20th Century Sources Paper

Sources A and B disagree with each-other, to a large extent, although in some respects they do
agree. The primary difference between the sources lies in the authors views: Source A declares that
the Treaty of Versailles was successful, shown as it mentions the peacemakers had accomplished an
enormous amount, whereas Source B states that the signing of the Treaty of Versailles [was not]
anything but a record of terrible failure. Thus, clearly, both authors disagree on their view of the
matter. Additionally, the sources disagree with regards to what caused the war. Source A declares
that the Treaty of Versailles did not cause the war it became commonplace to blame everything
that went wrong in the 1920s [] on the peacemakers [] that is to ignore all [other] actions
whereas Source B, by saying that there was no shortage of people anxious to [convince] the average
German [] [his views] about the treaty were correct and that Adolf Hitler was the most
successful, it is implied that the author believes that the Treaty of Versailles was the root cause of
the war.

That said, the two sources agree with each-other in the fact that they both agree that Germany was
left too strong following the treaty; this is shown as Source A declares that Germany remained too
strong, with Source B supporting this statement saying that Germany was too powerful to be
suppressed for long.

Thus, in conclusion Sources A and B largely disagree with each-other, although they agree with each-
other with regards to Germany.

The cartoon was published in April 1919 principally because it was following the German signing of
the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty was hated by the Germans for many reasons, but the factor this
cartoon is addressing hence why it was published at this point was the huge reparations figure
that they were expecting. Though the figure was not set until 1921, it was expected that the
reparations figure was going to be over 20 billion; this was deemed, by the Germans, as outrageous
which is why the drawn German is looking shocked upon seeing it. Additionally, the cartoon is called
The Reckoning as in the middle of the year, Germany was presented with the terms, and forced to
deal with it.

Though the above explains why it was published in 1919, it was published in April 1919 in order to
garner support from the British public. The British population largely believed that the Treaty of
Versailles should be extremely harsh Lloyd George, their prime minister, was elected on the basis
of making Germany pay and the cartoon is reflecting the view of the public. This is because,
though on the surface it appears that the cartoon is against a harsh treaty, the caption, Monstrous, I
call it. Why its fully a quarter of what we should have made them pay, if wed won, makes it clear
that the message of the cartoon is that Germany is reacting over nothing; that it was not going to be
significantly crippled by the reparations figure, as the population believed. In addition the caption,
principally if wed won, is a reference to the extremely harsh treaty Germany gave to Russia the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk- when the latter country surrendered in 1917.

The cartoon is therefore supporting the treaty, saying that it is just and completely fair, and it was
published in April 1919 as a response to the backlash the Treaty of Versailles was getting in Germany
at the time. The cartoonist is supporting the Treaty, in doing so reflecting the view of the British
public.