolution in the Classroom," Aaron R. Hanlon, a professor at Colby College, attempts to get students to "mute the tendency to conceive of all revolution within a liberal framework."   He suggests one way to do that with a comparative exercise in which students compare the US and Haitian declarations of independence.  He notes that "students were able to trace common rhetorical strategies—an appeal to “citizens”; an exposition of grievances—but also to identify tonal differences that reflect the different stakes for US mandarins versus enslaved Haitians."

In another essay called "You Can't Teach the age of Revolutions without the Black Intellectual Tradition, Robert D. Taber, assistant professor of government and history at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina,  suggests new ways to think about "resistance and the politics of the enslaved" and reminds us that "a core piece of these revolutions was the way enslaved people pushed for their manumission and emancipation, individually and collectively." 

The website includes a section of new books about revolutions. These reviews are a good way for us teachers to learn about new research and even some revolutions we do not teach in AP World.

For example,  Elena A. Schneider, author of "The Occupation of Havana War, Trade, and Slavery in the Atlantic World" and a professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley introduces her book about the struggles of black soldiers in Havana during the imperial wars. 

Another example includes book recommendations about the history of slavery. 

Here three historians offer book suggestions for educating ourselves about the history of slavery. These books include: 

• "Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage," 
• "The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution" 
• There is A River: The Black Struggle For Freedom in America 

The Age of Revolutions Website also includes sections with links to resources for specific revolutions such as the American, French, and Haitian revolutions.