Author’s commentary

Origins of the Cold War Lesson Plans

This Scheme of Work supports the www.johndclare.net Unit on The Origins of the Cold War.

It consists of eight ‘lesson plans’, each of which may or may not fit into an hour’s teaching, and all of which could be extended to a take a number of timetabled periods, depending on how you choose to teach them.

1. 
   What was the ‘Cold War’?
   
2. 
   Underlying Causes
   
3. 
   Yalta and Potsdam
   
4. 
   Hiroshima
   
5. 
   Salami tactics
   
6. 
   Fulton
   
7. 
   Truman Doctrine/Marshall Plan
   
8. 
   The Berlin Blockade
   

You should not be spending much more than half-a-dozen weeks on this topic.

Note that all the worksheets – which are accessible from the webpages as well as from this document – are password-protected. This is simply to prevent pupils tampering with the content, but you may need to explain that they can enter information ONLY in the specified locations on the worksheet; they need simply to click in the top left corner of the box in which they want to enter their answer, and then type as normal.

If you or your pupils wish to change this, or if you wish to alter the worksheets to adapt them to your own needs, click on ‘Unprotect document’ in the ‘Tools’ menu – the password is the single letter ‘w’ (lower case).

If you have not yet taught your pupils HOW TO DO the different kinds of exam questions, you will wish to set aside a number of lessons to introduce the pupils to this before you set them the AQA and the OCR exemplars attached to the webpages. It would probably be best to introduce the questions one at a time over a number of weeks.

Lesson 1: What was the ‘Cold War’?

Background

The advent of the League reminds me in many ways of the inauguration of Barack Obama – invested with such hopes and expectations that disappointment and its associated vituperation were inevitable. How could ANY organisation achieve such ambitious objectives?

Lesson plan
Notes	Although neither syllabus stipulates a study of ‘What was the Cold War?’, this lesson gives the pupils an overview of the topic which will – as they study the events of the origins of the Cold War over the next six weeks – provide them with an essential framework on which to hang the new knowledge they will be acquiring.
Historical skills	Content comprehension Analysis of a cartoon
Learning modes	Visual		Auditory		Kinaesthetic	
Resources	All the resources cited in the lesson plan can be accessed from the Hot War/Cold War webpage.
Starter idea(s)	When the pupils were small children, they could behave in a very different way to how they do now. When a small child runs and leaps on grandma, grandma is delighted and gives it a love. When it stumbles and falls on the coffee table, it hurts itself and has to be cuddled. Invite the pupils to consider what would happen now if they ran and leapt at grandma, or fell onto the coffee table. Ask them to think of other things in which they can/must behave differently (more responsibly/ with restraint) now they are much bigger and stronger. Introduce the idea of overkill (or ‘saturation’) – tell the pupils that In 1964, Dr Seymour Melman of Columbia University, and industrial engineer, estimated that the USA had enough nuclear weapons to kill every living thing on earth 1250 times over, and Russia had enough to kill everything 145 times over.   Just like the pupils when they grow big, when the superpowers acquired the ability to destroy every living thing on earth, they had to behave differently/ more responsibly/ with restraint. Ask the pupils. Students of their age are too big to fight now without seriously damaging their opponent. So what do they do to ‘get’ people? Take the pupils’ suggestions (nasty tricks/ messages on Facebook/ shunning/ mocking etc.) relate to the idea of the ‘Cold War’ – the superpowers were in conflict … they just found ways other than hot war to attack each other. You will want to spend a short time looking at the overview of the topic and the specific emphases of your specification. Returning to the Hot War/Cold War webpage, mouseover your Board icon at the top of the webpage to make sure the pupils know why they are studying this topic.
Content idea(s)	Read through the content of the Hot War/Cold War webpage. Explain the diagram – how it starts with two sides with intractable ideological differences, through a tense wartime alliance (Yalta), then a deteriorating relationship (Hitler’s death to Fulton), then a series of escalating crises (Greece to Czechoslovakia), finishing with open (though non-military) confrontation. Ask the pupils to read the ‘Basics’ pamphlet on the Cold War 1945-64 as far as April 1949. Return to the diagram on the Hot War/Cold War webpage; it suggests that Churchill’s Fulton Speech was the turning point. From the little they have learned so far, do the pupils agree? Tell them that they will be able to form their own opinion over the next few lessons. Require the pupils to learn the ten events as a sequence; ways to do this would be: a. to make sets of flashcards and ask the pupils in team to sort them into order; b. to project onto the board a blank version of the diagram, and invite pupils to label the dots; c. ask the pupils to write a poem (or rap) so that they can remember the events.
Written element	There are no exam-style questions on this webpage. Pupils can complete their own notes on the topic using the worksheet.
Plenary idea(s)	Discuss the concept of MAD (learning the words), and the paradox that having the ability to annihilate your enemy in fact kept the world from having a world war for the next fifty years. Spend some time as a whole class analysing the cartoon, Source A, perhaps using this ppt. What, according to the cartoon, was the effect of the atomic bomb on the peace process?
Further study

