AP HW# 17 Treaty of Versailles --- P. 920 926 A) Identify a.

. League of Nations: Consisted mainly of Britain, France, Italy, and the United States and was a group of nations that agreed to pursue common policies and interests with each other. b. Clause 231: The Allied and Associated Governments affirm, and Germany accepts, the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by aggression of Germany and her allies. This clause was inserted to justify the huge reparations due to the Allies. B) Discuss the motives of the leaders at the Paris Peace Conference: Lloyd George, Wilson, Clemenceau, and Orlando. a. Lloyd George- Britain - Germany must surrender her colonies and pay reparations to the allies for her part in starting the war. He was against the French positions, which would exhaust Germany and we would lose valuable trading partners. b. Clemenceau- There are only two races- the human race and the German race. The Germans must be made to realize the enormity of their crime. They must be hit in their pride and property. Revenge on Germany and security for France. c. Orlando Italy- Italys main goal is its territory. They entered the war on the allied side in 1915 because of promises made in a secret treaty that they would get back their territory (Alps). d. Wilson US- Peace must be based on the fourteen points He stood for justice. He believed in a just peace that required open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, reduction of weapons, readjustment of colonial claims on a fair basis, and the creation of a league of nations to promote peace. C) Were reparations by Germany to France and Britain justified? a. Reparations by Germany to France and Britain were not justified. This was because the reparations were over exaggerated (it cost Germany an extremely large amount of money to most of the allies). The allies demanded overly strict reparation from Germany that cost it years of depression in its economy. As a matter of fact, the money was not paid off until last year. Germany lost most of the land it had acquired prior to and before the war, which might have been seen as a good thing. That land was certainly not Germanys to take and having to relinquish it back to the rightful owners was a justified movement. However, many states and countries unfairly ganged up on Germany, even though it can be said that Germany started the war (and the blame was put explicitly on Germany). It was more or less started indirectly on Germany; however, the reparations were unfair. France was especially angry and they lost the most people, so its opinion was extremely biased on the matter. D) Could the Treaty of Versailles have secured a lasting peace in Europe? a. The treaty of Versailles came under bitter criticism shortly after it had been finished. France thought that the treaty tied French security to promises of aid from the

unreliable Anglo-Saxon countries. In England and the US, a wave of bitter criticism arose in liberal quarters; the treaty seemed to violate the idealistic and liberal aims that the Western leaders had professed. It was not pure peace, because there were still victors, imperialism was still a problem; it violated the principles of national self-determination by leaving significant pockets of minorities outside the borders of their national homelands. The peace was said to have been so violating to the security of certain countries, that it would bring about war and disruption again as it had in the first place. (And it did, hence World War II). It isolated certain countries and in that way made them resent others. It was not a good treat to secure lasting peace. E) Wilson Could Wilsons plan have secured a lasting peace in Europe? a. I think Wilsons plan definitely could have secured lasting peace in Europe. It promoted respect between the countries. understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view. It promoted freedom of trade, not excluding any other countries as per article II Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas The peace treaty also requested lowest possible national armaments, of course, enough still to promote national security, but little enough to promote peace. Colonial claims were also free and open minded as to take away rivalry and resentment. In general, Wilsons plan promoted peace and equality throughout all of Europe. In fact, a key part in this treaty was Equality. The idea was that all countries should get their equal claims as per the war effort. Everyone fought; everyone lost many things, lives and money. Now everyone deserves to split up the spoils and live on happily in one near-unified Europe.