Historical Inquiry
for 21st-Century Students
ABC-CLIO Schools
Workshop Series
Crossing the Border to Freedom:
The Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe
Texas Council for Social Studies
October 19-20, 2007
Brett Piersma
Santa Ynez Valley Union High School,
Santa Ynez, California
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AGENDA FOR THIS SESSION:
Warm-up Activity—Soviet Bloc States
The Case for History and ABC-CLIO’s Historical Inquiry
Process
Dilemma Explanation—By helping one another flee to the
free world, did east European states hasten the fall of
communism?
– Sample Dilemma
Border Crossing Map Game
Exploring the ABC-CLIO database and Research Lists
Conclusion
Welcome Participants!
Each of you has been placed on a team which represents one of six Eastern
European Soviet Bloc states.
Each team has received a Soviet Bloc Role Card as well as 4 Characteristic
Cards representing: Communist Leader, Reformer/Dissenter, and 2
Movement/Event cards
Unfortunately, you have received the wrong 4 Characteristic Cards!
Your job is to trade with other groups around the room until you have
recovered the 4 proper Characteristic Cards for your specific Soviet Bloc State. If
you are unsure which of your cards are correct, check periodically with the game
leader or ask around.
Who can be first to accurately identify their State?
Soviet Bloc Role Card:
EAST GERMANY
Soviet Bloc Role Card:
POLAND
Soviet Bloc Role Card:
HUNGARY
Soviet Bloc Role Card:
ROMANIA
Soviet Bloc Role Card:
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Soviet Bloc Role Card:
YUGOSLAVIA
Game Leader Checklist
Country
Communist Leader
Reformer/Dissenter
Movement/Event
Movement/Event
Yugoslavia
Josip Tito
Milovan Djilas
2 American Planes
Shot down
1971 Croatian
Spring
Czechoslovakia:
Antonin Novotny
Dubcek/Havel
Prague Spring
Velvet
Revolution
Hungary:
Janos Kadar
Imre Nagy
1956 Uprising
Petofi Circle
Poland:
Jaruzelski
Lech Walesa
Gdansk Strike
Solidarity
East Germany:
Erich Honecker
Egon Krenz
Leipzig Demonstration Mass Migration
to W. Germany
Romania:
Nicolae Ceaucesceu
Laszlo Tokes
Timisoara Massacre
Execution of former
Communist leader
The Case for History
“We're deluged by conflicting, fragmented information
that tries to steer us in particular directions. We need to
raise citizens who ask themselves, 'Is this true? Who's
saying so? What's the nature of the evidence?' Taught this
way, history is a training ground for democracy."
Sam Wineburg, Professor of Education at Stanford University and formerly
Professor of Cognitive Studies in Education and Adjunct Professor of History
at the University of Washington, Seattle.
What is a Dilemma?
• di– in dilemma comes from a Greek prefix meaning “two”
• A dilemma is a problem offering two (or more) solutions
• A dilemma is a situation in which a choice must be made
between alternative courses of action or argument.
What is NOT a Dilemma?
A dilemma is NOT…
 An unsolved mystery like:
-Who Killed Kennedy?
-Did John Wilkes Booth act alone?
 A historical question that can be
answered definitively:
-Did John Adams increase the size of the navy?
 A current issue dilemma such as:
-How can we get rid of poverty?
-Should we allow prayer in schools?
Look at these two pictures.
What are several key questions
that would clarify these
events?
Write these questions on a
separate sheet of paper.
Key Questions
• In what country is this taking place?
• When is this taking place?
• What are they doing?
• Why are they doing it?
• What are the likely results of this action for citizens of this country?
• What are results for citizens of neighboring countries?
• What is Communism?
Here is another
important image from
the same time. What
are several key
questions that would
clarify this image?
Key Questions
• In what country is this taking place?
• Are the people in the picture from that country or another country?
• Why do they feel the need to flee?
• What governmental actions have made this possible?
• What ultimately happened to these people?
Dilemma
By opening borders and allowing freedom of
movement, did some east European states
hasten the fall of communism?
