4ºBritish: History updated - Spanish flu & Covid19 comparison

 

This is a quite interesting activity that will help you to understand how History is always repeating itself (as shown in this special review of Crash Course World History: Disease! - 11:40 minutes)

As it is also quite demanding 3-task activity, it can be done individually or in pairs.

 

Task 1. Spanish flu historical research. Read carefully the provided sources and underline the most relevant data/information. Them fill in the  first column of the provided chart with the summarise information in each category.

Tip: You should watch this overview from CBS Sunday Morning that summarizes the current COVID-19 outbreak in Washington State as of March 8, 2020 and introduces the Spanish Flu of 1918 (The story of the 1918 flu pandemic - length 6:37) or check this terrific historical dossier from CDC (Center for disease control & prevention). 

 

Task 2. Search on Covid-19 sources. Now you must select 6 sources of information (in English) about the current COVID pandemia and categorized them following the previous example (scientific, cultural, etc.). Please, include those sources (text, images or links) in your document with a brief explanation of why you find them so relevant and representative for stiying this current pandemia.

When finish, fill in the  second column of the previous chart with the summarise information in each category.

Tip: main sources that you can use for starting your research in this specifical task (do not copy that general links as sources; you MUST choose the articles or graphics that can be more representative in each category of the chart):

Washington Post - New York Times - BBC – IG @covidartmuseum

 

Task 3. SETTING UP THE COMPARISON. Now that you have read, research and categorise sources of information from both pandemias, you have to set up the comparaison by answering the following question:

To what extent is the Coronavirus outbreak of 2020 similar to the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918?

The student thesis should qualify an argument that sets-up a 2 to 1 comparison (2 differences/1 similarity OR 2 similarities/1 difference).  The sources and their analysis previously done should guide their argument structure decisions. 

Here is an example of this type of thesis/argument structure model (that you have to complete and develop properly in a fully argumented answer!): Although the outbreaks have similar global reach, they differ in their mortality rates and government responses...

This third part can be done in a pdf file (about 25-30 lines) or by filming a short video / Teams conference (about 3-4 minutes).

When finish, send an email with ALL files (chart, covid selected sources and comparaison) in PDF format (or .AVI if choosing video in the last task) as attached files to acarriles@educa.jcyl.es. Last day: Friday,  18 February.

Of course, this activity is mandatory and will be part of the score at the end of the term. If you fail to finish it, do it out of date, or just copy&paste from a webpage, the mark will be a 0 for this work.

Ready? Steady?... go!

4º British: THE GREAT WAR - WEEK BY WEEK 100 YEARS LATER

Studying World War I? Here you have a terrific colecction of videos, conducted by Indiana Neidell for British Pathé. It was an ambitious project, covering week by week the evolution of the war on its centenary. Here you have the link to the first video: The outbreak of WWI.

Learn & enjoy!

4º British: Graphic novels for learning History

As usual, here you have a list of recommendations for your holidays. This year is about graphic novels!. It is only a selection but it includes a wide range of different historical moments and perspectives. Enjoy the reading!

Women

Persépolis, by Marjane Satrapi. Autobiography of a teenager in Teherán, during the difficult years of the Islamic Revolution.

Sally Heathcote, Suffragette, by Mary M. Talbot & Kate Charlesworth. As the growing hunger for change grows within a culture of rigid social mores and class barriers, Sally and thousands like her rise up to break the bonds of oppression at the risk of ostracization and violence. 

Leonor, the Black legend, by Delalande, Mogavino & Gómez. Biography of the brave and powerful Leonor of Aquitania (1122-1204), who brokes the medieval stereotypes fom women and changed History.

Red Rosa, by Kate Evans. A graphic biography of Rosa Luxemburg, a central figure in the early twentieth century socialist movement in Europe, shows how an independent, passionate woman stood fast for her beliefs. 

I World War

¡F***ing War!, by Jacques Tardi. A classic graphic novel about life in the trenches.

Gravrilo Princip, by Henrik Rehr. The story of the man that change the 20th century.

The Harlem Hellfighters, by Max Brooks & Caanan White. It is a fictionalized account of the experiences of the African-American 369th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the "Hell-fighters" by German soldiers.

II World War

Berlin: City of Stones, by Jason Lutes. A good inter-war novel set in the later years of the Weimar Republic. It covers the lives of several people in Berlin in 1928-1929, with as a backdrop the rise of Nazism. 

Normandy, a graphic novel of the D-Day, by Wayne Vansant.

Maus, by Art Spiegelman. The story of a survivor from the concentration camps.

