The Aim of the Lesson

The aim of this activity is to get

students comprehend the political and

economic impact of the Second World

War on Turkey.

Learning Targets

All the students will be aware of the fact that Turkey was both economically and

politically influenced by the World War II and it caused some problems in the country.

All the students will learn how to utilise numerical and written documents and they

will gain the necessary skills for the analysis of these historical documents.

Most of the students will grasp how the war influenced the daily lives of the people.

All the students will evaluate the implementation of one of the decisions taken about

the war.

Some of the students will be able to use their imagination while using historical

evidence.

After the students consider the evidence given in the activity, they will put forth the

results related to the ideas, fears and hopes of the individuals and the society into

consideration.

Most of the students will utilise the visual materials and songs while they are writing a

historical text.

Some of the students will evaluate past events by emphatizing with the past figures.

They will regard the different aspects of the cause and effect relations related to the

Second World War while analysing these relations. They will also consider the importance of

the historical figures, economic and social conditions and the effects of the human interest and

the religious beliefs and some other factors such as luck and contingency.

THE WARTIME YEARS

The Key Question

How was Turkey economically and

politically influenced by the Second

World War?

Achievements

The results of the economic and social measures taken by Turkey during the Second World

War will be comprehended by the students.

INTRODUCTION

Encourage your students to express their ideas about the war by asking how the

war affected the lives of the civilians.

Form groups in your class which consist of six students and ask them to act as if

they were cabinet council.

Tell your students that except for one group, all the students in the other groups

should also act as the members of the parliament.

All the groups should make a distribution of the roles. In each group there should

be a cabinet council which consists of a prime minister, minister of defence, minister of

finance, minister of foreign affairs, minister of the interior, farm minister.

Tell the students that all the activities in the group will be administered by the

prime minister.

Preparation for the Lesson

1. Look at the use of simulation under the „The Information Sheet for Teachers‟ in

Addendum I before you start the activity.

2. Take your copies of „Worksheet 1‟ and „Situation Cards‟ for your groups of

students. Each group should consist of six students. Cut each situation written in the situation

cards with a scissor.

3. Take the copies of the „Worksheet 2‟ for your students. If you have a projector

you can also project it on the screen.

4. Take the copies of „Worksheet 3‟ for your students. If you have a CD player,

play the song written in „Worksheet 3‟ for your students. The song in „Worksheet 3‟ was

written by Barış Manço and its name is „An old cup‟.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

1. You should ask your students who represent the prime ministers in

each group to open up a discussion about the situations written in “The Simulation of

the Second World War Situation Cards‟. Tell your students to discuss what kind of

decisions should be taken by the government in those situations.

2. Look at the situation one in the Worksheet 1 and tell your students

who act as the prime minister in each group to put the situations written in Worksheet

1 on their agenda. Then ask the students who act as ministers to write their decisions

about the situation on a piece of paper. After the stage of preparation, the prime

minister should listen to the ideas of the ministers. Each minister should also express

his/her idea about his/her specialization. Finally, the prime ministers in each group

should write their decisions on a piece of paper and read it aloud for other students.

Let the other students who represent the parliament express their critique of the

decisions or their proposals about it. Then put the decisions of the minister of

education to a vote. After listening to the ideas of the other students, read the real

result of the first situation written under the title of „What happened actually?‟ to the

students. You can find the section entitled „What happened actually?‟ in the

Addendum 2. Do the same activity for the other situations.

3. Ask your students to analyse the three documents in the Worksheet 2.

Try to raise awareness among your students about the decrease of the proportions in

the table of statistics. Ask your students to share their ideas with their friends about

the questions written under the document so that they will realise the difficulties

which the people who lived at those times had to cope with.

4. Get your students to read the song titled “A cup of coffee” sung by

Barıs Manco. If you have time, you can play the song for your students. Tell your

students to pay attention to the parts of the song related to the Second World War.

You can also ask the question at the end of the activity and tell your students to write

a text about it.