Crossing the Border to Freedom:
Interactive Map Game
Crossing the Border to Freedom
Interactive Map Game - Teacher Instructions
Step One—Explain the that the year is 1989 and reform movements are beginning to see positive change all over Eastern
Europe. Citizens of each state are eager to capitalize on this progress either by finding a way to get to the West
directly, through a neighboring country (via permission from the Embassy), or by establishing freedom and
prosperity in their own country. Explain the goal of the game is to get your team across the Iron Curtain and into a
free, western nation before members of the other teams do, or achieve independence for your country by
accumulating 10,000 Freedom Points. Explain that this game will simulate the events of 1989, but not exactly
reflect them. Instead, dice will be rolled and Trivia questions asked to determine the fate of your state and its fight
for democratic freedoms.
Step Two—Divide class into 6 teams representing six Soviet Bloc States: Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
East Germany, and Poland. Project Map of Europe in 1989 on the screen.
Step Three—The team that successfully achieved their Soviet Bloc State Cards first (during the warm up activity) gets to
roll first. They will roll the dice and according to their roll chart, either:
•
Immediately loses turn due to workers’ or students’ protest being crushed.
•
Must answer a TRIVIA question about their country in order to earn Freedom Points
•
Immediately earns Freedom Points.
•
Draws a Politburo Card with a variety of movement possibilities.
GOOD LUCK! LET’S PLAY
END GAME
Dice Rolls:
1—Protests crushed by military. Lose
turn.
2—Ethnic unrest causes government to
crack down on demonstrations. Re-roll.
3, 4—Student protest succeeds!
Government grants concessions. Answer
Trivia Question for Freedom Points.
5, 6—Draw a Politburo Card
Trivia Questions!!!
Yugoslavia
2000 Freedom Points
3000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
2000 Freedom Points
What Communist dictator
declared Yugoslavia nonaligned?
Josip Broz Tito
What was Marshal Josip Tito’s
motto and state political
concept?
3000 Freedom Points
“Brotherhood and Unity”
Name three of the countries
Yugoslavia splintered into in the
1980s and 1990s.
Albania, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro,
and Macedonia.
5000 Freedom Points
In what year did Josip Tito die.
1980
5000 Freedom Points
Dice Rolls:
1--Workers’ Union outlawed and protest
crushed by police. Lose turn.
2, 3--Government opens talks with
Solidarity. Answer Trivia Question for
Freedom Points.
4--Roundtable Accords are signed and
concessions are offered to workers after
strike. Earn 2,000 Freedom Points!
5, 6--Soviets call head of Polish
government for meeting. Draw a Politburo
Card
Trivia Questions!!!
2000 Freedom Points
Poland
3000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
2000 Freedom Points
What Soviet agreement to
control its Eastern Bloc states
was signed in Poland?
Warsaw Pact
In what year was the Solidarity
Movement started?
3000 Freedom Points
1980
What was the other name for the
Gdansk Shipyards?
Lenin Shipyards
5000 Freedom Points
Which US President responded to
liberalization in Poland with a modest
package of economic benefits?
George H.W. Bush
5000 Freedom Points
Dice Rolls:
1--Police shoot man trying to scale Berlin
Wall. Lose turn.
2--Large-scale public demonstrations are
met with little government force. Earn
2,000 Freedom Points!
3, 4, 5--Honecker meets with Soviets to
discuss Perestroika. Answer Trivia
Question for Freedom Points.
6--Draw a Politburo Card
Trivia Questions!!!
2000 Freedom Points
E.Germany
3000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
2000 Freedom Points
He said “Mr. Gorbechev, tear
down this wall!”
President Ronald Reagan
What was the official name of East
Germany?
3000 Freedom Points
German Democratic
Republic (GDR)
On the East German flag there is a
symbol at the center of the red
stripe. What three groups does the
symbol represent?
5000 Freedom Points
Working class, Intelligentsia,
and Farmers
What economic offer did Helmut Kohl
of W. Germany make to citizens of E.
Germany in November 1989?
One-for-one exchange from
E. German marks to W.
German marks.
5000 Freedom Points
Dice Rolls:
1—Public demonstration is broken up
with violence. Lose turn.
2, 3—Thousands attend funeral of
dissident executed in 1958. Earn 2,000
Freedom Points!
4, 5—Hungary begins to dismantle border
with Austria. Answer Trivia Question for
Freedom Points.
6—Draw a Politburo Card
Trivia Questions!!!
2000 Freedom Points
Hungary
3000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
2000 Freedom Points
What Hungarian dissident was
executed by hanging in 1958
after a failed revolt, and later
reburied with honor?
