Kelsey Heath
HIST 360
Discuss the Paris Peace Conference, 1919-1920. What were the primary
concerns and issues facing the statesmen who attended? Why did the
victorious Allies fail to establish a viable settlement? The settlement has
been described as “the peace to end all peace.” Is this a fair assessment?
In Britain, a war memorial was erected in Whitehall, London, called the
Cenotaph, first unveiled on 19th July, 1919. It was created in preparation for the signing
of the Treaty of Versailles. The Cenotaph is a monument to honor the dead and
provided an immediate focus for public grief following the First World War. The name
comes from a classical Greek word kenotaphion meaning ‘empty tomb,’ signifying the
many absent remains of soldiers. One-hundred years later, the monument is still
important because the remembrance ceremony are held at the Cenotaph on November
11th, at 11 o’clock in the morning. The event includes a formal wreath-laying by the royal
family, along with the military, and religious and political leaders; two minutes of
silence—which the whole nation takes part in—followed by The Last Post; hymns and
prayers; and everyone wears paper poppies throughout the month of November to
commemorate the outbreak of World War One: “Lest we forget.” The Paris Peace
Conference was to decide the terms of the armistice, with the Treaty of Versailles
creating a very different world to that of 1914. However, the Paris Peace Conference did
not achieve the lasting peace desired and instead led to World War Two due to
conflicting interests of the leaders and harsh blame on Germany.
The Paris Peace Conference involved lots of negotiations between individuals
with hidden agendas and varying goals for the conference. The conference was to
decide what to do with the defeated side. Representatives of thirty-two countries met,
but three men dominated the proceedings that led to the formation of the Treaty of
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Versailles. These three prominent leaders became known as the “Big Three”: David
Lloyd-George, Prime Minister of Britain; Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of
France; and Woodrow Wilson, President of the USA. Lloyd George and Wilson wanted
to punish Germany but not cripple it, however Clemenceau wanted to strangle
Germany. Pre-war events led to France’s bitterness toward Germany, with Germany’s
annexation of the Alsace-Lorraine territory in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. France
wanted revenge and revanchism. Clemenceau wanted these territories to be returned to
France and he planned to be as hard as possible on Germany. Moreover, France
experienced the greatest economic loses compared to any other warring countries. This
explains why Clemenceau was an immense advocate for reparations from Germany.
Thirdly, security was vital and France wanted to guarantee that Germany would be
weakened so she could never invade France again. Clemenceau wanted to take both
the Saar and Rhineland to strengthen France’s eastern border, while enforcing
disarmament on Germany. Lloyd George was told by Sir Eric Campbell-Geddes, First
Lord of the Admiralty, to “squeeze Germany” as a lemon is squeezed, “until the pips
squeak.”1 The British, like the French, were bitter towards Germany and wanted
Germany to pay. However, like Wilson, Lloyd George feared a harsh treaty might lead
to a German desire for revenge and possibly another war. Also, Germany was one of
Britain’s biggest trading partner pre-1914 and the destruction of Germany would not be
in the British interest in the long term. This was an issue for Lloyd George because he
had to balance public opinion with future international relations and peacekeeping.
Lloyd George was often the middle ground between Clemenceau and Wilson,
1
Richard M. Langworth, "Squeeze Germany until the Pips Squeak." Richard M. Langworth, September
14, 2014, https://richardlangworth.com/pips.
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nevertheless also having concerns of his own to reach. Britain was not as revenge
hungry as France, but intended that Germany should lose her colonies overseas, as
well as their naval power to leave Britain in command of the seas. Lastly, Lloyd George
wanted Germany to repay Britain’s war debt. In blame and reparations both France and
Britain agreed but differed on the extremity of the blame; Clemenceau is trying to repair
the past, whereas Lloyd George is looking more to the future.
The placement of war guilt on Germany was an issue because Wilson did not
want to enforce a harsh treaty. Wilson thought this would lead to another war and was
hugely against leaving the door open to future wars. Wilson’s ideas for the conference
were influenced by the Fourteen Points, which he saw as the key to a fair peace. Wilson
wanted peace based on lasting principles such as national self-determination, because
he saw European empires as antithesis of democracy, and a League of Nations to
create a system of collective security that monitored world peace. There are many
conflicting views between the three leaders making peace difficult to attain, especially
due to Wilson stubbornness. Wilson’s dreams of self-determination clashed with
Europeans leaders’ goals of territorial gain and revenge against Germany. Clemenceau
upon hearing Wilson’s Fourteen Points said, “God gave us the Ten Commandments
and we broke them. Wilson gives us the Fourteen Points. We shall see.”2 The
Europeans were not prepared to accept the Fourteen Points without modification that
suited their own aims. The French wanted to ensure they received compensation to pay
for all the damage caused by the war, and the British could not allow the freedom of the
2
Chris Thomas, "Fourteen Points," International Encyclopaedia of the First World War, October 8, 2014, ,
https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/fourteen_points.
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seas, thus preventing them using a naval blockade. Additionally, the Fourteen Points
meant American involvement in Europe, but Americans wanted to withdraw from world
affairs as many favored isolationism. The finished product of the conference, the Treaty
of Versailles, contained only a fraction of the Fourteen Points. The post-war reality
diverged sharply from Wilson’s idealistic vision.
