AQA A-Level History Democracy & Nazism: War Economy, Speer and Forced Labour

Group of lessons covering the wartime economy of Nazi Germany, focussing on the work of Speer and the use of forced labour.

Lessons begin with a recap of the impact of the war on the different areas of German society - my class had done this work for themselves in the previous lesson so this was just a recap = can also be used as notes to be provided to pupils if time is short! Lessons then focus on the wartime economy, first before the time of Speer and learn how the economy was not prepared for a long-term war (links to previous economic unit).

There is a video link to use as an introduction to Speer (can be set as a homework depending on lesson time) and then lesson looks at the work of Speer in more detail, also asking pupils to assess the role of Hitler in the economy’s failings. The work on Speer is complemented by source work on the value of a source. This then continues to look at the impact of bombing on the economy.

Final task focusses on the forced labour and gets pupils to look at the issue from a Nazi perspective before asking them to complete a role play - this is then compared with the real events which the pupils were not made aware of until this point.

Lesson is presented in an easy-to-use style and Powerpoint is self-explanatory and information sheet is attached

References and questions relate to:

Oxford AQA History: Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-1945