2.1 study guide patel

Woodrow Wilson

America

Georges Clemenceau

France

David Lloyd George

Britain

Woodrow Wilson 2 main priorities

lenient peace(Peace without victory(lenient 14 points) and Establishment of league of nations

Georges Clemenceau 2 main priorities

National security(mostly by weakening Germany) and Financial reparations

David Lloyd George 2 main priorities

Preserving international trade with Germany and Protecting and expanding the empire

Why did France want Germany weakened?

France wanted Germany weakened because Germany had invaded France twice

Why did Britain have an economic interest in preventing Germany from becoming too weak?

Britain hade an economic interest in preventing Germany from becoming too weak because Britain needed Germany to participate in trades with Britain.

Explain why Wilson was concerned about an excessively harsh peace settlement.

Wilson was concerned about an excessively harsh peace settlement because he thought it would create short term peace rather than long term peace

What happened to Wilson's political position in the United States while the peace conference was taking place? Why did this matter?

Wilson’s position got weakened during this time because the republican party won the senate and this matter because the United states were excluded from the League of nations

Explain one major disagreement between Clemenceau and Lloyd George.

While Clemenceau wanted to cripple Germany so they could never attack France again while Britain wanted to take a moderate approach because Germany was a valuable trading country for Britain

France's main concern

Protection From Germany

Britain's main concern

Securing it own long term economic recovery and protecting overseas trade

USA's main concern

Establishing fair lenient, and long term peace with international cooperation

Why can the negotiations at Versailles be described as a conflict between national interests?

It is because each of the big 3 had their own geographical, economical, and security goals shaped by war and domestic pressures

Protecting France from another German attack:

Clemenceau

Establishing a lasting international peace

Wilson

Maintaining Germany as a useful trading partner

David Lloyd George

Define self-determination.

The principle that people of a common nationality should have to govern themselves and have their own nations

Define plebiscite.

A vote giving local people the opportunity to express their opinion for or against a proposal relating to a constitutional issue

Define mandate

An overseas territory taken from the defeated Central power after WWI and administered by an allied nation by the league of nations

Why was self-determination difficult to apply in Eastern Europe?

Self determination was difficult to apply in Eastern Europe because the mixed ethnic populations make it hard to draw national borders

Give two examples of nationalities that became minorities within new or expanded states.

Germans in Czechoslovakia or Poland and Hungarians in Romania, Czechoslovakia, or Yugoslavia

Why did the breakup of Austria-Hungary create economic difficulties?

The break of the Austro-Hungarian Empire disrupted Eastern Europe as a self serving unit, overturning free trade zones into competing unstable nations

Complete the cause-and-effect chain.

Old multinational empires collapse
↓
New __________________ are created
↓
New borders divide __________________ groups
↓
Some people become __________________ inside another national state
↓
Political tensions remain

States, ethnic/nationality, minorities/left under foreign rule

Why didn't the new borders perfectly follow ethnic boundaries?

It was because of Geographical mixed populations, Prioritizing Economic survival, Defensive and strategic Security.

Explain the difference between creating a nation-state and guaranteeing self-determination for every individual ethnic community.

Creating a nation-state aligns political borders with one dominant national identity, whereas individual ethnic self-determination grants every distinct ethnic group the right to govern itself

Why could a settlement designed around self-determination actually create new conflicts?

Designing a settlement around self-determination can create new conflicts because drawing borders based on nationality inevitably leaves ethnic minorities trapped inside hostile new states

Complete the reactions chart.

Country	Main Reaction/Concern
France	__________________________________
Britain	__________________________________
USA	__________________________________
Italy	__________________________________
Japan	__________________________________
Germany	__________________________________

France: Though treaty was too lenient and left Germany strong enough to do damage

Britain: concerned that overly harsh treaty would ruin German economy

USA: faced deep internal political opposition over the league of nations

Italy: felt betrayed by them not getting any land

Japan: Grew resentful and alienated after the western powers rejected their racial equality clause

Germany:Felt immense anger and resenetmaent viewing the treaty as a dictated peace (Diktat)

Why did many French people believe the treaty was not harsh enough?

It was because they suffered heavy damage from Germany and feared it would happen again.

How did British attitudes toward Germany change after the war?

British attitudes was softer because they prioritizing economic recovery

Why did the United States fail to ratify the Treaty of Versailles?

It was due to the change of Senate having fears of losing constitutional war making powers

Why was Italy dissatisfied with the settlement despite being one of the victorious powers?

Italy was dissatisfied because it did not receive the territory it had been promised in the 1915 Treaty of London.

Give three reasons Germans considered the Treaty of Versailles unfair.

The War Guilt Clause (Article 231), Severe Economic Reparations, Disarmament and Territorial Loss

Why did Germans believe the Fourteen Points were important when judging the treaty?

Germans believed the Fourteen Points were important because they expected them to form the basis of a fair, non-punitive, and reasonable peace settlement

How did the treatment of Germany contribute to the German claim that Versailles was a “dictated peace”?

Germany was completely excluded from the peace negotiations and forced to sign the treaty under the threat of renewed war.

Explain why the statement below is inaccurate: “The victorious countries were satisfied with the peace settlement because they had won the war.”

The statement is inaccurate because many victorious nations felt unsatisfied and shortchanged by the final peace treaties.

What was Article 231?

forced Germany to accept complete responsibility for causing World War I.

Why is Article 231 commonly called the War Guilt Clause

It is called this because it mad Germany admit the war damage was all their fault

What amount was eventually established for German reparations in 1921?

6.6B

Why did France support substantial reparations?

to fund the reconstruction of its devastated territories and permanently weaken Germany's economy to prevent future military aggression.

Why was Britain more cautious about excessively high German reparations?

It was because if Germany paid tooo much they would no longer be a valuable country fir trade

Who was John Maynard Keynes?

British economist and official representative of the British Treasury

What did Keynes argue about the economic consequences of the peace settlement?

John Maynard Keynes argued that the Treaty of Versailles imposed excessively harsh and unrealistic reparations on Germany, which would cripple its economy, undermine the financial stability of all of Europe, and inevitably spark future conflict.

Complete the reparations debate chart.

Argument for High Reparations	Argument against High Reparations

Argument for High Reparations: France argued for high reparations to severely punish Germany, cripple its economy, and prevent it from ever launching a future invasion.

Argument against High Reparations: The United States and Great Britain argued against high reparations because crushing Germany's economy would destroy vital European trade networks and cause deep political instability.

39. Explain the connection between Germany's economy and the wider European economy.

Germany's economic stability was the vital engine for continental trade, meaning the punitive reparations and territorial losses imposed on it by the 1919 Versailles treaty severely disrupted the broader European recovery.

What fundamental problem did the Allies face when determining reparations?

disagreement over how severely to punish Germany, balancing France's demand to financially crush them against the US and UK's desire for European economic recovery