DBQ: Ratifying the Treaty of Versailles
Using Evidence
Historical Context
On January 8th 1919, President Woodrow Wilson gave a speech to Congress known
as the Fourteen Points of Peace. The speech outlined his plan for maintaining peace
following the end of the worst war the world had ever seen; his last point called for an
international peacekeeping agency known as the League of Nations. After the war,
other nations signed the Treaty of Versailles, which included the founding of the
League of Nations, President Wilson returned home from Europe in an attempt to
convince Americans that isolation was no longer a policy we could pursue.
DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION
This question is based on the accompanying documents. The question is designed to test your
ability to work with historical documents. Some of these documents have been edited for the purposes of
this question. As you analyze the documents, take into account the source of each document and any
point of view that may be presented in the document. Keep in mind that the language used in a
document may reflect the historical context of the time in which it was written.
Short answer questions - Analyze the documents and answer the short answer questions that follow
each document.
Document 1
…When, in 1919, President [Woodrow] Wilson sailed back home after his triumphant progress
throughout Europe, he was the virtual author of the peace treaty. When the three government leaders
— Lloyd George, Signor Orlando, Georges Clemenceau — saw him off they mimicked the joy and grief
of disciples parting from an holy man. By the way — and it’s important to the developing plot — none
of them liked him. But they all knew that the success of the infant League of Nations would depend a
great deal on its care and feeding by the United States. They were confident, as Wilson was, that the
Treaty of Versailles would pass the United States Senate. A little detail to which Europeans didn’t pay
much attention at the time, namely a firm clause in the constitution of the United States, ratified in
1787. It laid down in article two, which is about the powers of the president — “He shall have power by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senate
present concur.”… Much worse for him and for the fate of the League of Nations, President Wilson was
openly detested by the man who, in this cause, carried most weight in the Congress — the chairman of
the Senate foreign relations committee, Henry Cabot Lodge — who would have and has today really
the last word about whether to provide the necessary Senate consent to any foreign treaty.…
Source: “A Plea to the Senate,” BBC News, October 15, 1999 (adapted)
1) According to this BBC News article, which branch of the government had to consent to the Treaty
of Versailles and US participation in the League of Nations? the branch of the government that
had to consent to the Treaty of Versailles and US participation in the League of Nations was the
United States Senate.
2) What was one challenge with the Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee that
President Woodrow Wilson faced? President Woodrow Wilson faced the challenge of open
detestation from the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Henry Cabot Lodge,
who had significant influence in the Congress and could impact the fate of the League of Nations
and the Senate's consent for foreign treaties.
Document 2
And it contains, among other things, a great charter of liberty for the workingmen of the world. For the
first time in history the counsels of mankind are to be drawn together and concerted for the purpose of
defending the rights and improving the conditions of working people-men, women, and children-all over
the world. Such a thing as that was never dreamed of before, and what you are asked to discuss in
discussing the League of Nations is the matter of seeing that this thing is not interfered with. There is
no other way to do it than by a universal league of nations, and what is proposed is a universal league
of nations. . . . This is the Covenant of the League of Nations that you hear objected to, the only
possible guarantee against war. I would consider myself recreant to every mother and father, every
wife and sweetheart in this country, if I consented to the ending of this war without a guarantee that
there would be no other. . . . For, I tell you, my fellow citizens, I can predict with absolute certainty that
within another generation there will be another world war if the nations of the world do not concert the
method by which to prevent it.
Source: Speech by President Woodrow Wilson 1919, Appeal for Support of the League of Nations
1) According to President Wilson, what is the only way to ensure safety of mankind, defense of all
people's rights, and improvement of the conditions for all mankind? the only way to ensure the
safety of mankind, defense of all people's rights, and improvement of the conditions for all
mankind
2) What does “For, I tell you, my fellow citizens, I can predict with absolute certainty that within
another generation there will be another world war if the nations of the world do not concert the
method by which to prevent it” tell you about his confidence in the League of Nations?
It indicates his strong confidence in the League of Nations as the means to prevent future world
wars
Document 3A
I object in the strongest possible way to having the United States agree, directly or indirectly, to be
controlled by a league which may at any time...be drawn in to deal with internal conflicts in other
countries, no matter what those conflicts may be… There can be no genuine dispute whatever about
the meaning of the first clause of article 10 of the Treaty of Versailles. …the article states clearly that if
any member of the league suffering from external aggression should appeal directly to the United
States for support the United States would be bound to give that support...I am as anxious as any
human being can be to have the United States render every possible service to the civilization and the
peace of mankind. But I am certain that we can do it best by not putting ourselves in a forced
leadership role...
The independence of the United States is not only more precious to ourselves, but to the world, more
than any single possession. . . . The United States is the world's best hope, but if you handcuff her
destiny to other nations and the quarrels of other nations, if you entangle her in the scheming of
Europe by forcing her into this so called League of Nations, you will destroy her powerful good, and
endanger her very existence. Leave her to march freely through the centuries to come, as in the years
that have gone.
Source: Senator Henry Cabot Lodge “On the League of Nations” August 12 1919
1) According to Senator Lodge, what was America’s most important possession?
America's most important possession is its independence
2) According to Senator Lodge, how will the League of Nations and Treaty of Versailles endanger
the United States most important possession?
Senator Lodge believed that joining the League of Nations and the Treaty of Versailles would
jeopardize the United States' most crucial possession, its independence.
Document 3B
We abandon entirely by the proposed constitution the policy laid down by Washington in his Farewell
Address and the Monroe doctrine...Washington declared against permanent alliances. He did not close
the door on temporary alliances. He did not close the door on temporary alliances for particular
purposes. Our entry in the great war just closed was entirely in accord with and violated in no respect
the policy laid down by Washington. When we went to war with Germany we made no treaties with the
nations engaged in the war against the German Government….
But if we put aside forever the Washington policy in regard to our foreign relations we must always
remember that it carries with it the corollary known as the Monroe doctrine. Under the terms of this
league of nations the Monroe doctrine disappears... The Monroe doctrine is based on the principle of
self-preservation...The Monroe doctrine exists solely for the protection of the American Hemisphere,
and to that hemisphere it was limited. If you extend it to all the world, it ceases to exist…
Perhaps the time has come when it is necessary to do this, but it is a very grave step, and I wish now
merely to point out that the American people ought never to abandon the Washington policy and the
Monroe doctrine without being perfectly certain that they earnestly wish to do so. Standing always
firmly by these great policies, we have thriven and prospered and have done more to preserve the
world's peace than any nation, league, or alliance which ever existed...
Source: Senator Henry Cabot Lodge “On the League of Nations” February 28th 1919
1) According to Senator Lodge, which two previous American foreign policies would the US be
violating if it ratified the Treaty of Versailles and joined the League of Nations?
Washington's Farewell Address
Monroe Doctrine
Document 4A
1) Did the Senate approve the Treaty of Versailles?
The senate did approve the treaty of versailles
2) According to the article, what are the three options President Wilson had after the Senate voted?
He can send it back to senate
He can go to the Americans
He can also drop it and begin negotiations
Document 4B
1) According to this cartoon, which of the three options presented in Document 4A is President
Wilson pursuing?
Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations