- Peace settlements.
- Explain the development of peace at the end of World War I.
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Carlos De León
Social Studies Department Chair
Luther Burbank High School
08 November 2011
World War I - Effects & Results of War
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Carlos De León
Social Studies Department Chair
Luther Burbank High School
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Carlos De León
Social Studies Department Chair
Luther Burbank High School
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The development of peace after World War I was initially attempted by calling the 1919 Peace Conference in France to discuss and issue peace treaties between the major powers (TCW, 72). Most of the peace settlements revolved around Germany and making amends for war reparations she had to pay towards France. This was tackled by destroying Germany's military capability and reducing its economic strength (TCW, 73). Peace Conference wanted to tweak Germany's power and make sure to prevent a second war from breaking out.
At the end of World War I the developments of peace were done with the idea of creating great peace with the treaties, to the US some of its hopes were focused on the President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson took with him a series of 14 points that he put together in 1918, in these 14 points Wilson he outlined what he thought was going to bring peace once and for all to Europe. They were all great points but one of the down side of this was that he didn’t consult any of the allies about his proposals, this might have been the cause of then rejecting all of the but one, the league of nation. In the end the treaties were all just talk and nothing really got done resulting in WWII. (Source TCW, pp. 72-73)
After world war one the winning parties along with the losing parties, held a meeting titled the Paris Peace conference. The main focus of this conference was to generate peace ideas and create peace treaties in order to try and create world peace after such a great war. Ideas of what should be done and what can be done were all reviewed. Woodrow Wilson was a major contributor with his 14 points which he submitted, these points focused on basic principles to be followed by all who were in attendance during conference. "Wilson seemed to embody a new kind of international politics based on moral principles rather than on selfish interests"(TCW, pg.72) After world war one principals were being focused on further in order to develop peace in the world. Countries had already seen that forcing things on one another can only cause conflict so morals were what Wilson focused on. Even though he did only get one point passed this outlook was used in the conference. It was what would eventually create the League of Nations, which was a group focused on peace. They would create peace treaties between the opposing powers that they fought. Peace treaties were the other part of developing peace worldwide. Peacemakers in Paris had the task to "...draft the treaties ending the war with the central powers and their allies."(TCW, pg.74) These peace treaties were essential in ending the war, which would allow for peace to become the next topic. Wilson's 14 points along with peace treaties were what started the development of peace after World War one. These two things were essential for peace to have an opportunity to spread in the world.
Paris PEACE conference was supposed to be about establishing international peace but that was not the result. Every Country that came into this conference did not come with the intentions of establishing peace because they had their own ideas of what they called peace. The only person that really tried establishing peace was Woodrow Wilson. "Wilson seemed to embody a new kind of international politics based on moral principles rather than on selfish interests." (TCWp72) Wilson wanted to create world peace by eliminating what he thought had caused the war. He wanted freedom of navigation, self- determination of mandates, free trade, stop back room agreements, general disarmament, create the League of Nations, and make Germany pay to some extent the damage it had caused. Wilson felt that if these points were practiced by everybody that peace could be achieved but not everybody agreed with Wilson. Everybody else wanted to something out of this conference that would benefit them not everybody.
France wanted Germany to suffer like Germany had made them suffer. France was afraid of Germany rebuilding itself and attacking France again. France wanted to weaken Germany by placing many restrictions on them, demilitarizing their army, territorial reduction, and make Germany pay reparations. Most importantly, France wanted to create an alliance with the United States and Britain just in case Germany ever tried attacking France again. France had the intentions of only protecting themselves by weakening their enemy and by finding a way to protect themselves.
France was not the only country who were thinking only about themselves, Italy and Japan had their own intentions. Japan wanted to be recognized for its dominant position in China. They wanted the possession of the former Germany territories in China and the Pacific. Japan was a small country and wanted to expand its power. It wanted to secure a large empire for security and economic strength. Italy on the other hand also wanted remaining territory so it could become a more powerful country. When Italy was denied its territorial interest they walked out of the Versailles conference.
So as you can see nobody was in it for peace they were in it for themselves. They thought peace meant protecting themselves first.