Lesson 2: Underlying Causes

Background

Pupils from culturally-deprived backgrounds will need a lot of support work to remind/teach them about most of the terms they will meet in this lesson, e.g. ideology, Communism, Capitalism, human rights, democracy, dictatorship, ‘buffer’ states … to the point where you might wish to teach a Citizenship lesson introducing these ideas before you attempt this lesson.

It is vital to get these basics established/understood, or you will spend the rest of the topic being asked: ‘Which were the Russians – communists or capitalists?’ etc.

Lesson plan
Notes	You may wish to draw on your pupils’ understanding of long-term/ short-term/ trigger causes.
Historical skills	Content comprehension. Source analysis – meaning of a cartoon.
Learning modes	Visual		Auditory		Kinaesthetic	?
Resources	All the resources cited in the lesson plan can be accessed from the Causes of the Cold War webpage, or from the links on this page.
Starter idea(s)	‘What caused THAT!’ Teachers are often surprised by the apparently sudden eruption of fights or nastiness; pupil X does something that is to all appearances neutral/mild, and pupil Y reacts in a very extreme way. Ask the pupils why this is so – they will tell you that mostly these occasions stem from long-standing bad feeling. When you know that pupil X hates you, you read into his words and actions meanings that other do not notice. It doesn’t matter whether the slight was real or imaginary – you just expect, and therefore assume, and therefore find the worst. Explain that the Cold War was the same – the two sides KNEW that the other side loathed them, which meant that when it came to the ‘ten events’, they immediately expected, and therefore assumed, and therefore found the worst. This lesson concentrates on the underlying hatred which led them always to ‘find the worst’ in the situations which developed after the war. On the Causes of the Cold War webpage, mouseover your Board icon at the top of the webpage to make sure the pupils know why they are studying this topic.
Content idea(s)	Give the pupil at least 30 minutes to study the Causes of the Cold War webpage – perhaps by getting them to complete sections 1-4 of the worksheet on the topic. Encourage all pupils, especially the more able, to explore the links on the two sides’ ideological differences. If you wish the pupils to do some group-work, divide the class into groups of three. In each group, one pupil will represent the USSR and one the USA; they will have an argument about which country has the better ‘ideology/way of life’. (Given the cultural background of the pupils, they always find it easier to defend the capitalist way of life than the communist, so it is a good idea to bias your choices so that the more able/better arguers are steered towards the ‘Communist’ side – as long as it’s not too obvious.) Give them 5-10 minutes to debate which is the superior ideology and why; encourage the pupils to use facts and explanation/reasoning as well as enthusiasm. The third member of the group is the referee, whose job it will be to report who ‘won’ the debate. (This is an excellent role for the quieter and/or less able members of the group.) Tell them to score the two opponents, not only on who has the better of the argument, but on facts and explanation/reasoning. After 5-10 minutes, ask the ‘referees’ to ‘report back’ on who won their debate (and why). Ask them how well their debaters did. Then either: a. repeat the debate as a whole class in a colloquium+questions session, or b. (if one of the paired debates was especially good) ask that couple to repeat their debate in front of the whole class (you may wish to encourage appropriate audience response). With less able pupils, you may wish first to work through the information, explaining and teaching the basic concepts, before you attempt the debate. Spend some time as a whole class analysing the cartoon, Source B, perhaps using this ppt.
Written element	Pupils can complete their own notes on the topic by finishing the worksheet. There are exam-style questions which meet both the AQA and the OCR specifications.
Plenary idea(s)	At the head of the Causes of the Cold War webpage, PJ Larkin likened the Cold War to a religious crusade. Do the pupils agree – in what ways were the two ideologies ‘religions’? It is important that the pupils realise that not only were the two sides ideologically divided, but that they were aggressive ideologies – both sides felt that, in order for the world to be happy, they had (the right) to make the rest of the world like them. Consequently, they were continually ‘treading on each other’s toes’ – the two ideologies were competing ideologies. If they had lived in those times, where would the pupils have preferred to be born 9 (and why) – the USSR or the USA? Study Source C on the Causes of the Cold War webpage. Was the Cold War ‘inevitable’?
Further study	Teachers delivering the AQA specification may want to ask their pupils to read/?note my textbook – John D Clare, GCSE History AQA B Modern World History (Heinemann 978-0435-510-22-0) – pages 60-61. Teachers delivering the OCR specification may want to ask their pupils to read/?note the textbook – Ben Walsh, OCR GCSE Modern World History (Hodder 978-0-340-98183-2) – pages 68-69.

