About
This website was produced to aid teachers in expanding their curriculum beyond Eurocentric narratives by curating together accessible sources of both primary and secondary, information and activities that they can build lesson plans around.
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Hong Kong in World War Two was selected as the historical content because it provides an alternative narrative to the war experience that students can compare to their previous knowledge of the war experience in the UK.
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It aims to provide teachers with a tool kit to enhance their established curriculum by intertwining it with topics such as World War Two or British citizenship.
This website was produced through the feedback and cooperation of teaching staff at Bishop Luffa School in Chichester and staff at the online education resource Votes for Schools. It holds many thanks to their contributions in ensuring the website was catered to teachers needs.
How to use
Colour code key for easy identification of resources
Primary sources are in blue boxes
"Historians quotes are in mint blue colour"
All primary sources have hyperlinks to where you can view the sources yourself to, for example read around the newspaper article or print off!
Order to use:
Thematically: The case study of Hong Kong in World War Two covers a large amount of themes and topics that you can purposefully select to compliment and tailor to similar topics you are currently teaching. Skip to the overview of topics.
Chronologically: The website follows the chronological order of events during WWII in Hong Kong, therefore you can take the website as a plan and content for lessons by itself
British citizenship 1841 - 1940
Evacuation 1939 - 1945
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War Experience 1941 - 1945
Check out this timeline for a more detailed overview of the order of events in Hong Kong during WWII
Topics covered
British Citizenship: Explore the concept of British citizenship with your students by looking at how it was interpreted differently between civilians of Hong Kong and the British authorities. Through the case study of the evacuation of Hong Kong, help your students understand how racist ideologies influenced policies and the consequences this held on who was deemed worthy of evacuating and who wasn't.​​
Evacuation: Look at how evacuation was organised and how the decisions made were presented in the media and received from the public. Who was upset, who wasn't? And why?
War experience: Delve into the social experience of war beyond the political narrative. Using source analysis, students can compare and contrast different war experiences by recalling from their pre-established knowledge of the war experience in the UK. Have students resonate with the experience of war for those left behind to consolidate their understanding of the impacts and consequences of the racist ideologies that influenced policies of British citizenship and evacuation.
'Enquiry Question' suggestions to use
What were the consequences of not evacuating Chinese and Eurasian civilians of Hong Kong?
You could discuss...
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​The public reaction
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Japanese propaganda using the racial divide for their own advantage
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​The experience of war because they were left in Hong Kong
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How did the war experience of children in Hong Kong differ from those in Britian?
You could discuss...
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The difference in evacuation schemes
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Education
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Propaganda​
Key Terms
Naturalisation: The act of investing an alien with the status of a national in a given state; it may be accomplished as the result of voluntary application, special legislative direction, marriage to a citizen, or parental action
Internment: the state of being confined as a prisoner, especially for political or military reasons
British Subject: Before 1949, a "subject of the British Crown" meant someone who owed allegiance to the British monarch and had a connection to the Crown's dominions, encompassing citizens of the UK and colonies, and later, citizens of Commonwealth countries
Further resources
Is this your student's first time studying the history of China?
Check out these great resources that help you introduce the history of China to your students beyond its colonial history under the British Empire. ​​​​​​
The history of China for KS3/GCSE BBC Bitesize resources​​
Hong Kong and the Opium Wars Tes Complete Lesson Resource for 16+
British Citizenship: Subject or Citizen? A podcast by Mark Pearsall from the British National Archives discusses the concepts of British nationality before 1948.
Interactive Map of Hong Kong from Gwulo.com: Zoom onto the map to select streets or buildings where it will take you to a page for more information and photos about the area.
The Battle of Hong 1941 Interactive Map (School Version) from the History Department of the Hong Kong Baptist University
Have your say!
Thank you so much for taking the time to check out the website on the war experience in Hong Kong. This website is part of an undergraduate practise-based dissertation project that intends to explore and develop teaching resources to help teachers enhance the KS3 history curriculum beyond Eurocentric narratives. This website is a continuously working process, just as any unit or lesson plan is. Therefore, any feedback given will be used to adjust and further develop the website to ensure it is well-suited for teachers' needs.
If you have 2 minutes to spare I'd be very grateful if you could fill out this feedback form