Treaty of Versailles DBQ
Treaty of Versailles DBQ Link
Directions​:​ As you read the assigned text, answer the following questions in ​COMPLETE SENTENCES​.
Answers should be written in complete sentences that explain your answer. You can use multiple sentences or lengthy
sentences that include the word BECAUSE. Incomplete answers will receive partial credit.
1. According to the Allies and
Associated Governments, what
responsibilities is Germany
expected to accept?
2. How will the amount of damage
be determined?
3. Do you think they will have
sympathy for Germany?
4. Who was William II of
Hohenzollern?
5. What is the decision to be made
regarding William II?
6. Who is making the decision?
7. What was Germany transformed
into during the last two
generations (50 years).
8. How did this transformation affect
its population?
9. In what ways would the loss of
the Merchant Marines harm
Germany?
10. According to the document,
what effect would losing raw
materials have on the German
Document A
Germany and its allies are expected to accept the responsibility of
causing all the loss and damage to which they have been subjected
as a consequence of the war forced upon the Allied Powers by the
Central Powers.
The amount of damage will be determined by an Inter-Allied
Commission, to be called the Reparation Commission.
They will consider the claims of the German government and give
them an opportunity to be heard so they will a bit of sympathy.
Document B
William II of Hohenzollern was a former German emperor for an
offense against international morality and the holiness of agreements
between countries.
A special court will be made for William II who might be accused by
promising him that something will happen to the right of defense.
There will be five judges from five countries who are the United
States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan.
Document C Excerpt 1
Germany was transformed from an agricultural state to an industrial
state​ ​during the last two generations (50 years).
This transformation affected its population because Germany
nourished forty million inhabitants. When it was an industrial state, it
can assure the nourishment of a population of sixty-seven million
while before the war, a total of fifteen million people found existence
in Germany by the buying and selling of goods and by means of
transportation.
Germany is to give up its Merchant Marine and ships now under
construction for the buying and selling of goods. For five years,
German shipyards are to construct mostly a weight already decided
before the peace treaty for the Allied and Associated Governments.
This was bad for them because that would weaken their navy and
weaken their foreign trade.
Germany will lose the most important areas for the production of
wheat and potatoes, and this would be equal to a loss of twenty-one
percent of the total harvest. The importation of certain raw materials
 population and economy?
11. What do the German people rely
on that leads Rantzau to
compare the treaty to a death
sentence for millions of
Germans?
12. Is Rantzau correct in saying that
the treaty will be a catastrophe
for Germans? Explain.
13. How would Wilson’s idea benefit
the minority populations (Slavs,
Poles, Serbs, etc.) existing within
European countries?
14. Why would Wilson’s ideas upset
nations who were unwilling to
grant self-determination to other
groups?
15. Two-Part Analysis:
a. Who is being forced to
swallow the pill?
b. Who is doing the forcing?
16. What does this tell you about the
author’s perspective on the
treaty?
17. Describe the makeup of the
Middle East prior to the
Versailles Treaty?
18. How does the map change after
the Versailles Treaty?
extremely important for the production of a material that makes
plants grow better would slow down the industry as well as
businesses that need coal.
Document C Excerpt 2
Do not understand.
Rantzau is correct in saying that the treaty will be a catastrophe for
Germans because Germany would lose many more human lives
because of the peace treaty that we lost in the 4.5 years of war and
the treaty would move Germany’s economy back 50 years when we
only had to care for a population half its current size. The treaty will
cause the death sentence of many millions of German men, women,
and children.
Document E
Wilson’s idea benefits the minority populations existing within
European countries and must be respected; people may now be
dominated and governed only by their own consent.
Wilson's ideas would upset nations who were unwilling to grant
self-determination to other groups because the war had disregarded
the rights of small nations that lacked the union and the force to
choose allies and governments so they made agreements that make
things like this impossible and will be backed by the united force of
all nations that love justice and maintain at any price.
Document F
a. Germany
B. British Empire, Italy, The United States, Japan, and France
This cartoon tells me of the author’s perspective on the treaty that he
thinks what the peace treaty is doing is right and that they should
force Germany to do anything they want.
Document G and Document H
The agreement would cut up the Ottoman Empire after World War I
ended. The agreement effectively gave control of Syria, Lebanon,
and part of Turkey to the French. The agreement gave Palestine,
Jordan, and areas around the Persian Gulf and Baghdad to Britain.
(had to copy this because I did not know how to analyze the map and
there was no way of writing it)
The map changed after the Treaty of Versailles like the countries
Persia, Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Soviet Union, Afghanistan,
British India, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Muscat, and Oman, Yemen,
Aden, Eritrea, and Abyssinia were created or moved from a place to

19. How do France and Great Britain
benefit from the Sykes-Picot
Agreement?
20. Are the changes fair for the
people living in the area?
Explain.
Assessment (4-5 sentence paragraph)
Consider both the Allied and German
responses to the treaty.
What were the consequences of the
postwar agreement?
How could it set up a future conflict
between nations?
another. Spain was not a controlling power anymore.
Document I and Document J
France and Britain benefited from the Sykes-Picot Agreement
because both areas are allowed to establish direct or indirect
administration or control as they desire and as they may see fit.
Great Britain also has the right to build, administer, and be the sole
owner of a railway connecting Haifa with the area b, and shall have a
right to transport troops.
I believe that some changes are fair and some are not fair. The
change that is fair is that both areas shall have priority of right of
enterprise and local loans. The change that was not fair was that
both areas will supply people who give opinions about what could or
should be done about things or foreign government workers at the
request of the Arab state or confederation of Arab states.
The consequences of the postwar agreement were that Germany
was blamed for the sudden start of something bad like diseases of
angry feelings. The treaty forced the Allies to take Germany’s
weapons away and make Germany stop using weapons. The allies
also made Germany renounce their foreign possessions and give up
their Merchant Marine and vessels now under construction suitable
for foreign commerce, and to pay for causing all the loss and
damage to the Allied powers. It set up a future conflict between
nations because the imposing of harsh reparations payments and
payments for casualties and the renouncement of foreign
possessions led to the creation of unstable smaller nations in
Europe, the agreement did not resolve the issues that caused the
war to break out in 1914 and these consequences of the postwar
agreement led to future conflicts like the Great Depression.