Lesson 3: Yalta and Potsdam

Background

When I first started teaching Modern World History, I used to spend TWO lessons on this topic. It struck me that Yalta was so very much the foundation for all that happened afterwards, that it deserved its own lesson. Then I did a second lesson to meet the requirements of the (then) specification, which asked the pupils to know the differences between Yalta and Potsdam.

However, the pupils found the Yalta Conference both difficult and uninspiring (I suppose all that diplomatic manoeuvring is an acquired taste), and so – with time pressing – I took to teaching it in one unit.

However, I still personally find it significant that the Yalta Conference (which set the principles) turned out to be the decisions which shaped the modern world, where Potsdam (which was supposed to finalise the details) failed to make any progress and the Conference of Ministers (which was supposed to make the peace) broke up in acrimony.

Lesson plan
Notes
Historical skills	Content comprehension Evaluation
Learning modes	Visual		Auditory		Kinaesthetic	
Resources	All the resources cited in the lesson plan can be accessed from the 1920s webpage, or from the links on this page.
Starter idea(s)	I accompanied a PE golf group to a driving range. After a while, the pupils persuaded me to have a go. I had never held a golf club in my life before, but I had seen the coaching cartoon-strips in the newspapers, so I held the club right, set myself right, and hit the ball. Though I say it myself, the result was fantastic, and the ball flew a genuinely impressive distance – certainly better than any of the pupils had managed. After a brief discussion about whether or not I had really never played before, the cry went up: ‘Have another go, sir!’ This time, I decided to ‘go for it’. To all intents and purposes, I thought I did exactly as I had before, only this time I really gave the club some ‘welly’. I suppose it was a miracle I didn’t dislocate my shoulder altogether. I missed the ball. The club swung right round and clobbered the back of my leg. I put my shoulder out for a week. Apart from the fact that the pupils enjoyed the second swing much more than the first, it was a disaster! You will be able to substitute your own ‘second-time-was-a-disaster’ story. The question is: What was different? Take the pupils’ suggestions – there is no right or wrong answer. Ask the pupils for their own stories which prove that the saying: ‘Second time’s the charm’ is NOT true. The moral for the lesson, of course, is that Yalta was (apparently) a success, Potsdam was a failure. On the Yalta and Potsdam webpage, mouseover your Board icon at the top of the webpage to make sure the pupils know why they are studying this topic.
Content idea(s)	More able pupils might be asked to read and note the Yalta and Potsdam webpage, perhaps using the worksheet. With less able pupils, you will need to read/talk them through the content, explaining the issues/ideas as you go along. Whatever, it is vital, before the pupils start thinking about the content, that they gain a familiarity and understanding of it. Divide the pupils in small groups (twos or threes). Photocopy, cut up, shuffle and hand out the ‘cards’ on the Yalta and Potsdam Differences factsheet. Explain that there are 9 cards which are facts about the Yalta Conference, and 9 facts about the Potsdam Conference. Ask the pupils: 1. to sort the cards into two piles of 9, one for the Yalta, the other for the Potsdam, conference; go through the pupils’ choices as a whole class to make sure they have chosen correctly. 2. to sort the cards into matching pairs (as I have done in the Yalta and Potsdam Differences factsheet); again, discuss the pupils’ suggestions as a whole class. 3. to split the pairs into those which illustrate the fact that Potsdam was much less successful than Yalta, and those which provide clues as to WHY Potsdam was much less successful than Yalta. Collate as a whole class the reasons why the Potsdam Conference was less successful than the Yalta Conference; insist that the pupils explain their reasons. Spot the difference. Ask the pupils to compare Source B on the Causes of the Cold War webpage: With this British cartoon of 1941, entitled: ‘Love Conquers All’: How (and why) had things changed between this cartoon of 1941 and the 1945 Low cartoon? Draw the pupils’ attention to the fact that Churchill, in the header quote of the Yalta and Potsdam webpage, says much the same thing. Does the class agree? Spend some time as a whole class analysing the cartoon, Source A, perhaps using this ppt. and/or Source B, perhaps using this ppt. and/or Source E, perhaps using this ppt. Yalta Conference With more able pupils, you might wish to ‘go deeper’ about the Yalta Conference. To what extent was Yalta a ‘success’ – or did the Cold War begin at Yalta? Ben Walsh, OCR GCSE Modern World History (Hodder 978-0-340-98183-2) – pages 70-73 – has an excellent Sources exercise on the Yalta Conference. With more able pupils, the activity to write two reports of the Yalta Conference: one for the British government, the other for the British newspapers reinforces the impression of a conference which was superficially successful, but which under the surface was laying the foundations for later failure.
Written element	To the extent that they have not already done so during their research, pupils should complete their own notes on the topic using the worksheet. There are exam-style questions which meet both the AQA and the OCR specifications.
Plenary idea(s)	The historian Alan Bullock (1991) thought that 'Stalin's diplomatic successes at Yalta and Potsdam were as great as Hitler's in the 1930s'.  Were the conferences a ‘victory’ for Stalin? Who was the most successful statesman at the Conferences? Who was the greatest failure?
Further study	Teachers delivering the AQA specification may want to ask their pupils to read/?note my textbook – John D Clare, GCSE History AQA B Modern World History (Heinemann 978-0435-510-22-0) – page 62. For the OCR specification, Ben Walsh, OCR GCSE Modern World History (Hodder 978-0-340-98183-2) – pages 70-75 – is exhaustively detailed.

