Study Guide
World History/European History
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Objective:
Students will better understand the background to contemporary conflict in the Balkans.
Method:
Students will watch the documentary in class. This will be supplemented by links on
the website (www.crucibleofwar.com) and additional readings selected by the instructor.
Checking for
Understanding: Questions for Discussion
1. Two women profiled in the film
talk about their memories of the Second World War. How do you think World War II had
an impact on the Balkan wars in the 1990s?
2. Show students four maps of the
Balkans: (1) during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, (2) one after World War I, and (3) one
after World War II, and (4) one from today. Ask them to look at what other countries and
waterways are nearby. Discuss why they think southeastern
Independent Activity (Written)
1. In the film, a priest talks about how he is working to promote dialogue between
the different religious groups in former
2. In 1995, the warring sides signed
a General
Framework Agreement (known more commonly as the Dayton Accords). How would you
assess the success of the Dayton Agreement? Compare Annex 7 on the
return of refugees and displaced people with the realities of at least two people profiled
in the film.
Independent Activity (Oral)
Choose a character featured in the documentary. Develop a backstory on that
character which includes when and where he or she was born (you may use an educated guess
if it is not clear from the film). What major historical events has the character
experienced in his/her lifetime? How have those events shaped his/her worldview?
Group Activity/Project
Small teams will each be assigned a nation from the region (
Geography (terrain, access to water and land routes, bordering nations, natural resources)
People (major ethnic groups, languages, religions)
Economy (major industries, historic and current trading partners, different economic systems over the past 200 years, state of the economy today)
History (How old is the nation? Has it held claims on any other nations or been claimed by any others? Has it always been independent? How has it been governed – both in the past and today?)
Each team will present to the class how each of
these factors have affected the history and importance of their nation.
Closure
Ask students to discuss the following “what if” question: