Grade 10 History of Canada - Unit 1 Lesson 1 WORLD WAR 1 IMPERIALISM SETTING THE STAGE Teacher Instructions

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1 Teacher Instructions Objective: Time: Learn about the world setting prior to WW1 Role play to explore positions of various players regarding world setting Develop the Canadian position and identity at this time One 75-minute period Requirements: Handouts Activity Number Activity 1-1 Imperialism - Background In terms of economic and political situations, the world is shrinking. That is the industrializing nations are vying for power and domination by establishing colonies and expanding empires. Ask students, Why do the industrializing nations need to expand and establish colonies? Natural resources to fuel industry, market for products The British Empire is still the strongest (recall, its size was once 25% of globe), but as it expands problems begin to arise. As a class, students brainstorm on possible problems. Reasons include protecting empire from other industrializing nations, strife and unrest in colonies (e.g., demand for more decision making autonomy), clash of cultures, reliance on local armies or mercenaries to control unrest, maintenance costs, length of supply lines) Germany is growing. It is building a navy trying to match the British Navy. Britain counters by building more ships. Recall the Naval Crisis from the last lesson. Ask students to recount the event. France is also growing and expanding its territories into northern Africa. To protect its borders and interests, the European nations begin to build bigger armies. More importantly, Europeans had a history of war, mistrust and hostility. These nations are willing to use their armies to defend their interests As their power, influence and strength increases, each European nation becomes more nationalistic. Define nationalism loyalty to one s own country and culture Russia is an expanding power with a huge population, but as a

2 country, Russia has been slow to industrialize. Turkey is the gateway to the Middle East and its resources. At the same time, Britain and France have reached into areas such as Egypt to establish a trade route to the Middle East. Turkey needs to defend its status as a vital trade partner with Europe. Canada is still a young, immature country seeking its path. In 1914, there was an economic depression. French English relationships were strained by actions such as Ontario Regulation 17 that limited French teaching to Grades 1 and 2 only. The Ottawa Separate School Board defied Regulation 17 and teachers provided French teaching to all classes. Ontario ordered the City of Ottawa to withhold school board funds, and the schools closed operations. The Ontario action was challenged in court. The British Privy Council (Canada s highest Court of Appeal in 1914) hears the challenge. Ontario won and French Canadians were outraged. English Canada was loyal to the British Empire but political events had resulted in Canadians seeking more decisionmaking autonomy. Recall with students the Alaska Boundary Dispute, Boer War and other international actions. USA was an expanding power but it supported an internal policy of isolation. USA was also expanding its interest westward and south into Latin America. 1-2 Role Play Why I am Right In groups of seven, students will role play each nation and debate their positions Each person in a group is assigned a country to role-play. That person is given the background information for their country. Each person prepares a short (two-minute) written brief on their country s position, plans, etc. A meeting is convened. The forum is a friendly, fact-finding meeting of nations. Each group sits in an inward-looking circular seven-seat setting. OPTION Cardboard country name on each desk to identify the players. Canada chairs the meeting. Canada welcomes all countries, introduces itself, notes the rules of engagement and asks one country to begin. Each person introduces the country they represent and provides information from their written brief. A discussion about concerns arises (e.g., Britain is concerned about Germany s navy building program, France is concerned about the troops amassing on its borders, Turkey wants assurances that its trade routes will not be challenged) Students keep brief notes about the concerns.

3 1-3 Summary Assignment 1-4 Definitions Students prepare an Opinion Piece addressing the question Who was right? or Who had the strongest position and right for concern? The Opinion Piece is one page in length and due the next day. For homework, students use their text book and other references to define: Imperialism Militarism Alliance Nationalism

