Germany had always been striving for a bigger and more powerful country. In the years leading up to the war they had become strong with a Navy almost beating Britain’s respected and cherished fleet, a growing army and an empire they had always strived for. Britain’s main aim was to take this away and this was listened to. The navy Germany was proud of was reduced, their air force completely destroyed and their army reduced to a pitiful 100,000 men. There colonies were also taken away and given to other members of the Treaty. All these punishments were hugely humiliating for Germany who prided their army and navy, not only this it was intentional to stop development. Germany could not grow more powerful without connections with colonies for trade and a strong navy and army.
Clemenceau’s main aim for the treaty was to completely cripple German. The people of France were hugely angered over the devastating damage the war had caused and France along with Britain were looking for a scape goat. Clemenceau’s idea for huge reparations was passed and Germany was set a target of paying 10,000,000 which for the time was an inconceivable amount. Germany even before the war were in a terrible state economically due to the strain of the war which made it even more unlikely they could pay. The reparations were put in place to stop Germany from reforming and reduce the chance of them starting another war. Another way the treaty reduced reform was to remove the Saar and the Rhineland from their control. The Saar was a key area for industry with natural ores and for Germany a massive contributor for their economy through trade. Taking this away reduce their trade options dramatically and made it even more unlikely for them to be able to pay off their debts.
Woodrow Wilson, the president of America was the only one out of the big three to push for reform of Germany not cripple them. He believed the people were not the war mongers but the emperors of the states and he wanted democracy in Germany so the country was run by the peoples will and self-determination. Other ideas on his 14 point plan were free navigation of all seas which encouraged Germany to trade and use there navy, and his main idea put forward, The League of Nations which was to unite countries together and reduce tensions. Few of these were passed, the most important one being The League of Nations. The League had good intentions, to make connections between countries and reduce barriers, however Germany was not allowed in the League which defeated the point of the League as it wasn’t straightening out foreign affairs it was creating barriers and resentment in Germany. America became isolationists after the war and did not take part in the League of Nations and many of Woodrow Wilsons points were believed to be to nice by the likes of France and Britain so they were ignored.
In conclusion the Treaty of Versailles was very much a punishment with aims to cripple and humiliate Germany. This was achieved by incredibly high reparations that Germany would struggle to repay, the removal of the air force and colonies and the reduction of the army, the removal of the key industry sector the Saarland and the Rhineland. These were harsh as to make sure Germany would not develop quickly and cause another war. There was nothing in the Treaty that was in favour of reforming Germany apart from the League of Nations that had intentions of uniting countries but this did not succeed as America became isolationist so were not a member and Germany became excluded. Britain’s priminister Lloyd George recognised that Germany’s economy had to be preserved but to stay in power he had to want to crush Germany and although America were hugely pushing for reform they were not listened to and became excluded from the Treaty of Versailles, this meant the main aims of the treaty was to cripple the country and not to reform.