The controversial Treaty of Versailles was a major outcome of the Paris Peace
Conference. On June 28th, 1919, the treaty was signed at The Palace of Versailles in
the Hall of Mirrors. The peace treaty became called in Germany the ‘diktat’ because it
was dictated rather than negotiated. The Treaty officially blamed Germany for World
War One through the War Guilt, or Article 231, forcing Germany to admit responsibility
for beginning the war. Military clauses meant Germany had to reduce her army to
100,000 men and were not allowed tanks, the Germans were only allowed to have six
ships and no submarines in their navy, nor was it allowed to have an air force.
Additionally, the Rhineland—area between Germany and France—became a
demilitarized zone and was to be kept free of German military personnel. Germany had
to pay compensation to France, Britain, and Belgium for the damages caused by the
war, known as reparations. The exact figure of £6,000 million was set after the signing
of the treaty, in 1921. In terms of territory, Germany was forbidden from uniting with
Austria; known as Anschluss, when Adolf Hitler unified the nation-states in 1938. Lastly,
the League of Nations was set up as an international police force, which Germany
would not be invited to join until it could prove it was a peace-loving country. The Treaty
of Versailles did bring brief peace to Europe as well as setting up the League of
Nations. However, it left Germany with a number of grievances. The Germans could not
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afford to pay the reparation payments and the treaty punished Germany so harshly. The
terms of the treaty upset Germans and its numerous damaging effects on their country
caused many to be receptive of Hitler and the Nazi party’s goals of restoring Germany
to its former glory by conquest of its adversaries. The treaty caused more anger than
settling it.
The settlement from the Paris Peace Conference being described as “the peace
to end all peace” is an unfair assessment because the Versailles Treaty did little to
shape any lasting peace. Instead, the treaty was somewhat hastily put together, vague,
exposed the Allies’ inability to cooperate toward an agreement, and fueled German
nationalism from resentment over the unfair clauses in the treaty by the Allies. The
treaty was doomed from the start, making a second world war likely. The Allies having
differing plans on how to best treat Germany was going to make a messy treaty, evident
in the military clauses. A crucial omission of the military section was the absence of time
limits as to when Germany could increase arms. Certainly no one not expected for
Germany to disarm forever, which undoubtedly worked in Germany’s favor. The treaty
gave no indication of how long the disarmament should last, and was a part of the treaty
that Germany continually abused and disobeyed out of bitterness. Secondly, due to the
harsh treatment, mainly advocated by Clemenceau, caused Germany to resent the
Allied Powers. The extreme harsh treatment made right winged parties who condemned
the Versailles Treaty as unjust and unacceptable attractive, such as Hitler’s National
Socialists.
Furthermore, the treaty, nor the conference, resulted in lasting peace due to it not
being fully enforced from 1920-23. There were Anglo-French differences on how best to
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ensure Germany abided by the Treaty of Versailles. Britain wanted a balance of power
in Europe, preventing either French or German domination, similar to the Vienna
Settlement of 1815. Whereas the French tended towards applying more forceful
measures designed to permanently weaken Germany and to force it to fulfil the treaty.
For France, the German problem was an overriding priority.
In conclusion, the various agendas of each major leader made a formal agreement
difficult to accomplish. They were all thinking of their own self nation’s interests, and did
not consider the world’s interest as a reason to enforce the treaty. There was a lack of
cooperation with one another between the Big Three due to personal vendettas and
revenge. They are essentially responsible for the treaty’s failure because they were the
groups who established the treaty, intending to put a severe punishment on Germany.
The overly harsh treatment on Germany, later making the treaty ineffective, is another
reason the Treaty of Versailles failed. The war-guilt clause and reparations demanded
from Germany added fuel to the fire that was growing German resentment and
nationalism. The treaty brought huge hardship, causing the Germans to want revenge
for their humiliation. It was a mistake to put such serious pressure on Germany and
instead should have compromised a more suitable punishment on Germany. Along with
focusing on implementing the treaty so it could decrease or even omit the problem.
Once again, if the allied countries had come together as one they might have formed a
strong force to successfully ensure the effectiveness of the treaty and prevent World
War Two to happen. The treaty’s outcome resulted in the Austrian Empire being
replaced by several smaller unstable states and the redrawing of state lines. Italy felt
cheated by the peace arrangements because it gained very little. Even though Britain
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and France gained most from Versailles, they only secured short-term advantages as
they were divided on how to implement the treaties in the crucial post-war years.
All in all, the countries that played a part in the treaty, large or small, contributed to
its failure and are essentially responsible for not ensuring future peace. No individual
country could cause another world war alone, and the Big Three played the biggest role.
So, to resolve the question if the Paris Peace Conference achieve the peace to end all
peace, the answer is evident in after the twenty year armistice a second world war
ensued. The Allies were strong enough to win the war, but not strong enough to secure
the peace. Despite peace not always being achieved, each subsequent conflict by
British forces joins new generation of military personal to the procession at the
Cenotaph on the historic day of the armistice.
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References
Langworth, Richard M. ""Squeeze Germany until the Pips Squeak"." Richard M.
Langworth. September 14, 2014. https://richardlangworth.com/pips.
Revise GCSE History: Complete Study & Revision Guide. London, United Kingdom:
Letts and Lonsdale, 2009.
Thomas, Chris. "Fourteen Points." International Encyclopaedia of the First World War.
October 8, 2014. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/
fourteen_points .