Worksheet for the role-play lesson plan at www.activehistory.co.

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THE SCRAP OVER TERRITORY AT VERSAILLES!

Teacher Notes

Task 1: The "Cabinet" Meeting

• The class will divided into 3 groups. Group [A] will represent Britain, group [B] France and
group [C] the USA.
• As a group, read through each of the 5 areas listed below you will SCRAP over and decide
what option out of A, B or C your country will be arguing in favour of. Underline these on the
sheet (n.b – sometimes they agreed, so it is fine for you to settle on the same option as
someone else occasionally!)
• Now number these in order of importance, with (1) being your lowest priority and (5) being
your most important objective. IMPORTANT: The group must be in agreement on these!

Task 2: The "Big Three" Meeting

• All the members of group [A] will now be given a number (if there are 8 people in the group,
they will be numbered 1-8, for example). The same happens to groups [B] and [C].
▪ The three number "1"s should sit together, as should the number "2"s and so on.
▪ One person in each group will therefore represent Britain (Lloyd George), France
(Clemenceau) or USA (Wilson).
• Discuss the first issue, and reach a group decision on it (a 2:1 majority is sufficient)
• Highlight in bold the decision reached.
• If this decision is the one you personally wanted, give yourself some points – (5) points if it
was your most important objective down to (1) point if it was your least important.
• After going through all 5 issues in this way, individual members of the group can make
proposals designed to improve their score – for example, Britain might offer to support
France’s claim to Alsace-Lorraine after all in return for French support on the issue of
colonies).

Plenary
The teacher should run through each of the decisions actually reached.

Actual Decisions Reached at Versailles

Saar
Rich iron-producing area, the
industrial heartland of
Germany.
Colonies
Mainly in Africa, cause of
great rivalry with GB.
Rhineland
The border area between
Germany and France,
heavily defended.
A B
Have a plebiscite to allow
the inhabitants self-
determination.
Give them all to Britain
Demilitarise it
permanently, but leave
it as part of Germany
Give it to France for 15
years, then a plebiscite
Have plebiscites in each
one to see if they want
independence
Make it a “Mandate” of
the League, under
French control.
C
Give it to France
Make them “Mandates”
– divide them between
the winners, who rule
them under supervision
of the League.
Turn it into an
independent State

Turn it into an Have a plebiscite to see if Return it to France

Alsace-Lorraine
Taken from France in 1870
Polish Corridor
A strip of land which would
give Poland access to the
sea, but split Germany into
two sections.
independent state
Give it to Poland to
allow the country
access to the sea
it wants to be French or
German
Have a plebiscite to see
what they want in the
area
Make it a mandate under
direct control of the
League so that everyone
can use it as a sea-route.