CONCLUSION

Evaluate the impact of the war on the political and economical situation of Turkey by

using the simulation activity and the worksheet at the end of the activity. Then you should check

whether your students can ask the key question written on the first page of your lesson plan.

HOW CAN THIS LESSON BE IMPROVED?

Some of the political and economic events which took place in Turkey during the

Second World War are highlighted in this lesson.

This content can be taken as the basis of the lesson and the lesson may be improved by

emphasizing the other economic and social effects of the war on Turkey.

In addition, the lesson may also be improved by considering the cultural and social

effects of the war on Turkey.

Furthermore, some assignments can be given to the students about the economic and

political effects of the war on Turkey. Students can also be asked to write their assignments on

the other factors which affected Turkey during the war.

The Use of Simulation

Simulation is a model which is based on the imitation or the recreation of a current or

past situation or a specific event. It may also be a process. (Straddling, 2003:105.) Simulation

is thought to be a collective activity in the class.

The Advantages of the using the technique of simulation

1. Students work together so that all of them can be active in the class.

2. The simulations which are based on treaties enable the students to

understand the alliances better. In addition, they can emphatise with the people who

made the decisions in the past and they can understand what kind of factors affected the

decisions of the historical figures.

3. The decision making ability of the students can be improved in these

activities.

4. The ends of the war rather than the means of it is usually emphasized in

the course books. However, as Stradling alleges that in the simulation activity, the

means of the event is emphasized rather than its ends.

5. The writer of the course book knows the results of the events before

he/she writes it. For this reason he/she consciously or unconsciously leads the readers

to a deterministic view. However, in a well-designed simulation, students realise the

fact that the human actions do not always bring certain results.

6. Students should be informed in a correct way about the historical events.

Maps, statistics and primary or secondary sources can be used for this purpose.

Students are encouraged to emphatize with the people who make important decisions in

the past. Students are encouraged to think what they would do if they were these

people. Students may not necessarily reach the same conclusion with the result of that

historical event.

Robert Stradling, (2003) 20. Yüzyıl Avrupa Tarihi Nasıl Öğretilmeli. İstanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve

Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı Yay.

ADDENDUM 1

INFORMATION SHEET FOR THE TEACHER

WORKSHEET 1

The Simulation Cards for the Second World War

Form groups which consist of six students. Distribute the roles such as prime minister,

minister of finance, minister of defence, minister of foreign affairs, minister of the interior among

your students. Your students should form a plan after they discuss the situations written below. The

student who acts as the prime minister should lead the discussions. Your students should write their

common decisions in the blanks in the situation cards. Then they should put their decisons to the

vote of their friends who acts as the ministers in the parliament .

Situation 1

The axis countries and the Allies fought

against each other. Both the axis countries and

the allies wanted to have Turkey on their side

because Turkey is a Mediterranean country and

they wanted to increase their power by having

Turkey on their side.

Decision: What kind of politics would you

implement between those powers? Why? ……………………………………………………………

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Situation 2

There was scarcity in resources during the

war and there was a decrease in the production

of bread. In addition, the government had

problems with providing food for officials and

soldiers.

Decision: What kind of precautions would

you take to provide enough bread for people? ……………………………………..............……………

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Situation 3

Hitler‟s army invaded all the Balkan

countries. After the invasion of the Balkans by

Hitler‟s army, Britain insisted on Turkey‟s

entering the war.

Decision: What kind of politics would you

implement against German forces who approach

to the borders of your country? ……………………………………..............………….......

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Situation 4

The ship, Strauma which embarked from

the Köstence harbour of Romania had to anchor

to the Istanbul strait due to the breakdown of its

engine. There were 779 passengers and 10 crew

in it. Britain restricted the immigration of the

Jews to Palestine. British politicians also force

Turkish politicians to implement the similar

politics about the same issue. For this reason,

the passengers and the crew of the ship were not

allowed to go out of the ship.

