history

ST JOSEPH'S INSTITUTION

SECONDARY 3 COMBINED HUMANITIES

Name: Shishanth Kaliannan (28) Class: Fintan 302

Elective History – Alternative Assessment Assignment [15m]

Activity

You are a non-German journalist reporting on reactions to the Treaty of Versailles. You may use information from your textbook and other sources for your article.

You should include:

A headline for your newspaper article
The terms of the Treaty and reactions to them

Take note of the following:

Your article should not be more than 2 pages.
It should be type written (Arial 11) and you may use any computer programme to improve the aesthetics of your article.
The assignment has to be submitted on week 6. Assignment received after the submission date will not be graded.

ST JOSEPH'S INSTITUTION

SECONDARY 3 COMBINED HUMANITIES

Rubrics for History Elective Alternative Assessment I

Criteria \ Marks
8 - 6
5 - 3
2 - 1
Content
Content of article shows comprehensive research and understanding of the implications of the Treaty of Versailles
Content of article shows some attempt at research and some understanding of the implications of the Treaty of Versailles
Content of article shows little understanding of the Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles and the reactions

The representatives at the Paris Peace Conference had different motivations and aims. Just as their countries had different motivations and aims. Just as their countries had different reasons for entering the war, they also wanted different outcomes from the peace treaty. The representative from Japan and Italy were principally concerned with getting the territorial gains promised to them for their contribution to war. The British and French representatives faced public pressure back home to keep Germany weak. As for Woodrow Wilson, his main interest was in securing the Fourteen Points rather than in shaping the Germany.

The treaty of Versailles was mostly for the vengeance for France. According to the treaty, Germany had to accept complete blame for causing World War 1. Germany had to pay compensation for all the damage caused in the war. The reparations demanded in 1921 were 269 billion gold Reichsmarks, the German currency at that time, or 6,600 million Pounds.

Germany suffered from territorial reduction because of the treaty. Much of the land that belonged to Germany and Austria before the war was redistributed amongst the allied powers. Germany lost all her overseas colonies in Africa and Asia Pacific. She had lost Alsace-Lorraine and the profits from the Saar coal region to France. She had to give up the territory between Germany and East Prussia to form the Polish Corridor to give Poland independent access to the sea and Germany was not allowed to unite with Austria.

Germany also suffered from the military cut-down because of the treaty. The size of the German army is restricted to 100,000 professional soldiers and the navy was limited to 15,000 professional men. This ensured that Germany would never be able to build up a large reserve force that it could call up in the event of war. All wartime weapons were to be destroyed and Germany was prohibited to build-up armed forces. No air force, submarines or tanks were allowed and the Navy was limited to six battleships and a fey smaller ships. No German military forces were allowed to be stationed in the Rhineland, an area along Germany’s western borders with France. Instead, Allied troops would occupy it for 15 years and thereafter, there was to be no troops in the zone.

But the Germans were angry as they thought that the treaty was not fair. The Germans felt that Germany should not accept complete blame for World War 1 as the Allied powers had also contributed to the chain of events that led to the war. They could not defend themselves with their weak military. Germany was saddled with huge debts due to reparations but stripped of resources, colonies, trading fleets and the basic means of industrial production and economical recovery, it more difficult for Germany to pay the compensation which means more hardship for the people. Italy and Japan also felt that the treaty was unfair as they did not gain any colonies that they wanted.