OPVL Practice

A British Cartoon from 1919

*You don’t need to answer all of the questions below, they are there to help you think!
Origin The key people involved in the Treaty of Versailles were U.S.
Who created it? Pres. Woodrow Wilson, French Premier Georges Clemenceau,
Who is the author? Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy, and British Prime Minister David
When was it created?
Lloyd George. After four years of devastating fighting, the First
When was it published?
Where was it published? World War came to an end in 1919 in Versailles. The Treaty was
Who is publishing it? made on 28 of June 1919 and was signed in the Palace of Versailles
Is there anything we know about the author that is outside Paris, France. This cartoon was made at the time and it was
pertinent to our evaluation?
made by a British person.
Purpose The Treaty was made to end the 4-5 year conflict which was WW1.
Why does this document exist? It was made to make Germany pay for what they started but it
Why did the author create this piece of work? What turned out to be the spark for starting WW2. The Treaty of
is the intent?
Versailles held Germany responsible for starting the war
Why did the author choose this particular format?
Who is the intended audience? and imposed harsh penalties on the Germans, including loss
Who was the author thinking would receive this? of territory, massive reparations payments and
What does the document “say”? demilitarization. But the Big Four were desperate for ending
Can it tell you more than is on the surface?
the war they didn’t realise the consequences of the Treaty .
Just like in the cartoon the Big 4 are holding Germany down and
making them obey whether they like it or not. Since this is a British
cartoon this is an interesting viewpoint that it has been drawn as
because they are one of the big 4 trying to hold Germany down.
Maybe the author of this cartoon believes that Britain and all the
other countries were too harsh on Germany.
Values The author believes that the Big 4 were pinning down
What can we tell about the author from the Germany and making them sign the contract that they
piece?
What can we tell about the time period from the didn’t even think about changing bits so that Germany
piece? could benefit from it. This piece was made in 1919 so it
Under what circumstances was the piece created
and how does the piece reflect those may have caused controversy. The British empire might
circumstances?
What can we tell about any controversies from the
to try and act innocent but all they wanted was to build
piece? their empire. They didn’t want Germany to suffer too
Does the author represent a particular ‘side’ of a
controversy or event?
much that they wont be able to get back up again. But
What can we tell about the author’s perspectives Germany couldn’t may off the bills and that is what led
from the piece? to WW1
What was going on in history at the time the piece
was created and how does this piece accurately
reflect it?

Limits The Treaty is biased against Germany because they are

Being biased does not limit the value of a source! getting stripped of everything they own and everything
If you are going to comment on the bias of a
document, you must go into detail. Who is it biased they need to build their country up again. But the
towards? Who is it biased against? What part of a cartoon doesn’t seem to be biased because the author is
story does it leave out? Sometimes a biased piece
of work shows much about the history you are from England and not Germany. If they were from
studying
What part of the story can we NOT tell from this
Germany it may show that they are overexaggerating.
document? The author at the time may not have known that Britain
How can we verify the content of the piece? Does
this piece inaccurately reflect anything about the
was trying to expand their empire, so they chose to add
time period? Britain to the one of the fingers who was choking
What does the author leave out and why does
he/she leave it out (if you know)?
Germany. The Big Four asked for tons of money that
What is purposely not addressed? Germany didn’t even own. Even though Germany did
deserve what was coming for them, they weren’t the
only reason WW1 started. It was also because of the
Austria-Hungary Empire, who didn’t receive any
consequences. France only wanted Germany to pay and
US wanted lasting peace. And both of them didn’t get
what they wanted. The public might not have known
what was happening with the treaty so this cartoon may
have generated rumours that could have harmed the
environment in some countries.