World War I at 100 Years

Saturday June 28th, will mark the 100th Anniversary of the Assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand that helped trigger World War I.

In my 8th Grade US History course I usually spend only a couple of weeks on World War I and use it as an introduction into World War II. Below are some of my favorite resources I've used with students or resources I've recently learned about as we approach this historical event anniversary. I hope these help your students learn more about this conflict that will help set up so much of what will dominate 20th Century History.

MANIA- Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism, and Assassinations.

Interactive Article The Tragedy of Sarajevo via The Times UK gives a lot of great information about what happened on June 28th, 1914

Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I Crash Course World History #36 gives great general information on this conflict.

The Start of World War I..,As Told With Legos also does a good job of giving general information behind World War I. And who doesn't like Legos? 

BBC World War I website has really put together a lot of great resources on World War I. 

Check out their  Live News of June 28th, 1914 as they retell the Assassination of the Archduke in real time. I hope that this is saved so students can go back and look at some of these resources next spring in my class. You can also follow this event on Twitter @bbcww1 . Make sure you also check out their website BBC World War I  for lots of useful information on World War I. 

I modified this article What if World War One Was A Bar Fight and turned it into What if WWI Was a Fight in the Cafeteria. This led to some great dialog in class about the role of Alliances in World War I.

The NY Times has also put together a really nice interactive page 100 Year Legacy of World War I that is definitely worth checking out. I like some of the front page headlines from their Archives marking some of the key events of WWI.

Soldiers and Trenches

I talked about my own Great Uncle who fought and died in France during World War I in my previous Blog Post A Personal Touch...Soldiers and WWI where I shared some of these resources to help students learn what being a soldier was like in WWI.

For teachers in Nebraska, I would encourage you to look at Nebraskan's in World War I for resources to help you find the names of Nebraskan citizens who fought in World War I.

TrenchWarfare Simulation Game is a fun way to introduce some of the new and old weapons that were used in this conflict.

Over The Top - An Interactive Adventure is from a Canadian website that is set up like the old Chose Your Own Adventure Books. Site provides a lot of good background information for what soldiers dealt with during World War I.

Virtual Tours from BBC are a great way for students to get a 360 degree view of the Trenches. Before doing any type Trench Simulation with students this is a good way for them to get a feel what the Trenches looked like:

• Trench: 
• Dug-Out: 
• Dog Fight: 

Coward from Stephen Murphy is a 28 minute movie on Vimeo that examines the impact Shell Shock had on soldiers. It is a little too much for my Middle School Students, but if you teach a High School World History course it might be something to look at with students.

Use this World War I Interactive Map to look at some of the major battles of the war.

Use the World War I Propaganda Posters from UNC to look at how Propaganda was used in the US during World War I.

If you are looking for a variety of Primary Source Documents, check out the World War I Document Archive from BYU.

Docs Teach also has a great Primary Source Lesson on the The Zimmerman Telegram.

Use this Pull Back Map of Europe 1914-2014 to show some of the geopolitical consequences from World War II.

What are some of your favorite resources on teaching about World War I? I would love to hear about them in the comments section below.