World War I and the peace treaties that redrew the map

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cause and effect chain “The peace of 1919”. Long-term cause 1: The war's huge losses and costs. Long-term cause 2: Wilson's Fourteen Points (January 1918) call for an end to secret treaties, self-determination for peoples and a world organization to keep the peace. Long-term cause 3: Britain, France and Italy want to regain what they lost and to punish Germany. Arrows from every long-term cause lead to the trigger. Trigger: May 7, 1919: the Allies present the Treaty of Versailles to Germany. Arrows from the trigger lead to the effects. Effect 1: Article 231, the war guilt clause, holds Germany responsible for the war, and Germany must pay large reparations. Effect 2: Germany loses 13 percent of its land and 10 percent of its people; its army is limited to 100,000 men; Alsace-Lorraine returns to France. Effect 3: Germany's colonies become League of Nations mandates, and the League of Nations is created. Effect 4: The US Senate never approves the treaty, and the United States never joins the League. Below the chain: Most Germans found the war guilt clause, the reparations and the army limit oppressive. Card A (today): “President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (1918)”. Who made it: historians at the US National Archives. For whom: students and teachers. Why: to present a milestone document. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Wilson's address to Congress on January 8, 1918 drew on nearly 2,000 reports by a group of about 150 scholars. It called for an end to secret treaties, fewer arms, colonial adjustment, freedom of the seas, removal of economic barriers, self-determination and a world organization. It was designed to undermine the Central Powers' will to continue. Most points were scuttled at Versailles by Britain and France, which, with Italy, were mostly interested in regaining what they had lost and punishing Germany. The world organization became the League of Nations, but the US Senate never adopted the treaty and the United States never joined. Context (what else was happening): Written today for a collection of milestone documents. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It summarizes one speech and the peace; it does not give the Allied leaders' own words. Card C (today): “World War I: Treaties and Reparations”. Who made it: historians at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. For whom: readers of an online encyclopedia. Why: to describe what the treaties did to the map. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Germany returned Alsace-Lorraine to France and gave land to Poland, Belgium and Czechoslovakia. Germany's colonies became League of Nations mandates. Danzig became a Free City. Context (what else was happening): The treaty was signed in 1919 after the armistice of November 1918. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It lists changes; it does not say whether the people living there were asked.

2. 1.

   Ari compares Wilson's Fourteen Points with the treaty. Which statement do cards A and C support?

   • The treaty kept the League idea, but card A says Britain and France scuttled most other points
   • The treaty kept the points in full, since the Allies and Germany signed it and so accepted Wilson's plan
   • The treaty dropped the League, since the US Senate did not approve the treaty and so the League failed
   • The treaty kept self-determination for Germany, since Germany returned Alsace-Lorraine to France in 1919
3. 2.

   Card C says Germany gave land to Poland, Belgium and Czechoslovakia. Bo asks if that shows self-determination was applied.

   • Yes: card A lists self-determination among the Points and the treaty followed, so the principle applied
   • Not by itself: land changed hands, but the cards do not say whether the people there were asked
   • Yes: the land went to nations that had asked for it, so the treaty applied the principle to Germany's borders
   • No: the treaty did not change Germany's borders, so the principle was not tested
4. 3.

   Germany's colonies became League mandates. Esme compares that with the Points' call for colonial adjustment. What can be said?

