Modern History · Year 11

Active learning ideas

The Great Depression in Australia

Active learning works for this topic because it helps students confront the subtle processes that enabled democracy’s collapse. By simulating elections, analyzing propaganda, and engaging with primary sources, students see how economic crisis and political maneuvering can erode democratic norms over time, not in a single violent act.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HI504

• 30–60 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Simulation Game
• 60 min · Small Groups

Simulation Game: The Weimar Election Game

Groups represent different political parties in the 1930-1932 elections. They must create a platform to solve the Great Depression. As the 'unemployment rate' rises in the game, they see how voters move from the center to the extremist parties.

Analyze the particular vulnerabilities of the Australian economy to the global depression.

Facilitation Tip

During the Weimar Election Game, circulate and quietly ask groups to explain why they chose certain coalition partners—this helps them verbalize the strategic thinking behind political decisions.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Which government response to the Great Depression in Australia do you believe was the most effective, and why?' Ask students to support their arguments with specific policy examples and evidence of their impact on different social groups.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 30 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: The Reichstag Fire

Pairs analyze the events of the Reichstag Fire and the subsequent 'Decree for the Protection of People and State'. They discuss how the Nazis used a single crisis to dismantle civil liberties and share their findings.

Evaluate the effectiveness of government policies in mitigating the crisis in Australia.

Facilitation Tip

For the Reichstag Fire Think-Pair-Share, assign roles (e.g., journalist, historian, survivor) to ensure varied perspectives emerge during discussion.

What to look for

Provide students with a short primary source quote describing life during the Depression (e.g., from a diary or newspaper article). Ask them to identify the specific social or economic challenge being described and explain how it relates to the broader context of the Great Depression in Australia.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Nazi Propaganda Techniques

Stations feature posters, speeches, and film clips (like 'Triumph of the Will'). Students record the specific techniques used (repetition, simple slogans, scapegoating) to appeal to different groups in German society.

Explain the social and psychological impact of the Depression on Australian families and communities.

Facilitation Tip

In the Nazi Propaganda Gallery Walk, place some posters out of chronological order to prompt students to reconstruct the sequence of events that shaped public opinion.

What to look for

On an index card, have students write one sentence explaining a key economic vulnerability of Australia during the Depression and one sentence describing a specific social consequence faced by Australian families.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach this topic by emphasizing process over outcome. Start with the economic and political instability of the Weimar Republic, then trace how Hitler and the Nazis exploited those conditions through legal and extralegal means. Avoid framing the Holocaust as a direct result of the Great Depression; instead, connect the Depression’s social discontent to the Nazis’ scapegoating strategies. Research shows students grasp the danger of democratic backsliding when they see how institutions were hollowed out from within, not overthrown overnight.

In successful learning, students will move from seeing Hitler’s rise as inevitable to understanding it as the result of deliberate choices, miscalculations, and the exploitation of systemic weaknesses. They will connect economic collapse in Germany to broader historical patterns and evaluate the fragility of democratic institutions when faced with crisis.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Weimar Election Game, watch for students assuming Hitler seized power through a violent revolution.

  Pause the simulation after the results are tallied and ask groups to explain how a party with 37% of the vote could dismantle democracy without a majority. Use the post-election coalition-building phase to highlight how small shifts in support and intimidation tactics allowed the Nazis to gain control.

• During the Gallery Walk: Nazi Propaganda Techniques, watch for students assuming that propaganda alone convinced the entire German population to support the Nazis from the start.

  Have students track the timeline of Nazi propaganda alongside election results. Ask them to note when support peaked and whether propaganda effectiveness changed over time, linking this to the role of economic crisis in shifting public opinion.

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Methods used in this brief

• Simulation Game
• Think-Pair-Share
• Gallery Walk