DESIGN YOUR OWN PEACE TREATY

Imagine you are a peace negotiator at Versailles following WWI. You have just read a draft of both Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the proposed Treaty of Versailles. You think both are fundamentally flawed. Seize this opportunity to draft your own peace proposal.

DIRECTIONS/REQUIREMENTS:

Your proposal must have a minimum of 5 articles and for each article you must explain (in sentence form) why you have included it in the peace treaty. You then must attach a 3-paragraph defense of your treaty. In this defense explain why your treaty is better and/or more “just” than that proposed in the Fourteen Points and the Treaty of Versailles.

Other requirements include typed (or neatly hand written/printed in pen) and spelling and grammar will count. The structure of the essay – thesis statement, introduction, conclusion, etc – will also count.

Turn in this rubric attached to your Peace Treaty.

REQUIREMENTS CHECKLIST/POINT TOTALS

Requirements / Check / Points / Comments
Title / -2
5 Articles / /5
Explanation of 5 Articles / /10
3- Paragraph Defense of Treaty / /10
Typed/Pen / -3
Spelling, Grammar & Parts of an Essay / -5

TOTAL EARNED POINTS /25

TOTAL LOST POINTS /10

GRADE

DUE: ______

EXAMPLES OF ARTICLES FROM THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

Article 159

The German military forces shall be demobilised and reduced as prescribed hereinafter.

Article 170

Importation into Germany of arms, munitions and war material of every kind shall be strictly prohibited.

The same applies to the manufacture for, and export to, foreign countries of arms, munitions and war material of every kind.

Article 173

Universal compulsory military service shall be abolished in Germany.

The German Army may only be constituted and recruited by means of voluntary enlistment.

Article 231

TheAllied and Associated Governmentsaffirm andGermanyaccepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.

OTHER HINTS AND TIPS

  1. Use the summaries of the Fourteen Points and the Treaty of Versailles in your graphic organizer we did in class for more examples of things you could include.
  2. Think your way through the issue. Remember a peace treaty is designed not only to stop the current war but also solve the problems that started it in the first place. Think about the causes of WWI we talked about at the beginning of the unit. How would you stop them from happening again?
  3. Edit (re-read, spell check, have a third party read your writing) before you hand it in. Read it backwards or out loud to yourself. You will be amazed at the mistakes you find.