Begin by asking students what art means to them. Next, ask students to name different types of art and write down these responses in a communal space.

Pull up the Visual Essay: Free Expression in the Weimar Republic by Facing History and Ourselves. Read the Introduction to the Visual Essay as a class and scroll through the different artworks. Prompt students to look at the art and think about what they see, what the piece represents, and whether or not it sheds a positive light on Germany. The brief descriptions accompanying each piece should help.

One of the pieces featured, Hannah Hoch, The Kitchen Knife, 1919, has a video (4.5 minutes) from Smarthistory that takes a deeper dive into the aspects of the piece. Show this video when you come to that piece.

After showing that video, ask students the following:

• Why could an art piece like this only be created in a democracy?
• How does this piece demonstrate art being a form of social criticism?

In pairs or small groups, have students respond to the three questions at the bottom of the visual essay (shown below). Give students approximately 10 minutes to discuss on their own before opening up into a class discussion to go over their answers.

1. Fritz Mackensen’s 1982 painting Der Saeugling (The Baby) is one example of the more traditional art that many Germans were familiar with before World War I. Compare and contrast this painting with the more modern Weimar-era works of art that follow in this visual essay. What differences do you notice? What might those differences reveal about tensions present within German society during the Weimar Republic?
2. What can we learn about history from artwork? How do the works of art here connect to what you have already learned about the Weimar era in Germany? How do they extend your knowledge of this era? How do they challenge your thinking about Weimar Germany?
3. Is freedom of expression important to a democracy? Under what conditions, if any, should such freedom be restricted?

Explain to students that World War I was known to be the most destructive war the world had seen. It ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1918.

Share this image by Facing History and Ourselves with your students. What can you gather from this picture?

Direct students to the resource ‘Treaty of Versailles: The War Guilt Clause’ by Facing History and Ourselves.

Explain to the class that in addition to taking full responsibility for the war, Germany would have to pay heavy reparations, had considerable territory losses, and was required to dramatically reduce their military.

As a class, discuss the following questions:

1. What is the significance of Germany taking the responsibility for starting World War I?
2. How do you think the resentment in signing the War Guilt Clause played into the rise of Nazism?

Ask the students what they already know about World War I. Try to get students thinking about this: Why is learning about World War I important when introducing the Holocaust?

Walk students through the resource World War I by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Start off by going over the Key Facts at the top of the page to provide students with a feel for the topic. Read through the resource as a class.

You do not need to watch the video, Path to Nazi Genocide during this lesson as it is featured in the multimedia source for World War I. If time permits, you may choose to include it in this lesson.

Divide the class into groups of three or five to discuss the Critical Thinking Questions found at the bottom of the resource page. Ask groups to designate one person to write down their answers.

Reconvene as a class to go over the student’s answers. Have groups add to their answers with notes from the classroom discussion.

Explain that maps are one way to analyze the impact of World War I. Tell students that you are going to look at changes in empires and ask if they know what an empire is. If they don’t, provide a brief definition. Remind students that in World War I, the Axis powers were led by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire (which became Turkey after the war), and the Allied powers were led by Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia (until 1917) and the United States (beginning in 1917).

Access the Empires before World War I map from 1914 and the The World after World War I map from 1920 from Facing History and Ourselves. Display them side by side for students. Ask students to look closely at the maps, noticing differences between the two maps. Students can begin by looking at the colors, and seeing which have increased and which have decreased. Students can then identify which empires and countries expanded their territory between 1914 and 1920, and which lost territory. Ask students to notice which countries existed in 1914 but not in 1920, and which countries are on the map in 1920 but not in 1914.

Divide the class into groups of 3 – 5 students

Assign an empire or country from the 1914 map to each group. Have each group write down answers to the following questions using information from the maps.

1. What land did the empire or country gain or lose from the war?
2. Looking at the changes between the maps, how do you think the changes affected the attitudes and feelings of the citizens of your assigned country or empire?

As the groups reflect, highlight their answers to the final question. These can be used as touchpoints in thinking about the precursors of the Holocaust.

Tell students that they will be watching a video on the aftermath of World War I. Ask students why they think it is important to study World War I when setting the groundwork for Holocaust education.

Watch the video, Chapter 1: Aftermath of World War I and the Rise of Nazism, 1918-1933 by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

While the students watch, have them answer the following questions:

1. What was the political and economic scene like after World War I?
2. What did Hitler do while in jail? How might his incarceration have helped his public image?
3. How did Hitler get into a position of power? Was he elected?
4. How did the emergency decree get signed? What impact did it have?

Go over the questions as a class, clearing up any points of confusion any of the students may have.

Open up a class discussion with the questions below using pre-writing or pair-and-share if appropriate for your students.

1. Advances in technology meant that war became more destructive, the video mentions the introduction of poison gas. What advancements in war have been made since World War II that cause more destruction? Are there any advantages to the new methods of war?
2. Why do you think it was so hard for Germans to accept that they had lost the war?
3. Were there any signs you noticed that could have foreshadowed what was to come?

Ask students how they might go about solving a problem under difficult circumstances. (Maybe they want money for a game system that their parents do not want to pay for. Perhaps their parents do not approve of them spending time with a new friend.) How does being faced with a difficult problem help inspire creativity?

Watch the video, Facing History Scholar Reflections: The Weimar Republic by Facing History and Ourselves once through as a class. Watch it a second time pausing after the following sections to discuss. Ask students what questions they have about the clips. Go through the questions that accompany each clip.

Beginning – 1:11 Intro to Weimar and the end of WWI

• How did the end of WWI set the stage for what was to come?
• Do you think the Allies had other options than the terms they set at Versailles?

