When is it advisable to fight? How does one respond to violence when it occurs in other places, right in front of you or to you? These were some of the questions that our group discussed today as we began the 2015 War and the Canadian Experience Teacher’s Tour of the Netherlands. This conversation began among some of us over breakfast in Amsterdam and continued on our drive to Rotterdam and throughout our day there and eventually among us all as we ended our day in Vlissingen. Our guide to how the war began in the Netherlands was Lt. Colonel Wouter Hagemeijer of the Royal Dutch military, a historian with deep knowledge of the conflict which was immediately apparent to everyone. As the Netherlands was quite suddenly attacked in May 1940, the country’s government and citizenry were confronted with a stark choice which challenged their traditional foreign policy position of armed neutrality – should they fight a war of defense which they knew they could not win or should they simply give up and wait for a better opportunity to resist? The Dutch Army was small and not effectively prepared for war and knew they could not reasonably hope to defend the entire country. They chose to sacrifice the southern half of the country and more troops were moved north to defend the more populous capital province of Holland, thereby leaving the southern region to a fate to be determined by the advancing German army.
Some Dutch people chose to stand and fight, or subversively resist German control while others passively or actively collaborated with the German invaders. Most Dutch people simply adapted to their new reality. Each course of action had consequences that would not have been clear to the Dutch people at the time, but would present themselves over the nearly five years of German occupation. Canada’s position was entirely different. Even before the German invasion of Poland in September of 1939, the Canadian government was developing a plan to prepare the country for a war which posed no immediate military threat to Canada’s security – there was no serious threat of a German invasion of Canada. At the same time, there was considerable support that some things were worth fighting for. There are many issues in their two different entries into the Second World War that are ripe for discussion among all students of history and pertain to our examination and implementation of research-based best practice in our history classrooms. · How would we frame questions for our students to help them to understand and grapple with the context of the decisions taken by people 75 years ago? · How can we help our students to use evidence to reach conclusions about the actions of their grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ generation? · Did the Dutch and Canadian people choose the correct course of action in 1939-1940? · What were their criteria at the time? · What would ours be today? · In what ways can students meaningfully engage in this work in schools? As is the common practice on these battlefield tours, the topics is introduced so that discussion may continue to develop and evolve with more thought and experience over the next two weeks. The way the Dutch and Canadian people remember and commemorate the war was considered today after visiting the Rotterdam war museum with our guide, Lt. Colonel Wouter Hagemeijer. They have developed a powerfully engaging exhibition of the war in Rotterdam which was valuable for us to see as we began our tour. It is clear that the war and sacrifice of so many is not far from the minds of the people here. One of the more magical moments so far came quite unexpectedly as several of us were sitting down to dinner at a beautiful beachside restaurant in Vlissingen. An older couple at the table next to us recognized us as being Canadians and came over to our table and thanked us for the sacrifices made by the Canadians 70+ years ago. They spoke of the many cemeteries that exist in this country containing the graves of thousands of Canadian soldiers who came from across the Atlantic to fight for the people of the Netherlands. It was an experience I will not forget. Greg Peters Teacher, Fredericton High School
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AuthorsParticipating educators and high school students share reflections on their professional and personal experiences during and after the program. Some posts link to the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society's blog, Studeamus bellum causa pacis. Archives
August 2015
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