The Treaty of Versailles: Punishment vs. Peace

How were the articles of the Treaty

of Versailles at odds with proposed

peace?

Treaty of Versailles Project

• You will be assigned to a role (Clemenceau, Wilson, George)

• You will meet briefly with people who have the same role and discuss priorities and strategy

• You will then form groups of three to negotiate the terms of a peace treaty

• MAIN GOALS:– Role Play– Benefiting your country– Preventing future conflicts

• Your final product will be a “Treaty of Versailles” that is not necessarily a copy of the original, maybe a better version?

War Guilt

• Will you insert a war guilt clause that forces Germany to accept blame for the war?

• Should anyone else be blamed? Who?

Military Restrictions

• Size of Army

• Size of Airforce

• Navy

– Battleships

– U-Boats

• Freedom of the Seas

Reparations

• How much will Germany pay?

• Consider in Billions of USD

The Rhineland

Alsace & Lorraine

• Taken from France during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870

• Should they be returned?

The Saar

German Colonies in Africa prior to the War

League of Nations

• Multilateralism

Anschluss

• Austria-Hungary will be forced to separate.

• Anschluss refers to a joining of Germany and Austria

• Should this be forbidden in the treaty?

The Big Questions

• Will any of the major players gain or be forced to concede land? If so, which ones and what land?

• Will any of the many different ethnic groups in Eastern Europe be given independence? If so, which ones?

• How will the defeated nations be punished?

• What safeguards will be put into place to prevent a future World War?

What you are ultimately responsible for….

1. Answer the “Big Questions” (Individual)

2. Create a list of your country’s original demands and the rationale behind them (individual)

3. Treaty of Versailles, signed by all members (Group)

Links

• History Learning Site UK.co

• FirstWorldWar.com

• Wikipedia

• HistoryOnTheNet.com