Los surcos del azar, by Paco Roca. The Story of “La Nueve”, the international Regiment, mainly formed by Spanish Republicans, that first enter in Paris,  on the 24th August 1944.

History of Spain

La balada del Norte, by Alfonso Zapico. The story of several characters Turing the difficult times of the II Republic and the rebellion in Asturias.

La guerra civil española, by José Pablo García & Paul Preston

El otro mar, by Alfonso Zapico. Biography of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, one of the explorers/conquerors of America, around the year 1500.

1212. Las Navas de Tolosa, by Jesús Cano de la Iglesia

Las Meninas, by Javier Olivares & Santiago García

Pablo Picasso, by Birmant & Oubrerie

El Cid, by Antonio Hernández Palacios

Post-War conflicts

CHE: a revolutionary life, by Jon Lee Anderson & José Hernández

Pyongyang, by Guy Deslise. The author had the opportunity of visiting North Korea. Altough controlled and chaperoned by his translator and a guide, among the statues and propaganda of Korean leaders (the world's only Communist dynasty), Delisle was able to observe more than was intended of the culture and lives of the few North Koreans he encountered. 

A Chinese Life, by Philippe Otie & Li Kunwu. The creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the rise and reign of Chairman Mao Zedong, and his sweeping, often cataclysmic vision for the most populated country on the planet.

Waltz with Bashir: A Lebanon War, by Ari Folman.

Best enemies, by Jean-Pierre Filiu & David B. A story of USA & Middle East relationships (1783-1953)

Such a lovely little war: Saigon 1961-1963, by Marcelino Truong. This Franco-Vietnamese author recounts his childhood in Saigon (now Ho Chi Mihn City). It is a gentle introduction to the beginning of the Vietnam War seen by a child of a bi-cultural marriage.

The Photographer, by Emmanuel Guibert & Didier Lefèvre. It recounts the journey of a reporter through Afghanistan while accompanying Doctors Without Borders in a country torn apart by a war pitting Russians against an Afghan resistance supported by the US and other countries.

Safe Area Gorazde, by Joe Sacco. The author, a master of graphic reportage, managed to convey the nuances of politics combined with a deep understanding of what Bosnians were going through in The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-95. Other main titles of Joe Sacco are Palestine and Footnotes in Gaza, both about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Gaza strip.

Miscelánea

Democracy, by Alecos Papadatos, Abraham Kawa & Annii Donna. The story of how democracy started in Ancient Athens, from the perspective of one of its citizens.

Dubliner, by Alfonso Zapico. The tumultuous life of James Joyce, one of the most famous writers of the 20th century.

Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City, by Guy Delisle. Travelogue about life in the Holy City that serves as a cultural roadmap of the city's complexities and relevance while offering insight into the human impact of conflicts on both sides of the wall.

4º British: Russian Revolution - 100 Years Later

Here are three short essays about the Russian Revolution from Smithsonian Magazine. They are written by Dr. Carolyn Harris, professor of History at the University of Toronto, USA.

The first essay in the series, "What You Need to Know First to Understand the Russian Revolution," is specially important because it reviews the domestic and foreign policy of Tsar Nicholas and Russia's involvement in World War I.

Besides, because this is the year of the centenary, there are several conmemorative activities, avents and speeches. For example, the International Committee of the Fourth International's series of lectures on the centenaryof the Russian Revolution will be broadcast on the WSWS.

If you are really into this particular topic on the syllabus, this is a good oportunity. Enjoy the visit!

Thanks to Ken Halla for the Smithsonian link. 

4º British: The National Egg Collection for Wounded Soldiers (WW1)

Nowadays it can be hard to relieve but this is a real story from World War One…

The National Egg Collection was launched in November 1914 following proposals put forward by Frederick Carl, the editor of Poultry World (a magazine for farmers that is still online published!). The aim initially was to provide 20.000 eggs a week to the wounded British soldiers in hospital in Boulogne, improving their diet and helping them to recover. However, very soon the organisation became so popular that... 1.030.380 eggs were received during the week 16-23 August 1915, not including those sent directly to local hospitals!.

Special boxes and labels were supplied and free transport was provided by the railways. A central collection point was established in London in a warehouse provided by Harrods.

Postcards were specially produced for children: ‘Ma! Teach me how to lay an Egg – I want to do my bit for the wounded!’ The famous graphic artist, Donald McGill, produced a card aimed at a more mature audience. 

