Subject: US/VA History Grade: 11
Prepared by: Nora Bowers and Jennifer Saunders School: Interagency Alternative
Schools
Title: Wilson Stands Alone in his plan for World Peace
Instructional Time: 60 to 90 minute block period
PART I: CONTEXT
1.
Essential Learning:
Students will understand the a) Fourteen Points b) Motives behind Wilson’s Fourteen Points and why most of them were rejected by France.
2.
Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL)
VUS 1 ) The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis, including the ability to a) Identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary source documents, records, and data, including artifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, journals, newspapers, historical accounts, and art to increase understanding of events and life in the United States c ) Formulate historical questions and defend findings based on inquiry and
interpretation h) Interpret the significance of excerpts from famous speeches and other
documents.
VUS 9 ) The student will demonstrate knowledge of the emerging role of the
United States in world affairs and key domestic events after 1890 by b) Evaluating the United States involvement in World War I, including
Wilson’s Fourteen Points.
3.
Fairfax County Program of Studies (POS):
US/VA Benchmark 9.2
: The student analyzes and examines the significance of
World War I.
C.
Evaluate Wilson’s 14 Points, his negotiations at the Versailles Treaty talks, and the national debate over treaty ratification and US participation in the League of Nations.

4. National History Standard:
Historical issues-analysis and decision-making - including the ability to identify
problems that people confronted in historical literature, the local community, and
the state; to analyze the various interests and points of view of people caught up
in these situations; to evaluate alternative proposals for dealing with the problems;
and to analyze whether the decisions reached or the actions taken were good ones
and explain why.
5.
Learning Strategy Objectives:

Make Prediction: based on prior knowledge, students will predict which role their assigned country will take at the Versailles Peace negotiations.
(role of victim, aggressor, idealist). Students will also be asked to predict which countries goals will dominate the treaty. Further, they will be asked to predict what they think the lasting results will be of a victor’s peace.

Make Inferences: Students will make inferences about their assigned country’s demands after viewing casualty charts and photographs of destruction.

Cooperate: students will work together in groups to create their country’s list of demands and what role their country will take in the peace negotiation.

Use of Resources: students will examine reference sources attained on the internet to make decisions in their assigned groups.

Imagery: students will view and interpret photographs of destruction to help them understand the psychological and economic effects World War I had on their assigned country.
6. Connection to TAH grant:
Pedagogy: Use of primary sources, instructional conversation, use of educational websites, role-playing
PART TWO
1.
Assessment
The following will be completed by the students to assess knowledge:

Class discussion to evaluate opening quote

Evaluate students’ selection of terms posted on the board (victim, aggressor, idealist) to describe their assigned country
 Examine students’ answers to questions concerning primary resources
(casualty list and before and after photographs)
 Assess students’ ability to make an inference based on the list of demands they create
 Assess students’ ability to make connections past and present events through discussion of Fourteen Points or Connection Activity (see differentiation)

 Assess students’ ability to make predictions through class discussion of
France’s reaction to the Fourteen Points
 Assess students’ knowledge of the acceptance/rejection of Wilson’s
Fourteen Points through written response to closing questions. These questions are designed to assess students’ ability to see the larger picture.
2.
Instructional Strategies:
This lesson follows a lesson on the end of World War One. Teacher will activate prior knowledge: Which alliance won World War I? a. Place Wilson’s quote (handout #1) on the projector and have the students read it to themselves.

Point out date of quote and compare this date to the end date of war.
 Discuss what is meant by a victor’s peace?

Discuss what a peace between equals mean?

Does a peace between equals sound idealistic or realistic? b. If larger class, break up into three groups representing Germany, France,
and the United States. If smaller class, have students pick country out of
a hat and work individually. c. Write on the board, VICTIM, AGGRESSOR, IDEALIST. Ask each group
or individual which word represents their country. As a teacher, depending on the skill level of your students, decide how much direction is needed to help students understand how each country viewed itself and each other. (Ex. Did Germany view itself as an aggressor; did Wilson think he was idealist etc.?) d. Distribute Handout #2a, b, and c which include causality chart and photographs. Also distribute Student Assessment Sheet #1. Instruct students to examine the packet and answer the accompanying questions.
Teacher should reiterate that the students should answer the questions from the perspective of their country. Students will be informed that they will share their lists of demands from the student assessment sheet #1.
Teacher should circulate around the room to answer questions and give guidance to students. e. Have a representative from each group share their country’s demands.
Inform the group representing Germany that they will not be allowed to participate in the “secret meetings” of the peace treaty. Also inform
Germany that their country agreed to surrender after reading Wilson’s
Fourteen Points, hoping that they would be accepted by the other countries. Inform France (incorporating student response) that they suffered the most territorial destruction and border Germany. France feared Germany because the infrastructure was intact, thus allowing them to be aggressors again in the future. France will be bringing demands for territory, reparations, and a demilitarized Germany. Inform the United

