a) What did Lloyd George want to achieve in the Versailles settlement? (4)
He wanted to prevent a future attack from Germany and did this by attempting to restrict Germany’s Navy to 6 battleships of limited tonnage (36 ships in total) and get given the remaining ships. He also wanted to force Germany’s to have no air force. He wanted to take Germany’s colonies but did not want to cripple Germany so that it was unable to recover in the short future. This was because Germany was one of Britain’s largest trade partners and Lloyd George saw Britain as bankrupt so losing such a major source of income would be even more damaging to the economy.
b) Explain why the Big Three failed to get everything they wanted at Versailles? (6)
At the Treaty of Versailles all three leaders of Britain, US and France (Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson and Georges Clemenceau respectively) disagreed on many points because they had very different objectives. France had suffered tremendously over the course of the War as the French had had an area the size of Wales ruined and in the process lost 90% of her iron industry, 65% of her steel and lost a quarter of her young men as well. Clemenceau was supported by a vengeful nation and a President called Raymond Poincare who was moved out of Alsace by the Germans when he was very young that wanted to punish Germany harshly for three main reasons: Revenge, Reparations and Security. For Security he wanted to have a buffer from Germany and this came in the form of the Rhineland becoming a Demilitarised Zone and for both revenge and reparations he wanted to be given the produce of the Saar Coalfields for the next 15 years after which a plebiscite would be held to decide if it were to remain German or become French.
Wilson did not want this to occur because he wanted World peace in the future and this would make Germany vengeful since they would feel vulnerable and also would have no means to recover from the Treaty since most of their extremely productive areas would be taken away. He was compensated for this in the form of giving Nation Self-Determination to newly formed nations in Eastern Europe such as Yugoslavia. Both Clemenceau and Lloyd George were sceptical of this since they had colonies themselves and Wilson’s 14 points outlawed this from happening.
Lloyd George did not want Germany to be destroyed since they were a major trade partner important to Britain which was pretty much completely bankrupt. The loss of a major trade partner would be crippling to Britain and would lead to the fall of the British Empire.
Clemenceau and Lloyd George both firmly believed that Auschluss (Political Reunion) with Germany for Austria was to be forbidden since this would create a huge power in central Europe with a massive capacity to wage war once more. Wilson with his idea of National Self-Determination saw this as a breach of their rights and did not support it however he was to give in.
c) The following are all equally important reasons why Germany was dissatisfied with the Treaty of Versailles? (10):
1) War Guilt Clause
2) Military Restrictions
3) Loss of territory
How far do you agree and explain your answer.
The loss of territory affected in the most direct manner possible the people living there and since the Allies took 10% of German territory this affected 13% of the population. The people who felt German no longer had right to be Germans and found it very difficult to get a passport from the countries they now officially belonged since they were distrusted as well. This was apparent in the region of Memel that went to Lithuania. This led to the population that were in confiscated lands to despise the Treaty of Versailles as they were now in an extremely difficult position. However they were not the only ones affected since this also hit the economy of Germany very hard as they lost 16% of coal production and around half of their iron and steel industry. Not only did they have to pay the reparations that were set at a colossal £6.6billion but also now they did not the means to pay them. Germany as a whole was humiliated and was a huge blow to their pride.
Both Britain and France wanted to prevent and protect themselves from a future German attack if there was one. Germany was an incredibly militaristic nation and both her army and navy where symbols of her pride. The navy was limited to 6 battleships of limited tonnage, no air force, no armoured vehicles (e.g. tanks) and their army was limited to the size of a ‘police force’ according to the Germans (100,000 men with Conscription banned). This of course damaged German self-importance but they also felt very vulnerable since they had a vengeful neighbour in the form of France. The army could not possibly defend the might of a French attack with all these limitations in place. Another reason they felt vulnerable is that they had no defence to the French as the Rhineland became a demilitarised zone. The military restrictions affected the Germans in two ways: pride and security.
The legal basis for the massive reparations is Article 231 in which Germany took the full blame for causing the War that humiliated the Germans and besides they did not feel that they had started the War since they were fighting in their eyes a defensive War. They believed that the War was started when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot by a group of Serbian terrorists called the Black Hand, which led to Russia mobilising, and Germany was afraid of encirclement as France was an ally of Russia. The reparations would destroy the German economy and all the German citizens were expected to pay which was almost impossible because of high inflation, recession and the recent blockading of the Allies. They were already starving and these reparations that were unjust were too large for them to achieve.
The Germans saw that their land, money and military prowess were being taken away all for the enhancement of the British and ‘French Empires’ sparking anger and frustration. German pride was severely damaged because of all three aspects of the Treaty of Versailles but in some areas people disliked one aspect of the Treaty more than others. For example ex-Germans in Upper Silesia and in Memel were very upset with the territorial clauses but people in German cities saw that their army had not been defeated and not a single Allied soldier had reached German soil so they were extremely angered that their military prowess had been so abruptly and unfairly destroyed. Workers in the Saar Coalfields felt that their hard work went to Allies and that their country was not benefitting at all. However, overall all three factors were equally important in Germany.
