Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
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HistoryBritain, Europe and the wider world, 1901–present40 min★★★ difficulty

Lesson 5: Britain and the Second World War

Battle, empire, civilian mobilisation and moral choices make a history broader than a simple heroic story.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Challenges 1901 to the present: Understand challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day, including the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust
  • Historical enquiry: Discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
  • Challenges 1901 to the present: Understand the changing nature of the United Kingdom's relationships with the rest of Europe and the wider world in the twentieth century

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day, including the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust

Key learning points

  • • A worldwide coalition
  • • Home front and warfare

This lesson at a glance

  • 40 minutes
  • 18 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

challengesbritaineuropepresentsecond

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Watch first

Lesson 5: Britain and the Second World War

Find out how ration books decided what British families could eat.

In a nutshell

Understand challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day, including the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that the Second World War lasted from 1939 to 1945, and that Britain had an empire and Commonwealth partners.

Recap: Lesson 4: The Holocaust: persecution to genocide
3

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

Blitz
The sustained German bombing of British cities from 1940.
Evacuation
Moving children and others away from likely bombing targets.
Rationing
Limiting how much food and goods each person could buy.
Coalition
States fighting together towards a shared aim.
4

Your lesson plan

Part 4 of 18

Lesson brief

How should Britain’s war be remembered?

By the end, you will be able to

  • • Build an accurate twentieth-century chronology
  • • Connect British, European and global developments
  • • Use official records and testimony ethically and critically

Resources

  • • First World War unit war diary (1914–1918)
  • • Lesson notes and marked knowledge check
4 minRecall the chronology and frame the enquiry
16 minRead the textbook explanation and build the argument
12 minInterrogate the archive evidence in context
8 minAnswer the checks and write a supported conclusion
5

Learning cycle

Part 5 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

A worldwide coalition

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

A worldwide coalition

Britain fought alongside imperial and Commonwealth forces, occupied European resistance and, later, the USSR and USA.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 18

Quick check

Britain fought as part of…

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

The Blitz targeted…

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

The home front and hard questions

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 18

Learn

Home front and warfare

The Blitz, evacuation and rationing shaped civilians, while strategic bombing raises difficult questions about necessity and cost.

12

Quick check

Part 12 of 18

Quick check

A balanced account should…

13

Investigate evidence

Part 13 of 18

Evidence 1 of 1

primary

First World War unit war diary

British Army units, 1914–1918

Daily entries record positions, orders, casualties and conditions in the language of military administration.

War diaries are contemporary operational records. They are strong for unit activity but rarely capture every soldier's experience or emotion.

Think like a historian

What can an official diary establish securely, and what would a personal letter add?

Source: The National Archives, First World War 100 resources

View the archive record ↗
14

Common mix-ups

Part 14 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often tell the story as Britain alone. Imperial, Commonwealth, Allied and resistance forces all fought.
  • People often avoid difficult questions about strategic bombing. Historians weigh military necessity against civilian cost.
15

Challenge round

Part 15 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ fought alongside imperial and Commonwealth forces, occupied European resistance and, later, the USSR and USA.

17

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Lesson 5: Britain and the Second World War

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Evacuation moved…

  2. 2. Rationing was introduced to…

  3. 3. Strategic bombing raises difficult questions about…

  4. 4. A balanced account of Britain's war should…

18

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

Source for this lesson

Use this for the source work task below.

First World War unit war diary

primary

British Army units, 1914–1918

Daily entries record positions, orders, casualties and conditions in the language of military administration.

War diaries are contemporary operational records. They are strong for unit activity but rarely capture every soldier's experience or emotion.

Source: The National Archives, First World War 100 resources

View the original record ↗

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 18 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day, including the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust

  • Not looked at yet

    Discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand the changing nature of the United Kingdom's relationships with the rest of Europe and the wider world in the twentieth century

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