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Primary Source Sets
Treaty of Versailles and the End of World War I
A postcard titled “Never Forget the Shameful Peace at Versailles!,” 1930s.

A postcard titled “Never Forget the Shameful Peace at Versailles!,” 1930s.

After World War I, the German army felt it had been stabbed in the back by those in power. The Treaty of Versailles exceeded Germany's worst expectations. The bitter resentment which many Germans felt towards the Treaty of Versailles is explicit in this postcard. High above the Rhine, where the German eagle soars, "Germania" broods. Although her sword is at rest, it is ready, and her hand is on the hilt. The text on the bottom of the postcard translates to "Never forget the shameful peace of Versailles!"

Citation Information
“The treaty of Versailles,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/4d4912e42707d167df457984b69fee08.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections via Recollection Wisconsin.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 15 of 15 in the Primary Source Set Treaty of Versailles and the End of World War I

Previous Item
A painting of German chancellor Otto Von Bismarck meeting French diplomats at Versailles after the Franco-Prussian War, ca. 1871.
An excerpt from a pamphlet featuring President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, 1919.
A clip of video footage of Armistice Day, November 11, 1918.
An excerpt from a speech by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to the US Senate urging caution about the League of Nations, August 12, 1919.
An excerpt from a speech by President Woodrow Wilson in support of the League of Nations, September 5, 1919.
An advertisement for a mass meeting about the League of Nations titled “Give Her the Key and Lock Him Up,” 1919.
A 1919 map of new national boundaries in Europe as proposed by the Treaty of Versailles.
A clip of newsreel footage of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and soldiers returning home from the Great War, 1919.
A photograph of German delegates listening to the terms of the treaty at the Trianon Palace Hotel, 1919.
A photograph of German diplomats Hermann Mueller and Johannes Bell leaving Versailles after signing the Treaty of Versailles, 1919.
A political cartoon about German attitudes towards the treaty titled “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” 1919.
An excerpt from a pamphlet titled “What Everyone Should Know about the Treaty of Peace,” issued by Berlin’s National Citizens Council, 1921.
A postcard titled “A German Matter of Existence,” 1934.
A political campaign leaflet in support of the Social Democratic Party describing German inflation after the Treaty of Versailles, 1932.
A postcard titled “Never Forget the Shameful Peace at Versailles!,” 1930s.

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