The 13th Warrior

After the introductory powerpoint you will see the USA film "The Thirteenh Warrior" , which is based on Michael Crichton's pseudo-historical novel Eaters of the Dead. In order to revise the different topics you have learned about in class for the last weeks you are asked to answer the following questions while watching the film.

-Where and when is the action set?

-Can you see any social hierarchy in the groups depicted in this film?

-Compare the Arab and the Viking government system.

-Which evidence have you found in the film to prove that Vikings were superstitious?

-How does Ahmed learn the language spoken by the Norsemen? Which language is this?

 -Can the Norsemen in this film read or write? Why do you know?

-Which enemy does the group of Vikings have to fight against?

-Do you think that this film is entirely historical? Why?

Voluntary task.

Do a portfolio about the historical background and the legend of Beowulf to hand in on the last day before Easter holiday.

Romantics turned into nationalists: Verdi and the claim for freedom

Many of Verdi's operas can be interpreted as allegories for the Italian struggle against the Austrians and other foreign oppressors. The most famous is Nabucco (1842), about the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. Its chorus of the Hebrew slaves, 'Va Pensiero', became virtually the anthem of the national movement.

Exercises about the Italian and the German Unifications

Italian Unification

-Which Italian kingdom played a leading role in the unification process?

-When did the Italian unification process finish? (year)

-How many phases in this process would you establish after looking at the map?

-Which European nation had a pre-eminent position in the Italian peninsula at the beginning of the 19^th century?

-Were other nations involved in this process? Which and how?

-Which Italian characters participated in the unification in one way or another? If possible, would you be able to say where they came from?

-Was there any other non Italian character's participation in these events? Who?

-Were there any revolutions in the Italian peninsula in 1848-9? Where? Did they have any success?

-Why did the French army intervene in Rome in 1849?

-When and how did the Italians add the kingdom of Lombardy?

-Who were responsible for the “conquest” of territories in 1860? How?

-Who was declared the king of Italy?

-When and how did the Italian side obtain Venetia?

-What was the last territory to be added to the Italian Kingdom? When was it incorporated? How?

-Look for information about the ideological differences between Garibaldi, Cavour, Mazzini and Victor Emmanuel II. Would you be able to classify these four characters into two main government options for the newborn Italian nation?

German Unification

-Who was Metternich?

-Which territories did Prussia control in 1815, after the Congress of Vienna?

-Was there any freedom of expression in the German states? Why?

-What was the Zollverein? Did it have any precedent? Why do you think that Austria wasn't allowed to participate by Prussia?

-Which consequences did Metternich's resignation have in 1848?

-What did the Frankfurt Parliament consist of? Did it have any success? Why?

-What was the main aim of the Erfurt Union? Did it have any success?

-What happened in Prussia during 1860-62?

-Were Schleswig and Holstein important in the relationship between Prussia and Austria? Why?

-Which nation added these Danish duchies finally? When were these territories incorporated? (look at the map)

-In 1867 the German states were divided into tho main areas of influence. Which?

-Read the information about the Hohenzollern crisis. Do you think that Bismark acted in a cunning way with regard to this issue? Why?

-If I say that Bismark promoted the nationalist feeling in 1870... what do you understand?

-Which were the last territories to be incorporated to the German Empire (Second Reich) led by Prussia? When were these added?

-When was the Franco-Prussian war fought? How did it end? Which territories were given to the winner?