Imre Nagy
From what radio station did
Imre Nagy broadcast his final
plea for help from the West?
3000 Freedom Points
Free Kossuth Radio
In what year did Janos Kadar become the
General Secretary of the Communist
Party in Hungary?
1956
5000 Freedom Points
When Janos Kadar stepped down as
General Secretary of the Communist
Party in 1988, what reformist Communist
leader took his place?
Imre Pozsgay
5000 Freedom Points
Dice Rolls:
1—Peaceful student demonstration
severely beaten back by police. Lose turn.
2, 3—Crowd of 250,000 forms to protest
police brutality. Earn 2,000 Freedom
Points!
4—Opposition party is formed. Answer
Trivia Question for Freedom Points!
5, 6—Communist government agrees to
consider giving up its political monopoly.
Draw a Politburo Card
Trivia Questions!!!
Czechoslovakia
2000 Freedom Points
3000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
2000 Freedom Points
Before becoming president in
1990, he was a reformist leader, a
writer, and dramatist?
Vaclav Havel
What political party organization
did Vaclav Havel form and lead
in 1989?
3000 Freedom Points
The Civic Forum
He announced “Socialism with a human
face”, a systematic reform of
Communism in Czechoslovakia?
Alexander Dubcek
5000 Freedom Points
He was the Russian General
Secretary of the Communist Party in
charge of Prague Spring.
Leonid Brezhnev
5000 Freedom Points
Dice Rolls:
1, 2—Army opens fire on demonstrators
killing thousands. Lose turn.
3—Ceausescu ignores chanting crowd calling
for an end to the Communist Party. Re-roll.
4, 5—Army turns against Communist
Government. Answer Trivia Question for
Freedom Points.
6—Draw a Politburo Card
Trivia Questions!!!
Romania
2000 Freedom Points
3000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
5000 Freedom Points
2000 Freedom Points
What method was used to
execute Nicolae Ceausescu?
Firing squad
Over what issue did the
Timisoara Protest break out in
1989?
3000 Freedom Points
Freedom of religion/the
eviction of a pastor
What were the primary subjects of
Ceaucescu’s public message before
100,000 Romanians in December 1989?
Condemning the Timisoara Revolt and
praising the achievements of socialism
5000 Freedom Points
By what two radio stations did
Romanians learn of the events
surrounding the Timisoara
Massacre?
Radio Free Europe and Voice of
America
5000 Freedom Points
Debrief Map Game
1. Which country had the most difficult time
achieving freedom in our simulation?
2. Did this reflect what really took place in
1989?
3. What did you learn about the geography
of Eastern Europe?
Learning to Use the
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Home Page
Easy site navigation
Front page news items
relate current events to
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High interest features to
engage students
Multiple search options
Lessons: In-Depth Exploration
Introduction – introducing terms, concepts, &
themes
Illustration -- visual presentation of the concept
the overall theme.
People -- Intriguing factual stories about key
people
Reference -- including images, news items, and
organizations, etc.
Activity -- A critical-thinking activity to
encourage close examination of the topic.
Quiz -- Quick self-check so students can test their
knowledge.
Discussion Questions -- to generate in-depth
conversations
Research
Do a quick search by text
Refine your search by
selecting type of resource
Combine with search by
topic/time period
Research Lists
Notes, Handouts, and Support
Materials for Presenter
Getting to know you warm-up game:
Notes for presenter
1. Before your presentation, cut out all Soviet Bloc Role Cards and Characteristic Cards (Government,
Leader, Movements) included in the slides below.
2. To each of the 6 larger Soviet Bloc Role Cards, paper clip the following:
1 Communist Leader card
1 Reformer/Dissenter card
2 different Movement/Event cards
3. Make sure that none of the Soviet Bloc Role Cards receive any correct Characteristic Cards.
4. Divide the whole group into 6 separate teams of 1, 2 or 3 people.
5. Present each team with one packet of 5 cards (Role, Government, Leader and 2 Movements cards)
6. Now tell the group that they have received the wrong 4 cards and their job is to trade with other groups in
the room until they have found the proper cards for their Soviet Bloc State.
7. Invite the groups to check frequently with to see if they have the right cards. You can tell them which cards
are right and which are wrong. Use the “game leader checklist” as a quick guide.
