The Little Guys in The Great War

A WebQuest for Grade 11 Social Studies

By Zachary Wilson ©2006

Last updated June 19th 2006

#1 Introduction

The year is 1920 and an ugly chapter in world history has just ended. The Great War, which has encompassed every inhabited continent, is finally over. The treaties have been written, the armies are on their way home. Now the great work of rebuilding lies ahead. Most of the world wants only to forget the years of toil, bloodshed, and tears, but there are some who know that the world needs to remember the events of the war.

Of particular importance is remembering the contributions of the common soldiers; the men who did the fighting whether in the trenches, at sea, or in the air. Who were these fighting men? What places around the world did they come from, and where did they end up? What did they do in their spare time? How did they live and die? Everyone remembers the big names and what the kings and generals and presidents did. But what was the Great War like for the little guys?

In this WebQuest you will try to answer this question by looking at photographs taken during the First World War. What was life like for the men fighting the largest war the world had seen? What do the pictures tell you about them?

#2 Task

You and your partner will be assigned to represent a country which fought in the First World War at the League of Nations Historical Council. Use the links below to get to read about your tasks.

Britain
France
Japan
Germany
The Ottoman Empire
The Austrian Empire
Russia
Italy
The United States
Belgium

#3 Process

This section describes how you will go about completing your project.

1. You will be assigned a partner (or partners) and the group will be assigned a nation to research.
2. All group members will work together to complete the WWI photo analysis activity at Picturing Modern America.
3. Find background information
   • Partners will examine the WWI Timeline and the Events and Statistics web sites to gain background knowledge about the war.
4. You will decide who wants to take the following roles.
   • Photo Analyst - Creates a picture summary for each photo.
   • National Historian - Creates the one page national contribution summary.
5. Each member will search through the collected WWI Newspaper Pictorials looking for single pictures that best represent the soldiers from their county. The group will decide together which 4 - 5 photographs will be included.
6. Groups will print the pages that their picture is on and cut away the portion that will not be used. Each group will be provided with poster board backing, which they will secure their pictures to.
7. Groups will analyze the photographs based only on what they can see in the picture, logically assume, and find written in the caption. Findings will be recorded on the War Photos Analysis sheet.
8. Groups will discuss how this information should be presented to the Historical Council and will outline their presentation.
9. Individual Projects
   • Photo Analyst – After analyzing the photographs with your partner create a ½ page summary for each of them. Refer to the rubric to see complete requirements for your project
   • National Historian – After reviewing background information and reviewing photos write a 1 page summary of the accomplishments of your country’s troops. Even if your country was on the ‘losing’ side there will still be great battles and hardships to mention. (Put a positive spin on it). See the rubric to find complete guidelines for your project.
10. Groups will present together their photos, orally summarize their findings for the council, and a fix their photographs to the map display. See the rubric below for guidelines on your oral presentation.

#4 Evaluation

Each student will receive a group grade on the oral report, which is presented jointly as a group, but will receive an individual grade on the separate project.

View the links below to see the scoring rubrics for each portion of the WebQuest.

Photo Analysis Rubric
National Contribution Rubric
Oral Presentation Rubric

#5 Conclusion

Now that you have looked into what life was like for the common soldiers in WWI take a few minutes and consider these questions. What were some of the everyday things soldiers dealt with? What did they do that affects us today? What made them do it; why would they give up what they had at home to go fight such an enormous war? Would you be willing to do the same?

Write a journal entry to record your thoughts about these questions and to note a few details from each presentation. Write this journal entry as an email to your teacher for his/her review. Make sure you completely answer the above questions.

It is important to remember that, although it is the generals, kings, emperors, and diplomats who are usually featured in textbooks, it was the little guys who made everything happen. Without them no general, president, or king would have been famous at all. They were the ones who kept going when things got tough and who lived and died because of how the war went. They were the ones who ultimately decided how the war was won and lost. Looking at it that way kind of makes the little guys seem a lot bigger.

#6 Credits and References

Designed by Zachary Wilson © 2006, Graduate Student/Assistant, with An Adventure of the American Mind at Waynesburg College. Last updated June 19th 2006.

Template created April 2006 by Amy Martin, An Adventure of the American Mind at Waynesburg based on a template designed by Lisa Bradshaw, An Adventure of the American Mind - Colorado.

Many ideas for webquest content and worksheets were adapted by permission from An Adventure of the American Mind - Northern Virginia Partnership, Dr. Rhonda Clevenson, Director.