   • The aim was met, since mandates were supervised by the League, which the Points had called for
   • The aim was ignored, since Britain and France kept Germany's colonies as their own territory
   • The colonies became League mandates; the cards do not show colonial peoples were asked
   • The colonies went back to Germany under the League, since mandates return land to its first owner

5. Use this

   Cause and effect chain “The peace of 1919”. Long-term cause 1: The war's huge losses and costs. Long-term cause 2: Wilson's Fourteen Points (January 1918) call for an end to secret treaties, self-determination for peoples and a world organization to keep the peace. Long-term cause 3: Britain, France and Italy want to regain what they lost and to punish Germany. Arrows from every long-term cause lead to the trigger. Trigger: May 7, 1919: the Allies present the Treaty of Versailles to Germany. Arrows from the trigger lead to the effects. Effect 1: Article 231, the war guilt clause, holds Germany responsible for the war, and Germany must pay large reparations. Effect 2: Germany loses 13 percent of its land and 10 percent of its people; its army is limited to 100,000 men; Alsace-Lorraine returns to France. Effect 3: Germany's colonies become League of Nations mandates, and the League of Nations is created. Effect 4: The US Senate never approves the treaty, and the United States never joins the League. Below the chain: Most Germans found the war guilt clause, the reparations and the army limit oppressive. Card A (today): “President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (1918)”. Who made it: historians at the US National Archives. For whom: students and teachers. Why: to present a milestone document. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Wilson's address to Congress on January 8, 1918 drew on nearly 2,000 reports by a group of about 150 scholars. It called for an end to secret treaties, fewer arms, colonial adjustment, freedom of the seas, removal of economic barriers, self-determination and a world organization. It was designed to undermine the Central Powers' will to continue. Most points were scuttled at Versailles by Britain and France, which, with Italy, were mostly interested in regaining what they had lost and punishing Germany. The world organization became the League of Nations, but the US Senate never adopted the treaty and the United States never joined. Context (what else was happening): Written today for a collection of milestone documents. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It summarizes one speech and the peace; it does not give the Allied leaders' own words. Card B (today): “Treaty of Versailles”. Who made it: historians at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. For whom: readers of an online encyclopedia. Why: to explain the treaty and its effects. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Article 231, the war guilt clause, held Germany responsible for the war, and Germany had to pay large reparations. Germany lost 13 percent of its territory, including 10 percent of its population, and its army was limited to 100,000 men. Most Germans found the terms oppressive. The museum says the shame of defeat and the 1919 settlement played an important role in the rise of Nazism. Context (what else was happening): Written today, with the history of the 1930s known. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It stresses the treaty's effects on Germany, not the Allies' own aims.

6. 4.

   Jun asks why most of the Fourteen Points were set aside. Which explanation do the cards support?

   • Wilson withdrew them, since the US Senate did not adopt the treaty and so the points lapsed
   • The League replaced them, since the world organization was the one point that survived Versailles
   • Germany refused them, since card B says most Germans found the terms oppressive
   • Card A: Britain and France scuttled them, wanting to regain losses and punish Germany

7. Use this

   Cause and effect chain “The peace of 1919”. Long-term cause 1: The war's huge losses and costs. Long-term cause 2: Wilson's Fourteen Points (January 1918) call for an end to secret treaties, self-determination for peoples and a world organization to keep the peace. Long-term cause 3: Britain, France and Italy want to regain what they lost and to punish Germany. Arrows from every long-term cause lead to the trigger. Trigger: May 7, 1919: the Allies present the Treaty of Versailles to Germany. Arrows from the trigger lead to the effects. Effect 1: Article 231, the war guilt clause, holds Germany responsible for the war, and Germany must pay large reparations. Effect 2: Germany loses 13 percent of its land and 10 percent of its people; its army is limited to 100,000 men; Alsace-Lorraine returns to France. Effect 3: Germany's colonies become League of Nations mandates, and the League of Nations is created. Effect 4: The US Senate never approves the treaty, and the United States never joins the League. Below the chain: Most Germans found the war guilt clause, the reparations and the army limit oppressive. Card A (today): “President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (1918)”. Who made it: historians at the US National Archives. For whom: students and teachers. Why: to present a milestone document. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Wilson's address to Congress on January 8, 1918 drew on nearly 2,000 reports by a group of about 150 scholars. It called for an end to secret treaties, fewer arms, colonial adjustment, freedom of the seas, removal of economic barriers, self-determination and a world organization. It was designed to undermine the Central Powers' will to continue. Most points were scuttled at Versailles by Britain and France, which, with Italy, were mostly interested in regaining what they had lost and punishing Germany. The world organization became the League of Nations, but the US Senate never adopted the treaty and the United States never joined. Context (what else was happening): Written today for a collection of milestone documents. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It summarizes one speech and the peace; it does not give the Allied leaders' own words.

