1.1 World War One and the Treaty of Versailles
Introduction
In this lesson, you will be asked to assess the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, in terms of its balance and fairness.
To do this, you will have to know something about World War I, particularly, why it started and why it played out the way that it did.
You will also be reading about the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty was written up by France, Britain and the US. Germany agreed to the conditions. There was a lot of pressure on Germany to sign and, having started a war that they lost, they had little leverage.
In order to understand how you can begin to answer this question, you will have to know what is meant by the terms "fair" and "balanced." We will get to that soon.
Take a look at the cartoon below. Which point of view is being represented here? Pay attention to the text on each finger of the hand. Who is being choked? What is the message here?