Even more! Female donors were encouraged to write their name and address on the eggs with a message for the wounded (Poultry World called them ‘eggograms’); many of them received back letters from the soldiers, expressing their gratitude for the gift. Eg.: Florence Hole (from Holwell, Dorset) received dozens of letters back and nowadays there is an online community which purpose is to attempt to locate those that responded.

Finally, you can read a later description (secondary source) about it: “My mother, Nancy Steele, was born in Woodstock near Oxford and was aged 12 when the war started. She and her sisters collected eggs for the National Egg Collection scheme throughout the war; the eggs were sent to sick and injured soldiers in hospital. I believe the girls would put their names and addresses on the eggs and mother received two letters from one of the recipients, a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery called Arthur William Dixey. At the end of the war, my mother received a certificate for collecting the eggs. I am still amazed that at that time, the eggs travelled to France and arrived unbroken!”

Unbelievable, isn’t it? J

4º British: World War I_ Resources

In the following link provided by Ken Halla (from World History Educators blog) you can find a collection of good resources for studying World War I. Some of them are already known and used (eg. Specific events and the simulation game) at class but they are other new and interesting ones that could be useful for the preparation of your next exam... Have a look! 

The collection is divided in these sections: 

• Three good video overviews
• Specific events
• Simulations
• Blackaader comedy clips
• Pinterest Board

4º British: Spain during the Great Wat (1914-1918)

We mentioned before that, oficially, Spain was neutral during the I World War but, in real life, it was a secondary scenario of the conflict, because its raw materials and its strategic position.

Here you have an additional topic about that issue: Spain and the Great War. What were the relationships with the different alliances? What was the target of the secret servicies? The press debates? etc.

Good reading!

4º British: Main causes of I World War

Studying for the exam of World War I? J Here's a great six minute review of the MAIN causes as we said today at class. And the final trigger event was the Balkan's conflict (Franz Ferdinand)...

Good luck!

Source: "Made from History”

4º British: I World War - Online simulation games

Now that we have finished this topic at class, it is a good moment to remind you that, apart from theory, you can also learn some things by playing these free online games:

Our war: interactive episode (From BBC 3). A cool simulation in which you can take your own decissions as a sargeant. 

Over the top (From Canadian War Museum). Experience the life in trenches first hand.

What was it like? (From BBC Bitesize for children).

Enjoy! :-)

4º British: Lives of I World War

A website to uncover and remember the life stories of the 8 million men and women (from across Britain and the Commonwealth ) who served in uniform and worked on the home front during the Great War:

Let’s remember together

@LivesOfWW1

4º British: Short questions about the First World War

On this term's exam you will have one activity with several short-questions about the I World War (0'25 x 4 = 1 point), extracted from these options. They will be quite easy, for example :-): 

• What was the Christmas truce?
• Who was the "Red Baron"?
• Why poppy flower is the symbol of the IWW?
• What was the Zimmermann Telegramm?
• Name some inventions from the IWW...
• Who was Sofía Casanova?
• Who was Private Sidney Lewis?... 

It's not necessary to learn by heart all the articles, just have a look to the most important ones...

Alemania, Grecia y las deudas

Durante todo el verano hemos oído noticias acerca de las deudas que Grecia tiene con Europa por su rescate durante la crisis. Pero ¿Cuál es el país más endeudado con Europa? ¿Y que además se niega, de forma sistemática, a pagar esas deudas?... Alemania.

Sí, sí. El país que actualmente lidera la UE y que impone sus exigencias a los demás, sin diálogo, Alemania es en realidad quien más dinero debe a Europa. No se trata de “rescates” por mala gestión económica, sino las indemnizaciones por haber invadido, destruido, saqueado y asesinado en dos guerras mundiales.

¿Cómo ha conseguido Alemania NO pagar esas indemnizaciones?

I Guerra Mundial. En el Tratado de Versailles (1919) Alemania fue condenada a pagar 226.000 millones de marcos de oro, una cifra imposible pensada para “ahogar” su economía y su industria armamentística y evitar más problemas en el futuro.

Entre 1924 y 1929, Alemania sobrevivió gracias a los préstamos de EEUU (más de un Billón de dólares). Un alto porcentaje de esos préstamos los dedicó a empezar a pagar las indemnizaciones.

Pero en 1929 estalla el Crack del 29, la gran crisis bursátil. La economía de EEUU se colapsó, arrastrando a sus aliados europeos. Alemania aprovechó la situación para “renegociar” su deuda (“Plan Young”) y dejarla en la mitad (112.000 millones de marcos). Aún así, en 1932 volvieron a renegociarlo, consiguiendo reducir su deuda casi por completo. Según la “Moratoria Hoover” y las “Negociaciones de Lausanne”, Alemania sólo tendría que pagar un 2% de las indemnizaciones impuestas en el Tratado de Versailles.

