What were the goals of france, britain and italy at the conference of versailles?

From Ohio History Central

The Treaty of Versailles officially ended World War I. The treaty dealt specifically with Germany, and the other defeated powers had to negotiate their own separate treaties. Once the armistice was signed in November 1918, which provided for a cease fire so that peace could be negotiated, a peace conference began in Paris at the Palace of Versailles.

In addition to the British and French delegations, the United States also had representation at the peace conference. President Woodrow Wilson personally led the United States delegation at Versailles. It soon became apparent that Wilson had a different view of the treaty than did the British and the French. These two countries had fought a long, bitter war against Germany. Both Great Britain and France had suffered tremendous casualties during the war and faced serious economic problems because of the war's costs. The two countries' leaders wanted to see Germany pay reparations for the cost of the war and accept the blame for causing the war. Wilson's intentions were very different. Wilson desired to create a system that would keep future wars from happening, as well as promoting a U.S. vision of democracy and peace. He believed that the best way to accomplish this goal was through the creation of an international organization called the League of Nations. Countries that belonged to the League would work together to stop potential wars in the future.

Ultimately, the Treaty of Versailles (1919) required Germany to accept responsibility for World War I and imposed reparations. It also called for the establishment of the League of Nations, as Wilson had envisioned. The treaty failed to create a long-term environment favorable to peace. Germans resented the treaty's provisions, and that resentment helped to fuel support for the Nazis in the 1930s and a return to war in World War II. Although people in the U.S. were happy to see an end to World War I, the United States Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. Republicans in the Senate were unhappy that Wilson had not included them in the negotiations and refused to vote in favor of the treaty. The United States never joined the League of Nations, and that organization failed to be successful in its attempts to prevent future wars.

See Also

            The Big Four, also known as the Council of Four, consisted of leaders from Italy, the United States, Britain and France who dominated decision making at the Paris Peace Conference.  Other delegates from these countries, and emissaries from nations affiliated with the Allies, held peripheral roles, while representatives from the Central Powers had little say in the shaping of the peace.

Vittorio Orlando

- Italian Prime Minister

- Orlando held a junior role in the Council of Four. He didn’t take much interest in matters not directly involving Italy (Bonhomme and Boivin 1207).

- Italy wasn’t as involved in decisions about Germany; they didn’t share a border and never fought alone against them.

DaVid Lloyd George

- Prime Minister of Britain, first Welsh Prime Minister

- Lloyd George was a brilliant politician.  He had principles, but was pragmatic and willing to be flexible (MacMillan 41).  He was charismatic, yet down to earth, often referring to his modest Welsh background (MacMillan 39).  Lloyd George was rather ignorant in the subject of foreign affairs; this gap of knowledge occasionally caused him to make mistakes, but with well-informed advisors and common sense, he usually managed sound decisions (MacMillan 42).

- Lloyd George served his country throughout WWI, first as minister of munitions, then as war minister before being elected prime minister in 1916.  Lloyd George led Britain through the darkest parts of the war to victory, as Clemenceau did in France (MacMillan 37).   As the Paris Peace Conference opened in 1919, Lloyd George was fresh from re-election at the head of a coalition government. 

- Lloyd George supported imperialism with strong, local government (MacMillan 45). He included leaders from several British colonies in the delegation.

- Britain went into the conference having already achieved several of its major goals.  The German fleet was under British control and many German colonies had been absorbed into the British Empire (MacMillan 43).  Lloyd George’s main objective at the conference was to protect British interests and build strong relationships with other world powers, especially the United States (MacMillan 42). 

- Lloyd George did not want to destroy Germany with the treaty; he believed a healthy, united Germany would balance French and Russian power and help Europe heal after WWI. However, out of the big four, Lloyd George fought for the toughest economic reparations in order to combat Britain’s financial difficulties (McDougall).

Quotes

- Before leaving for the Paris Peace Conference, 1918: "Diplomats were invented simply to waste time."

- At the Paris Peace Conference, 1919: "The finest eloquence is that which gets things done; the worst is that which delays them."

- When asked how he had done at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919: “Not badly, considering I was seated between Jesus Christ and Napoleon.”

