How is the First World War taught in Germany?

It depends entirely on the Bundesland (state) and a lot on the teacher. While there are lessons plans teachers sometimes ignore them when circumstances require them to be more flexible. read more

WWI was taught for a total of 2 weeks. Yep, two weeks spent glossing over the before, during and after of the First World War. Considering WWII is taught for 9 years in schools in Germany it gives you some idea as to the focus on the lessons I'm sure. read more

Reasons cited included the debilitating demands set forth by the victors of World War I - loss of land to France and Poland as well as massive reparation payments - in addition to runaway inflation and the political and constitutional instabilities during the Weimar Republic - Germany's first real attempt at democratic government. read more

The first world war is not taught as an end in itself - the traumatism of the front, the upheavals of wartime societies and the genocidal violence clear a path to the study of the second world war. It is almost as if the first world war were a point of depart in a direction leading to the peak of mass violence during the second world war. read more