Lesson 4: Hiroshima

Lesson plan
Notes	This topic is strictly only for AQA pupils, but OCR teachers may wish to study it as part of their investigation of who was more to blame for the Cold War, Stalin or Truman.
Historical skills	Content comprehension and analysis. Source analysis – meaning of a cartoon.
Learning modes	Visual		Auditory		Kinaesthetic	
Resources	All the resources cited in the lesson plan can be accessed from the Hiroshima webpage, or from the links on this page.
Starter idea(s)	There are certain things after which ‘things can never be the same again. After infidelity in a marriage, for example, BOTH partners can never act in the same way again. Football after the Heysel Stadium. Community relations after the miner’s strike. Social Services after Victoria Climbie. A family when one brother emigrates to Australia. Can the pupils think of other examples? Make a list on the board. On the Hiroshima webpage, mouseover your Board icon at the top of the webpage to make sure the pupils know why they are studying this topic.
Content idea(s)	Give the pupils some time to study/discuss the Hiroshima webpage in pairs, until you are sure that they have had time to appropriate the narrative story and the salient facts. In particular, direct the more able pupils to the links on the atomic bomb timeline. Divide the pupils into small groups of 2 or 3. Explain to them that they have been tasked to write the briefing papers for a role play game. In this fictional ‘educational role play’, the imaginary students are going to be asked to play the part of either a team of Soviet negotiators or a team of American negotiators at a summit meeting to discuss what the world is going to do about the atomic bomb. At that meeting, the teams will be given four possible decisions: 1. decommission the bomb and destroy the technology. 2. share the technology between the major powers only. 3. make the technology freely available to the whole world. 4. America keeps the technology to itself and shares it with no one. Explain that, to play the game, each team will need a ‘briefing paper’, to inform the students about the facts and the issues, so they can play the game realistically, not anachronistically. Divide up your groups into two ‘sides’, charging some to provide briefing papers for ‘the Soviet team’, others for ‘the Americans’. (If you have played any of my role-play games with the pupils, they will be familiar with the kind of thing you require.) Explain that those briefing papers will need to include: 1. a chronology of KEY FACTS relevant to that side. 2. a short comment on the significance of each fact to that side. 3. a brief comment on how they might react to each of the four decision options. KEY FACTS Implications for you etc. SUGGESTED REACTIONS: Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4 When the pupils have completed their briefing papers, amalgamate the groups (still within their own ‘side’) into larger groups so that they can compare briefing papers. Ask them to select (or synthesise) the best. Then you can either: 1. put the ‘Soviet’ groups with ‘American’ groups and let them actually play the game they have just devised, or: 2. ask the teams to present their ‘exemplar’ briefing paper to the rest of the class.
Written element	Pupils can complete their own notes on the topic using the worksheet. There are exam-style questions which meet the AQA specification.
Plenary idea(s)	Revisit the list of ‘things-can-never-be-the-same’ examples you assembled at the start of the lesson. Discussing first in ad hoc groups, then sharing as a whole class, ask the pupils to choose (and explain/justify) the example which they think is the BEST analogy for the effect of the atomic bomb on relations between America and the Soviet Union. Discuss as a class whether the pupils agree that the atomic bomb caused the cold war. Who do they blame the most – Truman or Stalin … and why?
Further study	Ask more able pupils to read the linked document: The day the Cold War broke out. Less academic pupils might be asked to read (particularly the three relevant pages) of the narrative website account: Dawn of the Atomic Era.

