Germany was not allowed to participate in the Paris Peace Conference and was outraged by the Treaty of Versailles. We can be familiar with it after knowing what the Big Three wanted from Germany from the treaty.
Firstly, Woodrow Wilson. As seen from the cartoon, his hands was opened to the guy with no shirt; standing in front of the guillotine. He issued the “Fourteen Points” as guidelines to draft the treaty. He was sincere in his desire to create a just settlement and to safeguard a lasting peace. Woodrow Wilson didn’t want to punish Germany harshly since he thought that Germany was still important in the reconstruction of Europe. His lenient attitude was also because the US did not suffer great damage and casualties from the war. He was trying to reason why.
Secondly, David Lloyd George. He personally agreed with Wilson’s principles. As seen from the cartoon, he was frowning-seemed to be unhappy. Because British people were strong in their demands for revenge since they has suffer great loss of life and property in the war. In his hands, he was probably holding the Treaty of Versailles. As he tried to strike a compromise between the ideal demands of Wilson and the extreme demands of Clemenceau. Lloyd George thought that Germany was an important customer for British trade and so should not be kept too weak.
Lastly, Clemenceau, know as tiger because of his hostile attitude. France had lost 1.5 million military personnel and an estimated 400,000 civilians to the war. Clemenceau had seen twice his country invaded by Germany (in the Franco-Prussian War and the Great War.) In addition, Alsace-Lorraine had to be given back to France as Germany seized it during the war in 1870-1871. As seen from the cartoon, Clemenceau was hold a rope---represented the executioner to punish Germany. Also, the guillotine was an invention from France, referred to the Reign of Terror. Therefore, his hatred of Germany made him determined to take full revenge. His main aim was to weaken Germany so that it could never attack France again and to gain compensation for all the damage suffered by France.
As Germany, the defeated nation; were outraged at their humiliation over the Treaty of Versailles. As seen from the cartoon, Germany was undressed---stripped by the Big Three. Hands were tied, meaning no opportunity for them to have a say or protest on the Treaty of Versailles. Under the treaty, Germany lost 13% of land. For example, Alsace-Lorraine to France, Posen and The Polish Corridor to Poland. Moreover, Germany lost 12%of her people, 10% of coal, 48% of her iron, and 15% of her agricultural production. The War Guilt Clause and the loss of armed forces wounded the national pride of Germany. In the cartoon, the man’s shoulder was upright; symbolizing Germany had done nothing wrong because it was to blame the Kaiser, but not the new Germany.
German people and the government were angry and bitter about the terms of the treaty. We could notify from the cartoon. They were determined to take revenge on the victors in order to regain the lost of territories and their pride. German discontent and feelings of revenge later created new problems in post-war Europe.
