THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES Canadian History 1201

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES  At the end of the war, government leaders met near Paris, in the Palace of Versailles, to sign the “Paris Peace Treaty”  32 victorious countries were present  Germany was not invited!!  Robert Borden demanded that Canada be represented as a separate nation  The Big Three made the main decisions

THE BIG THREE - FRANCE  Prime Minister was Georges Clemenceau  Wanted to avoid another war by making sure Germany was too weak to ever attack again  Germany had attacked France twice in Clemenceau’s lifetime!!  He was determined Germany should pay for starting the war

THE BIG THREE – BRITAIN  Prime Minister was David Lloyd George  He was responsible for helping to work out many of the compromises  Although Britain had lost many in the war, he did not want a treaty to be too harsh because he feared Germany would seek revenge in the future

THE BIG THREE – UNITED STATES  President was Woodrow Wilson  They were determined to make a lasting peace settlement  Wanted to treat defeated countries fairly so future revenge wouldn’t be a problem  Suggested Fourteen Points which included complete disarmament and free trade among nations  Suggested setting up a League of Nations to settle future disputes and to promote international co-operation

IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THE TREATY  Polish Corridor  Poland was re-established as an independent nation  This separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany  It was a corridor of land created to separate Germany from East Prussia and allow Poland to have access to the sea

IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THE TREATY  War Guilt Clause  The treaty demanded that Germany accept total blame for the war  Germany was to give up all its weapons, ships and railroads  Germany was to give back all the land it had conquered  Germany must allow Allied troops to be stationed on its territory  Reparations  The Allied governments required that Germany pay back for all wartime damage to the civilian population and the property of the Allied powers  This equalled about $33 billion, with $5 billion being due in the first month

REACTION TO THE TREATY  PM Borden publicly acknowledged that these terms were hash  It was hoped by the drafters of the policy that the Treaty would make the First World War the “war to end all wars”  Although the purpose of the treaty was to weaken Germany so that it couldn’t wage war again it unfortunately did the opposite and made Germany angry and want revenge