World War II without Churchill--or Hitler

Winston Churchill no longer merits a mention after a drastic slimming-down of the syllabus to create more space for "modern" issues.

Along with Hitler, Gandhi, Stalin and Martin Luther King, the former prime minister has been dropped from a list of key figures to be mentioned in history teaching.

This means pupils may no longer hear about his stirring speeches during the Second World War, when he told Parliament that defeating Hitler would be Britain's "finest hour".

The only individuals now named in guidance accompanying the curriculum are anti-slavery campaigners Olaudah Equiano and William Wilberforce.

~ The UK's new slimline curriculum.

Olaudah Equiano Secondary School:
Revised: 20th Century History
The Road to World War II

1919

April 28 - League of Nations founded.

June 28 - Signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

1921

July 29 - Adolf Hitler becomes leader of National Socialist 'Nazi' Party.


1923

Nov 8/9 - The Beer Hall Putsch.

1925

July 18 - Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" published.

1930

Sept 14 - Germans elect Nazis, making them the 2nd largest political party in Germany.
1932

Nov 8 - Roosevelt elected President of the United States.

1933

Jan 30 - Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.

Feb 27 - The Reichstag burns; significant but we don't have time to cover that now.

March 23 - Enabling Act gives Hitler dictatorial power.

April 1 - Boycott of Jewish-owned shops.

May 10 - Nazis burn books in Germany.

July 14 - Nazi party declared only party in Germany.

Oct 14 - Germany quits the League of Nations.

1934

June 30 - The "Night of the Long Knives."

Aug 19 - Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.
1935

Sept 15 - German Jews stripped of rights by Nuremberg Race Laws.

1936

Feb 10 - The German Gestapo is placed above the law.

March 7 - German troops occupy the Rhineland.

May 9 - Mussolini's Italian forces take Ethiopia.

1937

June 11 - Soviet leader Stalin begins a purge of Red Army generals.

Nov 5 - Hitler reveals war plans during Hossbach Conference.
1938

1938

March 12/13 - Germany announces 'Anschluss' (union) with Austria.

Aug 12 - German military mobilizes.

Sept 30 - British Prime Minister Chamberlain appeases Hitler at Munich.

Oct 15 - German troops occupy the Sudetenland; Czech government resigns.

Nov 9/10 - Kristallnacht.

1939

Jan 30, 1939 - Hitler threatens Jews during Reichstag speech.

March 15/16 - Nazis take Czechoslovakia.

May 22, 1939 - Nazis sign 'Pact of Steel' with Italy.

Aug 23, 1939 - Nazis and Soviets sign Pact.

Aug 25, 1939 - Britain and Poland sign a Mutual Assistance Treaty.

Aug 31, 1939 - British fleet mobilizes; Civilian evacuations begin from London.

Sept 1, 1939 - Nazis invade Poland.

Sept 3, 1939 - Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany.

Sept 4, 1939 - British Royal Air Force attacks the German Navy.

Sept 5, 1939 - United States proclaims neutrality; German troops cross the Vistula River in Poland.

Sept 10, 1939 - Canada declares war on Germany; Battle of the Atlantic begins.

Sept 17, 1939 - Soviets invade Poland.

Sept 27, 1939 - Warsaw surrenders to Nazis.

In Oct - Nazis begin euthanasia on sick and disabled in Germany.

May 10, 1940 - Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister.




Via David Foster.