Lesson 3: Part 1

START by showing Resource K: Slide 1, which shows the posed photograph of an ordinary German soldier of the First World War.

EXPLAIN that this soldier may have volunteered to fight or may have been forced into the army through conscription.

ASK pairs to write down on a slip of paper a thought that he might be thinking e.g. “I’m so proud to go to war” and a thought that one of his parents might be thinking e.g. “I hope our son lives to see peace”.

STAND a volunteer in the pose of the soldier at the front of the class with two volunteers standing close by playing his parents. Collect in the sentences from pairs and ask volunteers to read these out in turn.  Invite suggestions for adjectives that might describe the soldier e.g. ordinary.

NEXT display the following linked image which depicts German and Austrian soldiers (Austria-Hungary was a German ally) scaring off stereotypical figures representing their Allied enemies:

(Note: scroll down the page to the postcard “We Teach You To Run”.)

INVITE suggestions from pairs about similarities and differences between the photograph and the poster.

LEAD a discussion about how and why they differ (the photograph is a private family image like thousands taken of individual soldiers of the First World War while the propaganda image depicts a victorious German soldier in the same uniform designed to raise German morale).

EXPLAIN that ordinary German soldiers fighting on the Western Front had never seen Indian soldiers before.

DISPLAY Resource K: Slide 2 and read this out carefully to the class. Ask pairs to discuss what German pictures of Indian soldiers might look like and take suggestions from the class.

THEN display Resource K: Slide 3, which shows the bloodthirsty depiction of a Sikh soldier from a German children's picture book of 1914 entitled “Our Enemies”.


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