8. 5.

   The chain lists huge costs, the Fourteen Points and the Allies' aims as long-term causes. Which does card A treat as decisive, Luz?

   • The war's huge costs, since costs explain each term of the treaty on their own
   • The German army's size, since card A lists the 100,000-man limit among the effects
   • The Allies' wish to regain losses and punish Germany, which card A links to the Points' fate
   • Wilson's Fourteen Points, since card A says they produced the League of Nations in the treaty
9. 6.

   Card A says the Points were “designed to undermine the Central Powers' will to continue.” How should Milo read the Points as a source?

   • As a neutral plan, since the National Archives presents the address as a milestone document
   • As a peace program and a wartime message: part of their purpose was to weaken the enemy's will
   • As propaganda with no real aims, since a speech meant to weaken enemies cannot be a real plan
   • As the Allies' agreed terms, since a summary written today lists them as the basis for the peace

10. Use this

    Cause and effect chain “The peace of 1919”. Long-term cause 1: The war's huge losses and costs. Long-term cause 2: Wilson's Fourteen Points (January 1918) call for an end to secret treaties, self-determination for peoples and a world organization to keep the peace. Long-term cause 3: Britain, France and Italy want to regain what they lost and to punish Germany. Arrows from every long-term cause lead to the trigger. Trigger: May 7, 1919: the Allies present the Treaty of Versailles to Germany. Arrows from the trigger lead to the effects. Effect 1: Article 231, the war guilt clause, holds Germany responsible for the war, and Germany must pay large reparations. Effect 2: Germany loses 13 percent of its land and 10 percent of its people; its army is limited to 100,000 men; Alsace-Lorraine returns to France. Effect 3: Germany's colonies become League of Nations mandates, and the League of Nations is created. Effect 4: The US Senate never approves the treaty, and the United States never joins the League. Below the chain: Most Germans found the war guilt clause, the reparations and the army limit oppressive. Card B (today): “Treaty of Versailles”. Who made it: historians at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. For whom: readers of an online encyclopedia. Why: to explain the treaty and its effects. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Article 231, the war guilt clause, held Germany responsible for the war, and Germany had to pay large reparations. Germany lost 13 percent of its territory, including 10 percent of its population, and its army was limited to 100,000 men. Most Germans found the terms oppressive. The museum says the shame of defeat and the 1919 settlement played an important role in the rise of Nazism. Context (what else was happening): Written today, with the history of the 1930s known. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It stresses the treaty's effects on Germany, not the Allies' own aims.

11. 7.

    Card B comes from a Holocaust museum. Noah wonders how that might shape its account of Versailles.

    • Its interest is Nazism's rise, so it stresses how the treaty fed German anger
    • It shows that the treaty caused Nazism, since the museum would not mention Versailles without a link
    • It does not matter, since an encyclopedia entry on a treaty does not depend on who made it
    • It makes the card unreliable, since a museum about the Holocaust cannot write fairly about 1919