4 You are Britain You have the biggest empire in the world. You have the world s largest army. You are the most industrialized nation in the world, and you are the richest nation in the world..but you have many problems beginning to surface. Internally, your cities are crowded and dirty. Wages are poor and working conditions are bad. To fuel you economic machine, you need more of the world s natural resources. Competition for new colonies and resources is very stiff with Germany and France. There is growing unrest in your colonies, especially India, parts of Africa and somewhat Canada. You feel your power, and hence, your ability to defend your world interests are threatened by the expanding powers of the French and the Germans. You need to advise these powers that you will not tolerate any threats to your position. You feel that your big navy gives you an advantage. You have plans to expand your navy, and you turn, once more, to Canada for its support. You need to remind Canada that Canada is a colony of your empire, and thus, Canada should act accordingly. You see the USA as a new player and you need them to stay on the sidelines. You need the USA reassurance that its plans do not include expansion into other parts of the world. You need to advise Turkey that it is your right as a sovereign nation to decide who you will trade with and what paths you will trade by. You welcome Turkey to join you in trade, but you will not allow Turkey to dictate how you operate. You are wary of Russia. You need to advise Russia that your plans are not a threat to its interests.

5 You are France You are a powerful nation. You are highly industrialized and sophisticated. You have colonies spread throughout the world, but as your industry grows, you need more natural resources to fuel the machines and make the products. You are in an empireexpansion mode. In your history, you have fought wars against Britain and Germany. Most recently, you fought Germany in the very hostile and bitter 1870 war. You do not trust your neighbours..but you have problems beginning to surface. Internally, your cities are crowded and dirty. Wages are poor and working conditions are bad. There is some unrest. To fuel you economic machine, you need more of the world s natural resources, but the competition with Britain and Germany is stiff. Your navy is smaller. There is growing unrest in your colonies that you must address. Your conquest of Northern Africa was brutal. World opinion for your actions is mixed. You share a land border with Germany. You see Germany as a constant threat. Let the other nations know you plan to expand deeper into Africa and claim these territories for France. You will not tolerate interference from other countries in the plan. You do not trust Germany. You need them to stop threatening your empire (i.e., Germany can expand its empire but Germany must leave your colonies alone). You need to advise Turkey that it is your right as a sovereign nation to decide who you will trade with and what paths you will trade by. You welcome Turkey to join you in trade, but you will not allow Turkey to dictate how you operate. You are wary of Russia. You need to advise Russia that your plans are not a threat to its interests. You admire the French fact in Canada and encourage renewed trade with France. USA is far away, and from your perspective, they can do want they want.

6 You are Germany You are a powerful nation. You are highly industrialized. You have a proud history of fighting for your rights. You are expanding your power by seeking new colonies throughout the world, but as your industry grows, you need more natural resources to fuel the machines and make the products. To meet your empire-expansion plans and offset the threat from Britain, you are building a large, modern navy. You have an established land trade route with Turkey to the Middle East. In your history, you have fought wars against Britain and France. Most recently, you fought France in the very hostile and bitter 1870 war. You do not trust your neighbours..but you have problems beginning to surface. To fuel you economic machine, you need more of the world s natural resources, but the competition with Britain and France is stiff. You want to expand into the world and protect your existing trade. To meet your needs, you must find new colonies or take colonies from other nations. Your have an army and a navy, but relative to Britain and France, your forces are somewhat smaller. You need to build a larger armed force AND seek allies to defend your interests. You share a land border with France. You see France as a constant threat. You share a land border with Russia. Russia is a growing threat. You need to keep Russia on the sidelines. Let the other nations know you plan to expand deeper into the Middle East, Far East and Africa and claim these territories for Germany. You will not tolerate interference from other countries in the plan. You do not trust France. You will not tolerate any action by France to threaten your border. At the same time, you must seek assurances that you can share the border with France. You plan to continue to build a navy to protect your interests in the world. You want to keep Turkey as a partner. You need to keep Britain and France out of this interest. You are wary of Russia. You need to advise Russia that your plans are not a threat to its interests.