Lesson 5: Salami Tactics

Background

It is important for the pupils to realise that assertion of Soviet influence over eastern Europe began as soon as they were ‘liberated’ by the Red Army, and not just after Hiroshima.

It is difficult for us today to understand the total control that the Soviet Union assumed over the states of eastern Europe. There are few examples through history of ‘vassal states’, and although Hitler’s Nazi Germany created ‘puppet states’ during the war, they were short-lived and created under the pressure of a war. The Iron Curtain was vassal/puppet states on a scale unknown since the days of the Assyrian Empire!

Also, it is hard for pupils nowadays to understand the fear that the Iron Curtain created (see lesson 6).

Lesson plan
Notes	This lesson is intimately connected to lesson 6. Its chief aim is to give the pupils the factual background to Churchill’s Fulton speech.
Historical skills	Content comprehension and analysis Source analysis – meaning of a cartoon
Learning modes	Visual		Auditory		Kinaesthetic
Resources	All the resources cited in the lesson plan can be accessed from the Salami Tactics webpage, or from the links on this page.
Starter idea(s)	Show the pupils the trailer for the 1954 film: Them! (one should be available on YouTube). Talk to the pupils about fear – what frightens them … and what makes it frightening? Talk specifically about cancer; establish how it invades, then grows and takes over, until it eventually kills you. On the Salami Tactics webpage, mouseover your Board icon at the top of the webpage to make sure the pupils know why they are studying this topic.
Content idea(s)	Tell the pupils that this topic appears frequently as a simple factual question, either for the Soviet takeover in eastern Europe in general, or for a particular country (the AQA specification mentions Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia specifically). Give the pupils some time, using the Salami Tactics webpage – perhaps using the worksheet, sections 1-2 – to make factual notes on Soviet expansion into eastern Europe. Mark Mazower doubts that there was ever a set ‘salami tactics strategy’; having studied the events, do the pupils agree? Spend some time discussing the western reaction to the Soviet takeover of eastern Europe, using the cartoons, Source A (perhaps using this ppt.) and/or Source D (perhaps using this ppt.). Does the opening analogy of a cancer apply?
Written element	Pupils can complete their own notes on the topic using the worksheet. There are exam-style questions which meet both the AQA and the OCR specifications.
Plenary idea(s)	Discuss with the pupils: Were the iron curtain countries conquered by the Soviet Union? Was the communist takeover ‘like a plague?’ Did Stalin break his promises over eastern Europe? Did Britain and America fail the countries of eastern Europe? The west feared that, given the opportunity, Stalin would assume power over the countries of western Europe as well (Source D) – do the pupils agree?
Further study	Teachers delivering the AQA syllabus may want to ask their pupils to read/?note my textbook – John D Clare, GCSE History AQA B Modern World History (Heinemann 978-0435-510-41-1) – pages 64-65. Teachers delivering the OCR specification may want to ask their pupils to read/?note the textbook – Brodkin et al, GCSE History OCR History B Modern World (Heinemann 978-0435-510-41-1) – pages 60-63. For next lesson, ask the pupils to find/choose and come with details about what they believe to be the greatest speech of all time. (For those who flap, a google search for ‘greatest speech’ will give them some ideas, or go direct to History Place great speeches)

Lesson 6: Churchill’s Fulton Speech

Background

It is hard for pupils nowadays to understand the fear that the Iron Curtain created, especially as heightened by western propaganda. It was like living next door to Dracula.

