The Cost of War
Aims:
This year 9 lesson had the following aims:
Historical:
1. To teach pupils the levels of casualties incurred by the different countries during World War 1.
2. To help pupils to understand that the levels of casualties varied in different countries.
3. To demonstrate to pupils that how the major cost of the war to the USA was financial, not human.
4. To provide pupils with graphs which will help them when discussing the effect of war on
post-war politics.
ICT and Numeracy
1. To provide pupils with practical experience of using spreadsheets.
2. To encourage pupils to use mental arithmetic to check formulas.
Social, Moral, Cultural and Spiritual
1. To encourage pupils to consider the cost of war.
Material
The pupils were provided with a task sheet and data sheet at the start of the lesson.
Differentiation
The main method of differentiating this task is in the level of instructions given to the pupils.
The sample instructions on the next page start off giving fairly detailed instructions, but for
the extension tasks requires pupils to show increasing initiative.
For more ICT literate pupils the instructions could only explain what was required and not give
any instructions as to method.
For less ICT literate pupils extremley detailed step by step instructions could be given.
Follow Up
The data can support work on a number of follow up questions such as:
Why was there a Revolution in Russia?
Why did the Germans surrender?
Why did the Americans and French have different attitudes about how Germany should be treated
after the war?
The financial data could also be re-considered in the light of a discussion on war debts.
Lesson Developed by N.A.W. Baker
www.geocities.com/historygateway
The Cost of the First World War
Name: Form:
The Human Cost of the War
Country Killed MIA
Wounded Prisoners or Total Soldiers
Germany 1,773,700 4,216,058 1,152,800 11,000,000
Austria-Hungary 1,200,000 3,620,000 2,200,000 7,800,000
Britain 908,371 2,090,212 191,652 8,904,467
France 1,357,800 4,266,000 537,000 8,410,000
Russia 1,700,000 4,950,000 2,500,000 12,000,000
USA 126,000 264,300 4,500 4,355,000
Lesson Developed by N.A.W. Baker
www.geocities.com/historygateway
The Cost of the First World War
Name: Sample Pupil Form: 9BK
The Human Cost of the War
Country Killed Wounded Total
Prisoners or MIA Soldiers Total Casualties
Germany 1,773,700 4,216,058 1,152,800 11,000,000 7,142,558
Austria-Hungary 1,200,000 3,620,000 2,200,000 7,800,000 7,020,000
Britain 908,371 2,090,212 191,652 8,904,467 3,190,235
France 1,357,800 4,266,000 537,000 8,410,000 6,160,800
Russia 1,700,000 4,950,000 2,500,000 12,000,000 9,150,000
USA 126,000 264,300 4,500 4,355,000 394,800
The Financial Cost of the War
Country Cost in US Dollars
Germany $37,775,000,000.00
Russia $22,593,950,000.00
France $24,265,583,000.00
Austria-Hungary $20,622,960,000.00
British Empire $35,334,012,000.00
Italy $12,413,998,000.00
United States $22,625,253,000.00
Lesson Developed by N.A.W. Baker
www.geocities.com/historygateway
Percentage Casualties
65%
90%
36%
73%
76%
9%
Lesson Developed by N.A.W. Baker
www.geocities.com/historygateway
Number of Soldiers Killed in WW1
2,000,000
1,800,000
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000 Killed
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
Germany Austria-Hungary Britain France Russia USA
Lesson Developed by N.A.W. Baker
www.geocities.com/historygateway
Percentage Casualties in WW1- Joe Bloggs
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
Percentage Casualties
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Germany Austria-Hungary Britain France Russia USA
Lesson Developed by N.A.W. Baker
www.geocities.com/historygateway
Financial Cost of WW1 - Joe Bloggs
$40,000,000,000.00
$35,000,000,000.00
$30,000,000,000.00
$25,000,000,000.00
$20,000,000,000.00
Cost in US Dollars
$15,000,000,000.00
$10,000,000,000.00
$5,000,000,000.00
$0.00
Germany Russia France Austria- British Italy United
Hungary Empire States
Lesson Developed by N.A.W. Baker
www.geocities.com/historygateway