Exploring and Teaching 20th Century History
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For a long time, history curricula on the 20th century prioritised the narrative of a slide from WWI to WWII and fascism. In reality the history of the 20th century is far more complicated and far more interesting... Read more
The 20th century was defined by many things including the global consequences of the 1917 revolution; the spread of decolonisation and economic nationalism; the transformation of China; new ideas about human rights; the radical transformation of social attitudes and the mass movement of people.
Part and parcel of 20th-century history is an ever-evolving historiography that tries to narrate and explain it. Influential works, such as Eric Hobsbawm’s Age of Extremes (1994), were shaped by the authors’ responses to the ideas and assumptions of the era. But historical interpretations develop as contexts change and new perspectives are brought to bear on familiar material.
The problem with historians constantly re-writing and re-interpreting the century is that syllabi and curricula cannot keep track. Many teachers in practice have to resort to the history they themselves were taught at school and university. How can we integrate new ideas and topics into these familiar narratives while still retaining some of their clarity? Show less
We hope that this collection (downloadable at the bottom of the page) can make a small contribution to the task of exploring and teaching 20th-century history.
The resource is divided into two main parts: the first on ‘exploring’ twentieth-century history, made up of articles by academic historians; and the second on ‘teaching’ history, made up of articles written primarily by teachers.
Section 1: Exploring twentieth-century history
4 Introduction – David Brydan and Jessica Reinisch ... Show full Section 1 contents
Short responses
6 What would you like teachers and students to know about the first half of the twentieth century?
9 What would you like teachers and students to know about the second half of the twentieth century?
Overviews
12 The changing shapes of Europe’s twentieth century – Martin Conway
15 What is interesting about the world wars? – Robert Gildea
18 What is interesting about the interwar period? – Daniel Laqua
22 When was the post-war? – Jessica Reinisch
27 What is interesting about the Cold War? – Eirini Karamouzi
Twentieth-century sources
30 How is the source base of the twentieth century different from that of earlier periods? – Julia Laite
34 What difference has the opening (and closing) of archives after 1991 made to the historiography of the Cold War? – Sarah Marks
Rethinking twentieth-century history in the curriculum
38 Rethinking the Cold War: a global conflict? – David Brydan
42 Rethinking Britain: a matter of interpretation – David Edgerton
46 Rethinking the League of Nations: what should we know about international organisations? – Isabella Loehr
50 China’s twentieth century: the long revolution – Julia Lovell
54 Rethinking the Soviet Union: the global reach of the October Revolution – Elidor Mëhilli
58 Migration and refugees in British history – Becky Taylor
62 Rethinking the United States: what was ‘the American century’? – Heidi Tworek
66 Rethinking the Holocaust – Nikolaus Wachsmann
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Section 2: Teaching twentieth-century history
72 Introduction – Ben Walsh ... Show full Section 2 contents
74 ‘Memory’ as an approach to teaching twentieth-century history – Carina Ancell, Priya Atwal, David Brydan, Diya Gupta, Alana Harris, Alan Kunna, and Anna Maguire
78 ‘The European Perspective’: helping students and teachers to understand the recent past of the continent in which we live – Helen Snelson
81 Migration stories, the British civil rights movement and the impact of the Cold War on identity: How migration and migrant stories can provide new insights into teaching Britain’s twentieth-century history – Martin Spafford
86 A need to know basis: Making decisions about content and concepts in teaching twentieth-century history – Steve Farndon
89 Beyond Bletchley: the role of women in the history of the RAF – Paula Worth
100 Simple domesticity? Problematising and desanitising the teaching of the topic of women in Nazi Germany – Chelsey David
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Links
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Wellcome Trust whose Public Engagement grant helped fund our 2017 Teacher Fellowship Programme The Cold War in the Classroom.
