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From the League to the United Nations – keeping peace in changing times
Dr. Bernd Klewitz, Marburg
Die Geschichte der Vereinten Nationen ist ohne ihre Vorläuferin – den Völkerbund von 1919 – schwer nachvollziehbar und wenig verständlich. In Zeiten der Globalisierung ist die Funktion internationaler Organisationen gleichzeitig fern und nah, denn die dort verankerten Konfliktregelungen sind alter- nativlos und betreffen im Sinne der Friedenssicherung und Erhaltung den Alltag eines jeden Einzel- nen. Die UNO selbst öffnet sich der jungen Generation seit mehr als 40 Jahren in der Annual UNIS-UN Conference, die von Schülern der United Nations International School (UNIS) alljährlich durchgeführt wird und an der auch Vertreter deutscher Schulen teilnehmen. Ihre hier virtuell skizzierte Vorbereitung erfasst Sinn und Ziele der UNO und kulminiert in einer American Debate.
KOMPETENZPROFIL
Klassenstufe/Lernjahr: 11–13
Dauer: 14 Unterrichtsstunden + LEK
Kompetenzen: Dokumente analysieren; Informationen aus Texten zusammen- fassen; Ereignisse und Probleme beschreiben; Stellungnahmen formulieren, Rollenspiel (American Debate) vorbereiten und durchführen
Thematische Bereiche: Internationale Beziehungen, Erster Weltkrieg und Versailler Vertrag, Zweiter Weltkrieg und Friedensabkommen, aktuelle Krisen und Konflikte
Medien: Texte, Farbfolie, Bilder, Arbeitsblätter, Karten
Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0/ZhengZhou
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Auf einen Blick
1./2. Stunde
Thema: War and peace
M 1 Calvin and Hobbes / a conversation about war and peace M 2 The fallacies of war / ideologies and their victims
M 3 The War Guilt Clause / revision of history and The Sleepwalkers
3./4. Stunde
Thema: The League of Nations and the Treaty of Versailles
M 4 Wilson’s fourteen points / allied victory and German defeat
M 5 The end of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles / the four main issues
M 6 The League of Nations / the Covenant
5./6. Stunde
Thema: Eternal peace?
M 7 Peace treaties in history / 1648 – 1815 – 1871 – 1919 M 8 International relationships / after the Great War
7./8. Stunde
Thema: The League and its limitations
M 9 The League of Nations in action / ratification and the situation in Europe M 10 Isolationism in the USA / US Congress and Wilson – domestic and foreign
policies
M 11 Why Germany left and Japan laughed / NS foreign policy strategies and Japan
9./10. Stunde
Thema: The United Nations
M 12 The Atlantic Charter / key step to the United Nations M 13 The NATO / formation, the Cold War and beyond M 14 The inauguration of the UN / aims and missions M 15 The League and the United Nations / transparency
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11./12. Stunde
Thema: Hotspots of international crises and conflicts
M 16 International conflicts / International Relations Theory (IRT) and peacekeeping missions
M 17 The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) / theory and national sovereignty M 18 Best and worst case scenarios / analysis and scenario method
13./14. Stunde
Thema: American Debate
M 19 Case study / ripple effect – the water crisis: arguments pro and con M 20 American Debate / discourse functions, useful phrases and role play
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Glossary
Agents of rebuttal
Method used in American Debating. Additionally to a traditional pro/con debate, agents of rebuttal are given space for refuting or disproving an argument used during a discussion. Each of the contesting sides is allowed two rebuttals (Gegenbeweis, Widerlegung) to liven up the argument.
Agents of rebuttal must be well informed and punchy.
Crib sheet
A piece of paper that contains notes or information to help you remember something, especially one used for cheating during an examination (Spickzettel).
Double circle (aka inside-outside circle – Kugellagermethode)
You work with a partner or in a learning tandem. The classroom seating is arranged in an inner and an outer circle, with partners facing each other and dealing with the issue/question/project at hand.
After a limited time, the circle moves clockwise inside and anti-clockwise outside, so that new tandems emerge. In this way new ideas and solutions can be discussed. Afterwards, a report on the results in plenary is necessary. This is an ideal learning strategy to revise vocabulary, deal with homework and solve grammar questions.
Gallery walk (sometimes also called jigsaw group puzzle)
After working in groups (of 4 or 5), one group member presents a poster with the results of the respective group in a corner of the classroom, to be followed by the other group results. For the ensuing gallery walk, groups will be composed in a different way: each new group will at least have one expert for the respective poster. All students walk from one poster to the next (the gallery), whereas one expert remains with the poster of his own group to present contents and answer questions. Finally, all “experts” join their original groups (completing the group puzzle) and report on other students’ reactions.
Reciprocal teaching
In a four-step-approach, you can fine-tune your reading comprehension and interact with your peers and/or teacher. In groups of four, you subdivide a given text into say three parts and then you can take the role of questioner, summariser, clarifyer or predictor. The individual tasks are as follows:
1. Questioning: in your group, three students ask questions about the text (from simple to complex) and team member no. 1 is trying to find the answers
2. Summarizing: prepare and present an oral summary of the text using precision and correction 3. Clarifying: explain difficult text passages with evaluation in your group
4. Predicting: delineate which further developments might be imagined or guessed at
It is part of direct instruction with the teacher as activator and not facilitator; scaffolding will be needed and you should arrange this activity as a role play. In this way you become your own teachers eventually (based on Hattie 2009, Visible Learning; adapted from Klewitz 2019: 326 ff.)
