Motives & Aims of the Big Three at Versailles (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE History)

 Who were the Big Three?

• The armistice only ensured temporary peace

  • There needed to be an official peace document where the Allies agreed on the terms of the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria’s defeat

• Discussions began in January 1919 at the Palace of Versailles, Paris

  • The meeting is called the Paris Peace Conference

  • The meeting aimed to create five peace treaties called the Versailles Settlement. The biggest treaty was the Treaty of Versailles, which dealt with Germany

• The ‘Big Three’ negotiated the terms of the treaty. These were:

  • Georges Clemenceau (Prime Minister of France)

  • Woodrow Wilson (President of the USA)

  • David Lloyd George (Prime Minister of the Great Britain)

Motives of the Big Three

Georges Clemenceau’s Motives

• Clemenceau saw the Paris Peace Conference as an opportunity to gain territory back

  • France and Germany had fought twice during the 19th century

  • Germany had taken key areas from France including the region of Alsace-Lorraine

• France feared future invasion from Germany

  • Germany and France shared a border

  • Clemenceau wanted to limit Germany’s military strength

• Clemenceau was angry and uncompromising

  • The majority of the Western Front was in France

    • The fighting had destroyed many roads, hospitals and factories

  • Clemenceau wanted Germany to pay to repair these damages and take responsibility for starting the war

Woodrow Wilson’s Motives

• Wilson was an idealist. He wanted to create a lasting peace after the First World War

  • The Versailles Settlement should embody what he called the ‘14 Points’. Some of his 14 Points were that:

    • All national groups should have their own country. This is called self-determination

    • All countries should follow a policy of disarmament to avoid war in the future

    • All countries should discuss their issues openly and not sign secret treaties

    • All countries should remove trade tariffs and cooperate economically

  • Wilson pictured a new organisation called the League of Nations

    • This League encouraged countries to communicate their problems rather than use violence and war

    • Wilson wanted all countries to join the League of Nations

    • It would support the implementation of Wilson’s 14 Points

• Wilson wanted to trade with Germany

  • Large reparations would make Germany weak and could lead to its collapse as a country

  • A strong, economically secure Germany would help rebuild Europe after the First World War

David Lloyd George’s Motives

• Lloyd George was realistic and agreed with aspects of France’s and the USA’s motives

• Britain had experienced high casualties like France

  • The British public hated Germany and wanted revenge

• Lloyd George understood some of Clemenceau’s personal anger towards Germany

  • Before the start of the First World War, Germany had challenged Britain’s naval power

  • From 1884 onwards, Germany had expanded its empire. Britain wanted to have the strongest and biggest empire in the world

• Britain also supported Wilson’s point that a strong Germany was better for European economies

  • A prosperous Germany would want to trade with Britain and buy its imperial goods

Aims for the Treaty of Versailles

• Due to their different motives, the Big Three all had different aims for the Treaty of Versailles:

  • Clemenceau wanted a harsh treaty that included:

    • High reparations

    • The protection of France’s borders

    • The splitting of Germany into states

    • Germany disbanding its armed forces to prevent another invasion

    • The return of Alsace-Lorraine to France

    • Giving France the rich industrial area in Germany known as the Saar Basin to rebuild its economy

    • Germany giving its overseas colonies to France

  • Woodrow Wilson wanted a soft treaty that included:

    • The creation of independent states like Poland that had access to the sea

    • The return of Alsace-Lorraine to France 

    • The end of Germany’s empire and the weakening of all empires

    • Avoiding blaming Germany for the start of the First World War. This included not making Germany pay high reparations

    • The inclusion of all nations, including Germany, in the League of Nations

    • Freedom of the seas. Wilson believed that trading ships should have access to any waters without fear of attack

  • David Lloyd George wanted a fair treaty, somewhere between Wilson's and Clemenceau’s vision. His treaty would include:

    • Retaining a strong trading relationship with Germany

    • Taking Germany’s overseas colonies

    • Harsh enough terms to satisfy the British desire for revenge. Lloyd George had just won an election on the promise that he would ‘make Germany pay’

    • Germany keeping its military strength to prevent communism from Russia spreading into Europe. 

    • A reduction in Germany’s navy to reinforce Britain’s naval supremacy

How different were the aims of the Big Three for the Treaty of Versailles?