Second World War · 1945

1945: Yalta, Berlin and the end of the war in Europe

In February 1945 Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta to plan the peace. By May, Soviet troops held Berlin and Germany surrendered. The 1945 map shows Germany cut into four zones. Students see how the end of one war set the stage for the next conflict.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1945
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In February 1945 Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta to plan the peace. By May, Soviet troops held Berlin and Germany surrendered. The 1945 map shows Germany cut into four zones. Students see how the end of one war set the stage for the next conflict.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe what the Big Three agreed at Yalta and Potsdam in 1945.
  • Locate the meeting of US and Soviet troops on the Elbe and the four zones of Germany.
  • Explain why the end of the war in Europe was also the start of a divided Europe.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1945

Yalta

Open the map in 1945 and find the Crimea on the Black Sea. Here Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met in February 1945. Ask the atlas: "What was decided at Yalta?"

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1945

Four zones

Move to Germany in 1945. Find the four zones: American, British, French and Soviet. In which zone does Berlin lie, and how was the city itself divided?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1945

New borders

Compare Poland in 1938 and 1945 with the time slider. Which way has the whole country moved? What happened to the people living in the lands that changed hands?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. At Yalta Stalin promised free elections in Poland. Why did Roosevelt and Churchill accept a promise they could not enforce?
  2. Why was Germany divided into four zones instead of being kept as one country?
  3. On 8 May 1945 crowds celebrated in London and New York. Why do Russia and some other countries celebrate on 9 May?
  4. Millions of Germans were expelled from eastern Europe after the war, and millions of other people were displaced. Why is their story less often told?
  5. The war in Europe ended, but Europe was soon split in two. Was the Cold War already visible in 1945?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Augustus, who ended years of civil war and built a new order. Then compare: how did Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin try to build a new order in 1945, and why did their alliance fall apart?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.