was the treaty of Versailles fair ?

What was the Versailles peace treaty?

The Versailles peace treaty was a conference that happened after WW1 to prevent another war.

When was the treaty of Versailles?

January - June 1919

Who were the big three?

• George Clemenceau - prime minister of France

• David Lloyd George - prime minister of Britain

• Woodrow Wilson - president of America

• Victorious Orlando - prime minister of Italy (not part of the whole decision making process)

What did George clemenceau want?

• Most determined to punish Germany

• Wanted revenge from invasions from 1870 and 1914

• For Germany to pay reparations to France

• Demands for Germany to have a disarmament

• Return Alsace-Lorraine back to France

• For the Rhineland to be a buffer state between France and Germany

• He wanted control of the Saar

What did Woodrow Wilson want?

• he wanted WW1 to be the war to end all wars

• He had a 14 point plan :

  • No more secret treaties

  • Arms reductions

  • Self-determination (each nation to determine its own future and not be part of an empire)

  • A League of Nations to resolve disputes between countries

What did David Lloyd George want?

• for France not to dominate Europe

• Disbandment of its navy

• He didnt want Germany to be to weak or they might seek vengeance or fall to communism

What actually happened with the treaty?

• Germany had to take all the war guilt

• Reparations had to be payed to France, Britain and other allied powers

• Army limited to 100,000, no conscription, no tanks, no air force, navy limited to 6 battle ships, small numbers of other types of ships and no submarines

• Lost all overseas colonies

• Not allowed to join the League of Nations until it had shown itself to be a peaceful country

Why did Germans think the treaty was too harsh?

Normal German people believed that the treaty was a diktat (dictated peace)