Source Sets / World History
Why did dictators rise, and how did democracies respond?
Fascist and Nazi programs in their own words, the Nazi-Soviet Pact, and the answers of Chamberlain, Churchill, and Roosevelt as war came.
Teach it
✓ Lesson readyA ready-to-run lesson for this set: Role-Play: Advising the Democracies, 1920–1940. Slides include a hook, one slide per source, directions, a take-a-stand vote, an exit ticket, and a teacher script in the speaker notes.
1. Hook: a striking quote 3-5 min
My good friends this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honor. I believe it is peace in our time.
Neville Chamberlain, outside 10 Downing Street (September 30, 1938)
Ask: Crowds cheered Chamberlain when he said this. Why would people in 1938, twenty years after World War I, want to believe him?
2. Main activity: Role-Play: Advising the Democracies, 1920–1940
Grouping: Six advisory councils of 4 to 5 students; the teacher plays the head of government who calls on each council in date order
Setup: Each council advises the leaders of Britain, France, or the United States at one moment in history. Councils read their source, then recommend one of four responses: negotiate, rearm and warn, form alliances, or stay out. After each recommendation, the teacher reveals what happened next using the next council’s source.
Materials (printables are in the Lesson Plan Doc)
- Council role cards (printable pages in the Lesson Plan Doc)
- Evidence cards for all 7 sources
- Advice sheet
- Assign councils 5 min
Hand out role cards and source excerpts. - Prepare 8 min
Each council writes a 45-second recommendation and one reason drawn from its source. - Council meetings 20 min
In date order, each council gives its advice. The teacher reveals what happened next using the next council’s source. - Pattern hunt 7 min
As a class, label each moment: negotiate, rearm and warn, alliance, or stay out. When did the democracies change course? - Take a stand 5 min
Use the vote slide. - Exit ticket 5 min
Students answer on a slip before leaving.
Take a stand: Could the democracies have stopped the dictators sooner?
- Yes, with earlier action: The dictators stated their aims openly: the 1920 Nazi program demanded land and territory, Mussolini rejected peace, and Hitler’s 1939 speech expected Britain and France to back down.
- Not realistically: After the losses of World War I, many leaders and voters believed negotiation could keep the peace, and even in December 1940 Roosevelt said the U.S. would send supplies, not soldiers.
3. Pacing options
15-minute bell-ringer
- 3 min Hook: “peace in our time”
- 8 min Compare Chamberlain (1938) with Hitler’s August 1939 speech: what did each leader expect the other to do?
- 4 min Exit ticket question 1
Full 50-minute lesson
- 4 min Hook: Chamberlain
- 5 min Assign councils
- 8 min Prepare
- 20 min Council meetings
- 7 min Pattern hunt
- 6 min Vote and exit ticket
4. Exit ticket
- Which council’s moment was the biggest turning point? Use a source to explain.
- Why did so many people in 1938 welcome Chamberlain’s words? Give one reason from the time.
5. Differentiation
Support
- This set has no Adapted Docs yet; read key passages aloud or chunk them for struggling readers.
- Provide a timeline card with all six dates and one event each.
- Let councils choose from four printed recommendations before writing their own.
- Word bank: fascism, appeasement, Sudetenland, protocol, sphere of influence, arsenal.
Extension
- The Obersalzberg speech survives in several versions recorded by listeners, and historians question this one. Why does it matter which version a historian uses?
- Compare Churchill’s May 1940 speech with Chamberlain’s 1938 statement. How had British leaders’ message changed?
Suggested sequence
- Benito Mussolini: What is Fascism, 1932Document · Fordham University · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 5 minBenito Mussolini: What is Fascism, 1932. A primary source from 1932. It begins: "Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) over the course of his lifetime went from Socialism - he was editor of Avanti , a socialist newspaper..."Ask: How does Mussolini define fascism, and what does he reject about liberalism and socialism?Open with this source to frame the question.
- The 25 Points 1920: An Early Nazi ProgramDocument · Fordham University · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 7 minThis text is a summary of the points, and not the full text, which were not given in the order below.Ask: Which grievances and promises in this program might have appealed to Germans in 1920, and which points target specific groups?
- Chamberlain: Peace in Our Time (1938)Speech · Fordham University · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 5 minNeville Chamberlain's statements after the Munich Agreement.Ask: Was appeasement cowardice or caution?
- The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, 1939Document · Fordham University · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 3 minThe Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, 1939. A primary source from 1939. It begins: "The Government of the German Reich and The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics desirous of strengthening the cause of..."Ask: What did Germany and the Soviet Union publicly agree to, and what did the secret protocol add?
- Adolf Hitler: The Obersalzberg Speech, 22 Aug 1939Speech · Fordham University · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 minAdolf Hitler: The Obersalzberg Speech, 22 Aug 1939. A primary source from 1939, reproduced from Documents on British Foreign Policy. 1919-1939. eds. E. L. Woodward and Rohan Riftlep; 3rd. It begins: "Decision to attack Poland was arrived at in spring. Originally there was fear that because of the political constellation we would have..."Ask: What does Hitler tell his generals about his plans for Poland, and how does he justify them?
- Winston Churchill: "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat", May 13, 1940Document · Fordham University · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 3 minWinston Churchill: "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat", May 13, 1940. A primary source from 1940. It begins: "The leadership of Neville Chamberlain proved insufficient during the war, and in May 1940, Winston S. Churchill was appointed Prime Minister of..."Ask: What does Churchill promise and ask of the British people in his first speech as prime minister?
- FDR: Arsenal of Democracy (1940)Speech · Fordham University · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 20 minRoosevelt's fireside chat urging the U.S. to arm Britain.Ask: How could the U.S. help Britain without going to war?Close with this source before writing.
Quick check
Five questions built only from this set’s sources: four multiple choice and one short answer. Print it or assign it in Google Classroom. The answer key gives the source line for every answer.
Preview the questions
- Which source in this set contains this passage? “We demand land and territory (colonies) for the sustenance of our people, and colonization for our surplus population.”
- In 'The Doctrine of Fascism' (1932), what did Mussolini say Fascism did NOT believe in?
- Which source in this set contains this passage? “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
- What did the secret protocol of the Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939) do?
- Short answer: Choose two sources from this set. Using a specific detail from each, explain how they help answer the set’s question: “Why did dictators rise, and how did democracies respond?” Write 3 to 5 sentences.
Culminating writing prompt
Using evidence from at least three sources in this set, write an argument that answers the question: “Why did dictators rise, and how did democracies respond?” Cite each source by title, explain how its author, audience, and purpose affect its reliability, and respond to at least one counterargument.
Printable writing sheet (make a copy)
Build a DBQDBQ packet (make a copy)
Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.