Introduction to Edexcel A Level History Paper 1, Option 1G: Germany and West Germany, 1918-89

This is an introduction Edexcel Route G: Nationalism, dictatorship and democracy in twentieth-century Europe, Paper 1, Option 1G: Germany and West Germany, 1918-89

Gives a brief overview of what will be studied, and dedicates some time to what pupils have previously learned about, assuming they have studied the period previously at KS3 or GCSE. If it wasn’t a topic previously studied, this could instead look at what they know from their own knowledge, and can be a good chance to address any stereotypes or misconceptions.

The main tasks involves pupils finding stories from newspapers that reflect the themes that will be studied (Political and governmental change, Opposition control and consent,Economic development and policies,Aspects of life in Germany - although, Britain to begin with) in our own society today. This allows them to gain understanding of what each of the themes will entail. The extension task to this is to see if they can correlate any stories seen in the papers with prior knowledge about Germany.

This will require you to buy some newspapers leading up to the lesson. Recommended is a mixture of different types of newspaper, including local, broadsheet and tabloid - this allows for the most productive discussion about attitudes of the press towards similar issues.