World History: Monday & Tuesday, September 12 & 13

Today we'll be analyzing another political cartoon for audience, purpose, and message.

Cartoon for today

Write answers here

Next we will spend time investigating whether or not we think Germany was responsible for the start of World War One. After World War One concluded, in the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was heaped with the full responsibility of starting World War one.

"The Allied governments affirm, and Germany accepts, the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied governments and their peoples have been subjected as a result of the war."

The "war guilt" clause from the Treaty of Versailles, 1919

You must decide whether or not Germany should have be given all blame for the start of the war. In order to do this, you will work in a group to evaluate source information and whether or not it shows that Germany is to blame. After you have chosen a verdict, you will use the source information and your analysis of it in a class debate.


Use the witness accounts shown on the right. For each witness account, you need to fill in the table by answering the questions: Who is the witness? Which verdict does the witness support? What evidence does the witness give to support the viewpoint? Can I trust the witness?

Create a table like this to help you analyze your sources.

Once you have analyzed all the sources, you must choose your verdict from one of the following:

Verdict 1: Germany was rightly blamed for starting the war.

Verdict 2: Germany was mainly responsible for starting the war, but the other powers should accept some of the blame.

Verdict 3: All of the major powers helped to start the war. They should share the blame.

Verdict 4: No one was to blame. The powers were swept along towards an inevitable war. It could not be stopped.

Once you have done that, sum up the evidence for your verdict in a short explanation, explaining why you have chosen the verdict, and why you have rejected the others.

Each of you will use all this information in a class debate!

Before you leave class, you will need to tell me which verdict you chose. Select your verdict by clicking here.