Rise of National Socialism (AS/A2)
Aims of the workshop
This videoconference workshop aims to help students investigate and understand how the Nazis' rise to power was influenced by their use of propaganda. Students will also develop their skills at using propaganda speeches as a source of evidence for investigating the past, through the study of original contemporary documents held at the National Archives.
Documents
- Document 1: reference FO 371/16728, paper C8839/319/18
‘Dr Goebbels on National-Socialist Germany and Her Contribution towards World Peace’. Dr Goebbels delivered this propaganda speech to representatives of the International Press at Geneva on 28 September 1933. Divided into 8 parts.
Resources
- Resource 1:
Worksheet for use in analysing the speech.
Activity
Students must have completed this activity before the workshop, as we will be discussing their work during the session. This can be done either during a lesson, or as a homework activity.
Goebbels’ speech has been divided up into 8 parts. Divide your students into 8 groups, and give each group just one section to look at. Please feel free to make additional copies of the worksheet and speech as necessary.
Ask the students to use the worksheet to help them analyse the information and language used in the speech, and to consider its usefulness and reliability as evidence. Students can write notes and use colour on their copy of the section of the speech to help them examine and analyse how it works as a piece of propaganda in close detail.
The work the students do on this will form the bulk of the discussion in the workshop so it is important students have had a go at this beforehand. If the students have any questions about the speech, they can save them for the workshop and ask the education officer leading it.
Download exercise materials
The materials are provided in Adobe PDF format so that they are easy to print out. Anyone with a visual impairment who is unable to use PDF documents should visit access.adobe.com for information about converting documents and versions of Adobe Reader with added accessibility features.
If you are unable to print out the preparation materials and need us to send you a paper print out, please email education@nationalarchives.gov.uk or call 020 8392 5365 and leave a message stating the title of the workshop you want the materials for, your name, your school's name, and the date of your workshop.
The workshop
The workshop will begin with an introduction to the National Archives, and a brief explanation of what we do and keep here, together with an opportunity for students to see the place they are ‘visiting’.
The education officer will lead a discussion about the speech given by Goebbels, based on the work completed for the preparation exercise. The discussion will focus around:
- Goebbel’s use of language
- The structure of the speech
- Where it fits into the chronology of the rise of the National Socialist party in the 1930’s
- What contemporary responses to the speech would have been compared to our response today
- How useful and reliable propaganda such as this is to us as historians investigating the rise of National Socialism
We will also ask one student from each group to read aloud a short section of the part of the speech they have worked on, in order to help understand the document in its proper context, as something that was designed to be heard, not read.
Additional documents appropriate to the subject, including original examples of Nazi propaganda will be used in the workshop to extend discussion and develop students' ideas, depending on the time available. There will be ample opportunity for students to ask questions during and at the end of the workshop.
Knowledge, skills and understanding
This workshop enables students to meet the subject criteria for history in the following ways:
- Explore the significance of events, individuals, issues and societies in history
- Develop their interest in and enthusiasm for studying history by raising their awareness of the opportunities available for researching original documents in archives
- Understand the nature of historical evidence and the methods used by historians in analysis and evaluation
- Assessing the significance of events, individuals, attitudes, ideas and beliefs in their historical context
- Getting hands on experience at using original historical sources of different kinds
- Analysing, evaluating and interpreting original historical sources in their historical context through a series of structured research activities
- Communicating clear, concise and logical arguments substantiated by relevant evidence in discussion and debate with the Education Officer leading the workshop
Examination board specification
Edexcel AS specification
OCR AS Specification
Useful links
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