David Lloyd-George became the British Prime Minister in 1916 and already had an established background. His creation of the Defence of the Realm Act meant he knew what lengths Britain had to extend to in order to fight in the war. Lloyd-George acted as a mediator between Clemenceau’s harsh nationalism and Wilson’s idealistic nature. Lloyd-George’s biggest aim was to reduce the threat of a German up rise, but he didn’t want them to become economically inadequate. With an economically strong German country, Lloyd-George believed they would be able to uplift the European trade industry. The threat of communism was also a problem, and if Germany was a weaker power at the time, they were at risk of becoming a communist nation, in turn affecting the immediate countries surround Germany.
The aims of these three leaders differed by the degree of punishment they thought Germany deserved. Clemenceau had a more aggressive stance and wanted revenge on the German people for their particularly violent acts at Verdun. Wilson tried to take a more passive approach towards Germany; he had 14 strong points but was not forceful enough to put them all into place. Finally, Lloyd-George wanted to keep Germany economically stable to use them as an advantage to the European industry. The three leaders were all looking at the best interests of their own country and they wanted Germany to repay the sufferings caused.
(ii) Explain the extent to which each of the three leaders, Clemenceau, Lloyd-George and Wilson were satisfied with the final terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
The Treaty of Versailles was created as a result of the Paris Peace Conference, where it was finally signed after four months. The Treaty seemed to satisfy the "Big Three" but only to a limited degree. Germany had been weakened yet they were still strong enough to stop the spread of communism. The French border with Germany was safe from another German attack and they created the organisation, the League of Nations, that would end warfare throughout the world.
Clemenceau seemed the most satisfied with the Treaty because most of the aims that he had during the Paris Peace Conference had been accounted for in the Treaty. The fear of a German uprise was no longer in the minds of France as all the land that Germany was required to hand over, was returned with the most important being Alsace and Lorraine. Germany’s military army was down sized to a limit of 100,000 men without the use of tanks. The air force was banned and she was only allowed 6 naval ships an no submarines. The land 50km east of the Rhine was announced a demilitarised zone, where no soldier with a weapon could enter. Overseas land previously owned by Germany was given to different European countries. The Saar, Danzig and Memel were put under the control of the League of Nations. One of the more important outcomes was the “War Guilt Clause” that had Germany take on full responsibility for starting the war, this was important as it would bring France into the light, and let the world know that they were only defending against the German attacks. This also meant that Germany would have to pay reparations to France for the physical damage caused during the war. Clemenceau was the most satisfied out of the three leaders with the humiliation of Germany, and Frances new found power in the world.
Wilson was very pleased because as a result from the Paris Peace Conference, his idea of the League of Nations had become a reality. The League would make it possible to solve conflicts all over the world in a peaceful manner, which displays Wilson’s need for peace, "To promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security." (Wilson) The losses of the United States was not on the same scale as Britain and France because of the late entrance to the war, therefore reparations did not need to be paid. The cost of creating the League was losing his other 13 original ideology points to gain the global support that was necessary to start the League and making it a success. As the post-war world was in struggle of finding peace, there were a lot of countries intrigued by the international organisation that promised to bring the world peace. Wilson’s peaceful nature was clearly angered by the great number of restrictions and reparations Germany had to agree to. Wilson was left feeling ashamed of the harsh conditions that were imposed on Germany, but was very satisfied with the start of the League of Nations.
Lloyd-George was perhaps the least satisfied with the final terms of the treaty because of Clemenceau’s persistence to bankrupt the German economy. As Lloyd-George’s key point was to keep Germany’s economy as stable as possible to increase the European market, he was not happy with the end result. Most people in Great Britain had wished for revenge on Germany, and they got their satisfaction as many of Germany’s colonies went to Lloyd-George. This was the most rewarding, as they could then recover power and wealth quickly. With the decrease in size of the Germans navy, the seas could once again be controlled by the British navy. With Lloyd-George’s constant “on the fence” attitude at the Paris Peace Conference he was over thrown largely by the other two in his requests. This cause more frustration with Lloyd-George and among the British public who thought more reparations could be given to Britain. Lloyd-George was reasonably happy with the colonies gained, but was more upset with the state of the German economy.
For all three leaders, not all of their needs were met, but at least one was to keep them content. Clemenceau received the most satisfaction out of the humiliation of Germany and marvelled at the down sizing of their army. Wilson was not content with the unforgiving treatment of the Germans, but was very satisfied with the commencing of the League of Nations even though he was “compelled to surrender thirteen of his points in exchange for realisation of the one that he held most dear – the League of Nations.” Lloyd-George was not as happy as the other two because of the destruction of Germany’s economy, resulting in no help from the Germans to increase the European market.
(iii) Explain the purpose and intent of the League of Nations when it was established in 1921.
"What we seek is the reign of law, based upon the consent of the governed, and sustained by the organized opinion of mankind." (Wilson) . During the war, proposals of an international organisation were formed to ensure that another world war would never break out again. In result, The League of Nations was established on January 25th 1919. It was an organisation that would solve international disputes , maintain the peace, increase living conditions, limit armaments and constant arbitrating between the nations. The League also aimed to promote international cooperation in economic and social affairs.
The League focused on many of the economic and social problems that were found throughout the world. Such problems as women’s rights, child welfare and poverty. To help with these issues, the League created small sectors that would be in control of a specialised area such as health and refugee provisions. The League of Nations also set out to decrease the number or armaments that countries possessed. The complete down sizing of a nations army, air force and naval services was predicted to produce world security. However, this was a dangerous task to try and carry out, because if there was one nation that refused to cooperate, there was a possibility of another war breaking out, the complete opposite of the Leagues objectives. To help settle legal disputes in the world, a World Court was formed to help give unprejudiced justice to the countries in trouble. Wilson sincerely believed that the most civilized approach was to go through the justice system to rebuild an established society. Ironically a reparations commission was setup in the League to calculate the exact amounts that Germany owned to a number of different countries, even thought Wilson thought the reparations were too harsh at the Paris Peace Conference.
If there was one member of the League that was the victim of an attack, it was agreed upon that all other members would provide aid to the country in need of help. This was an attractive “bribe” for being a member of the League. This ensured your nation that there will be assistance ready at hand when needed in the case of an attack. The other nations would completely isolate the attacking nation and cut off any supplies going into the country. If this was not enough, the League would use force, with the bigger military force having a great advantage over the foe.
Wilson believed with World Cooperation and justice, peace amongst the nations could be possible. "Interest does not bind men together: interest separates men. There is only one thing that can bind men together, and that is common devotion to right." (Wilson) 8 World security was a big issue in the League, which meant the prevention of a war ever occurring again. This meant the League could enforce the disarmament of a nation if they thought the threat of war was arising from a particular country or state. The disarmament to nations was important in keeping good relationships with not only neighbouring countries, but countries from all across the globe. "Political liberty can exist only when there is peace. Social reform can take place only when there is peace." (Wilson)
The League of Nations sole purpose was to maintain peace throughout the world, in a non-violent, civilised manner. This could be done with special commissions and smaller organisations the helped with economic and social issues. The “all for one and one for all,” attitude amongst members in the League created a safer environment and nations became more willing to trust other nations. The intent was to look at the best interest of the nations and to prevent another World War at all costs.
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