The British and French Perspectives
The "Big Four" leaders in Paris in 1919 for the World War I peace-treaty talks: (left to right) Prime Ministers David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, and Georges Clemenceau of France and President Woodrow Wilson. Neither Russia, now the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, nor Germany, which had lost the war, was invited to the conference. Peace would be negotiated with the eastern half of Europe missing.
While Wilson worried a peace treaty that severely punished Germany might cause resentment and possibly lead to a future war, he did believe Germany was responsible for the war and should be held accountable. In contrast, both Britain and France hoped to enforce harsh peace terms against Germany.
- Britain’s Prime Minister David Lloyd George wanted to reduce the size of Germany’s navy and take away its colonial territories. While he was against harsh peace terms that might harm future trade with Germany, the British public wanted Kaiser Wilhelm to be hanged and Germany to pay for the costs of the war. Lloyd George could not completely ignore public opinion.
- France’s Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, upset over his country’s widespread damage, wanted enormous war reparations (financial compensation) and the promise that Germany could not invade France again. He also wanted Germany to return the Alsace-Lorraine region, land that the former German Empire had gained after the 1870 Franco–Prussian War, to France. Clemenceau preferred to see Germany split up again into small states.
Take Notes
What tensions existed at the peace conference that might have made it difficult to carry out Wilson's Fourteen Points? Write down your ideas in the notes box below.
