The big 3

• The big three


  Clemenceau (prime minister of france), Lloyd George (prime minister of britain) and Wilson (President of the united states)
• The big three


  • They made all the important decisions about Germany
  • They were supported by a huge army of diplomats and experts advisers, but they often ignored their advice
• Woodrow Wilson


  • The president of the united states
  • Born 1856
  • First entered politics in 1910
  • Became president 1912 and re-elected 1912
  • From 1914 to 1917 he 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 is was almost impossible to shift
• Wilson made a speech outlining Fourteen points guidelines for a just and lasting peace treaty to end conflict in 1918
• Wilson's ideas


  • Believed Germany should be punished but didn't want to do so treat them 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
  • Strengthen democracy in defeated counties
  • Democracy was a key for peace in Europe
  • Believed the defeated nation had to listen to the views of their people and win their vote those people would not let their leaders cause another war
  • 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
  • Nations should cooperate to achieve world peace
  • Would be achieved through league of nations
• It was difficult to give people of Eastern Europe the opportunity to rule themselves because they were scattered across many counties
• 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 rules by empires
  • Poland to become an independent state with access to the sea
• The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, 1920


  • It was set up to sort out what would happen to the defeated counties after the first world war
  • It took place in palace of Versailles
  • It lasted 12 months
  • 32 nations were supposed to be represented but no one from the defeated countries was invited
• David Lloyd George


  • The prime minister of Britain
  • First entered politics in 1890
  • Became prime minister in 1916 and remained in the power until 1922
  • Is 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 harsh treaty
  • Had suffered over 1 million casualties in the fighting, as well as food shortage and other hardships at home
  • Germany had treated Russia 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


  • The 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
  • 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


  • Him and other French leaders saw the Treaty of Versailles as an opportunity to cripple Germany so that it could not attack France again
  • 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
• What Clemenceau wanted in the treaty

  • High reparations
  • The protection of France's borders
  • The splitting of Germany into states
  • Germany disbanding its armed forces to prevent another invasion
  • The return of Alsace-Lorraine to France
  • Giving France the rich industrial area in Germany known as the Saar Basin to rebuild its economy
  • Germany giving its overseas colonies to France