Crossroads, 1919

Goal: Explain how economic insecurity, competing national interests, and cooperation can shape postwar choices without treating later conflict as inevitable.

Supporting course connections: World History: multiple causes and outcomes; economic interdependence. These identify practice opportunities, not full standards coverage, guaranteed learning gains, or official AP endorsement. Exact local pacing may differ.

1. A damaged economy: consult three authored NPC guides, complete the practical mission, and write a claim, evidence-based explanation, and limitation.
2. Neighbors at the table: consult three authored NPC guides, complete the practical mission, and write a claim, evidence-based explanation, and limitation.
3. Promises tested: consult three authored NPC guides, complete the practical mission, and write a claim, evidence-based explanation, and limitation.
4. The next decade: consult three authored NPC guides, complete the practical mission, and write a claim, evidence-based explanation, and limitation.

Use approximately one session per level, with time for discussion and revision. Actual playing and writing time has not been measured with students. Students can complete the mechanical actions more quickly; the explanation and comparison are part of the task.

Fictional city and events inspired by postwar problems. Outcomes are not predictions of actual countries or a reenactment of the peace settlement.

Completion checks verify practical requirements and minimum writing length. They do not grade the argument. Review the portfolio for accurate concepts, specific evidence, reasoning, and limits. Downloads do not submit automatically to Google Classroom. A browser save is editable and must not be used as a verified assessment result.

Progress saves locally when available. Students can export and import a campaign file. On shared computers, export and then clear the campaign. No real financial, medical, political-preference, or identifying student information is required.

Compare two campaigns after exporting the first. Ask students to trace an early decision, a delayed effect, a later option, and the ending. The 0–100 resource indices and ending thresholds are invented teaching models. A desirable ending is not evidence that a political or personal viewpoint is correct.