Lesson plan
Notes
Historical skills	Content comprehension and analysis Source analysis – meaning of a cartoon
Learning modes	Visual		Auditory		Kinaesthetic
Resources	All the resources cited in the lesson plan can be accessed from the Fulton Speech webpage, or from the links on this page.
Starter idea(s)	If you set the ‘greatest speech’ homework last lesson, ask the pupils to share and explain their ideas. What made their great speeches great? It was Hitler who believed that a good speech could accomplish anything. Do the pupils agree? I suspect it is arguable that a speech can only have an effect through the actions of those who listen and react, so in itself it can do nothing, and it can only have an indirect effect if the listeners are ‘ripe’ to be affected. Go through each word and make sure they understand what it means – it is against this claim that they are going to assess Churchill’s speech. Alternatively (or additionally), tell the pupils the parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-20); point out that the effect of ‘theseed’ is directly related to the kind of ‘soil’ it falls into. On the Fulton Speech webpage, mouseover your Board icon at the top of the webpage to make sure the pupils know why they are studying this topic.
Content idea(s)	Listen to a clip of the Fulton speech, perhaps following this YouTube link, or using your own preferred version. Give the pupils some time to read the Fulton Speech webpage. Drawing on what they have learned from this webpage and the previous lessons, were Churchill’s words falling into rich soil where they would have a big effect, or stony soil where no one would take any notice? Make a list of the situations, events and attitudes which meant that people on BOTH sides would seize on Churchill’s words and react strongly. Analyse the cartoon, Source C, perhaps using this ppt, then study Sources A and B to note the Soviet reaction. Today, does the reaction on both sides seem somewhat of an over-reaction? Ask the pu-ils to reiterate WHY the reaction was so strong on BOTH sides.
Written element	Pupils can complete their own notes on the topic using the worksheet. There are exam-style questions which meet both the AQA and the OCR specifications.
Plenary idea(s)	Ask the pupils what they think about Churchill’s Fulton speech: Did it actually change the world, or did it just enflame existing tensions? Refer the pupils to the diagram on the Hot War/Cold War webpage. There I put Fulton as the turning point – the point at which the superpowers stopped pretending that they were allies, and simply got on with the new Cold War – i.e. I identified it as the START, rather than a CAUSE of the Cold War. What do the pupils think – what is the significance of the ulton speech within the origins of the Cold War?
Further study

