Tag Archives: Poland
The terms and effects of the Treaty of Versailles
This GCSE and IGCSE History revision podcast focuses on the terms and effects of the Treaty of Versailles. You may also wish to look through the Paris Peace Conference PowerPoint. In this IGCSE and GCSE History revision podcast, the mnemonic GARGLE is used to outline the terms of the Treaty of Versailles:
- Guilt
- Arms
- Reparations
- German Territory
- League of Nations
This is followed by an assessment of Germany’s reaction, and presents a number of specific examples that could be used to explain why Germany was unhappy with the terms. The final part of the podcast looks at how to approach an exam question about ‘how fair’ the Treaty of Versailles really was. This is done by presenting evidence for and against the Treaty that could be used in an answer.
Brief introduction to the Yalta Conference
Attended by the “Big Three” Allied leaders, the conference saw United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin meet to discuss the government of post-war Europe.
Khruschev’s criticism of Stalin in his ‘secret speech’
Shortly after midnight on the 25th February 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev delivered his ‘secret speech’, officially called “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences”, in a four hour “closed session” at the end of the 20th Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Solidarity in Poland
Overview of the Solidarity union in Poland and its impact on the fall of Communism.
Solidarity and the fall of communism in Poland
A detailed explanation of why Poland was the first country in which the communist government fell. Includes an interview with former Polish president Lech Walesa. Taken from Curriculum Bites.
Losing Soviet control over eastern Europe – video documentary
These three videos present the events that led to the end of communism in the Eastern Bloc.
PART 1 – Gorbachev, the attitude of Honecker, Hungary 1989, Poland 1989, Warsaw Pact Summit 1989, the economic and political situation in East Germany, the crossing of East Germans through Hungary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akGjJcl3GDw
PART 2 – East Germany’s 40th anniversay demonstration, fall of Honecker, fall of the Berlin Wall, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASEC3m1wULE
PART 3 – Uprising in Romania leading to the end of Ceausescu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFrA9Ga0Mwo
Why did Britain and France appease Hitler?
“This documentary called ‘Did we have to Fight?’ (first broadcast 1999) explores Britain’s options in the run-up to the Second World War. It will be particularly useful for students of appeasement, Neville Chamberlain, and of the wider conflict.”
The Nazi invasion of Poland
On the 1st September 1939, German forces invaded Poland in a move that was to trigger the Second World War.
The start of the Second World War
On the 3rd September 1939, the Second World War officially began when France and the United Kingdom – together with Australia and New Zealand – declared war on Germany.
Hitler and the Road to War – ‘History File’ extract
An overview of how Hitler’s policies in Nazi Germany broke the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and contributed to the outbreak of World War 2 alongside the Allied policy of Appeasement.