Es decir, que la deuda de 226.000 millones de marcos quedó reducida a apenas 4.520 millones. Por si esto fuera poco, en 1939 Hitler decide, unilateralmente, suspender los pagos de esa (ahora) mínima deuda.

II Guerra Mundial. La historia se repite: Alemania es condenada a pagar elevadísimas sumas de dinero como indemnizaciones de guerra pero, en el “Tratado de Londres” (1953) EEUU, que necesitaba una Europa fuerte y unida frente a la Unión Soviética, convence a los países europeos (incluida Grecia) para que “perdonen” temporalmente la deuda alemana, a pesar de que necesitaban dichos pagos para poder reconstruirse a sí mismos.

Y lo que es peor: Alemania se libró de sus deudas pero exigió a Grecia que pagase las indemnizaciones de la Guerra de los Balcanes de 1881. ¡Increíble! Lo consiguió en 1964 siendo gobernantes Georgios Papandreou y Kostas Mitsotakis, quienes incluso aceptaron añadir los cuantiosos intereses generados por el “retraso” en el pago.

En 1990 las dos Alemanias se unificaron, lo cual implicaba revisar los términos del Tratado de Londres y retomar el pago de las indemnizaciones. Pero el presidente alemán, Helmut Kohl, se negó. Y así llegamos hasta hoy…

Es decir, que el llamado “milagro alemán” no existió. La recuperación de la economía alemana se debe al IMPAGO reiterado de sus deudas por indemnizaciones de guerra y a la ventaja competitiva que supuso utilizar mano de obra esclava (los presos de los campos de concentración durante la etapa nazi) en grandes empresas como Krupp, Thyssen, Volkswagen, Bayer, Agfa, Siemens, etc.

Por lo tanto, en un mundo justo, ¿quién tendría que pagar a quién?

Muchas gracias a Friedel Hütz-Adams 

por su detallado análisis acerca del Tratado de Londres (1953)

Muchas gracias a Pedro Olalla por proporcionar las bases de este artículo

Imagen de portada

 Caricatura de 1929 que representa a Alemania como un paciente aquejado de diversos males y atendida por un perverso doctor judío. Cada vendaje hace alusión a un tratado internacional y la sangre que vierte en el cubo se refiere a reparaciones de guerra. La traducción del texto sería: "Puedo administrarle otra inyección. En el estado en que se encuentra no sentirá nada".

4º British: The Paris Peace Conference after the IWW

Thanks to Ken Halla for this short (8 minutes) but very clear video about the Paris Conference and the different visions of the "Big 3" leaders: Wilson (USA), Lloyd George (UK) and Clemenceau (France). 

4º British: Life in a WWI trench. Simulation game

It's not the first time we talk in class about the Great War trenches but, as you are really interesting into it, here you have a new 4-minutes video from History Channel and even a simulation game from the Canadian War Museum. Join History first hand... 

Links thanks to Ken Halla.

4º British: Causes of IWW and its global nature

As you asked me this morning in class, here you have the document with the detailed causes of the I World War.

In addition, if you want a deeper study about WWI, the websites of The Guardian and the British Library, offer both stories and video clips that clearly outlines that global nature:

The Guardian has a 3-minute clip called "Empire" that reminds us that Britain brought in the most colonial soldiers, conscripting over a million men from their Indian colony and France brought in over 200,000 Africans to work in French factories.

The British Library has a number of stories about racism and nationalism in WWI. Example: Colonial participation in the war often reinforced racial stereotypes as these colonial soldiers became more visible to the European public. According to historian Fogerty, "the German army made much of the ‘exotic’ soldiers it captured from among enemy troops, often subjecting Africans and Asians to anthropological study in the camps and using images of the prisoners in propaganda." 

By the way, the photo that illustrates this post, is the uniform that Franz Ferdinand was dressing when he was killed... Can you see the blood spots?

4º British: Yprès and the Great War

If you are thinking about a summer road-trip throught Belgium J, here are some remarkable sites linked with the I World War in the surroundings of Yprès (Ieper), one of the most punished cities during that war.

YORKSHIRE TRENCH & DUG-OUT

This underground war can still be found at a depth of 60 to 70 cm.  This is something the local population quickly learned, when from 1997 onwards a new industrial site was developed along the Ieper-Yzer canal. Numerous vestiges of the war were soon discovered: unexploded ammunition, constructions, human remains,... 