States, represented by Wilson, will bring the Fourteen Points to the meeting.
f. Tell students to break out of the groups, and abandon their assigned
country roles. Use handout that summarizes the main ideas of the Points
to accommodate for the many reading comprehension levels that exist in
most classroom. (see handout # 3 )
g. Read the summary of the points together with your students. Ask students to make connections between each statement and causes of and occurrences in World War I. (do through discussion or connection activity-see differentiation)
 end secret diplomacy----discussion should lead students to realize that Wilson hoped to avoid the kind of secret alliances that lead to World War I.
 freedom of the seas in peace and war---discussion should lead students to connect World War I use of U-boats on civilian and military ships. Wilson hoped to prevent further civilian causalities.
 reduction of arms----connect to France’s territorial destruction and its need to rebuild its industrial infrastructure, and
Germany’s lack of territorial destruction. Both countries should not be concentrating on rearming after the war.

Self-determination---connect to the imperialistic fervor prior to
World War I. Wilson hoped to promote a country’s ability and right to determine its own form of government.

League of Nations----emphasize the importance Wilson placed on this ideal. He hoped to promote freedom and democracy with the creation of this multi-national organization, and to use this organization to help prevent further worldwide conflicts. h.
Have students recall what the demands of the “France” student group were? Remind them that Germany is not present at the treaty negotiations.
Also remind students that Wilson does not carry the credibility he needs to get all of his 14 points accepted because the United States did not suffer the same territorial destruction and human loss that European nations did.

Ask the class to predict which country’s goals will dominate the treaty negotiation. i.
Give students Handout # 4 that lists the summary of actual treaty negotiations in regards to Germany, France, and Wilson’s Fourteen Points.
Discuss summary and then ask class to answer on their Student
Assessment Sheet #2; “Is this a victor’s peace or a peace between equals?”
What do you think will be the lasting results for Europe?
3. Materials/Resources to be used:

Handout packets (see attachments)

Photographs

Chart


Writing Utensils

Student Assessment Sheet
4. Differentiation:
GT population: Read original Fourteen Points instead of summary
ESOL: Begin lesson with a Word Splash to go over unfamiliar words that are essential to understanding the lesson. (Examples: victim, aggressor, idealist, idealism, victor, quicksand, reparations, armaments, diplomacy, nations, territory, casualty, league)
SPECIAL EDUCATION: for visual learners and students with short-term memory deficits it may be helpful to post on the board strips of paper that list the summations of the Fourteen Points and strips of paper in a different color that list phrases that show connections to World War One.
5. Attachments:

Handout #1, 2a,b and c, 3, 4

Student Assessment Sheet 1 and 2
6.
Annotated Bibliography
Books:
Bragdon, Henry W., Samuel P. McCutchen, Donald A. Ritchie; History of a Free Nation;
Gelncoe/McGraw Hill; 1998
This book is the textbook we use in most Fairfax County Public Schools for US and Virginia History instruction. This is helpful for background knowledge and understanding of the key points discussed in this lesson plans. The opening quote of our lesson came from this book.
Hakim, Joy; War, Peace, and All That Jazz 1918-1945; Oxford University Press; 2003
This is a good supporting text for lower level readers. This source, however, can also captivate the interest of just about any level of reader. We used this source to help summarize Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Internet Sites: www.historymatter.gmu.edu
We used this site as a search engine which then gave us other websites which proved to be very helpful. http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/
This is a great resource for any World War I topic. It is rich with primary resources. We used it for the photographs found in this lesson. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWdeaths.htm
This website is also rich with primary source information. We used it to gather information regarding casualties for all countries who fought in World War I.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWversailles.htm
This website is the same as the one above, but we used it to in this instance to help summarize the results of the Versailles Treaty, particularly those having to do with
Germany.