1:20-2:32 Politics and the arts

• Name some ways German society changed during the early Weimar years?
• What are some of the most interesting developments during this era, in your opinion?

2:32-4:08 Outsiders and Insiders

• What was the event that led to rising popularity for the extremists?
• What is opportunism?

4:09-End Growing popularity with the Nazi party

• How do you think the Nazi party was able to gain so much traction?
• Why did people follow Nazism? Was it because of their anti-Jewish stance or for other reasons?

Open up a discussion about how the Nazi party aimed to solve the problems prevalent during the Weimar years.

1. What problems were people facing?
2. How did the Nazi party benefit from these hard times?
3. How were people convinced by their rhetoric?

Explain to students that they will be reading an overview of the Weimar Republic and how that era helped foster the rise of Nazism. Discuss with students that the creation of the first democracy in Germany seemed to happen overnight, making it a time of confusion and excitement in politics, culture, and society as a whole.

Direct students to the Echoes & Reflections resource, The Weimar Republic and the Rise of the Nazi Party. Have them read through the document using the 3Ps method- taking notes on what they find a) Powerful b) Puzzling and c) Propelling.

In order to familiarize yourself, and your class with this model, please look over this guide: 3Ps: A Critical Reading Guide.

Split the class up into groups of four or five. Give students a chance to try to help answer each other’s puzzling reflections and share their more profound insights. Then ask groups to share what remains puzzling to them. Allow 10-15 minutes for group work.

Finally, assign each group one of the discussion questions below. Double up if necessary. Allow the group 5 minutes to formulate a response that they can share with the class in large discussion thereafter.

1. What were some of the main problems that needed to be addressed during this time?
2. This time was defined by new changes and challenges, what were some of these new developments?
3. When reading through the Selections From ‘The Program of the National-Socialist (Nazi) German Workers Party’, which stands out to you the most? Why is this noteworthy?
4. Regarding the Program of the Nazi Party, do any of the demands seem reasonable to you?
5. Look back at the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. Does it explain why the German people might be open to a more Nationalist view? Why do you think that is?

Ask students what they think Germany was like following the end of World War I. What might they expect it to have been like, after a war that saw them lose a great deal of power? Would they expect that the initial response would be radical democracy? Would they expect that democracy could lead to Nazism?

Pull up the resource, ‘The Weimar Republic: The Fragility of Democracy‘ by Facing History and Ourselves. Scroll to the bottom where all of the readings are located. Point out the different titles of resources that represent all that was happening during this brief period in German history.

Click on the reading titled, ‘Virtual Essay: Free Expression in the Weimar Republic‘ Read through the first paragraph and click through some of the images with the class. They will be assigned different readings from this page.

Divide the class into groups of three to five. Assign each group a reading. You may choose others, but recommendations include ‘Rumors of Betrayal’, ‘When Money Had No Value’, ‘Women in the Weimar Republic’, ‘A New Economic Crisis’ and ‘Voices in the Dark.’

Have students read through their article in groups and prepare to share what they learned from it with the class. Students should be able to answer what contribution it played into the fragile democracy.

Open up the lesson with this simple activity: Imagine you have to split one pizza among four people. One person is gluten free, one is a vegetarian, one is allergic to olives, and the other LOVES meat. How do you compromise? What kind of pizza can you order that everyone could agree to?

You may want to draw a pizza on the board and have students raise their hands with options for crust and toppings.

Explain to the class that they will be divided into three groups in order to simulate the negotiations for the Paris Peace Conference. This document will provide the three groups with the information they will need in order to speak on behalf of either France, Britain, or the United States.

Divide the class into three groups and assign them to be France, Britain, or the US. Ask the students to read the materials for their country to understand where they stand in the negotiations.

The worksheets that will be used below can be found on the Treaty of Versailles Simulation resource.

Provide students with the Options for Negotiation (page 4) so they are able to see what their options are during the negotiations.

It would be beneficial if you can arrange the classroom in a manner that would allow the three groups to converse openly during the negotiations, such as forming a giant circle with all chairs facing towards the center.

As the teacher you will be the one facilitating the negotiations. Using the Options for Negotiation (page 4), ask the first question to the class as a point for negotiation. You may not have time to go over every question so read them through and pick out which ones you find the most suited for your class. Provide students with the Negotiation Worksheet (page 5) to record the terms of agreement they were able to come up with.

Explain to students that they are going to be watching a video that will help explain the Treaty of Versailles, which brought an end to World War I and set the terms for the interwar period. Since Germany started WWI, do they suppose the Treaty was kind to them or unkind?

Watch YouTube videos, The Treaty of Versailles, What Did the Big Three Want? 1/2 and The Treaty of Versailles, Terms of the Treaty 2/2 from Simple History.

While the students are watching, have them take note of some things that stood out to them. Were they aware that Germany did not have a seat at the negotiation table?

Divide the class into groups of four. Have them discuss their first reactions to the contents of the video amongst themselves. Give 5 minutes for them to address their first impressions and questions that they have about the video. Ask them thereafter to share these thoughts with the large group and ask their questions to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Then review the discussion questions as a class.

1. Did you think the reparations decided in the Treaty of Versailles were fair?
2. What are the consequences of imposing such harsh punishments on Germany?
3. Would it have been more constructive to focus on how to settle international disputes during this conference?
4. What do you think the long-term consequences and challenges ahead for Germany might be?

Ask each group to return to discussion and address these questions. Give 10 minutes for discussion and then ask each group to respond to one question in an effort to kick off broader conversations about each.