What were the motives and aims of the Big Three at Versailles?

Paris Peace Conference opens 18th January 1919, leaders and their delegations from 32
countries came together in order to officially put and end to the bloodshed of WW1 and
ensure a war like this never happens again.
Yikes! Germany and Russia weren't even invited - awkward
The main countries in terms of power and influence at the conference were Britain, France
and the USA - affectionately known as 'The Big Three'.

Georges Clemenceau: President of France

 Nicknamed 'the Tiger' for his touch approach during political debates > Germany
invaded France in 1870 and 1914 and as such, was very bitter towards Germany
 Primary objective was to guarantee the future safety and longevity of France
 disarmament of Germany's army, navy and air force (luftwaffe)
 high reparations to be paid for all the damage done to France
 return of Alsace-Lorraine to its rightful French status
 the Saar Basin to be handed to France
 make the Rhineland a separate state to create a buffer zone

David Lloyd-George: Prime Minister of Britain

 during the British PM elections in 1918, DLG promised that he would make the
Germans pay the 'full price of the war' - however, at the PPC he became much more
moderate
 re-establish a balance of power in Europe > no sole country was too powerful
 resume Britains trading with Europe and the British Empire to rebuild Britains status
of wealth
 preserve British Naval supremacy

Woodrow Wilson: President of the USA

 Wilson had the least harsh and most idealistic approach of all of the 'Big Three'
 He pioneered his 14 points for peace, a list of 14 things that must be in place that, in
his opinion, would guarantee success and lasting peace for the world.
Fourteen Points for Peace
1. No more secret treaties
2. No restriction on the seas
3. No trade restrictions between countries (such as quotas and tariffs)
4. Armaments should be reduced in all countries so that it's just enough for a defence
5. Colonial disputes should be resolved in the interests of the natives
6. German troops leave Russia
7. Belgium independence restored
8. Return of Alsace-Lorraine to France
9. Adjust frontiers around Italy to match peoples nationality
10. Self-Determination in Austria-Hungary
11. Romania, Serbia and Montenegro to be restored
12. Dismantle Ottoman Empire
13. Independent Poland w/ Access to Sea
14. League of Nations
 Outcome of the Treaty of Versailles
Compromise was crucially necessary in order for the allies to make a treaty and as such, none
of the 'Big Three' were fully satisfied. After six moths of negotiation and bargaining, the
treaty was ready but the Germans, non-present for the PPC, resented it and called it a 'dikat' -
in fact, the men who's job it was to sign it were branded the 'November Criminals' within
Germany.
The main points of the Treaty of Versailles were as follows:
 Article 231, the 'War Guilt Clause' specified Germany was to take full responsibility
for starting the war - this acted as a legal basis for all the harsh impositions the treaty
would make
 A reparations committee had a 'Blank Cheque' that Germany had agreed to until they
had decided how much the Germans were to pay in 1921
 German army was restricted to 100,000 soldiers with no conscription
 Navy was limited to six battleships, no submarines
 Germany was not allowed an Air Force
 All colonies were divided up amongst the other powers
 Alsace-Lorraine given to France
 Anschluss was forbidden for 25 years
 Invalidated the terms of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk
 League of Nations created
 Saar basin given to France under League of Nations Mandate
 Demilitarization of the Rhineland
 Creation of Polish Corridoor

Why did all the victors not get everything they wanted?
When the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28th 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors in the
Palace of Versailles, putting an end to the bulk of the Paris Peace Conference proceedings,
none of the Big Three were entirely satisfied with the outcome.

Woodrow Wilson
Pleased
 League of Nations created
 Disarmament > all defeated central powers had to disarm
 Demilitarisation of the Rhineland, not a separate state > self-determination
 Collapse of many empires > free nations
Displeased
 Britain retained much naval supremacy and never agreed to freedom of the seas
as Wilson wanted
 Both the British and French empires increased largely as a result of the treaty.
Georges Clemenceau
Pleased
 Return of Alsace-Lorraine
 Largest portion of reparations to be given to France
 Rhineland demilitarised and guarded by allied troops
 The articles of the Treaty weakened Germany massively
Displeased
 An Anglo-American treaty committed to supporting France if Germany were to
invade again but given that Congress voted against the Treaty of Versailles, the US
would not get involved and thus Britain wouldn't either
 France was still not secure!!

David Lloyd-George
Pleased
 British empire grew as a result of the dismantling of Germany's global empire
 These were given to DLG in the form of mandates under the League of
Nations
 Boosted Britain's naval supremacy as Germany was forced to sink many of their
ships
 DLG's approval ratings soared in the US
Displeased
 not much rly lol he was the happiest ☺️

What was the impact of the peace treaty on Germany up to 1923?

The Treaty was hugely objectable to the German people, labelled a 'dikat', the public
responded quickly with fierce public demonstrations and heated outcry in the press and other
media.
The main qualms of the German people were as follows:
 Germany had no say in the terms of the treaty > diktat
 Felt that Article 231 was a moral attack on the nation
 Angry about the Carte Blanche created by the signing of the Treaty > worsened by the
lack of German operations now in the Saar basin
 Their army was insignificant to defend against attack

Political Impact
 Ex-military personnel formed a group known as the Freikorps > tried to stage a
coup and overthrow the Weimar Republic in 1920
 Right-wing takeover in Bavarian republic 1919
 a slurry of other attempted coups, much dissent among the German people for
the gov't of the Weimar Republic
Economic Impact
 Germany had huge reparations imposed, around £6.6b GBP or 132 million gold
marks
 Lost 13% of territory, 26% of coal deposits and 75% of her iron ore deposits >
further economic damage
 Inflation happened lots in the country due to their poor economic situation in the
wake of World War One - this turned into exponential hyperinflation after the
reparations bill was announced and the French took the Ruhr.