8. Provide prizes for the team members that find their four proper cards first.
Communist Leader:
JANOS KADAR
Communist Leader:
ANTONIN
NOVOTNY
Communist Leader:
MARSHAL
JOSIP TITO
Communist Leader:
NICOLAE
CEAUCESCEU
Communist Leader:
ERICH HONECKER
Communist Leader:
WOJCIECH
JARUZELKI
Reformer/Dissenter:
LASZLO TOKES
Reformer/Dissenter:
EGON KRENZ
Reformer/Dissenter:
ALEXANDER DUBCEK
Reformer/Dissenter:
MILOVAN DJILAS
Reformer/Dissenter:
LECH WALESA
Reformer/Dissenter:
IMRE NAGY
Movement/Event:
PRAGUE SPRING
Movement/Event:
VELVET
REVOLUTION
Movement/Event:
LEIPZIG PROTEST
Movement/Event:
MASS MIGRATION TO
WEST GERMANY
Movement/Event:
PETOFI CIRCLE
Movement/Event:
1956 UPRISING
Movement/Event:
GDANSK SHIPYARD
STRIKE
Movement/Event:
TIMISOARA MASSACRE
Movement/Event:
SOLIDARITY
Movement/Event:
TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF
FORMER COMMUNIST LEADER
Movement/Event:
TWO AMERICAN
PLANES SHOT DOWN
Movement/Event:
CROATIAN SPRING 1971
Gorbechev rises
to power in the
Soviet Union. You
earn 1000
Freedom Points.
Gorbechev
announces policy of
Glasnost, openness,
to the world.
You earn 1000
Freedom Points.
Gorbechev announces
policy of Perestroika,
restructuring, to the
world. You earn 1000
Freedom Points.
Your country allows
free movement.
Move across one
border, but not across
the Iron Curtain.
Your country allows
free movement.
Move across one
border, but not across
the Iron Curtain.
Your country allows
free movement.
Move across one
border, but not across
the Iron Curtain.
Your country allows
free movement.
Move across one
border, but not across
the Iron Curtain.
Hungary begins to
dismantle its border with
Austria. Move across one
border. If you are
Hungary or are in
Hungary, earn 2,000
Freedom Points.
East Germany opens new
border crossings to the
West. Move across one
border. If you are E.
Germany or are in E.
Germany, earn 2,000
Freedom Points.
Embassy refuses to
grant you asylum.
Return to your
country and lose
2,000 Freedom
Points.
Embassy refuses to
grant you asylum.
Return to your
country and lose
2,000 Freedom
Points.
Embassy refuses to
grant you asylum.
Return to your
country and lose
2,000 Freedom
Points.
Solidarity movement is
legalized in Poland. If
you are Poland or are in
Poland, earn 2,000
Freedom Points.
Hungary opens its
borders with Austria.
Move across one border.
(If you are Hungary or
are in Hungary, earn
2,000 Freedom Points.
East Germany opens new
border crossings to the
West. Move across one
border. (If you are E.
Germany or are in E.
Germany, earn 2,000
Freedom Points.)
East German police shoot
man trying to scale the
Berlin Wall. Lose 1,000
Freedom Points. If you are
E. Germany or are in E.
Germany, lose 2,000
Freedom Points.
Embassy grants
you permission to
emigrate. Cross
one border.
Embassy grants
you permission to
emigrate. Cross
one border.
Romanian
demonstration is
brutally crushed. If you
are in Romania, lose
2,000 Freedom Points.
Hungary allows freedom
of movement. If you are
in Hungary, cross border
with Austria.
YOU WIN!!! If not, move
across one border.
Hungary allows freedom
of movement. If you are
in Hungary, cross border
with Austria.
YOU WIN!!! If not, move
across one border.
East German police
shoot man trying to scale
the Berlin Wall. If you are
in E. Germany, lose 2,000
Freedom Points.
Embassy grants
you permission to
emigrate. Cross
one border.
Embassy grants
you permission to
emigrate. Cross
one border.
Gorbechev rises
to power in the
Soviet Union. You
earn 1000.
Gorbechev
announces policy of
Glasnost, openness,
to the world.
You earn 1000
Freedom Points.
Gorbechev rises
to power in the
Soviet Union. You
earn 1000.
Gorbechev rises
to power in the
Soviet Union. You
earn 1000.
Gorbechev rises
to power in the
Soviet Union. You
earn 1000.