FIRST WORLD – PEACE TREATIES
Achieving success at the Paris peace negotiations was difficult.
(a) What did Lloyd George want to achieve for Britain from the Paris peace negotiations?
[4]
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‘Lloyd George wanted a just and firm peace.’
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‘Lloyd George wanted a less harsh treaty than the French.’
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‘He wanted a peace which avoided Germany seeking revenge.’
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‘He wanted to achieve a settlement which satisfied the British people.’
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‘Lloyd George wanted a share of Germany’s colonies.’
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‘He wanted Germany’s war-making potential reduced.’
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‘He wanted a European economic recovery.’
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‘He wanted the German economy to recover so that Britain could benefit from trading
with Germany.’
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‘He wanted to reduce the threat of the spread of communism from Russia.’
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‘He wanted to maintain the power of the British navy to protect British colonies.’
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‘Lloyd George wanted to persuade Clemenceau to make key concessions.’
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‘He did not want France to become the dominant power in Europe.’
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‘Lloyd George wanted a justifiable amount of reparations.’
(b) Why did Lloyd George find it difficult to achieve his aims at the Paris peace negotiations? [6]

‘Unlike Clemenceau, Lloyd George wanted a moderate peace.’
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‘The French had been invaded and had different motives compared to Britain.’
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‘Clemenceau wanted revenge.’
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‘Clemenceau was chairing the peace conference.’
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‘France was becoming too powerful in its demands.’
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‘He needed to moderate Wilson’s high principles.’
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‘He had to take into account the attitudes of the British (and French) public.’
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(c) ‘Military restrictions were the main reason for German dissatisfaction with the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
[10]
To a large extent, there were other factors that caused more German dissatisfaction other than
military restrictions;
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‘They thought the War Guilt Clause was unjust.’
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‘They objected to the ‘diktat’ or imposed peace.’
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‘They thought the reparations were too severe.’

‘They felt their army was made too small.’
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‘They thought it was wrong that some Germans were now living in foreign countries.’
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‘They thought it was insulting that they were not members of the League.’
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‘The loss of land was an area of dissatisfaction.’
However, to a lesser extent, military restrictions caused dissatisfaction because; The reduction in
armaments brought a loss of pride and resentment. This also contributed to a feeling of insecurity as
the size of the army was thought to be too small to defend against a possible French attack.
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