After the First World War the men who would work together to establish treaties that will finalize the peace were Lloyd George of the UK, Woodrow Wilson of the USA, and Clemenceau of France. However, the development of peace would be a difficult one as each one had its own desires in what reparations should be made to who and what nation should be punished. Wilson with his 14 Points wanted peace in trade and sea with little punishment to Germany and a League of Nations. George had similar ideas to Wilson but what contributed to frustrated, along with Wilson, at the Paris Peace Conference was Clemenceau who wanted harsh punishments against Germany. Surprisingly enough Wilson did contribute to such arguments because he was a stubborn man, sticking to his ideas and never leaving them. "He was also stubborn....Once the decision is made it is final and there is an absolute end to all advice and suggestion. There is no moving him after that." (Paris 5) Due to such conflicting desires for how peace should be made and different personalities, the majority of the development of peace was bickering, arguing, and frustration to establish a treaty everyone can agree with. In the end, however, the Allies were able to accomplished a lot but not everything. "...the peacemakers had accomplished an enormous amount: a League of Nations....mandates...Germany treaty finished, the treaties of Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Turkey nearly done...but there were many loose ends....Finland? Ukraine? Georgia? Armenia?" (Paris 485-486) The main established peace treaty was the Treaty of Versailles but after this development of peace the three did not get their full satisfaction in establishing peace. This treaty punished Germany severely and altered borders in favor of France. Clemenceau was pleased but not Wilson. In fact, Wilson only got one of his 14 Points to get approved by the other two. The other treaties would be specific for each nation in establishing mandates, borders, military restraints, and reparations for the Allies. So out of the whole conference, Clemenceau would leave the most pleased because he was able to get what he wanted, swift punishment for Germany. Wilson would leave the most discouraged because of his failure to get his 14 Points out and integrated into all the Treaties. Lloyd George was in the middle of satisfaction, believing that the conference was a success but not fully content on how the treaties should have been made. It would be twenty years before their decisions would return to haunt the world again in the Second World War.
“No international meeting ever aroused such anticipation as the conference that convened in Paris in January 1919 to write the peace treaties. Surely, people thought, so great a war would result in an equally great peace.” (TCW, p.72) After WWI, because it was the First World War they did not know too much about what they were doing. After the War, they, being the country representatives, met in Paris to discuss what were to happen with the “losing powers”. You could say each one of the powers had there own agendas for the meeting, hint Wilson’s 14 points. “Wilson seemed to embody a new kind of international politics based on moral principles rather than on selfish interests. Early in 1918, Wilson had outlined American objectives in the war.” (TCW, p. 72) When they got to the conference, really what they were doing is setting up a series of treaties, to punish the “losing” countries. The Treaty of Saint-Germain, Treaty of Trianon, Treaty of Sèvres, Treaty of Lausanne, Treaty of Versailles, and Treaty of Neuilly. All of these treaties put some punishment on an individual country. They dealt with punishing mainly Germany with the Treaty of Versailles. However, they were also addressed to Austria and Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, and others. “The fate of the colonial peoples was a side issue for the peacemakers of Paris, whose real task was to draft the treaties ending the war with the Central Powers and their allies.” (TCW, p. 74) This was their major step at making peace punishing the losing powers through demilitarizing the army, having them pay reparations and taking away there land. Another thing they did to bring peace was the League of Nations, which was apart of Wilson’s 14 points. They would form this so that “…this system would pledge to preserve one another’s independence and integrity. In this way, the system that keeps the peace in a smaller human community- willingness to obey the law and condemnation of those who defy it- would replace the international anarchy that had brought disaster in 1914.” (TCW, p. 73) This was there development of peace here at the conference with the treaties and the League.
World War I ended not in a victory or loss for either side but with an armistice. Regardless of the truth, everyone ganged up on the Central powers, especially Germany, and used them as scapegoats of blame for the entire war. Why was the blame thrown at Germany?
The Great War had seen great deaths and suffering. The loser would, as old logic would dictate, need great punishment. Before World War I, the world always punished losers of wars by taking land, taking control, or limiting armies. The Germans took Alsace-Lorraine from the French in 1871. At the end of World War I, peace developed with the same ideas, with "Germany [forced]... to repair the damage its war had caused" through reparations, loss of land, loss of resources, and loss of a true army. (TCW, p. 77)
How exactly was peace developed after World War I? The Allies came together to blame Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and especially Germany, uniting the Allies in a sort of pseudo victory that allowed them to 'win the war' and finally agree on 'peace.' Peace came from limiting the powers of the losers and ensuring that Germany was too weak to retaliate or pose a threat to anyone. Was this the most efficient way to come about peace? Of course not, as evidenced by World War II and the rise of Hitler in a barren Germany. This idea of bringing peace by destroying the enemy was proven to be useless and more harmful than helpful. Blaming Germany at the end of WWI through punishment may have brought peace, but only to the Allies as the limiting did nothing to bring Germany peace but instead brought rage and hatred. All Germany needed was someone strong enough to light the fuse.