12. Use this

    Cause and effect chain “The peace of 1919”. Long-term cause 1: The war's huge losses and costs. Long-term cause 2: Wilson's Fourteen Points (January 1918) call for an end to secret treaties, self-determination for peoples and a world organization to keep the peace. Long-term cause 3: Britain, France and Italy want to regain what they lost and to punish Germany. Arrows from every long-term cause lead to the trigger. Trigger: May 7, 1919: the Allies present the Treaty of Versailles to Germany. Arrows from the trigger lead to the effects. Effect 1: Article 231, the war guilt clause, holds Germany responsible for the war, and Germany must pay large reparations. Effect 2: Germany loses 13 percent of its land and 10 percent of its people; its army is limited to 100,000 men; Alsace-Lorraine returns to France. Effect 3: Germany's colonies become League of Nations mandates, and the League of Nations is created. Effect 4: The US Senate never approves the treaty, and the United States never joins the League. Below the chain: Most Germans found the war guilt clause, the reparations and the army limit oppressive. Card A (today): “President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (1918)”. Who made it: historians at the US National Archives. For whom: students and teachers. Why: to present a milestone document. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Wilson's address to Congress on January 8, 1918 drew on nearly 2,000 reports by a group of about 150 scholars. It called for an end to secret treaties, fewer arms, colonial adjustment, freedom of the seas, removal of economic barriers, self-determination and a world organization. It was designed to undermine the Central Powers' will to continue. Most points were scuttled at Versailles by Britain and France, which, with Italy, were mostly interested in regaining what they had lost and punishing Germany. The world organization became the League of Nations, but the US Senate never adopted the treaty and the United States never joined. Context (what else was happening): Written today for a collection of milestone documents. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It summarizes one speech and the peace; it does not give the Allied leaders' own words. Card B (today): “Treaty of Versailles”. Who made it: historians at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. For whom: readers of an online encyclopedia. Why: to explain the treaty and its effects. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Article 231, the war guilt clause, held Germany responsible for the war, and Germany had to pay large reparations. Germany lost 13 percent of its territory, including 10 percent of its population, and its army was limited to 100,000 men. Most Germans found the terms oppressive. The museum says the shame of defeat and the 1919 settlement played an important role in the rise of Nazism. Context (what else was happening): Written today, with the history of the 1930s known. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It stresses the treaty's effects on Germany, not the Allies' own aims. Card D (invented for this sheet): a student's claim. “The Treaty of Versailles followed Wilson's Fourteen Points, because it created the League of Nations.”

13. 8.

    Card D says the treaty followed the Points because it created the League. Ren tests it against cards A and B. What is the best reply?

    • False: card B shows the treaty was harsh, and the Points called for a peace without punishment
    • Half true: it created the League, but card A says Britain and France scuttled most other Points
    • True: the League was the main idea of the Points, so creating it means the treaty followed them
    • False: the League was created in 1920, after the treaty, so it was not part of the treaty

14. Use this

    Cause and effect chain “The peace of 1919”. Long-term cause 1: The war's huge losses and costs. Long-term cause 2: Wilson's Fourteen Points (January 1918) call for an end to secret treaties, self-determination for peoples and a world organization to keep the peace. Long-term cause 3: Britain, France and Italy want to regain what they lost and to punish Germany. Arrows from every long-term cause lead to the trigger. Trigger: May 7, 1919: the Allies present the Treaty of Versailles to Germany. Arrows from the trigger lead to the effects. Effect 1: Article 231, the war guilt clause, holds Germany responsible for the war, and Germany must pay large reparations. Effect 2: Germany loses 13 percent of its land and 10 percent of its people; its army is limited to 100,000 men; Alsace-Lorraine returns to France. Effect 3: Germany's colonies become League of Nations mandates, and the League of Nations is created. Effect 4: The US Senate never approves the treaty, and the United States never joins the League. Below the chain: Most Germans found the war guilt clause, the reparations and the army limit oppressive. Card B (today): “Treaty of Versailles”. Who made it: historians at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. For whom: readers of an online encyclopedia. Why: to explain the treaty and its effects. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Article 231, the war guilt clause, held Germany responsible for the war, and Germany had to pay large reparations. Germany lost 13 percent of its territory, including 10 percent of its population, and its army was limited to 100,000 men. Most Germans found the terms oppressive. The museum says the shame of defeat and the 1919 settlement played an important role in the rise of Nazism. Context (what else was happening): Written today, with the history of the 1930s known. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It stresses the treaty's effects on Germany, not the Allies' own aims.