The crisis year when money died: 1923

^ the year they defaulted on reparations
 French and Belgians occupied the Ruhr in January 1923 as a result of Germany being
unable to pay their reparations bill as they sought to claim economically what they felt was
theirs
 60,000 French and Belgian troops seized the area, controlling all industries and
railways as a means of payment for the instalments that were now overdue
 Government funds dried up quickly as the Ruhr was a key economic region of
productivity for Germany
 This caused the gov't to print money at an even faster rate
 By 1923, 300 paper mills and 2000 printing agencies were working at full capacity to
produce money for the German Government
 Resistance to the occupation of the Ruhr did not remain peaceful as the Government
had ordered, Saboteurs blew up bridges and railway lines in protest
 Albert Schlageter, a decorated Lieutenant in WW1 joined the Freikorps and lead the
saboteur movement, he was caught, tried, and executed by the French in 1923.
Outcomes of 1923: The incident created much sympathy for the plight of the German people,
coupled with the extreme hyperinflation, this empathy allowed the Germans to secure a major
revision to the reparation terms of the Treaty of Versailles in the Dawes Plan of April 1924.
What were the terms of the other treaties?
1919 - Treaty of St Germain: Dealt with Austria, army was limited to 30,000 men and
forbidden to unite with Germany. Austro-Hungarian empire was broken up, Austria suffered
severe economic problems as a result of the Treaty.
1920 - Treaty of Sévres: Dealt with Turkey. Turkey lost land domestically and also lost
much of its empire. Armed forces limited to 50,000 men, navy strictly limited and no air force
at all.
1920 - Treaty of Trianon: Dealt with Hungary, lost territory to Romania, Czechoslovakia
and Yugoslavia. Due to pay reparations but its economy was so weak it never did.
1920 - Treaty of Neuilly: Dealt with Bulgaria, lost land to Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia.
Army was limited to 20,000 and it had to pay £10 million in reparations.
1923 - Treaty of Lausanne: Significantly revised the terms of the Treaty of Sévres strongly
in Turkey's favour, and redrew their borders to more-or-less what they are today.
Assess Question Plans

The Treaty of Versailles was too harsh. How far do you agree with this statement?
This question can also be written as: ‘The German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles was
unreasonable.’ How far do you agree with this statement? and ‘The Treaty of Versailles was
unfair and unwise.’ How far do you agree with this statement?
For, it was too harsh
 Economic factors destroyed entirely the German economy, this caused massive
hyperinflation and unfairly affecting innocent German people
 The Carte Blanche wasn't the biggest cause of this, the French / Belgian
occupation of the Ruhr was
German marks needed to buy 1 oz of gold: In 1919 was 170.00, in 1923 was
87 trillion.
 Army was weakened significantly, Germany would not have been able to survive
a foreign invasion
 War guilt clause was entirely false > they were not the sole instigators of war -
this is was gave the peacemakers the legal right for all of the impositions
Against, no it wasn't
 The Germans inflicted an arguably much harsher treaty onto the Russians after
they surrendered in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1919)
 Russia lost a third of it's population to the Treaty
 took 89% of their coal mines; 54% of their industry
 utterly hypocritical
 Other defeated powers were much more greatly affected
 Hungary - another defeated nation - which had its land mass reduced to
less than one-third of its original size
Conclusion: The Treaty of Versailles was exceptionally harsh, while some may argue that
this was still fair, ultimately the terms of the treaty damaged Germany to an unacceptable
state. All of this devastation rested on the legal basis that the Germans had agreed to the War
Guilt clause, which was simply untrue.
How far: a harsh treaty WAS required, however this treaty was far too punishing towards
Germany without acknowledging the other parties involved in the start of the war.

How effectively did the peacemakers of 1919–20 deal with the problems they faced?
For, they solved the problems well
  Gave France more security through the demilitarisation of the Rhineland
 Economic means to help rebuild Europe were created through the mandated
territories like the Saar Basin, and the German reparation payments
 The League of Nations was created which pleased Wilson and gave future
security to the world
Against, the treaty dealt with the problems poorly
 France was not fully secure as the US pulled out of the Anglo-American
agreement of protection to France and Britain wouldn't act alone
 German reparations were wholly unsustainable as the figure was much too high
 'C Bonds' section of the reparations acted like a smokescreen as they didn't have
to be repaid so looked more than it actually was.
 Created much dissent among the German people in the sense that it gave rise to
Hitler
Conclusion: The PPC was opened with the French president saying "You hold in your hands
the future of the world", if this logic is true, those present at the peace conference are
responsible for more aggression, war, and damage then they were for peace. The treaties dealt
with the issues at hand poorly and provided a vessel for those in power to inflict their revenge.

XYZ was most object-able to the german people, how far do you agree?
Article 231: War Guilt Clause
 Morally disgraceful, forced German to absorb the burden for the start of the war
when it wasn't all her fault
 Deeply embarrassing and detrimental to the collective morale of the German
people
 Provided a basis legally for which all of the other harsh reparations could work
off of.
High Reparations
 Damaged the country severely economically
 Lead to high inflation which would have significantly affected the quality of life
of the innocent german people
 Embarrassing that the German delegated were forced to sign a Carte Blanche.
Military Restrictions
 Meant that Germany was significantly weaker militarily than it's other European
counterparts
 Unable to defend herself from foreign attack
 Destroyed the nationalist sense of military pride that was once present in German
Saar Basin Mandate
 Damaged severely the german industry
 Made it difficult to control the economy
 Reduced the German's ability to repay the reparations, worsening the already
severe affects of the very high reparations bill.