VCE HISTORY
Unit 1
Twentieth Century History (1900-1945)
Introduction
W A Y S O F O B S E RV I N G H I S TO RY
Method 1: From the top down…
POSITIVE/NEGATIVE
Positive
Negative
AREA OF STUDY 1
Crisis and Conflict
 What was the world like at the turn of the twentieth century?
 What chain of events led to the First World War?
 What were the outcomes of this war?
 How did these outcomes create conditions that made the Second World War
likely/inevitable?
 How did these conditions assist the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in
post-war Germany?
AREA OF STUDY 2
Social Life
 How did daily life and social values change during this period?
 How did events, like the World Wars, influence these changes?
 How did various factors – such as gender, class, age, race,
nationality and ethnicity – influence an individual’s life.
 How did Hitler and the Nazi Party influence social life in postWW1 Germany?
AREA OF STUDY 3
Cultural Expression
 How were the world’s creative force – writer’s, artists, musicians,
choreographers and filmmakers – influenced by changes including war,
industrial development and political movements.
 How did mass media influence the ability of governments to control
and organisations to revolt?
 Focusing on Hitler’s Germany – how were these creative forces
censored and manipulated and how did this influence society?
WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
 Collect a Lotus diagram and in the boxes provided write (briefly)
everything you know (or think you know) about Adolf Hitler,
Germany, the Nazis, the two World Wars and other related topics.
 Once you have written down as much as you can, form a group of
4 to make a larger lotus diagram on an A3 piece of paper.
 As we move through the topic we will re-assess our Lotus diagram
to add and re-arrange information to consolidate our understanding.
W A Y S O F O B S E RV I N G H I S TO RY
Method 2: From the bottom up…
WHY?
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller
POSITIVE/NEGATIVE
Positive
Negative
HOLIDAY HOMEWORK
 If you completed the homework set by Ms Adler last year please
submit it and will correct your work and hand it back.
 This is a good overview and we will review aspects of this booklet
as we move through the topic chronologically.
 SAC’s are the tasks that count towards your overall result.
However doing this work will give you a strong grounding for the
semester ahead.
HITLER’S EARLY YEARS
A N O T H E R H I G H LY A C C U R A T E
H I S T O RY S H O W
WHAT CAUSED WW1?
INVESTIGATION 1:
CRISIS AND CONFLICT
MEIN KAMPF
To ban or not to ban, that is the question?