In other countries and regions, development of peace was not as bad as it was in Germany. Austria-Hungary, full of cultures that hated each other, was finally split. The cultures within now had land for themselves! Well, not quite. The wishes of each group were largely ignored by the Big Three (The US, Britain, and France) and they basically spent their time fixing the world in their eyes, ignoring what everyone in the area actually wanted. They were often ignorant toward these wishes, with their decisions "the result of accident and hasty, often desperate choices." (Paris 1919, p. 110) Many of the cultures grouped together in these countries made from the lands A-H used to occupy hated each other. The Big Three simply did not care. While development of peace in this region was less problematic, it was still very inefficient and only delayed future problems instead of fixing them.
The Paris Peace Conference simply failed at bringing peace. Development through blame, recentering, and hatred only pushed peace further away. The only good thing the Peace Conference brought along were examples of what doesn't work for peace. With these examples, the world has learned how to work more efficiently to solve problems. Even if the world still isn't successful, it has learned much from the failures after WWI, where development of peace was hasty, inconsiderate, and problematic.
"The fate of the colonial peoples was a side issue for the peacemakers of Paris,whose task was to draft the treaties ending the war with the central powers and their allies."(TCW, p. 74)Five treaties were developed, one dealing with the Ottoman Empire, three were dealt with southeastern Europe and the last dealt with what was to be done with Germany. The goal was to give Germany enough punishment so that it would not rise to be a threat once more. Yet the development of peace was only temporary, because Germany was not dealt with harsh enough because they were able to rise again. "Despite some Wilsonian language, it imposed on Germany a peace no patriotic German could accept. But it did not cripple Germany enough to prevent it from eventually challenging the verdict of 1919 by force." (TCW, p.75)
Peace development at the end of World War I was largely affected by the war itself and its effects. Nations who had been involved in the war didn't want to make the same mistakes that had brought them to war in the first place so their pace making was about prevention and eliminating the threat of war. Since most nations got involved in the war through alliances Wilson's first of his 14 points was, "there shall be no private international understandings of any kind..." (Point I, Wilson's Fourteen Points) Since the war was also caused by tensions between ethnic groups in countries peace settlements after the war also focused on giving groups their own countries and giving colonies more freedom. Wilson calls this self-determination and talks about it in some of his points. After WWI nations were trying to prevent another war and this is illustrated in the development of peace after the war
World War I was the first multinational war that devastated the economies and morale of the countries involved. Establishing peace thereafter was about ensuring that Germany could not rise again or instigate another issue that would lead to global war. Woodrow Wilson wrote his 14 Points to act as a guidebook for preventing another war. His first point stated the following on secret alliances that were a cause of WWI: “Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.” (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/wilson14.asp) Germany was secretly allied with Austria-Hungary and Russia with Serbia, which was the origin of the immediate cause of WWI. The Paris Peace Conference was about establishing a new world order that worked for all countries involved. “Almost everyone in Paris in 1919 believed that Germany had started the war. (Only later did doubts begin to arise.) Germany had invaded neutral Belgium, and German troops, to the horror of the Allied an American opinion, has behaved badly.” (Paris, p. 161) Clemenceau, Wilson, and Lloyd George agreed that Germany should give Alsace-Lorraine back to France, surrender other mandates, pay war reparations to the Allies, and take full responsibility for the war. The development of peace at the end of WWI was about “prevention and punishment” of the causes of WWI, this mainly included punishing Germany.
The development of peace (well at least peace for the moment) was characterized by the creation of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.
First off the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was created to solve the problems dealing with Germany's punishment.
