History IA help on Hitler's Lebensraum/Germany and Poland's relationship

[brittannyem]

I'm trying to narrow my IA topic down. My starting research question was: To what extend was Hitler's attempt at Lebensraum successful? That's super broad and general, I know :/

 

I've narrowed it down to: To what extent were the Germans and Poles' relationship affected as a result of Hitler's Lebensraum policy? I'm still working on the wording but basically I would go in to talk about all the factors that impact the relationship between the two

 

I was just hoping to get some feedback and maybe critiquing of my topic. I'm worried that this isn't the best way to go, that I won't be able to get enough research to succeed, and that I could do better with something else related to Lebensraum

 

Edited September 2, 2014 by brittannyem

[alefal]

Hey there!

 

Indeed, that was a broad and general question for the IA. Your second RQ is much better, but I think it leads to an obvious answer. The idea of Lebensraum was that Germany should expand to give more room for the ethnic Germans (and particularly, the so-called Aryan race). A big part of this was Lebensraum im Osten - 'Living space in the East'. This propagandic policy essentially stated that Germany should expand east-wards, to the Ural mountains in Russia. This essentially meant that Germany was to invade Poland at some point. In essence, then, this is the short answer to your question. More specifically, an conclusive one-sentence answer would sound something like this: 'The Polish-German relations deteriorated significantly due to the Lebensraum Policy, culminating in war in 1939.'

There is a lot of information available on this topic, so finding sources wouldn't pose any problems.

 

It is clear that you need to change your RQ somehow. I suggest you read my reply in this thread: http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/27373-ee-film-rq/?p=206632

Although it is supposed to help with the Extended Essay specifically, the approach itself is valid for the History IA as well. You need a more specific topic than the EE (remember, only 800-1000 words to actually analyse the topic, and you shouldn't omit much from the analysis), but that you probably already know. 

 

 

Good luck! 

[brittannyem]

Thank you!! You definitely helped me accept that it was not a good topic to pursue. I may have been in denial a little

 

Anyway, I've decided on researching whether or not Hitler was a globalist in regards to his Lebensraum policy and this time I'm sticking to it. I feel significantly more confident about this topic.

 

Again, thank you!