Lesson 7: Truman Doctrine/ Marshall Plan

Lesson plan
Notes	This is the time to teach how to do a ‘how far’ question. Both AQA and OCR ask ‘how far’ questions: the AQA as a simple either-or of two givens. You will need to teach the pupils how to do a thesis-antithesis-synthesis (case-for/ case-against/ judgement) essay. the OCR usually prefers to posit a case and ask ‘How far do you agree?’ This is just as much an either-or question, except that it often becomes a single case versus ALL the others. You will need to teach the pupils how to do a thesis-antithesis-synthesis (case-for/ case-against/ judgement) essay, except that you will need to show the pupils how the ‘case-against’ in fact is the sum of all the alternatives (that the ‘case-against’ is largely the case-for the other n reasons). This is crucial as you study the key question (‘|Who was more to blame for the start of the Cold War: the UAS or the USSR?’).
Historical skills	Content comprehension and analysis Source analysis – meaning of a cartoon
Learning modes	Visual		Auditory		Kinaesthetic	
Resources	All the resources cited in the lesson plan can be accessed from the Truman Doctrine/Marshall Plan webpage, or from the links on this page.
Starter idea(s)	In a very boring way, I always used to start this lesson by simply writing on the board: ‘The United States goes to (cold) war’, and then getting straight down to work; this lesson is about how the USA tried to oppose the Soviet Union, and the (muted) Soviet response to that. On the Truman Doctrine/Marshall Plan webpage, mouseover your Board icon at the top of the webpage to make sure the pupils know why they are studying this topic.
Content idea(s)	Study the Truman Doctrine/Marshall Plan webpage in an appropriate way with your pupils, depending on their ability – it is important that they have a grasp of the facts of the events 1947-8. There are a number of Activities at the bottom of the page which you might wish to use as part of this. Analyse the cartoons, Sources G (perhaps using this ppt.) and H (perhaps using this ppt.), seeing the Marshall Plan from different standpoints. Direct the pupils’ attention to the other cartoons (sources C, E and F). Ask them to find one to go with Source G, and one to go with Source H … and explain their choices. Divide the pupils into the two groups that you did in Lesson 2 – put all the ‘Soviets’ together, and all the ‘Americans’ together. In their large groups, ask them to develop ideas (facts and explanations) for a case (Soviets) to argue that the Americans were to blame for the Cold War, or that (Americans) that the Soviets were to blame for the Cold War. Ask them to assemble ideas/facts and explanations: 1. where the other side was to blame for worsening relations/ causing trouble. 2. where their own side yielded, was helpful, improved relations/ soothed trouble. Give them about 15-129 minutes for this. When they have prepared (and practised) their arguments, depending on how lesson two went: 1. either divide them into their threes (Soviet/American/umpire) and let them argue it out as in lesson 2. After 5-10 minutes, ask the ‘referees’ to ‘report back’ on who won their debate (and why). Ask them how well their debaters did. Then either: a. repeat the debate as a whole class in a colloquium+questions session, or b. (if one of the paired debates was especially good) ask that couple to repeat their debate in front of the whole class (you may wish to encourage appropriate audience response). 2. or (if that exercise did not thrill the pupils) hold a debate as a whole class – who was to blame for the Cold War – the Soviets or the Americans – with each ‘side’ trying to defeat the other.
Written element	Pupils can complete their own notes on the topic using the worksheet. There are exam-style questions which meet both the AQA and the OCR specifications.
Plenary idea(s)	Tell the pupils to revert to themselves. Looking at the question as 21^st century historians (not 20^th century demagogues), who do they think was to most blame?
Further study	You may wish to encourage your pupils to use some of the ideas they have been developing in the lesson to contribute to the online ‘Big Question’ – ‘Who was to blame for the Cold War?’ – on John D Clare’s History Blog – they can do so by clicking on the link in the ‘Extra’ on the Truman Doctrine/Marshall Plan webpage. If they do, remind them not venture online only with an appropriate user name (see Appendix 1).

Lesson 8: the Berlin Blockade

Background

I always used to present the Berlin Blockade as the first real ‘battle’ of the Cold War.

