The Weimar Republic and the Rise of Nazi Germany

Part I (1914-1929) focuses on the causes and effects of World War I, the Versailles Treaty and the German Revolution, the inflationary period, and the rise of extremist political and economic ideologies. There are two lessons aligned with Part I: 1) Creating Historical Narratives: Economics, Politics, and Society in the 1920s, and 2) After World War I: Ideologies, Empires, and Uncertainties.

The three case studies in Part II (1924-1929), Berlin, Essen, and Munich, address the divergent social and cultural experiences in Germany during the so-called “Golden Twenties.” Students learn that these diverse experiences both characterized the Weimar era and resulted in increased political polarization. There are two lessons aligned with Part II: 1) Interwar Germany: Exploring Google Earth, and 2) Analyzing Interwar Photomontage: Art and the Weimar Era.

Part III (1929-1939) explores the end of Weimar, the entrenchment of antisemitism, and the rise of the Nazi dictatorship. The reading looks at Nazi Party propaganda and messaging; the oppression, silencing, and violence against different groups; and resistance to the Nazi dictatorship. There are two lessons aligned with Part III: 1) Maps and the Telling of History, and 2) Kristallnacht: Antisemitic Violence and Jewish Resistance.

Students work in small groups to create short “historical narratives” based on curated bundles of diverse primary source quotations, images, and data that address various themes of early 1920s Germany. Students work in small groups to explore political uncertainty, violence, women’s rights, entertainment, inflation, antisemitism, nationalism, bitterness about the Versailles Treaty, and more.

Working in pairs, students analyze primary and secondary sources about events throughout Europe and the former German colonies after World War I. Students then work in small groups to better understand the major conflicting political ideologies of the period and recognize how uncertain the future seemed to those living in these societies. The lesson concludes with the class examining historical patterns and reflecting on the future of post-World War I Europe.

Students learn how to utilize Google Earth maps and practice general map-reading skills. They explore an interactive Google Earth map filled with historical content that builds upon their Part II reading. Students develop historical empathy skills by examining historical events in Berlin, Essen, and Munich alongside contemporary “street views” of urban landscapes and built environments. Students also articulate how learning about different places during the Weimar era helped them understand the complexity of the Weimar Republic.

Using photomontages created in interwar Germany, students are introduced to art as a historical source. Students learn about photomontage as an art form and its post-World War I context. They explore how photomontage in Weimar-era Germany reflected and expressed social, political, and cultural views and beliefs. Teachers can use an information sheet, annotated slideshow, and directed questions to guide students as they analyze the artworks.

Students first learn to analyze a map and assess its perspective, audience, purpose, and bias. Following this introduction, students work in groups to analyze a set of maps from a popular 1936 German school atlas. Students consider what this set of historical maps reveals about Nazi educational objectives and propaganda.

Following a close reading of primary sources from Jewish victims of Kristallnacht, students recognize the centrality of antisemitism to Nazi-led Kristallnacht violence and consider various forms of Jewish resistance during Kristallnacht. This lesson employs journaling and self-reflection and asks students to identify the importance of first-person accounts for learning about history.

Students engage in a step-by-step class project to create a set of slides that effectively communicates how and why the Nazi Party gained power in Germany. In small groups, students gather evidence from throughout the curriculum unit and develop an argument in support of one primary cause. As a class, students articulate connections among the different reasons, evaluate the relative strength of the different causal arguments, and collectively create a comprehensive final project assessing the Nazi’s rise to power.