The Paris Peac Conference June 1919

Aims of the Big Three

How these aims affected the terms of the treaties

Why European powers were so determined to punish Germany in the peace Treaty

The terms of the Treaty Of Versailles

Reactions to the TOV

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  • Created by: Hannah
  • Created on: 07-06-12 20:57

Aims of David Lloyd George

  • Wanted to punish Germany justly but not too harshly but he had to push for punishments as he had won an election promising 'to make Germany pay'
  • Agreed that Germany was a dangerous neighbour for France and should be weakened but thought this should be done by making Germany lose its navy and colonies as these were a threat to Britain.
  • Saw Wilson's poin that punishing Germany too harshly could lead to another war and thought that reparations should be minimal because Britain needed Germany for trade.
  • Didn't like that LON should be made the main point of the conference
  • Disagreed with Wilson's points that all countries should have free access to the seas as this would threaten British dominance of the seas; or self-determination as this threatened to break up the British empire.
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Clemenceau's aims

  • France had suffered enormous damage to land, industry, economy and people (2million soldiers killed or wounded in the firstt world war) so they wanted protection and wanted to creat a buffer zone.
  • Its economy was in ruins so wanted reparation payments to help re-pay the damage.
  • Wanted to cripple Germany as much as possible so they would not attack again.
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Wilson's aims

  • Wanted to ensure USA didn't have to 'rescue' Europe from war again so focussed on peace.
  • believe Germany would want revenge if they were punished too harshly so believed they should be punished mildly.
  • Major aim was to focus on imporoving international relations and preventing another war and so he devised a 14 point plan which included:

-ban of secret treaties

-work  towards disarmament


-LON should be set up to solve disputes

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Explain why the aims of the big Three differed at

  • The aims of the big three differed at the Paris Peace Conference because each of their aims were based on what was impirtant and beneficial to their country and this was different in each case.

1. Perhaps the main reason they differed was because Clemenceau's and Wilson's aims were almost opposites, because they had both had such different experiences of war. The USA had not suffered nearly as bad as France who had suffered enormous damage to its land, industry, economy and people (they had 2 million soldiers killed or wounded), this meant that Clemenceau's main aim was to cripple Germany as much as possible so they could not attack again and demanding high reparations to pay for the damage they caused. However, this conflicted with Wilson's aim which was to achieve peace so the USA would not have to spend money 'rescuing' Europe from war again, this meant he thought Germany should be punished mildly, with lower reparations and punishments, and the League of Nations as te main point of the conference otherwise they would want revenge.

2. Wilson's aims then conflicted with Lloyd George's aims, beacause Wilson's 14 point plan which was meant to improve international relations so America would not have to save Europe from another war threatened British power. Wilson's points of giving all countries free access to the sea and of self-determination threatened British dominance of the seas and threatened to break up the British Empire, so this conflicted with British aims which were to punish Germany in areas which they were a threat to Britain, like their Navy, not to work towards a peace so that Britain lost its naval and colonial superiority. So the aims of Wilson and Lloyd George differed because each country wanted what was most beneficial for them, which were very different from each other.

3. Then British eagarness to keep a strong empire and remain having naval supremacy meant its aims differed from France. In order to guarantee fulfillment of its aims Britain wanted large restrictions on the German navy and to take away its colonies, whilst lowering repaparations because they needed Germany for trade. Whereas France wanted to guarantee protection and this involved high reparations and harsher terms in Europe. This meant French and British aims differed because they were threatened by Germany in different places.

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The Treaty Of Versailles

  • Orlando Italian leader left conference over claims to Hungarian port of Fiume, after it was given to newly created state of Yugoslavia and not Italy.
  • Signed on 28 June (Germany had no choice but to sign it otherwise allies would start Naval blockade)

Guilt Clause 231-Germany had to accept full balme for starting the war.

Land Restriction-Germany lost over 70000 km 2

  • Lost all overseas colonies (some made mandates)
  • lost territory in Europe -Alsace Lorraine given to France

-lost land to Poland

Sudetenland became part of Czechoslovakia

-Saar coalfields placed under French control -lost coal and income

-Danzig-important port became independent

Anschluss said they could not unite with Austria-made them weaker

Armed Forces restricted- army restricted to 100,000 men-ban on conscription

-navy limited to 15, 000 men-and 6 battleships

not allowed to have submarines, tanks or big guns

-Rhineland was demilitarised-meant harder for Germany to invade France but easier for France to invade Germany

Reparations- Germany had to pay £6, 600 million to pay for the damage of the war.

League of nations was also set up as an alternativ way of solving disputes between countries.

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David Lloyd George's reaction to Treaty Of Versail

  • Felt it was too harsh and that it might lead to another war or that the German government become so unpopular it lead to communism
  • Liked that Britain got some of Germany's colonies as mandates as they were forced to give them up.
  • Would have preferred to put more restrictions on the armed forces as they were a threat to Britain whilst lowering reparations as they needed German economy to recover so they could start trading with them.
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Clemenceau's reaction to TOV

  • Felt the lands Germany lost were not enough
  • Felt the Rhineland should have been permenantly de-militarised
  • Felt Germans got of lightly in terms of reparations
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Wilson's reaction to TOV

  • Thought it was a treaty of revenge not a treaty of peace that would cause another war and make future peace unlikely as it was too harsh
  • Felt reparations were too high and would cause economic problems
  • He hoped LON would put things right

Main problem was that his own people wanted isolationism as they wanted nothing more to do with European politics so USA did not sign the treaty or join LON

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couldnt really see it alll, but what i did was good :) thanks


ive also put up some stuff on the Nazi Regime that are pretty useful if you wanna have a look :)

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