Learn about World War Two by using our animated maps and investigations containing original documents, film, photographs and audio.
Within each of the theatres of war listed below, you will find a number of investigations based on a different key question to be examined using primary sources. Worksheets and a glossary are available to support these activities. There are twenty investigations in total that can be seen at a glance in the World War Two exhibition's Index of Resources.
What effect did the bombing raids have? How did the war affect people's lives? What was evacuation from the colonies like? Activity to play: Empire Home Front.
Why was rationing introduced? What was the point of salvage? Why did people have to make do and mend? Did everyone help to fight the war on the Home Front? Activity to play: Shopping in the War.
This exhibition is an investigation into life on the home front during the Second World War. There are seven galleries:
preparations for war
evacuation
bombing of Britain
Empire home front
everyday life
women at war
spies
Each gallery is broken into various topics with sources and questions.
The visual material is accessible to all pupils with or without teacher input. There are worksheets, timelines and a glossary. There is also a diary facility so pupils can save, edit and access their work directly from the net. The gallery contains a video archive using clips from the Imperial War Museum on many of the topics. Some galleries have additional activities to play: Lights Out; Escape the Blitz; Shelter from the Blitz; Empire Home Front; Shopping in the War; Spy Catcher.
What effect did the black-out have on people's lives? Why did the government prepare for gas attacks? Why were people interned at the beginning of the war? Was the Home Guard an effective fighting force? Activity to play: Lights Out.
This snapshot on a WWII bombing raid is based on an interview with WWII airman Gordon Ford and looks at the experiences and effects of British bombers on German cities.
This exhibition investigates the varied life of the British people 1906 to 1918, following the broad themes of contrast, contradiction and change. There are seven galleries:
Liberal welfare reforms, 1906-11
achievements of the Liberal reforms
early 1900s women's suffrage
gaining women's suffrage
civilians and war, 1914-18
propaganda, 1914-18
review and revision
Each gallery tackles a big question that is broken down into a number of case studies. These use a range of primary sources with related questions and additional exam practice questions. There is background information on the sources and a gallery worksheet. Further help exists in the form of document transcripts. Pupils would be advised to have access to a dictionary.
The 'review and revision' gallery is designed for pupils to test their understanding of the period.
Can you convince the Keeper of the National Archives that the sources in this gallery should not be thrown out? There is a collection of 10 documents. Using their knowledge and understanding of the period, pupils must justify using all the documents for an exhibition. If you wish, you can create your exhibition online.
How did the experience of war affect civilians in Britain, 1914-1918? There are four case studies on: DORA in action; recruit and conscript; shortages and rationing; workers and the war
There are 12 galleries in this exhibition. Three look at the period before 1450:
Were the Middle Ages lawless and violent?
Who was responsible for crime prevention in medieval England?
What were the purposes of punishments given by the courts in the Middle Ages?
Three galleries look at 1450-1750:
Did governments in this period decide what kinds of people were to be regarded as criminals?
Did methods of crime prevention change?
What was the purpose of punishments in the period?
Three galleries look at 1750-1900:
Did the Industrial Revolution lead to more crime?
What new crime prevention methods were set up to deal with changes in crime in this period and what were the problems?
What was the purpose of the punishments used in the period?
The final three galleries relate to the 20th century:
What was the most important factor affecting crime in the 20th century?
Did police work change dramatically in the 20th century?
What was the purpose of 20th century punishments?
Within each gallery there are case studies using original documents with transcripts. The most visual material is to be found in the Punishment Section 1750-1900, case study 3 on Victorian Prisons, which younger pupils might find more accessible.
Activities: each gallery has a worksheet, some source questions, and in some cases a game: Tug of War; Catch the Robber; The Watchman; Guilty or Innocent.
Who should have pride of place in the women's suffrage hall of fame? There are four case studies on: militants; moderates; suffragist and suffragette; women, work and war.
The aim of this videoconference workshop is for pupils to explore different views on the Suffragette Movement. Students will have the opportunity to engage with actors playing the roles of Prime Minister Asquith and a Suffragette.
Sources used: Newspapers, photographs, hand written documents
Focus On Film is a jointly funded project by The National Archives and the South East Grid for Learning. This site presents film as a historical source and considers its advantages and disadvantages as evidence for the past.
Introduction: This article outlines with film clips, some of the issues relating to film as evidence.
