I really don't get the point of your question. Why try to understand a theory as complicated as general relativity and ignoring a much simpler "sub-theory" which provides a great framework for you to understand the general theory?
T.M.A this is a valid question. It is like "Do the physics bachelor students could use physics master's books in their physics courses? The answer is YES..!!! On Spain some Universities have used Books of Master courses in their Bachelor courses. One example of this is Classical Electromagnetic by Jackson.
Here is a similar question: Can the theory of electromagnetism be understood without knowledge of electricity or magnetism? In principle, perhaps the answer is yes... but by the time you understand electromagnetism, you will surely understand electricity and magnetism, as these are just subsets, special cases if you wish, of the more general theory. Same goes for general relativity: In principle, it might be possible to understand it without knowing special relativity, but by the time you understand general relativity, you will certainly understand special relativity, too. And from a practical perspective, it might be helpful to start the learning process with the simpler, special cases before moving on to the more general case.
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