GCSE
HISTORY B
Unit 2: Weimar Germany,
1919 – 1929
Schemes of work
Schemes of work are suggestions and ideas about how you
might deliver GCSE History. You can use these suggestions,
adapt them to better suit your students or use your own
schemes of work.
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person – including resources, specimen exam questions, training
meetings, continuing professional development (CPD), guidance
and advice.
This Scheme of work is part of your invaluable teaching and
learning resources.
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This Scheme of work offers a number of teaching suggestions for lessons to be planned around. It
should be used in conjunction with the content laid down in the Specification and the Resource list. It
is not prescriptive but could be used to inform a school/college’s approach and scheme of work. The
school/college’s scheme of work would take account of the ability of its students, its resources and
style of teaching and learning.
The teaching suggestions are indicative of a way of approaching the content. It does not necessarily
represent the way the content will be treated in the examination paper.
Key question
How far do the early problems of the Weimar Republic suggest that it was doomed
from the start?
Outcomes
Teaching suggestions
To understand and explain:
• the origins of the Weimar
Republic after the end of the
First World War
• the political problems faced
by the new republic
• the opposition to the new
government from Left and
Right
• economic problems faced by
the new republic.
Read and watch accounts of the end of the First World War from a
German perspective.
To understand:
• some aspects of causation
and consequence
• some elements of source
evaluation
• the importance of analysing
different interpretations in the
study of an historical event.
Investigate German assumptions following the armistice about the
peace treaty that would follow.
Analyse the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and see how the terms
caused anger.
Design a poster to illustrate German grievances.
Group debate on which terms caused most anger – and why.
Comparison of constitutions – British/ American/German;
explanation of key features of Weimar constitution.
Left-wing attempts to seize power: study views of Spartacists and
their actions.
Why were the Spartacists unsuccessful (whereas Bolsheviks had
been successful in Russia two years before)?
What were the aims of the Right-wing opposition? Why did they
attract considerable support?
Why was the Weimar government able to defeat the Right-wing
putsches against it?
Investigate the causes of inflation.
Read stories about daily life during the period of hyperinflation.
Analyse the consequences of hyperinflation on German society and
on the Weimar government.
The French and Belgian invasion of the Ruhr – causes, events and
consequences.
Study posters and cartoons for this period to see the role of
political propaganda.
Was the Weimar government doomed from the start?
Why by 1923 had the Weimar government survived?
2
GCSE HISTORY B UNIT 2: WEIMAR GERMANY, 1919 – 1929
Key question
How far did the Weimar Republic recover under Stresemann?
Outcomes
Teaching suggestions
To understand and explain:
• the position of Stresemann
in the government in the later
1920s
• how the economy recovered
with a new currency and
foreign loans
• how Germany benefited from
developments in international
relations with Western Europe
• the extent of recovery:
politically, economically,
culturally – in the later 1920s.
Research Stresemann’s background and why he changed from
being Chancellor to Foreign Minister.
To understand:
• some aspects of causation
and consequence
• some elements of source
evaluation
• the importance of analysing
different interpretations in the
study of an historical event.
The Rentenmark – how it helped Germany to recover. Who did not
benefit from this?
The Dawes and Young Plans – research exactly what they
promised. Why did the USA agree to these plans?
Discuss in groups what Stresemann would want to do as Foreign
Minister following the Treaty of Versailles?
How did the Locarno Pact, membership of the League of Nations
and the Kellogg-Briand Pact help to achieve his aims?
Investigate the extent of recovery under Stresemann:
(a) Research how much industry recovered, what happened to
prices, what happened to unemployment, etc, 1924 – 1929.
(b) Research how Germany, especially Berlin, became the cultural
centre of Europe, and effects on life in Germany.
(c) Investigate how stable the Weimar government was in the later
1920s.
Analysis: how much did Stresemann achieve in restoring stability in
Germany?
Study obituaries of Stresemann to assess his reputation at the time
of his death – before the Wall Street Crash.
3
Key question
How far did the Nazi Party develop its ideas and organisation up to 1929?
Outcomes
Teaching suggestions
To understand and explain:
• how Hitler came to be leader
of the Nazi Party
• what the Nazi Party stood for
• the importance of the Munich
Putsch
• the significance of Mein Kampf
• the extent to which the Nazi
Party declined in fortune in the
Stresemann years.
Produce a timeline for early career of Hitler.
To understand:
• some aspects of causation
and consequence
• some elements of source
evaluation
• the importance of analysing
different interpretations in the
study of an historical event.
Investigations into how his political views were formed as a result
of the First World War.
Investigation into the significance of the Nazi Party in relation to
other parties before 1923.
Nazi propaganda methods – visual and written.
Draw a poster illustrating Nazi views at the time of the 25 Point
programme.
Discuss the extent to which the early Nazi Party was left-wing or
right-wing.
Research the significance of the swastika and how it came to be
the Nazi symbol.
Study the background to the Munich Putsch, including the
political situation in Bavaria.
Study differing accounts of the Munich Putsch to assess reliability.
Hitler’s trial – how this illustrated Hitler’s use of publicity.
Mein Kampf – why it is important.
The extent to which the Nazi Party declined nationally in the
Stresemann years.
The extent to which the Party got local support.
Analysis of the Nazi Party’s fortunes in 1929.
Discuss: how important were the Nazis, 1919 – 1929?
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