Impact of War
How did major wars such as World War I and World War II shape history?
We have been learning about World War I and II, focusing on their causes, impacts, and technological advances. We compared the effects on soldiers and civilians, explored remembrance practices, and investigated the wars' impact on Seascale and Cumbria using local sources. We planned and delivered an assembly to honor these events.
The Beacon
Alan talked to us, with passion all about the beginning of the war, which was fascinating. He talked to us about gas masks, propaganda, industry in Cumbria, evacuation and much more! Once we’d heard so much information, we had the opportunity to visit different stations that had some artefacts to discover.








What were the main causes of WW1 and WW2?
We worked in teams to read through information and match them up to the different countries, once we had done that we ordered them and from there worked as a class to put them all in chronological order. It was interesting to see how the countries actions affected the others.
For WW2 we completed a 'Road to War' ordering activity to see specifically how the UK reacted to different actions from Germany.
How did leadership in Britain and Germany evolve during WW1 and WW2?
In groups we worked in groups to read biographies about the leaders in UK and Germany in both WW1 or WW2. We picked out key qualities such as;
- biographical details
- major policies and decisions
- leadership styles
- the impact their leadership had on the war and the country.
Once we had identified these qualities we create a leadership profile and then presented our findings to the rest of the class.
After the presentations we discussed each of the leaders and these questions;
- What were the similarities and differences in their leadership styles?
- How did each leader's decision affect their country's fate in the wars?
- How did public perception of these leaders change over time?
What technological advances were made during WW1 and WW2?
We discussed different key advancements in WW1 and WW2 such as; tanks, machine guns, planes, radar and the atomic bomb and how these technologies changed warfare tactics. We linked to our computing and discused the role of code-breaking and the Engima machines.
We were then divided into groups and had time to research further from a variety of sources to create a presentation. It had to include a description of the technology, how it was used in the war and it's impact on the outcome of the war.
How did the experiences of women differ between WW1 and WW2?
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Why were the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Britain significant?
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What are different ways people remember and honour those who fought in WW1 and WW2?
We talked about different ways this happens. We had a visit from the British Legion who talked to us about their role and this talk was fundamental in us planning our own remembrance assembly.
We also looked at how artists remember wars, specifically looking at John Singer Sargent, where we recreated his painting 'The Front Line' and used Pablo Picassos painting Guernica as inspiration to create our own pieces. Follow the link below to see our work.