history

• The Big Three

  Clemenceau (Prime Minister of France), Lloyd George (Prime Minister of Britain), Wilson (President of the United States)
• The Big Three made all the important decisions about Germany, supported by diplomats and experts but often ignored their advice
• Woodrow Wilson

  President of the United States, born 1856, entered politics in 1910, became president in 1912 and re-elected in 1916, concentrated on keeping the USA out of WWI until 1917
• When the USA joined WWI in 1917, Wilson drew up the Fourteen Points as a basis for ending the war fairly to avoid future wars
• Wilson's ideas

  Germany should be punished but not too harshly to avoid resentment and revenge, strengthen democracy in defeated countries, give self-determination to small countries, promote international cooperation through the League of Nations
• The Fourteen Points

  • Free access to the seas in peacetime and wartime
  • Free trade between countries
  • All countries work towards disarmament
  • German troops leave Russia
  • France to regain Alsace-Lorraine
  • Self-determination for people of Eastern Europe
  • Poland to become an independent state with access to the sea
• The Paris Peace Conference in 1919-1920 was set up to decide the fate of the defeated countries after WWI, but no one from the defeated countries was invited
• David Lloyd George

  Prime Minister of Britain from 1916 to 1922, a realist who publicly praised Wilson's ideas but was less positive in private, wanted Germany punished but not too harshly to allow trade to resume, wanted Germany to lose its navy and colonies
• Georges Clemenceau

  Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and 1917 to the end of WWI, saw the treaty as an opportunity to cripple Germany and prevent future attacks on France, wanted a harsh treaty but had to compromise
• The peacemaking process became impossible to consult everyone, and none of the Big Three were happy with the eventual terms of the Treaty of Versailles
• The new German government reluctantly accepted the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which included accepting blame for starting the war and paying reparations, losing 10% of its land in Europe, 12.5% of its population, and 16% of its coalfields and almost half of its iron and steel industry, as well as being forced to disarm
• The German people felt the Treaty of Versailles was unfair, as they did not feel they had started the war, were not represented at the peace talks, and were being forced to accept harsh terms without choice
• Opinions on whether the Treaty of Versailles was fair or justified changed over time, with some seeing it as unfair and unjust, while others argued it was less harsh than the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that Germany had imposed on Russia, and that Germany's economic problems were partly self-inflicted
• Looking back, the Treaty of Versailles is seen as a major cause of the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany and the outbreak of World War II
• The Big Three

  Clemenceau (prime minister of France), Lloyd George (prime minister of Britain) and Wilson (President of the United States)
• The Big Three made all the important decisions about Germany, supported by a huge army of diplomats and experts advisers, but they often ignored their advice
• Woodrow Wilson

  President of the United States, born 1856, first entered politics in 1910, became president 1912 and re-elected 1912, from 1914 to 1917 concentrated on keeping the USA out of the war, when the USA had joined the war in 1917, he drew up the Fourteen Points as a basis for ending the war fairly, so that future wars could be avoided, as president he had campaigned against corruption in politics and business, had a poor record with regard to the rights of African Americans, when he had made up his mind about an issue it was almost impossible to shift
• Wilson's 1918 speech

  Outlined Fourteen Points guidelines for a just and lasting peace treaty to end conflict, seen as a saint figure in Europe
• Wilson's Ideas

  • Believed Germany should be punished but didn't want to do so harshly, because he knew if they were, someday it would recover and want revenge, concerned extremist groups, especially communists, might exploit resentment among the Germans and communists might seize power in Germany as they did in Russia in 1917, wanted to strengthen democracy in defeated countries, believed democracy was a key for peace in Europe, believed defeated nations had to listen to the views of their people and win their vote or those people would not let their leaders cause another war, wanted to give self-determination to small countries that had once been part of the European empire, wanted the people of Eastern Europe to rule themselves rather than be part of Austria-Hungary's empire, believed nations should cooperate to achieve world peace, would be achieved through League of Nations
• The Fourteen Points

  • Free access to the seas in peacetime and in wartime
  • Free trade between countries
  • All countries work towards disarmament
  • German troops leave Russia
  • France to regain Alsace-Lorraine
  • Self-determination, people of Eastern Europe, rule themselves and not be ruled by empires
  • Poland to become an independent state with access to the sea
• The Paris Peace Conference, 1919-1920