"The hardest task in Paris was to decide what to do with Germany. To justify the loss of millions of lives, the statesmen had to ensure that future generations would not have to fight another German war. " (TCW p. 75) At the end of the war, the main three (Lloyd George, Clemenceau, and Wilson) had come to a consensus that Germany was the aggressor nation. The problem was how to deal with Germany and prevent any other conflicts. One conflict between Lloyd George and Clemenceau was the issue of reparations. Clemenceau felt that since the war nearly destroyed France, Germany should pay full reparations to completely destroy Germany's economy. Britain did not want this for if Germany's economy did get completely destroyed, then it would mean the loss of a major trading partner. After much debate, The Main three finally agreed on a sum of money that they believed Germany could pay. However
"..the victors; bill of 132 billion gold marks was so high that Germany needed huge American loans to stretch out payment of its debt." (TCW p.77)
"To prevent another German invasion like those of 1870 and 1914, Frenchman felt German territory should be amputated in the west as well as in the east" (p. 77) The French felt that the taking of Alsace Lorraine would be revenge for the German winning the Franco Prussian War and taking parts of France. They also wanted to take away parts of Germany's eastern borders and create new territories such as Poland and Czechoslovakia. This also applied the disintegration of the Austrian Hungarian Empire. The borders for these territories were further explained in smaller treaties like the Treaty of Sevres, Treaty of St. Germane, etc.
Lastly another major point addressed in the Treaty of Versailles was the disarmament of Germany and the establishment of the Weimar Republic. "The Kaiser and his regime, who bore responsibility for the war, had been driven from power. Germany was now in the hands of democratic leaders." (TCW p. 75) British and Americans believed that a Dictatorship would have lead to another conflict, so morally the right thing to do would to have set up a democracy in order to prevent another war. The Treaty of Versailles gave Germany the Weimar Republic to occupy the power vacuum. Along with this was the disarmament of Germany. "The German army was to be limited to a hundred thousand men. Germany could have neither submarines nor an air force. Characteristics of the compromise nature of the treaty, this virtual disarmament of Germany was described as the first stop toward the general disarmament called for in the Fourteen Points." (TCW p.76)
Next is the League of Nations.
"At heart of Wilson's vision was a League of Nations to provide the collective security that, in a well-run civil society, was provided by government, its laws, its courts and its police...The League was to have a council that could 'butt in' in case of disputes." (Paris p. 13) The League was created in the hopes that any dispute would be settled through diplomatic means without resorting to war. "The League did represent something very important both a recognition of the changes that had already taken place in international relations and a bet placed on the future...Many Europeans had long wanted a better way of managing international relations. The war they had just survived made sense only if it produced a better world and an end to war. (Paris p. 84-85)
At the end of the First World War, a peace conference was held in Paris. We now know this as The Paris Peace Conference. "The Paris Conference of great and small nations fell into the hands of an inner clique, known as the Big Four. Wilson, representing the richest and freshest great power, more or less occupied the driver's seat." (AP Pg.720) The other three powers that were basically in charge of the Paris Peace Conference were Britain, France, and Italy. These four powers made majority of the decisions at the conference which included the punishment of Germany.
Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, came with a Fourteen Point Plan. This plan was made in order to create world peace. Out of the Fourteen Points, only one was accepted at the Peace Conference. It was the creation of The League of Nations. The United States did not join The League of Nations because of a certain article that they felt would make their government lose power.
This is the way many of the debates and ideas at the Paris Peace Conference went on. Many ideas that countries had that weren't in the Big Four weren't even taken into account. It was kind of silly to leave four countries the duty of establishing world peace. The only reason these four countries assumed leadership at the Paris Peace Conference was because they felt that they won a war that had no real winner.
The main things that came out of the Paris Peace Conference were the Treaty of Versailles which ruined Germany's economy, and The League of Nations which later showed to be a failed idea.
After World War I, Allied forces came together to devise a plan to prevent another world war. This plan came from the Paris Peace Conference and was known as the Treaty of Versailles in June 28th, 1919. In all of the articles brought together were supposed to instill peace among Europe with the creation of a League of Nations, which was the only point of Wilson’s Fourteen Points that was taken. The League of Nations were to be enforcers of the articles established in the treaty, “The Member of the League recognize that the maintenance of peace requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations.” (Treaty of Versailles 1919, Article 8) and “Any war or threat of war, whether immediately affecting any of the Members of the League or not, is hereby declared a matter of concern to the whole League, and the League shall take any action that may be deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations.” (Treaty of Versailles 1919, Article 11). The League of Nations were to be the enforcers of peace when it came to how countries in and out of the League ran themselves or showed a threat to begin another word.
World War 1 came to a sudden halt. A seize-fire was issued which stopped battles all over Europe.
