Germany Seminar: What was life like for the people of Germany during WWI?*

*Specific to AQA spec

Be honest: how many of you get through the Kaiser Years in just a few lessons? Technically it's 28 out of 55 years of a depth study but since it has yet to properly feature on an exam paper, it is hard to justify devoting much more time than, say, the Reichstag Fire. Every year, I say to my students in those last crucial weeks- "Guys, you have to revise the Kaiser Years - it's got to come up this year!" (And one day it will, big style).

So in my lecture series, I cover the Kaiser Years properly. And more importantly, I really try to make them relevant to the rest of the Germany course. I look at how Germany was born out of Prussian militarism and this gave so many German people a patriotic disposition that led to bitter disappointment after defeat in WWI - and ultimately, their gravitation to the Nazi Party. I explain the roots of the SPD, the growth of urbanisation and its link to left-wing ideologies, and the façade of democracy under the Kaiser that would pave the way for the Weimar constitution. These lectures help fit the Kaiser Years into the rest of the depth study - rather than it feeling like a quick bolt-on at the start. Plus, the seminar gives a solid foundation for what I believe is the hardest question stem of the whole GCSE - the dreaded 'Which is the most convincing...?' question!