Handout #1
Source:
History of a Free Nation, pg. 690

Handout #2a (Casualty Chart and Photographs)
Countries
Total
Mobilized
Killed
& Died
Wounded
Prisoners
&
Total
Casualties
Missing
Casualties
% of
Mobilized
Allied
Powers
Russia 12,000,000 1,700,000 4,950,000 2,500,000 9,150,000 76.3
8,410,000 1,357,800 4,266,000 537,000 6,160,800 76.3 France
British
Empire
Italy
8,904,467 908,371 2,090,212
5,615,000 650,000 947,000
191,652 3,190,235
600,000 2,197,000
35.8
39.1
United
States
Japan
Romania
Serbia
Belgium
Greece
Portugal
4,355,000 126,000 234,300 4,500 364,800 8.2
800,000 300 907 3 1,210 0.2
750,000 335,706 120,000 80,000 535,706 71.4
707,343
267,000
45,000
13,716
133,148
44,686
152,958
34,659
331,106
93,061
46.8
34.9
230,000 5,000 21,000 1,000 17,000 11.7
100,000 7,222 13,751 12,318 33,291 33.3
Montenegro 50,000 3,000 10,000 7,000 20,000 40.0
Total 42,188,810 5,152,115 12,831,004 4,121,090 22,104,209 52.3
Central
Powers
Germany 11,000,000 1,773,700 4,216,058 1,152,800 7,142,558 64.9
Austria-
Hungary
Turkey
7,800,000 1,200,000 3,620,000 2,200,000 7,020,000
2,850,000 325,000 400,000 250,000 975,000
90.0
34.2
Bulgaria
Total
Grand
Total
1,200,000 87,500 152,390 27,029 266,919 22.2
22,850,000 3,386,200 8,388,448 3,629,829 15,404,477 67.4
65,038,810 8,538,315 21,219,452 7,750,919 37,508,686 57.6
Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWdeaths.htm

Handout #2b
Verdun: Cloister of the Hotel de la Princerie
FRANCE
Source: http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/

Handout #2c
Village of Esnes
FRANCE
Source: http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/

Handout # 3






Handout #4
SUMMARY OF VERSAILLES TREATY WITH REGARD TO GERMANY, FRANCE,
AND WILSON’S FOURTEEN POINTS
GERMANY:

Lost territory

Had to pay reparations of several million dollars

Forced to accept guilt in causing the war
 Limitation of Germany’s army to 100,000 men with no conscription, no tanks, no heavy artillery, no poison-gas supplies, no aircraft and no airships

Limitation of their German Navy to vessels under 100,000 tons, with no submarines

Under the Mandate System, German colonies were to be administered by
Allied nations on behalf of the League of Nations

German signed this treaty under protest
FRANCE:

Gained territory of Alsace-Lorraine

Paid for territorial destruction by Germany

Allowed to occupy territory along German border

No limitations placed on their ability to rebuild and maintain a military

No reparations
WILSON’S FOURTEEN POINTS:

Most points were rejected by European powers

League of Nations was included as part of the peace treaty
Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWversailles.htm

Student Assessment Sheet #1
IN CLASS GROUP ASSIGNMENT:
Record the country your group has been assigned on the line below:
Country: _______________________
CAUSALITY CHART
After viewing the Causality Chart discuss the following questions with your group and record your answers below.
1.
How many soldiers did your country mobilize? ____________________
2. How many soldiers died from your country ? _______________________
3. What percentage of your mobilized force were causalities? _____________
PHOTOGRAPHS
After viewing and discussing the before and after photographs with your group, answer the following questions.
1.
In what country were these photographs taken?
2.
Did your country experience the majority of territorial destruction?
3.
How does territorial destruction affect a country?
4.
How much rebuilding is necessary in your country in order to bring it back to pre-war condition?

DEMANDS
1.
What are the demands you think your country should bring to the peace treaty negotiations? List your demands and select one group member to share these demands with the class.

Student Assessment Sheet #2
CLOSING THOUGHTS/EXIT CARD
Refer to the quote by Wilson that we discussed at the beginning of class, and answer the following two questions.
1. Is this a victor’s peace
or a peace between equals ?
2. What do you think will be the lasting results for Europe?