  Set up to sort out what would happen to the defeated countries after the First World War, took place in the Palace of Versailles, last 12 months, 32 nations were supposed to be represented but no one from the defeated countries was invited
• David Lloyd George

  Prime Minister of Britain, first entered politics in 1890, became Prime Minister in 1916 and remained in power until 1922, a realist
• In public, Lloyd George praised Wilson and his ideas

  In private, he was less positive
• Lloyd George's views

  • Agreed with many issues, especially that Germany should be punished but not too harshly, wanted Britain and Germany to begin trading with each other again, Germany had been Britain's second largest trading partner, he wanted Germany to lose its navy and its colonies because they threatened the British Empire, faced huge public pressure in Britain for a harsh treaty, had suffered over 1 million casualties in the fighting, as well as food shortages and other hardships at home, Germany had treated Russia harshly in 1918 when Russia had surrendered, under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Germany had stripped Russia of 25 percent of its population and huge areas of Russia's best agricultural land, won the 1918 election in Britain by promising to make Germany pay, had to balance these pressures at home with his desire not to leave Germany wanting revenge
• Georges Clemenceau

  Prime Minister of France, first entered French politics in 1871, was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, from 1914 to 1917 he was critical of the French war leaders, in November 1917 he was elected to lead France through the last year of the war
• In public, Clemenceau agreed with Wilson

  In private, he found Wilson very hard to work with
• Clemenceau's views

  • He and other French leaders saw the treaty as an opportunity to cripple Germany so that it could not attack France again, over two-thirds of the men who had served in the French army had been killed or wounded, German land and industry had not been as badly damaged as France's, wanted a treaty that would punish Germany and weaken it as much as possible, Poincare (French President) even wanted Germany broken up into collections of smaller states, Clemenceau knew that the British and Americans would not agree to this, forced to compromise on some issues
• The peacemaking process quickly became impossible to consult everyone, as it was discussed in detail by all the delegates at the conference over 32 leaders with all their officials and advisors
• It became clear that it would be impossible to agree on terms that everyone would agree about
• None of the Big Three was happy with the eventual terms of the Treaty of Versailles
• German reactions to the Treaty of Versailles

  The new German government that took over after the 1914 war was overthrown in a revolution, the new democratic government in Germany was hoping for a fair and equal treatment from the Allies, the new German government refused to sign the treaty and the German navy sank its own ships in protest, reluctantly, Ebert agreed to accept the terms of the treaty and it was signed on 28 June 1919
• War guilt and reparations

  Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war and therefore had to pay reparations, this "war guilt clause" was particularly hated, Germans did not feel they had started the war, they felt at least the blame should be shared
• German territories

  Germany lost 10 percent of its land in Europe, all its overseas colonies, 12.5 percent of its population, 16 percent of its coalfields and almost half of its iron and steel industry
• Disarmament

  The German army was reduced to 100,000 men, it could have no air force, and only a tiny navy, the army was a symbol of German pride, none of the Allies were being asked or forced to disarm in the same way
• The Fourteen Points and the League of Nations

  German-speaking people were being hived off into new countries such as Czechoslovakia to be ruled by non-Germans, union with Austria was forbidden, Germany felt insulted by not being invited to join the League of Nations
• Non-representation

  The German government was not represented at the peace talks and they were being forced to accept a harsh treaty without any choice or even comment, Germans did not feel they had lost the war so they should not have been treated as a defeated country
• The Treaty of Versailles was seen as unfair by some commentators at the time, as none of the Big Three were happy with the treaty (although for different reasons) and some of the diplomats who helped shape the treaty were dissatisfied
• The Treaty of Versailles was also seen as fair by some, as Germany's economic problems, although real, were partly self-inflicted, and other states had raised taxes to pay for the war, while the Kaiser's government had allowed debt to mount up because it had planned to pay Germany's war debts by extracting reparations from the defeated states
• Looking back, the Treaty of Versailles is now seen as having helped to create the cruel Nazi regime in Germany and contributed to the outbreak of the Second World War, as early as 1933-34 the British historian W.H. Dawson was arguing that the Versailles settlement was a major cause of the rise of Hitler's aggressive Nazi regime in Germany
• The Treaty of Versailles also set up a League of Nations whose role was to enforce the treaty and help prevent another war