Activities: These investigate different aspects of film evidence with clips. The activities can be accessed either for individual use on a pc or for whole-class teaching using an interactive whiteboard.
Film Archive: The archive contains a range of original footage from the twentieth century as well as some reconstructions of earlier periods of history. All clips have full background information and can either be viewed online or downloaded for free.
Editor′s Room: You can understand the power of the film editor by working with our film archive and online editing tool.
Sources used: film, typed document, photo, hand written document
What can you tell from this record? This snapshot focuses on Donald Campbell, a young Scottish man who joined the army in 1903. Find out what happened to him.
The aim of this videoconference workshop is for students to develop their understanding of life in the trenches, through engaging with an actor in role as a soldier from a Pal’s Battalion. It is also an opportunity to consider how useful this type of historical interpretation is as a piece of evidence, is it pure entertainment or has it more value?
What did the British find when they entered Belsen concentration camp? This snapshot is based on a report on camp conditions and photographs of the camp guards.
For the last 400 years Britain has played a key role in the world - mainly because of its empire. There are three galleries in this exhibition that explore:
the rise of the British empire;
living in the empire;
the end of the empire.
Within the galleries, there are case studies on the empire in Africa, Australia, North America, India and Ireland, using a wide range of sources.
The visual material is accessible to all pupils with or without teacher input. Pupils will enjoy the challenge of the 18th and 19th century language evident in the hand written sources. There is help in the form of document transcripts and simplified versions. Pupils would be advised to have access to a dictionary.
Activities: each gallery contains a selection of quizzes, worksheets and source questions. A glossary and a set of simple maps can be accessed within all galleries.
This is designed to help pupils handle documents and encourage them to ask the right sort of questions, cite sources to support their own judgements and draw conclusions. The documents relate to the British government's policy of appeasement, 1937-1938, and show how Eden and Chamberlain responded to the threats posed by Germany, Italy and Japan. There are guided questions to interrogate the sources. Students can type their answers onto a screen notepad and receive feedback in the form of on-screen marking.
This gallery looks at what factors caused the end of the empire. There are four case studies on the end of the British rule in these regions: the Dominions; Ghana (West Africa); India; Ireland.
This gallery looks at how should we remember the British Empire. The first case study looks at how the British viewed their empire. The next four case studies look at North America, Africa, India and Australia. There is also a case study on migration that considers people who moved to other parts of the empire. In addition to all the usual gallery activities, there is an opportunity to create your own online exhibition.
This provides information about cartoons. It shows how political cartoons can be used as evidence. There are simple quizzes on captions and the use of symbols. There is also an investigation of two cartoons and pupils can submit their answers. Finally, pupils can participate in a 'Build your own' game based on three different cartoons.
This exhibition investigates the tragedy of the First World War, 1914-1918. It explores the causes of war the experiences of those who fought on its battlefields and how the Great War has been commemorated. There are six galleries:
The Great War: conflict and controversy
Why did Britain go to war in 1914?
The trench experience
Lions led by donkeys?
How has the Great War been remembered?
Why was it so hard to make peace?
In each gallery you will find a key question based on the sources within each case study and there is background material to help you study the sources.
Why did Mussolini invade Abyssinia? Was the Abyssinian campaign a great victory for Italy? Was the League of Nations the real villain in the Abyssinian crisis? There is a worksheet on the reasons for the invasion.
What were the long-term events leading up to Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb? Why did the firebombing of Tokyo not end in Japanese surrender? Why did Truman decide to use the atomic bomb on Japan? What were the effects on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? There is an activity on Truman's use of the atomic bomb.
Why did Stalin want to industrialise the USSR? How did Stalin industrialise the USSR? Was industrialisation a success? There is a worksheet on the industrialisation of the USSR.
This videoconference workshop aims to help students investigate and understand how the Nazis rise to power was influenced by their use of propaganda. Students will also develop their skills at using propaganda speeches as a source of evidence for investigating the past, through the study of original contemporary documents held at the National Archives.
Moving Here explores, records and illustrates why people came to England over the last 200 years and what their experiences were and continue to be. It includes an online archive of original material related to migration history from local, regional and national archives, libraries and museums and gives visitors to the site the opportunity to publish stories of their own experience of migration. The site features numerous resources designed specifically for schools.
