Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the events surrounding Operation Overlord (commonly known as the D-Day Invasion of Normandy), why the Allied Supreme Command chose the Normandy beaches for the invasion, and how mistakes made by the German high command before and after the invasion ultimately doomed the Third Reich.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the events surrounding the Liberation of Paris, what role French all Allied forces played in taking the city, how the French Resistance in Paris helped precipitate the liberation, and what role the German governor of the city may have played in limiting the bloodshed.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the Fall of France 1940, how the French army had been lulled into a false sense of security in the years leading up to the German invasion and how the German army used “blitzkrieg” methods to subdue the French in only six weeks.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the German roundup and deportation of French Jews during the occupation and the role of the Drancy Internment Camp in the deportation process. Students will then take a position as to whether the French themselves must bear some responsibility for their role in the Holocaust.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the events surrounding the Battle of the Bulge, why the German High Command decided to engage in a counterattack in the Ardennes Forest, how the German advance was eventually halted and then defeated, how the battle helped cement George Patton and the US Third Army’s reputation, and how the battle ultimately proved to be a turning point on the western front of the Second World War.

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources including excerpts from Caesar’s own writings on the Gallic Wars, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain why Julius Caesar and the Roman Army invaded the Gallic lands (today’s modern France) in 58 BCE, how the Romans were able to win the Gallic Wars and eventually incorporate Gaul into the ever-expanding Roman Republic, and how Caesar sought to use his victories in the Gallic Wars as a springboard to greater glory in Rome.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story behind Leonardo’s most famous oil painting the Mona Lisa, how and why the painting was created, how the painting ended up in the Louvre and why it continues to be studied by scholars and artists to this day.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, including excerpts from the Edict of Nantes (1598) and the Edict of Fontainebleau (1685), students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain who the French Huguenots were, the religious persecution they faced in the 16th and 17th centuries in France and how the exodus of Protestants from France after 1685 left its legacy around the world.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how and why the Catholic Church transferred the papacy to Avignon, what role the French crown played in the Avignon Papacy during the fourteenth century, and how the years in Avignon ultimately hurt the Church’s prestige in European society.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basic design and structure of the Maginot Line, why the French constructed the Maginot Line in the 1920s and 1930s, and whether the line ultimately succeeded or failed in what it was designed to do when the war came in 1940.

Through an in-depth analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how the details behind the story of Joan of Arc, her role during the Hundred Years War, the details behind her trial and execution by English and Church officials, how she was later exonerated by another Church court, and why she stands today as a symbol for French nationalism.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students here will identify, understand and be able to explain the basic facts behind Wilson’s “Fourteen Points”, how they spelled out the ideas of self-determination and equality among nations, why Allied representatives to the Peace Conference in Paris objected to many of the president’s ideas, what role the League of Nations was supposed to play in Wilson’s mind and how ultimately the Treaty of Versailles (1919) contained clauses contrary to both the spirit and the language of the Fourteen Points.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how the First Battle of the Marne saved France, forced the German army to abandon the Schlieffen Plan and ultimately led to a four year stalemate on the Western Front.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students here will understand the basic facts of the Battle of Verdun, including the reasons behind the German attack, the progress of the battle itself over the 10 months of fighting, including how the French Army was able to turn back the German assault, and finally how the failure of the German offensive at the Battle of Verdun was a critical turning point in the war, foreshadowing, ultimately, the defeat of the German forces on the Western Front.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the reasons behind Clemenceau’s desire to cripple Germany after the Great War and how the final treaty contained many of those ideas.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students here will understand the basic facts of the Battle of the Somme, the strategy and objectives of the British and French commanders in the offensive, how allied mistakes cost tens (perhaps hundreds) of thousands of lives unnecessarily, why the British and French “success” at the Somme was ultimately seen as a failure, and how the Somme ultimately doomed the German army to eventual defeat on the Western Front.

Through an in-depth analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how the use of poison gas on the Western Front dramatically altered the nature of fighting in the Great War, why each side decided to use gas even though it violated international treaties signed before the war and how the legacy of those Great War gas attacks continues to influence modern views of warfare.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the details, ideas and motivations the Haussmannization of Paris, how he used wide boulevards and ring streets to “modernize” the city and how the remaking of the city allowed governmental leaders to control any potential problems inherent in the antagonistic relationship between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the details, ideas and motivations behind Robespierre’s Jacobin Terror phase of the French Revolution, the basic structure and powers of the Committee of Public Safety, and how the Terror finally collapsed with Robespierre’s death and the victory of more conservative elements in the Thermidorian Reaction.