The Blame Game

• newEditor
• Geschiedenis
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

"Germany caused the First World War"

Completely agree: 5 fingers up

Partially agree: 4 fingers up

Do not agree: 3 fingers up

Don't know: keep your hand down

Important key words for this lesson:

Trigger: the event that directly started the crisis

Cause: a development that made war more likely

Responsibility: decisions made by a nation's leader that made the crisis worse

Blame: a moral or legal judgement about who caused the war

A war can have several causes, while different governments may bear responsibility for different decisions.

Step 1: Observe

What do I see?

NOT what I think

NO interpretation

JUST: what do I see?

Step 2: Decode

What do the symbols mean?

What or whom do these people represent?

How do I know?

Personification

Step 3: Contextualise

This cartoon was first published in an American newspaper in July 1914.

The crisis had just started.

The USA was not involved.

What does that mean for the perspective and the reliability of this source?

Step 4: Evaluate

How, when and why can we use this source?

What does the source prove?

What does the source NOT prove?

The source does not prove who was guilty; it shows whom the artist presented as responsible.

Steps for analysing a visual source:

1. Observe: What can I literally see?

2. Decode: What do the people, objects, words and symbols represent?

3. Contextualise: Who created the source, when, where and for which audience?

4. Evaluate: What is the message? What can and can’t this source prove?

Assignment: visual source analysis

Use the steps in the previous slide to analyse the visual sources in SOM.

Analyse at least two sources.

Answer the questions individually in your notebook.

15

m

00

s

+30 s

Let's discuss

1. Which detail did you think was the most important?

2. What message does the source want to convey?

3. Why is 'the source is propaganda, so it is not useable' a wrong answer?

Propaganda is unreliable as a neutral description of Germany, but very useful for studying how the American public was influenced.

Short recap of WW1 so far

1. Austria-Hungary issued Serbia with a very harsh ultimatum.

2. Germany gave Austria-Hungary the “blank cheque”.

3. Russia mobilised its army in support of Serbia.

4. Germany declared war on Russia and France.

5. Germany invaded neutral Belgium.

6. France and Russia had military agreements.

7. Britain declared war on Germany following the invasion of Belgium.

8. Nationalism, militarism, imperialism and alliances had been increasing tensions for many years.

Homework assignment - back to the first question

“Germany was responsible for the outbreak of the First World War.”

Write a response of approximately 100–150 words. Your answer must include:

• a clear judgement;

• one argument suggesting that Germany carried major responsibility;

• one argument suggesting that responsibility was shared;

• a reference to both visual sources;

• an explanation of why an image can present blame without proving blame.

You can hand it in through SOM (inleveropdracht) before Wednesday.