Decision: What kind of policies will you

implement to solve that problem? ……………………………………………………………

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Situation 5

The leaders of the Allies decided that only

the countries which declared war against

Germany until 1st March 1945 would join the

Allies in Yalta conference in 1945. In addition,

there was a group of people who supported Italy

and Germany in Turkey during the wartime

years.

Decision: What should be done in this

situation? Express your ideas by explaining the

reasons of them. …………………………..………………………………

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Situation 6

Indicate another negative situation which

happened as a result of the effects of the Second

World War on Turkey except for the ones

mentioned above and write about your decision.

Decision: ……………….……………………………………………

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ADDENDUM 2

TEACHER’S INFORMATION SHEET

WHAT HAPPENED ACTUALLY?

Situation 1

Turkey tried to stay out of the war because Turkey was trying to recover from the

consequences of the Turkish Independence War.

Situation 2

The government applied the policy of obtaining goods in order to fill needs of the officials

and soldiers. This caused the problem of black marketeeing in the big cities. Some people did not sell

their wheat to the government due to the low price it paid and as a result of it the government did not

give enough wheat to the municipalities. In the big cities, the sale of the bread during the Second

World War was done over the prices determined by the government. The bread rationing was used in

order to provide enough bread for everyone.

Situation 3

After the invasion of Balkan countries by the German army, Germany offered a peace treaty

to Turkey. Hitler sent a letter to the Turkish prime minister, Ismet Inonu. Hitler wrote in his letter that

he would not approach Turkish borders more than 85 km. Russia and Britain also sent a diplomatic

note to Turkey in 1942. In that note, they declared that they would respect Turkey‟s territorial

integrity if Turkey was faithful to its promise to close its straits to the battleships as a result of

Montro treaty.

Situation 4

After the negotiations had failed, Turkish politicians decided that the ship had be taken to a

place near the Black Sea region. However, there was an explosion on the next day and the ship sank.

778 people died and 103 of them were children. Only a passenger called David Stolier survived. No

one could understand the real reason of the explosion for years. The real reason of the explosion

could only be learned after a document from the archive of Russia had been revealed. It was

understood that the ship was sunk by the Russians.

Situation 5

Turkey declared war to Germany on 23th February 1945. Turkey only formally entered the

Second World War two months before the war ended. Noone died in Turkey because it was just a

formality.

WORKSHEET 2

1. Document

2. Document 3. Document

KAYNAK: Ahmet KUYAŞ vd., Tarih 2002, TÜSİAD Yayınları, İstanbul, 2002.

1. How would you feel if you were the woman who buys bread in the photo? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………..

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2. Which headline would you prefer for this photo if you were a photographer? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………..

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3. Look at the numbers in the table and try to analyse the changes in each year. What may be the

reasons for this change? ………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………….

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4. Write a paragraph by using documents about the economic situation of Turkey in 1940s. ………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………....

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4. Document

ESKİ BİR FİNCAN

Dinle oğlum çok eskiden bir konakta,

Akşamları gaz lambası ışığında,

Paşa dedesinden kalan bu fincanla,

Ninem eliyle kahve sunarmış Abdi Bey’e,

Yıllar sonra 43-44 harp ortası,

Ekmek karnesi ve yokluk yılları,

Kayınvalidesinden kalan bu fincanla,

Bu kez annem kahve sunarmış Hakkı Bey’e,

Eski konak yıllar önce yandı gitti.

Ekmek karneli zor günler çoktan bitti.

Abdi ve Hakkı Beyler rahmetlik oldu.

Bir tek bu fincan kaldı yüzyıllık sevdalarla,

Bir gün senin olacak birikmiş anılarıyla,

Düşüp kırılsa da topla tamir et oğlum,

Kahve yaşın gelecek bu fincanı iyi sakla.

Barış Manço

4. What can you learn about the Second World War from the song in the document four? What

can you say about the wartime years of Turkey after you listen to this

song?………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………

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