Since then, the bodies of some 205 soldiers of three different nationalities have been recovered. The city acquired a small plot of land, for the creation of a memorial site. This plot marks the location of ‘Yorkshire Trench' originally dug by the British in 1915.

FRONT LINE HOOGHE

In July 1915 the Royal Engineers of the British Army tunnelled beneath the German trenches and destroyed them with nearly two tonnes of high explosive. The explosion, the largest in history to that time, created the famous high mine hole which itself became the focus of bitter fighting for the next three years and has been preserved on the site to this day.

Wartime records showed a number of trenches in the vicinity of this mine hole and in 1995 one of these trenches was located and excavated. An astounding number of wartime relics were discovered and have now been carefully displayed together with photographs showing Hooghe during the war. Also at Front Line Hooghe are some concrete bunkers, one of which is now possible to enter and explore.

Memorial of the Menin Gate

One of the essential places to be visited in this city is the Memorial of the Menin Gate, which was built between 1923 and 1927 as a memorial to British soldiers who died in the Great War: on the walls of the monument are written the names of 54,896 British soldiers.

Each night, traffic on the door interrupted and the Fire Department represents here Ypres what is called The Last Post, at 20.00, as a tribute to the fallen soldiers. The land where the memorial sits was donated by the government of Belgium to the British Empire, but recently has been handed back to Ypres.

HILL 60

This hill was created by the earth excavated from the adjacent railway cutting. In 1914 it was captured by the Germans from the French. Later, this sector was taken over by the British, who began an underground warof mines and counter-mines. 

The first British ‘deep' mine was exploded on 17 February 1915. Following a second detonation on 17 April 1915, the British were able to temporarily seize the hill, but it was soon lost. The underground war continued until the beginning of June 1917 (Third Battle of Ypres). Countless soldiers worked in the cold and the dark of the mine tunnels. Some of them died there and are still buried beneath the clay. In this sense, Hill 60 is a cemetery.

ESSEX FARM CEMETERY (Site John McCrae)

One of the most famous people in the area is John McCrae, a Canadian born in Ontario in 1871, who graduated in medicine in Toronto in 1898. At the outbreak of the IWW, enlisted and was sent to the Canadian artillery campaign. He was at Essex Farm and in May 1915 wrote the famous poem "In FlandersFields" after one of his friends was killed and buried surrounded by poppies. The English cemetery includes 1199 graves of soldiers from across the Commonwealth.

In front of the cementery, we can visit the "French shelters". They were built in the eighteenth century by the French military engineer Vauban, as reinforcement along the canal that for years served as French border. During the IWW were used as shelter and warehouses and after the Armistice, many served as temporary refugees trying to return to their homes and property were destroyed.

4º British: Merry Christmas (from the Western Front)

Based on historical facts, this emotional Sainsbury's advertisement remember us the unofficial Truce that German, Scottish and French platoons did during the 1914 Christmas. 

During several days, soldiers both sides stopped fighting and enjoyed the seasonal good feelings together (they played football, exchanged gifts, etc.). The militar leadership, obviously, did not like the news when they knew it and all the soldiers where moved to other fronts and punished for "fraternizing with the enemy". Not to said, having another Christmas truce in 1915 was totally unthinkable...

There is also a film about this event, directed by Christian Carion in 2005. 

Enjoy it and... Merry Christmas to you all, students!

4º British: the Middle East, a legacy of WWI

Here are a couple chapters about the origins of the Great War in the Middle East that you might want to read when we study it at class.

In “The Middle East that France and Britain Drew”, John B. Judis traces the roots of the problems today to the way Britain and France drew the borders in the Middle East after the first World War.

In “The Last Crusade: The WWI and the Birth of Modern Islam”, Philip Jenkins traces the rise of modern Islam, including Islamic extremism, to the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the World War I.

Enjoy the reading! J

4º British: We remember (Why poppy flower is the symbol of WW1?)

The poppy has a long association with Remembrance Day. But how did the distinctive red flower become such a potent symbol?

Scarlet corn poppies grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open as World War One raged through Europe's heart. Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the otherwise barren battlefields.

The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae in his poem “In Flanders Fields”, written in the remembrance of a soldier friend.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The poppy was adopted by The Royal British Legion as the symbol for their Poppy Appeal, in aid of those serving in the British Armed Forces, after its formation in 1921.

Source: Remembrace Wall

4º British: World War I interactive episode

Thanks to BBC, now you can relive firsthand the Great War. Do you think you would be a good platoon leader? Are you able to take the right decisions during an ambush? Find it out with this interactive episode.

Enjoy and good luck!