Thursday, January 26
History 12 final marks are posted outside my door. Parents can also view the printout sorted by student number here. Congratulations to everyone for completing the course. I enjoyed this class immensely. Good luck to all of you as you move on into your final semester in high school.
Tuesday, January 17
All History 12 students were given their fifth marks update/printout last Friday. Please ask your son or daughter to see his/her updated mark. Students wrote their final Unit test today (for Unit 6), and the remaining Exercise packages are due in-class on January 20th.
Some students have yet to email me their completed final project, the Evidence gathering and analysis assignment. Please do so immediately to mah_d@sd36.bc.ca
The final exam is during the double-block on Tuesday, January 24th. It will consist of 80 multiple choice questions, one written response and one evidence response.
Wednesday, November 30
History 12 has begun Unit 5, which looks at the remainder of the Cold War period from 1963 - 1991. In this unit students will be expected to complete a culminating project. This semester's culminating project is an EVIDENCE GATHERING PROJECT. The details are below; students can work in pairs or as singles and are to choose ONE of the topics below to find evidence on --
The project is to be completed entirely in electronic format and emailed to the teacher.
Tuesday, October 24
In preparate for our in-class Munich 1938 role-play please also consider the following from history students who have done this before. You as a group can add these notes to your country's note-sheet but you have to decide if the point is a MOTIVATION, an ISSUE, a PROPOSAL, or an ULTIMATUM.
Britain
- scared that if Hitler was to get Sudetenland then the Czechoslovakian army might resist this move militarily (ie. war between Czechoslovakia
- believed that if Hitler was given what he wanted then no global war would break out
- felt that Hitler would do whatever he had to do in order to gain the Sudetenland
- Chamberlain had twice already met personally with Hitler and felt assured that Hitler's aim was to get the Sudeten only and stop there
- pressure Benes to accept the terms of giving up the Sudeten, and get an assurance that Czech army will not mobilize as a result
- do whatever is necessary to get Benes to agree to Hitler's terms
- convince France that British position is the best position in order to avoid war
- Czech army and government will be less inclined to make any military moves if they have no big countries to turn to for military help
France
- prevent war at all costs
- need more time to continue reinforcing the Maginot Line (border between France and Germany)
- Britain may not agree to come to our rescue if Germany were to ever invade France again
- support appeasement under condition that Britain guarantee their alliance with us in the event of war
- fearful of possible economic sanctions against us from Britain if appeasement is not support
- perhaps Britain and France should not be so fearful of Germany because the combined British and French army is still larger than that of Germany's
Germany
- Lebensraum
- Anschluss
- ToV is blatantly unfair, reparations too high
- it is a country's right to be able to protect itself militarily
- unite all Germans under one country (Sudeten area is predominantly Germany speaking)
- allow non-Germans in Sudeten time to leave
- cancel reparation payments, allow Germany to re-arm
- Britain and France made no moves politically or militarily when Rhineland was reoccupied by German army
- "I have no more territorial demands to make in Europe". (quote Adolf Hitler, 1938)
- can agitate for Nazi support in Sudeten area just like what was done in Austria earlier for Anschluss
Czechoslovakia
- is a democratic republic established by the Paris Peace Conference of 1919
- had already formed the Little Entente with Rumania and Yugoslavia in 1921 to prevent Hungarian territorial demands
- Sudeten area contains 60% of all of Czechoslovakia's coal, iron and steel production
- pressure Germany to give up their claim to Sudeten, use threat of force if necessary
- Hitler is a war monger
- want British and French backing but will they give it to us?
- Germany may give an ultimatum of risk war if Sudeten is not given up
- Britaina and France may threaten that Czechoslovakia may might alone if there is a war over this
Italy
- recently agreed to Hitler forming Anschluss with Austria even though Austria shares a common border with Italy
- support Hitler and take advantage of the economic benefits of increased trade with Austria now
- Italian army on paper was one of the largest ground forces in Europe, but in reality it was not therefore need more time and money to improve the Italian army's capabilities
- crisis between September 23-28 when the Czech army mobilizes under the threat of a Nazi takeover of Sudeten
- Mussolini offers his "services" as a mediator to try to broker an agreement between Germany and Czechoslovakia
- power shift, Italy is not as strong as Germany militarily any longer
- Germany army not able to occupy parts of Austria and make real threats if necessary to Italy
- want to maintain control of Ethiopia (Abbyssinia)
- Italy not ready for any level of world conflict therefore buy more time to militarize
- suggest excluding Russia and Czechoslovakia in order to increase the chances of coming to a favourable solution (ie. give in to Hitler's demands)
- gain Hitler's trust and support by favouring his position
- Mussolini can speak English, German and French therefore he was the best person to choose and the mediator
- raise Mussolini's status in the international world if he can be seen as the person who made this deal happen
- reaffirm support for the Rome-Berlin Axis (ie. full military support for the Third Reich)
Japan
- Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere
- lack of resources in Japan (ie. oil, iron)
- Japan is not an autarky nor is like to become one because of a lack of natural resources
- need to get out of harmful effects of Great Depression on Japan
- 2/3 of international trade had decreased since the start of the depression
- USA is slowing its sales of oil to Japan
- Korekiyo Takahasi is proposing we spend our way out of the depression
- Hideki Tojo has expansionist tendencies; wants to show off the superiority of the Japanese military (incidentally, Tojo will be hanged in 1945 after being found guilty of war crimes by the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal following the end of World War 2)
- Fumimaro Konoye might be easily swayed but for most part does not want war with any of the Big 3; he will accept a war with China however in an effort to stake Japanese claims there (incidentally Konoye will commit suicide in 1945 after Japan surrenders)
Spain
- publicly support Hitler militarily even though Spain is in the middle of a civil war
- let France know that a war with Germany means that Spain may side with Germany and therefore France would have a potential enemy on their western border
- Spain's nationalist army is an experience one, after all they have been fighting most recently in the civil war
- pressure France into agreeing with demands that will allow Hitler to gain the Sudeten
- Spain was neutral during World War One but would we stay neutral if say another war started? Bluff power here.
- France may be less inclined to conduct trade with Spain if Spain were to ally with Germany
- Russia has been supporting the Popular Front during the civil war so Russia may not be sympathic to Fascist-Spanish concerns
Wednesay, October 12
In an effort to make more meaningful links between the technology knowledge that many of our students already possess, or would like to acquire, and to incorporate a professional development theme this year of "shift happens", some History 12 students have decided to do some bonus work online using different pieces of software. Take a look at some examples:
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