7 You are Russia You are a growing nation of power. You are not highly industrialized, but you have a large population. You have plans to expand eastward into the Middle and Far East. As you begin to industrialize, you know you will need more natural resources to fuel the machines and make the products. You have some problems. To fuel you new economic machine, you need more resources. You have lots in other parts of Russia, but you are wary of expansion interests of Britain, France and Germany You see the nations of Europe as a constant threat. Although not equipped with modern weapons, you have a very large army to offset any threat. You share a land border with Germany. Germany is a constant concern. Turkey is threatening your trade supply routes to the Middle East. There is growing internal unrest by the poor in Russia. You must act to offset any internal unrest while watching your borders. Let the other nations know that you will not tolerate any threats to your sovereignty. In particular, the other nations should not support any unrest or revolt inside Russia. This is your domestic affair, and as a sovereign nation, you will deal with matters inside your border as you see fit. You are very wary of Germany and Turkey. You need to advise Germany and Turkey that their plans make you uncomfortable and could be viewed as a threat to your interests. You plan to modernize your armed forces. Your action should not be considered a threat to other nations. You see the Middle and Far East as an opportunity to expand your interests. You may wish to advise the nations of the world that any expansion by you into these regions should not be viewed as a threat. You have no interest in Canada, and you ask why such a nation is the chair at this meeting.

8 You are Turkey You are a nation of power in the Middle East. You control the trade routes between Europe and the Middle East. You have a large population. You want to keep this economic advantage intact. You have some problems. You are wary of expansion interests of Britain and France as they expand into the Far East and Africa, respectively You see the nations of Europe as a constant threat. Although not equipped with modern weapons and your army may be able to offset any threat, you feel you need an ally in Europe. You need to keep Germany on your side. Russia has expansion plans into the Middle East. Let the other nations know that you will not tolerate any threats to your sovereignty. You are very wary of Russia. You need to advise Russia that its plans make you uncomfortable and could be viewed as a threat to your interests. You plan to modernize your armed forces. Your action should not be considered a threat to other nations, but as a means to prevent war. You see the Middle and Far East as your interests. You may wish to advise the nations of the world that any expansion by them into this region will be viewed as a threat. You need Germany as an ally to offset possible military actions by the other nations.

9 You are USA Grade 10 History of Canada - Unit 1 Lesson 1 You are a growing nation of power. You are highly industrialized with an expanding population. You are expanding into the western parts of the USA and Latin America. You believe in Manifest Destiny your right to establish your authority over the entire North American continent. Your land has many natural resources to fuel your machines and make your products. You need the markets of Europe for your products. You are building a big, modern army. You have some problems. You have natural resources. You are wary of the nations of Europe wanting your resources. You are very aware of the British presence in Canada. You need to sell your products to the nations of Europe. You need to maintain a friendly relationship with them. You are expanding into Latin America. You see other nations wanting this land too. Let the other nations know that you will not tolerate any threats to your sovereignty. Let the other nations know you are not interested in their in-fighting. You will not become involved. Let the other nations know that you are interested in maintaining trade relationships. You plan to modernize your armed forces. Your action should not be considered a threat to other nations. You see the Latin America as an opportunity to expand your interests. You may wish to advise the nations of the world that any expansion by you into these regions should not be viewed as a threat, and moreover, they should not make plans for this region. You are keen to keep Canada as a friend.

10 You are Canada You are a young and immature nation. You are a nation yet part of the British Empire. You have vast supplies of natural resources. Your industrial base is growing, but it lags behind other industrializing nations. You are still trying to settle Canada, and mostly, you are looking inward. You have some problems. USA is considered a threat. You have little foreign policy decision-making ability from Britain. You want more autonomy. Your army and navy are very small. It is unlikely that you could defend your borders. You need to maintain allies. French and English Canadians continue to fight internally. Western Canada is sparsely populated, and your people are separated by distance. You need foreign markets for your goods. You need Britain as a trading partner and you maintain loyalty to Britain to appease the English Canadians, but you are not interested in the imperialistic intentions of the European nations You have a very small armed, poorly equipped and largely untrained force. You need Britain as an ally to offset any USA intentions for expansion. The scope of your manufacturing largely lags behind the industrializing nations, and you are seeking opportunities to become more industrialized. To do so, you need to keep market access open, especially Britain - your biggest trading partner and largest buyer of your resources. You need more people from Europe to populate Western Canada. You want to maintain friendly relations with all European nations. You wish to maintain friendly relations with the USA. You have many internal domestic issues (e.g., English versus French), and your looking is more inward at your own issues than into the world s problems. The expansion of France into Northern Africa has little impact on your thinking except for the concerns it raises with Turkey. Russia is a wild card.