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Can the EU Learn from the Berlin Conference Lesson Plan

photo by congoconference2011. wordpress. com

First things first. What is the Berlin conference lesson plan? The Berlin conference was a meeting in Berlin, Germany from November 1884 to February 1885. Attending the conference were representatives from many European nations such as Britain, France and Germany in addition to representatives from the United States. The conference’s plan was to discuss free trade on the Congo and the Niger rivers. In the 1880s 80% of Africa remained under traditional and local control. The Berlin conference lesson plan’s purpose today allows educators to re-create this historic conference with purpose of dividing Africa according to the interest of each assigned country.

What wonderful arrogance.

The Berlin Conference Lesson Plan Outline

Using the Berlin conference lesson plan is a great way for educators to teach about this important subject. Rather than read from textbooks, the teacher basically breaks the students into groups, with each group representing a country that was at the table in the 1880s. As part of the conference planning, it’s each group’s responsibility to propose how they would colonize this region. As part of the lesson plan, each group would propose which colonies their countries should control (and why) with a solid argument as to why the other representatives should allow them to colonize the region they’re requesting.

In addition to debating territorial borders, the Berlin conference lesson plan also encourages participants to consider:

any rules that their country is willing and able to follow

location

natural resources

their countries needs

regions that were already controlled by the groups assigned country

The Berlin Conference Lesson Plan As It Relates to the Current EU Crisis

It’s almost ironic as to what is occurring today within the current European Union boundaries. All of the current member countries of the EU are working diligently to try to establish (and some say salvage) how the member countries can move forward with a new economic platform. The current situation in Greece has certainly raised eyebrows. Some of the questions being asked are “how did we allow this to happen?”.