Woodrow Wilson

- First American president to travel to Europe while in office

- Member of the Democratic Party

- Wilson intended only to stay for the preliminary conference to arrange the major outline of the peace settlement but ended up participating for the most important six months, January to June 1919 (MacMillan 4).

- Wilson was an idealist who saw the war as a fight against militarism.  He took office in 1916 meaning to keep the U.S. out of the war, but entered the fight on the Allies side by spring 1917 (Macmillan 4).

- Wilson was stubborn and intolerant of others' viewpoints (Macmillan 5). He alienated prominent Republicans, many of whom supported his policies on the war and the League of Nations, by not including them in the American delegation to the Paris Peace Conference (Macmillan 6).

- He didn’t take criticism well and always made decisions he considered to be morally right (Macmillan 7).  Wilson would, however, sometimes frame his decisions to fit his ethics. For example, he insisted he that he sent troops to South America purely to defend democracy, despite the clear financial motive he had in protecting the Panama Canal and other American investments (Macmillan 9).

- The United States gained power during the war. By the time of the armistice, the American army and navy rivaled some of the strongest European nations (Macmillan 10).  The European Allies collectively owed over 7 billion dollars to the U.S. government.

- Wilson’s focus during the conference was to form a lasting peace.  Wilson believed war could be eliminated from the world with democracy, self-determination of rule for all nations, open diplomacy, international disarmament, free trade, an international legal system and collective security.  Collective security is a system of global alliances in which allies would defend each other against aggressors, theoretically dissuading conflict.  The League of Nations was intended to be a form of collective security.  Wilson's theories are outlined in his Fourteen Points.  

- Germany had accepted Wilson’s Fourteen Points as a basis for peace at the armistice.  They were extremely dissatisfied with how much harsher the Treaty of Versailles was than Wilson’s original proposal ("Fourteen Points").

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Quotes

- Address at Sioux Falls, 1919: "Sometimes people call me an idealist. Well, that is the way I know I am an American."

- Address to Congress, 1917: "The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty."

- Fourteenth Point: "A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike."

Georges Clemenceau

- French Prime Minister

- Nicknamed the Father of Victory

- Clemenceau entered politics in 1870 as France was losing the Franco-Prussian War. He harbored a great deal of resentment towards Germany as a result of his experiences during this time (MacMillan 27).

- Clemenceau held France together through its greatest defeat on the Western Front in 1917 until the end of the war.  He cried with joy when he heard the German’s had agreed to an armistice (MacMillan 31).

- France had suffered more than any other country during the war: one quarter of Frenchmen between 18 and 30 died; coal mines and factories were destroyed; 20% of crops, 90% of iron ore and 65% of steel were ruined.  The economy was in shambles and France wanted compensation from Germany.

- Even more than compensation or revenge, France needed security (MacMillan 32).  Although Germany had been defeated, they would always share a border.  The French Foreign Ministry’s goal was to neutralize the threat of further German violence through disarmament, economic reparations, possible re-separation of Bavaria, Saxony and Prussia, and French control of the Rhineland.  While Clemenceau supported these aims, he was more realistic (MacMillan 173).  He knew France would have to continue to deal with a unified Germany and focused more on security through the preservation of wartime alliances.

- Clemenceau didn’t form close social relationships with the other leaders (MacMillan 33).  He thought Wilson arrogant and ignorant of European politics and didn’t trust Lloyd George.

- Clemenceau’s public statements were deliberately vague.  He didn’t really care about the redistribution of German colonies or problems in the Middle East.  War time declarations called for the liberation of Belgium, the end of occupation of French territories and French control of Alsace-Lorraine.

Quotes

- To a journalist just before his death: “My life hatred has been for Germany because of what she has done to France.”

- On the Franco-Prussian War: “Germany believes the logic of her victory means domination, while we do not believe the logic of our defeat is serfdom.”

- As parliament considered leaving Paris in 1914 to escape German advancement: “Yes we are too far from the front.”

- To French National Assembly in March 1918: “Je fais la guerre!” (I am the war!)

- After German Armistice: “Yes we have won the war and not without difficulty; but now we are going to have to win the peace, and that will perhaps be even more difficult.”

What was the goal of the conference of Versailles?

What did the British and French want at Versailles?

What was the goal of Britain and France at the Paris Peace Conference?

What goal did France mainly want in the Treaty of Versailles?