He wanted to prevent a future attack from Germany and did this by attempting to restrict Germany’s Navy to 6 battleships of limited tonnage (36 ships in total) and get given the remaining ships. He also wanted to force Germany’s to have no air force. He wanted to take Germany’s colonies but did not want to cripple Germany so that it was unable to recover in the short future. This was because Germany was one of Britain’s largest trade partners and Lloyd George saw Britain as bankrupt so losing such a major source of income would be even more damaging to the economy.
b) Explain why the Big Three failed to get everything they wanted at Versailles? (6)
At the Treaty of Versailles all three leaders of Britain, US and France (Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson and Georges Clemenceau respectively) disagreed on many points because they had very different objectives. France had suffered tremendously over the course of the War as the French had had an area the size of Wales ruined and in the process lost 90% of her iron industry, 65% of her steel and lost a quarter of her young men as well. Clemenceau was supported by a vengeful nation and a President called Raymond Poincare who was moved out of Alsace by the Germans when he was very young that wanted to punish Germany harshly for three main reasons: Revenge, Reparations and Security. For Security he wanted to have a buffer from Germany and this came in the form of the Rhineland becoming a Demilitarised Zone and for both revenge and reparations he wanted to be given the produce of the Saar Coalfields for the next 15 years after which a plebiscite would be held to decide if it were to remain German or become French.
Wilson did not want this to occur because he wanted World peace in the future and this would make Germany vengeful since they would feel vulnerable and also would have no means to recover from the Treaty since most of their extremely productive areas would be taken away. He was compensated for this in the form of giving Nation Self-Determination to newly formed nations in Eastern Europe such as Yugoslavia. Both Clemenceau and Lloyd George were sceptical of this since they had colonies themselves and Wilson’s 14 points outlawed this from happening.
Lloyd George did not want Germany to be destroyed since they were a major trade partner important to Britain which was pretty much completely bankrupt. The loss of a major trade partner would be crippling to Britain and would lead to the fall of the British Empire.
Clemenceau and Lloyd George both firmly believed that Auschluss (Political Reunion) with Germany for Austria was to be forbidden since this would create a huge power in central Europe with a massive capacity to wage war once more. Wilson with his idea of National Self-Determination saw this as a breach of their rights and did not support it however he was to give in.
c) The following are all equally important reasons why Germany was dissatisfied with the Treaty of Versailles? (10):
1) War Guilt Clause
2) Military Restrictions
3) Loss of territory
How far do you agree and explain your answer.
The loss of territory affected in the most direct manner possible the people living there and since the Allies took 10% of German territory this affected 13% of the population. The people who felt German no longer had right to be Germans and found it very difficult to get a passport from the countries they now officially belonged since they were distrusted as well. This was apparent in the region of Memel that went to Lithuania. This led to the population that were in confiscated lands to despise the Treaty of Versailles as they were now in an extremely difficult position. However they were not the only ones affected since this also hit the economy of Germany very hard as they lost 16% of coal production and around half of their iron and steel industry. Not only did they have to pay the reparations that were set at a colossal £6.6billion but also now they did not the means to pay them. Germany as a whole was humiliated and was a huge blow to their pride.
Both Britain and France wanted to prevent and protect themselves from a future German attack if there was one. Germany was an incredibly militaristic nation and both her army and navy where symbols of her pride. The navy was limited to 6 battleships of limited tonnage, no air force, no armoured vehicles (e.g. tanks) and their army was limited to the size of a ‘police force’ according to the Germans (100,000 men with Conscription banned). This of course damaged German self-importance but they also felt very vulnerable since they had a vengeful neighbour in the form of France. The army could not possibly defend the might of a French attack with all these limitations in place. Another reason they felt vulnerable is that they had no defence to the French as the Rhineland became a demilitarised zone. The military restrictions affected the Germans in two ways: pride and security.
The legal basis for the massive reparations is Article 231 in which Germany took the full blame for causing the War that humiliated the Germans and besides they did not feel that they had started the War since they were fighting in their eyes a defensive War. They believed that the War was started when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot by a group of Serbian terrorists called the Black Hand, which led to Russia mobilising, and Germany was afraid of encirclement as France was an ally of Russia. The reparations would destroy the German economy and all the German citizens were expected to pay which was almost impossible because of high inflation, recession and the recent blockading of the Allies. They were already starving and these reparations that were unjust were too large for them to achieve.
The Germans saw that their land, money and military prowess were being taken away all for the enhancement of the British and ‘French Empires’ sparking anger and frustration. German pride was severely damaged because of all three aspects of the Treaty of Versailles but in some areas people disliked one aspect of the Treaty more than others. For example ex-Germans in Upper Silesia and in Memel were very upset with the territorial clauses but people in German cities saw that their army had not been defeated and not a single Allied soldier had reached German soil so they were extremely angered that their military prowess had been so abruptly and unfairly destroyed. Workers in the Saar Coalfields felt that their hard work went to Allies and that their country was not benefitting at all. However, overall all three factors were equally important in Germany.
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