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Calvin and Hobbes
Tasks
1. In groups, outline the discussion between Calvin and Hobbes in your own words.
2. Analyse the cartoon using the following steps:
Context: Which issue is the cartoon referring to? Explain in detail.
Content: What are Calvin and Hobbes talking about? Comment on their reasoning and their different views.
Target: Describe the message of the cartoon. Which reactions to it do you expect?
Technique: Discuss whether the cartoon is funny or not and how the cartoonist conveys his political message.
Evaluation: Assess how the reader’s attention is captured and what you first noticed about this cartoon.
M 1
© Bill Watterson. Dist. By UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
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The League and the United Nations
© mauritius images / Photo 12 / Alamy
Cartoon showing Woodrow Wilson
Task
Compare and contrast the two visuals and draw on similarities and differences between the League of Nations and the UN.
M 15
Non-Violence sculpture outside the UN building in New York (created by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd). There are many copies of this sculpture on display in various cities in the world.
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Hinweise (M 12–M 15; Stunden 9 und 10)
The United Nations
Die Atlantische Charta gilt als Ausgangspunkt/Initialzündung der Vereinten Nationen in 1945.
Zusammen mit dem Abschluss der nordatlantischen Verträge (als NATO 1949) bestimmten sie die Nachkriegsentwicklung nicht nur in Europa, überdauerten den Kalten Krieg und mussten sich nach dem Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion und der deutschen Einheit neuen Aufgaben stellen.
Die wesentlichen Aspekte der Atlantic Charter (M 12) erarbeiten sich die Schüler in Gruppen- arbeit durch einen Vergleich der Charta mit Wilsons „Fourteen Points“ und der Klärung ihrer Relevanz in Hinblick auf die Gründung der United Nations 1945 (Aufgabe 1). Ihre Ergebnisse vergleichen die Lernenden mithilfe von crib sheets im Unterrichtsgespräch. In Aufgabe 2 kommen- tieren die Schüler Stalins Ablehnung der Charta und sowie die möglichen Konsequenzen für die Alliierten.
Mit der NATO beschäftigt sich die Klasse in M 13. Zunächst gestalten die Schüler in Gruppen ein Poster, welches die wichtigsten Aspekte zur NATO präsentiert (Aufgabe 1). Im Anschluss disku- tieren die Lernenden, ebenfalls in Gruppenarbeit, die Ziele und Probleme der Organisation (Auf- gabe 2). Die Ergebnisse werden mit Unterstützung von crib sheets im Unterricht präsentiert.
Mithilfe des Diagramms sowie der Texte in M 14 beschreiben und erklären die Schüler die Organe der UN und diskutieren die Frage der ungleichen Machtverteilung (Aufgaben 1 und 2). In Aufgabe 3 kommentieren die Lernenden die Tatsache, dass die Ostpolitik es beiden „Deutschlands“ ermög- lichte, Mitglieder der UN zu werden. Aufgabe 4 bezieht sich auf das Lied „Wind of Change“ (The Scorpions, 1990), in dem die öfentliche Stimmung gegen Ende des Kalten Krieges zum Ausdruck kommt. Die Folie M 15 bezieht sich auf Völkerbund und Vereinte Nationen gleichermaßen und in vergleichender Absicht. Anhand des Cartoons sowie des Bildes rekapitulieren die Schüler Absich- ten und Aktivitäten beider Organisationen mit dem Fokus auf Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede.
Erwartungshorizont (M 12)
Zu 1.: For a comparison of Wilson’s „Fourteen Points” with aspects of the Atlantic Charter the students can first draw on their results of M 4.
Similarities: open process of peace, secure world, all people are partners, world governed by democratic processes, no use of force and disarmament, general association to guarantee political independence and territorial integrity
Additional aspects of the Atlantic Charta: an international organization as an arbiter in conflicts, no aggrandizement of individual states, right of all peoples to choose their form of government, access by all states to trade and raw materials on equal terms, free movement of people, improve labour standards, economic advancement and social security
The United Nations would be given far more competences than the League of Nations, especially in their new role as arbiters in conflicts and thus would probably be much more effective.
Zu 2.: It was no surprise that the Soviet Union did not sign the Charter, as the notion of one world without relying on military alliances and spheres of influence did not appeal to Stalin. This also indicated later disagreements between the Allied nations, eventually leading to the Cold War.
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Erwartungshorizont (M 17)
Since 2005 a new doctrine has come into effect, passed by the UN World Summit. It became known as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). It refers to the worst crimes against humanity in member states. The doctrine differs from humanitarian interventions in that it allows military missions only in cases of genocide, crimes of war, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, if individual member states cannot find solutions. It remains, in principle, a conflict between national sovereignty and safeguarding human rights.
Erwartungshorizont (M 18)
Zu 1.: Scenario planning (and thinking) occurs in four phases:
1. delineating an issue and defining it 2. analyzing current trends and driving forces
3. developing scenarios by updating driving forces and tendencies 4. discussing political opportunities for action and planning Zu 2.:
Aspects of scenario planning True False
1) best-case scenario for most positive development X 2) trend scenario for current potentials X
3) worst-case scenario for undesired outcomes X
4) political opportunities for agents involved X
5) ignoring driving forces X
6) analysing past trends X
7) defining the problem X
Worst-case scenarios do not refer to undesired outcomes, because they depict the most adverse development (3). Political opportunities for agents involved go beyond scenario planning by evaluating and assessing opportunities for action (4). Ignoring driving forces contradicts the last three phases (5). A scenario method analyses current and future trends (6).