15. 9.

    A student says “Germany lost 13 percent of its land, so it lost 13 percent of its people.” Tala checks card B. What is the best reply?

    • Wrong: Germany lost 10 percent of its land and 13 percent of its people, the other way around
    • Wrong: card B gives 13 percent of the land but 10 percent of the people
    • Right: card B gives one figure, 13 percent, so it must apply to both land and people
    • Right: land and people shrink by the same share, since people live evenly on the land

16. Use this

    Cause and effect chain “The peace of 1919”. Long-term cause 1: The war's huge losses and costs. Long-term cause 2: Wilson's Fourteen Points (January 1918) call for an end to secret treaties, self-determination for peoples and a world organization to keep the peace. Long-term cause 3: Britain, France and Italy want to regain what they lost and to punish Germany. Arrows from every long-term cause lead to the trigger. Trigger: May 7, 1919: the Allies present the Treaty of Versailles to Germany. Arrows from the trigger lead to the effects. Effect 1: Article 231, the war guilt clause, holds Germany responsible for the war, and Germany must pay large reparations. Effect 2: Germany loses 13 percent of its land and 10 percent of its people; its army is limited to 100,000 men; Alsace-Lorraine returns to France. Effect 3: Germany's colonies become League of Nations mandates, and the League of Nations is created. Effect 4: The US Senate never approves the treaty, and the United States never joins the League. Below the chain: Most Germans found the war guilt clause, the reparations and the army limit oppressive. Card A (today): “President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (1918)”. Who made it: historians at the US National Archives. For whom: students and teachers. Why: to present a milestone document. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Wilson's address to Congress on January 8, 1918 drew on nearly 2,000 reports by a group of about 150 scholars. It called for an end to secret treaties, fewer arms, colonial adjustment, freedom of the seas, removal of economic barriers, self-determination and a world organization. It was designed to undermine the Central Powers' will to continue. Most points were scuttled at Versailles by Britain and France, which, with Italy, were mostly interested in regaining what they had lost and punishing Germany. The world organization became the League of Nations, but the US Senate never adopted the treaty and the United States never joined. Context (what else was happening): Written today for a collection of milestone documents. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It summarizes one speech and the peace; it does not give the Allied leaders' own words. Card B (today): “Treaty of Versailles”. Who made it: historians at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. For whom: readers of an online encyclopedia. Why: to explain the treaty and its effects. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Article 231, the war guilt clause, held Germany responsible for the war, and Germany had to pay large reparations. Germany lost 13 percent of its territory, including 10 percent of its population, and its army was limited to 100,000 men. Most Germans found the terms oppressive. The museum says the shame of defeat and the 1919 settlement played an important role in the rise of Nazism. Context (what else was happening): Written today, with the history of the 1930s known. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It stresses the treaty's effects on Germany, not the Allies' own aims. Card C (today): “World War I: Treaties and Reparations”. Who made it: historians at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. For whom: readers of an online encyclopedia. Why: to describe what the treaties did to the map. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Germany returned Alsace-Lorraine to France and gave land to Poland, Belgium and Czechoslovakia. Germany's colonies became League of Nations mandates. Danzig became a Free City. Context (what else was happening): The treaty was signed in 1919 after the armistice of November 1918. Limits (what this source cannot tell us): It lists changes; it does not say whether the people living there were asked. Card D (invented for this sheet): a student's claim. “The Treaty of Versailles followed Wilson's Fourteen Points, because it created the League of Nations.”

17. 10.

    Zee rewrites card D so the cards support it. Which revision fits?

    • The treaty kept the Points for Germany but set them aside for the colonies, which became mandates
    • The treaty created the League, but most other Points were set aside
    • The treaty was written to punish Germany and for no other purpose, so the Points played no part
    • The treaty carried out Wilson's Points, with extra terms to punish Germany added at the end