States, nations and boundaries, and how borders changed after wars

Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Boundary changes in Europe, 1918 to 1922

   Event or fact	Date or figure
   Wilson's Fourteen Points, point 13: an independent Poland with free and secure access to the sea	January 8, 1918
   Treaty of Versailles signed	June 28, 1919
   Treaty of Trianon signed, with Hungary	June 4, 1920
   Hungary after Trianon: share of its pre-war land and people kept	28% of land, 36% of people
   Ethnic Hungarians left outside Hungary's new borders	about 3.3 million
   Upper Silesia plebiscite	March 20, 1921: about 60% for Germany, about 40% for Poland
   Upper Silesia divided by the League of Nations Council, Poland's share	just under a third of the land, almost half of the people, over 80% of the heavy industry

   Note: Versailles gave Poland a strip of land to the Baltic Sea through the settled province of West Prussia. The strip cut East Prussia off from the rest of Germany by land, and in 1922 Germany began a ferry service between the two. Danzig, a mostly German-speaking port, became a Free City under League of Nations protection, without a plebiscite. Hungary's lost land went to Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The Allied Supreme Council could not agree on dividing Upper Silesia, so the Council of the League of Nations made the award. A physical boundary follows a landform; a cultural boundary follows differences of language, religion or ethnicity; a geometric boundary follows straight lines; an antecedent boundary is drawn before an area is settled; a superimposed boundary is drawn over an area that is already settled. Self-determination is the principle that a people should decide its own government.

2. 1.

   Bo says the Polish corridor was an antecedent boundary. Check the claim against the note.

   • Yes: an antecedent boundary ignores the cultural pattern of an area, and the corridor did that
   • No: it was a cultural boundary, because Poles lived along the whole strip to the sea
   • No: antecedent means drawn before settlement, and the corridor cut through settled West Prussia
   • Yes: it was drawn in a new treaty before Poland used the strip, so it came before settlement
3. 2.

   About 60% voted for Germany in Upper Silesia, yet Poland received over 80% of the heavy industry. What does Esme conclude about the award?

   • Not a plain majority rule: about 60% voted German, yet Poland got over 80% of the industry
   • It followed the vote: Germany kept about 60% of the land and Poland about 40% of it, as voted
   • It ignored the vote, since the League gave Poland more land than the 40% it had won in the vote
   • The vote went to Poland, so Poland received most of the industry as the winner of the vote
4. 3.

   Point 13 called for a Poland with free and secure access to the sea. Which claim does it back, Jun?

   • The claim of Danzig's German speakers to decide their own government and borders
   • Poland's claim to a sea outlet, though it does not say Danzig must be Polish
   • Germany's claim to keep East Prussia joined by land to the rest of Germany
   • Poland's claim to Danzig, since a free port is needed for secure access to the sea
5. 4.

   Danzig was mostly German-speaking and Poland needed a port. The Free City came without a plebiscite. What did that balance, Kira?

   • It gave self-determination to Danzig's German speakers and no sea route to Poland whatsoever
   • It gave Poland the port in full, since point 13 required it as a free and secure outlet for trade
   • It settled the matter by a plebiscite of Danzig's people, which chose the Free City over both Germany and Poland
   • Poland's need for sea access against Danzig's German speakers, neither getting its full claim
6. 5.

   About 3.3 million ethnic Hungarians lived outside Hungary after Trianon. Which principle backs Hungary's complaint, and what stands against it, Luz?

   • Point 13 backs it, since a free Hungary also needs a secure outlet to the sea for its trade
   • No principle backs it, since a treaty signed in 1920 settles any claim made after its signing
   • Self-determination backs it; against it stand the three neighbors that received the land
   • Self-determination backs the three neighbors, since they gained land and so decided its fate
7. 6.

   How did the Polish corridor shift access to the sea and to East Prussia, Milo?

   • Poland gained a land route to the sea; Germany lost its land link to East Prussia and began a ferry
   • Both gained a route to the sea: Poland by land and Germany by way of a ferry from 1922 onward
   • Germany gained a land route to the Baltic Sea; Poland lost its link to East Prussia and began a ferry
   • Poland gained Danzig's port in full, while Germany kept its land link to East Prussia unbroken
8. 7.

   Hungary kept 28% of its land and 36% of its people. What does Pia conclude about the land it lost?

   • The lost land was more crowded than the part Hungary kept, since it was most of the land
   • The lost land held 36% of the people, the same share as the part Hungary kept
   • The lost 72% of land held 64% of the people, so it was less crowded than the part Hungary kept
   • The two parts were equally crowded, since the land shares and people shares each add to 100%
9. 8.

   The League protected Danzig and divided Upper Silesia. What do the two cases share, Ren?

   • In both the League gave the area to Poland because Poland needed the industry and the port
   • In both the League stepped in between Germany and Poland, but just Upper Silesia held a plebiscite
   • Just Danzig held a plebiscite, and the League decided Upper Silesia without any vote whatsoever
   • In both the League followed a plebiscite and gave Poland the larger share of the area at stake
10. 9.

    Tala says the corridor was unfair to Germany because it cut East Prussia off. What do point 13 and the ferry add?

    • The ferry shows the corridor failed, so point 13 should be set aside as mistaken
    • Point 13 settles the argument, since a stated aim outweighs any cost the ferry shows
    • Point 13 shows sea access was a stated aim; the ferry shows Germany bore a cost
    • The ferry shows Germany lost nothing, since it still reached East Prussia by sea
11. 10.

    Zee says self-determination decided every border in the chart. Test the claim.

    • Yes: the Free City, the award and Trianon each protected a people's right to decide its borders
    • No: Danzig had no vote, and the Upper Silesia award and Trianon did not follow the people
    • No: just Hungary's borders ignored it, and the other three followed the people's choices
    • Yes: the Upper Silesia plebiscite shows each border in the chart followed a vote of the people