Lesson plan
Notes
Historical skills	Content comprehension and analysis Source analysis – meaning of a cartoon
Learning modes	Visual		Auditory		Kinaesthetic	
Resources	All the resources cited in the lesson plan can be accessed from the Berlin Blockade webpage, or from the links on this page.
Starter idea(s)	Display on the board the diagram from the Hot War/Cold War webpage. Then read the pupils the following story: a. Pupils A and B had been friends at Primary School, but when they went to Secondary they fell out. b. No one knows how or when exactly they started drifting apart – each blamed the other. c. At first they just got on each others’ nerves. d. Then they started arguing and ‘making their mouths go’ at each other. e. Then they started doing nasty things to the other one. f. Their friends chose sides, and joined in on one side or the other. g. Finally, something sparked it off, and they had a fight. It is a story which all the pupils will be familiar with, if not in their own lives, in the life of someone they know. Point out that nations are no different, and invite them to identify on the flow-diagram of the origins of the Cold War possible parallels to the seven points of the story. Whatever the pupils manage to make of the analogy, suggest that the Berlin Blockade for the USA and the USSR was equivalent to point g (fight) in the pupils-story above. On the Berlin Blockade webpage, mouseover your Board icon at the top of the webpage to make sure the pupils know why they are studying this topic.
Content idea(s)	Work through as a whole class the content of the Berlin Blockade webpage, explaining issues as they arise, and discussing the Activities. The content is fairly straightforward, but you will want to take particular care to explain: 1. WHY Berlin/Germany was so important in the Cold War 2. The causes of the Blockade, especially to the less able pupils (especially about the currency and how and why it was essential to get the economy going, but wrecked the east Germany economy when it was introduced unilaterally into Bizonia). Analyse the cartoon, Source C, perhaps using this ppt.
Written element	[To be honest, I rarely set any written work on this. Classes of motivated pupils were often eager to ‘have another go’ in their triads (see lessons 2 and 7) to try to defeat the other team again, or this time win the argument they lost last time. So I just put them into their threes (1 American, 1 Soviet and 1 umpire) and let them debate ‘Who was to blame for the Berlin Blockade?’] Alternatively, if you want the pupils to complete a written exercise, a fun task might be to ask them to complete (either as individuals or in pairs, each taking a different paper) rival Soviet and American mock-newspapers (perhaps using the attached template for the Daily Mail and Izvestia) about the crisis and its consequences – they will be able to ham up the differing reactions of the newspaper-reporters, as well as including facts. Pupils can complete their own notes on the topic using the worksheet. There are exam-style questions which meet both the AQA and the OCR specifications.
Plenary idea(s)	Who was most to blame for the Berlin crisis of 1948, the USSR or the USA? Could the Berlin Blockade have been avoided? Could the Cold War have been avoided?
Further study	As this is the last lesson in the unit, you may wish to send the pupils away to learn the whole topic for an end-of-unit assessment next lesson.

Appendix 1
Using usernames to monitor web-based homeworks

In Lesson 5, it is suggested that you could ask pupils to post a comment on ‘John D Clare’s History Blog’ using ‘an appropriate user name’.

Pupils should NEVER reveal ANY personal information on the web. One way to protect their identity is if you suggest user names which conflate the first three letters of their first name with the last three letters of their surname – thus John Bull becomes Johull, and Sandra Smith becomes Sanith etc.
This will allow you to check whether the pupils have done the homework, and also to monitor who is saying what.

Appendices – Additional Worksheets

Yalta and Potsdam Differences

‘The high point of the alliance’ (Alan Bullock).	‘Not successful … full of tensions and arguments.’ (John D Clare).
Decided in principle to divide Germany into 4 zones.	Agreed details of Germany’s how to administer Germany.
Set up a commission to look into reparations.	Details of reparations agreed; Russia allowed to take 10% of industrial equipment from the three western zones.
Agreed to set up a Polish government of National Unity including communists and non-communists.	Recognised the Polish Government – even though Stalin had arrested the non-communists and the communists were firmly in control.
The Red Army was advancing through Poland towards Germany.	Stalin’s Red Army had conquered all of eastern Europe, including Berlin.
Churchill was worried that ‘the Soviet Union has become a danger to the free world’.	Clement Atlee was suspicious of Stalin, but did not confront the Soviets.
Issued the Declaration of Liberated Europe which pledged to set up democratic, self-governing countries in eastern Europe.	Truman was angry that the Soviet Union wasn’t keeping its promises over eastern Europe.
Roosevelt believed he had a special understanding with Stalin, whom he could trust.	Truman clashed with Stalin a number of times.
America desperately needed Russia’s help with the War in the Pacific; Stalin promised to join in return for influence over North Korea and Manchuria.	America had the atomic bomb and didn’t need Russia’s help in the War in the Pacific.

Write up the details of the crisis as the Daily Mail would have reported them using this webpage and its links to find the facts and set the tone.

The Daily Mail 24 June 1948
The Blockade Starts Yesterday, Stalin began his blockade of Berlin. Our reporter was there at the scene:	Picture, below: Soviet and American soldiers at the border.      
     
	The Berlin Blockade: the Story of the Dispute
	     
The American response: the airlift
     
	How the crisis hurt the Berliners	The Daily Mail says:
	     	     

Write up the details of the crisis as Izvestia would have reported them using this webpage and its links to find the facts and set the tone.

24 June 1948
The Blockade Starts Yesterday, Stalin began his blockade of Berlin. Our reporter was there at the scene:	Picture, below: Soviet and American soldiers at the border.      
     
	The Berlin Blockade: the Causes of the Dispute
	     
The American response: the airlift
     
	How the crisis hurt the Berliners	Известия says: