The Treaty of Versailles
By Max Dulam
Who were the Big 3 and what did they want at the Treaty of Versailles?
They were also known as other nicknames like The Extremist, The idealist and The realist. Each leader had different things that they each wanted for their country:
France
· They had a war before WW1 against the Germans which they had lost. So they have more than one reason to hate the Germans, from the past.
· Germany brought the war on to French land and destroyed millions of pounds worth of French property. Like towns, villages and farmers land.
· They had to use land as trenches which spread out across France for about 400 miles so someone had to fill them in. Georges Clémenceau said that France was not going to fill them in so the Germans would have to.
· They wanted to completely cripple Germany to get revenge. France has had land stolen from them in the past (Alsace Loraine) and they wanted that back from the Germans.
· They thought that Germany could get stronger and start a new rebellion and get revenge. So France wanted to split their country up around the world.
England:
· David Lloyd George had won many votes by saying “I will squeeze them, I will squeeze them until the pip squeaks.” So he had to keep his promise to stop a rebellion in the public.
· He had a famous quote he said after the meeting “Well I think I did well considering I was sat next to Napoleon and Jesus Christ.”
· He wanted to be harsh and fair so that he would no stir things up and start another war.
· Before the war, GB and Germany had a good trading mechanism which helped build our economy. We wanted to keep that trade after the war as well. So he wanted to be fair to keep a bit of a bond. Especially because the cost of war is so high you would need support to rebuild the economy.
USA:
· Woodrow Wilson had so many ideas in what to do with Germany about how they should run their country and that they should become democratic. In fact he had 14 of them by the end. Hence his nickname “The Idealist.”
· One of his ideas where to stop all armed forces so that no one could start a war.
· He believed in self-determination.
· He also thought a League of Nations should be set up to guarantee the political and territorial
independence of all states.
What Was Punishments Were Decided and What Were Germany's Reaction to The Treaty of Versailles
What was decided at the treaty of versailles?
So they got that back. Germany lost a lot of land and they also lost the people who lived there. They lost the recourses and the factories. They were told to demilitarize around the boarder of Germany so no other country felt threatened in any way. They were restricted to 100,000 men. They also had to give there navy equipment to the UK. They had to pay back all the money for the damage they had cost. They did not put any money aside because they were certain they would win. They were banned from using an air force and was forced to become a democratic country.