1 Sir Umar Khan Dawar The Peace Treaties of 1919-1923 Paris peace conference Although the Armistice, signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. Delegates from 32 countries met for the Versailles Conference (January 1919), but most decisions were made by ‘the Big Three’ – Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France, Woodrow Wilson, President of America, and David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Britain. All three wanted to stop a war ever happening again, but they did not agree about how to do this; everybody wanted different things from the peace. ▪ USA aims at the peace conference Woodrow Wilson was the president of America. He wanted to make the world safe for democracy. He wanted to end war by making a fair peace. In 1918 Wilson published 'Fourteen Points' saying what he wanted. He said that he wanted disarmament. He pointed calling for a world organization that would provide some system of collective security. He also wanted a world organisation (League of nations) where countries could talk out their problems, without war. He also promise self-determination for the peoples of East Europe. The views of President Wilson of the USA were based on his Fourteen Points: 1. No secret treaties 2. Free access to the seas in peacetime or wartime 3. Free trade between countries 4. All states to disarm to a reasonable level that would not threaten other states this would reduce tension and reduce the risk of war 5. Colonies to have a say in their own future 6. German troops to leave Russia. 8. Independence for Belgium. 9. France to regain Alsace-Lorraine. Woodrow Wilson, US President 10. The frontier between Austria and Italy to be adjusted. 11. self-determination for the peoples of eastern Europe (they should rule themselves). 12. Serbia to have access to the sea. 13. Self-determination for the people in the Turkish Empire 14. Poland to become an independent state with access to the sea. 15. League of Nations to be set up. 2 Sir Umar Khan Dawar ▪ French aims at peace conference 1.5 million French people had been killed, much of north-eastern France had been destroyed. France was bankrupt as a result of the war. Most delegates including French blamed Germany (this feeling led to Clause 231: War guilt clause) and wanted revenge for the ‘lost generation’. At the Paris Peace Conference, the French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau, controlled his delegation and his chief goal was to weaken Germany militarily, strategically and economically. France wanted Germany to be crippled so the war could never be repeated. (Since 1870 France had been twice attacked by Germany.) Clemenceau was adamant that Germany should not be permitted to attack France again. In particular, Clemenceau sought an American and British guarantee of French security in the event of another German attack. If Germany was to blame for the war, then Germany should pay for the damage. France to be returned its provinces (Alsace & Lorraine) which it lost in 1870 to Germany. Clemenceau wanted a ‘Harsher’ treaty for Germany and thus he expressed skepticism and frustration with Wilson's Fourteen Points: "Mr. Wilson bores me with his fourteen points". French PM, Georges Clemenceau (nicknamed ‘the Tiger’) wanted – a Treaty to punish the Germans. 3 Sir Umar Khan Dawar ▪ British aims at the peace conference Britain’s Prime Minister was David Lloyd George. He was a Liberal MP. He had several motivations for his wishes at the Versailles Peace Conference. He had campaigned in the 1918, British election, promising to make Germany pay. He also wanted to stop German threats to the British Empire, and wanted to also protect British jobs in manufacturing. Lloyd George, wished for the British Empire to remain supreme across the world. He saw Germany’s navy and oversees colonies as a threat to the British Empire. However Lloyd George, knew that the treaty shouldn’t punish Germany too much as this may provoke another war. Lloyd George also had another reason for ensuring that Germany wasn’t punished too harshly. Many British jobs depended on trade with Germany. Before the war, Germany was Britain’s biggest trading partner. He did not want British people to lose their jobs, which might cause him to lose an election. Lloyd George faced a difficult challenge as the British public wanted to punish Germany harshly for the war in the Peace Treaty. Thus he wanted to tread a middle ground between the competing ideas of France and America. The British PM, David Lloyd George he wanted to have a middle ground between Wilson & Clemenceau.
