Since this is a investigative, discussion-based class and we will take our time exploring these topics, below is a general plan for the course. "Drop in" students are welcome and are encouraged to partake on various topics-of-the-day. 

This class examines these dramatic events, looking both at the years of optimism in the new democratic regime of the 1920s and at the horrors of the Third Reich in the 1930s and 1940s. We will begin in our first unit by exploring the reasons why a democratic state, known as the Weimar REPUBLIC, was created in Germany in the aftermath of the First World War and why it was able to survive a series of difficult challenges only to be replaced by the Nazi DICTATORSHIP in 1933. Unit 2 (Topic 3 & 4) of the class will investigate the nature of that dictatorship and its impact on the German people. Finally, we will look at how Hitler’s foreign policies, after initial success, once again brought Germany to ruin. 

In this class, the following topics will be covered in depth: 

Month of October Key topic 1: Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start?

    How did Germany emerge from defeat at the end of the First World War?
    What was the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on the Republic?
    To what extent did the Republic recover after 1923?
    What were the achievements of the Weimar period?

Month of November Key topic 2: Why was Hitler able to dominate Germany by 1934?

    What did the Nazi Party stand for in the 1920s?
    Why did the Nazis have little success before 1930?
    Why was Hitler able to become Chancellor by 1933?
    How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933–34?

Month of December Key topic 3: The Nazi regime

    How effectively did the Nazis control Germany, 1933–45?
        How much opposition was there to the Nazi regime?
        How effectively did the Nazis deal with their political opponents?
        How did the Nazis use culture and the mass media to control the people?
        Why did the Nazis persecute many groups in German society?
        Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state?

Month of January: Key topic 3a: 
    What was it like to live in Nazi Germany?
        How did young people react to the Nazi regime?
        How successful were Nazi policies towards women and the family?
        Did most people in Germany benefit from Nazi rule?
        How did the coming of war change life in Nazi Germany?

Months of February forward - Topics: German Grand Strategic origins, Blitzkrieg Doctrine, Military Operations 1936-45, Resistance in Nazi Germany. 

This class requires a minimum  of 3-5 students - if low enrollment please inquire about a Private Tutorial which would include exam board specific instruction, source based activities, and marked assessments.