In What Ways Were the Aims of the Big Three Different in the Paris Peace Conference?

Lloyd George and Wilson thought that Clemenceau was just taking advantage of the situation to further France and thought that if they were too harsh, Germany would only want revenge one day.

Lloyd George had been re-elected as Prime Minister (Britain) in 1918 but to win votes he had gone along with the popular mood that Germany’s fault. However, he wanted to increase trade and prosperity (and Germany was Britain’s number two trading power before the war and rebuilding Germany meant jobs for British workers) and so he wanted a moderate peace and he tried to prevent Germany from being punished too harshly. Whenever he did this he clashed with Clemenceau and was criticised back in Britain. However he felt it right that Germany should pay some reparations for the damage it had done. Lloyd George ended up in a mid-way position between the aims of Clemenceau and Wilson.

Wilson (the President of USA) did not share the anti-German passions of the Europeans. He though there must be a peace without winners and losers otherwise one day the losers would want revenge which could lead to another war. He thought that everyone should reduce their armies and navies. He just wanted a peace that would last and, in his opinion, this could be achieved through self-determination (each different nation of people having their own country and governing it themselves instead of being ruled by another nationality) and countries working together in a League of Nations to prevent future war. Wilson’s ideas are to be found in his fourteen points. The general basis of these points were disarming all countries and defining clear borders for each country and the most important point of creating a League of Nations to settle disputes between countries.

However, public opinion back in the USA had been affected by the loss of 115,000 US troops who had been killed in the war, and many Americans wanted less involvement in European affairs, not more. It was all very well for Wilson to agree with his points as he had not been where the fighting was and was far away in America.

World War One was coined ‘The War to End All Wars’. Having revenge and making Germany pay for what it caused may be popular and seemingly fair in the short term, but it only leads to further conflict later on. Despite it seeming that Germany would get off lightly, the only productive way to ensure peace was Wilson’s ideas in his fourteen points. As the Treaty was, it dealt a dangerous and disastrous half-measure as it damaged Germany enough to cause resentment but not enough so that she wasn’t strong enough to seek revenge.