The Paris Peace Conference was held to establish the state of which Europe was left after the war and what could be done to reconstruct Europe. This included a variety of things such as war guilts, reparations, territorial changes and different back door agreements between countries.
France wanted to stick it to Germany and blame the entire World War 1 on them. They hammer Germany with an insane debt that they were to gradually pay off, and they limited Germany's army, and took back some of the territory that was taken from France by Germany.
Multiple treaty were Constructed and signed by the member nations of the Paris Peace Conference, most notably, The Treaty of Verailles.
"The fate of the colonial people was aside issue for the peacemakers of Paris, whose real task was to draft the treaties ending the war with Central Powers and their allies."-TCW 74
Peace at the end of World War 1 seemed to be the top priority, but it seemed that greed blinded most of the great powers. Wilson had laid out 14 points that would obtain peace, but only one was followed through with. That point had to do with the punishment of Germany. That seemed to be on everyones mind, that and gaining territory. In the end, the paris peace conference achieved everything except peace. They managed to punish Germany, reconstruct borders, and change lands. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie. This led to back-room deals and hidden benefits. Something that Wilson did not want to happen.
During World War I tensions rose between the rest of the world and Germany. When the war was over, two main things on the world's mind was how to punish Germany for starting the war and what to do to avoid another war. For countries such as France, they strongly believed that Germany should be severely punished for their wrong doings. The United States and Britain, on the other hand, felt Germany should just get a slap on the wrist. U.S. president created and proposed the Fourteen points to the world. These points drilled peace as the big idea to achieve. Although they were socially accepted, all but one was politically denied. The one kept created the League of Nations which, in 1919, discussed the results of the war and how they would handle them at the Paris Peace Conference. While in Paris, there was much debate, mainly between the 3 world powers: the United States, Britain, and France, and there seemed to be no comfortable way of compromising. "Faced with hard realities, Wilson was forced to compromise away some of his less cherished Fourteen Points in order to salvage the more precious League of Nations." (AP, p. 722) Wilson's idea and struggle to create peace had become a scramble for justice and reparations.
The League of Nations, which had been created to maintain peace in the world, proved to be unstable and weak and therefore cleared the pathway to World War II.
World War i came to an armistice meaning there was no winners or losers but the Europeans were looking for someone to blame. Tired of fighting a war Germany was the target and were accused for the whole war. It was't entirely their fault if you look back it, they were part of the war as any of the other countries. Soon after this accusation there were acts of "justice." In order to make things seem politically correct peace treaties were developed. The "aggressor" nation which in this case was Germany (not really but someones had to be pointed a finger at) had to be punished for its actions. "Now that Germany had surrendered, it should be broken up so that there would be several weak Germanies, as there had been through most of European history." (TCW pp. 75) This was only one of the few steps in weakening Germany but what the allies didn't and were slowly causing was the start of the sequel to this war.
One of the main things that led to the development of peace at the end of World war one was the Paris Peace Conference.
"Paris was sad and beautiful as the peacemakers began to assemble from all parts of the world in January 1919" - Paris 1919, Chapter 3:Paris, Pg. 26
The Paris Peace conferences was a conference obviously held in Paris. The purpose of this conference was to help to create terms that would ensure peace and ensure that there would no longer be wars such as World War 1.
Many things were tried, in order to help to ensure that peace was made. And by things, i mean different methods of trying to keep peace. One of these was the setting up and the development of the League of Nations. "On January 25, the peace conference formally approved the setting up of a commission on the League of Nations." - Paris 1919, Pg. 83, Ch.7: The League of Nations.
The purpose of this League of Nations was pretty much to govern the world. They were supposed to ensure that no more wars happened in the future. They were later proved to be a very weak force. I believe the reason for this was that they were put together in such a little time. "Cecil thought Wilson was mad when he talked of writing the League covenant in two weeks, but in fact the work went extraordinarily quickly, thanks partly to the fact that the British and the Americans had come to substantial agreement beforehand. The first meeting was held on February 3, and by February 14 a comprehensive draft was ready." - (Paris 1919, Pg. 91, Ch7: The league of Nations.) The league of Nations was a rushed organization, and that is why it failed, and the reason why it was so weak.
The main thing that was needed for peace to be ensured was the weakening of Germany. "None of the victorious powers thought Germany should get back its colonial possessions which included several strings of Pacific islands and pieces of Africa, and Wilson had made it clear that he expected the League to assume responsibility for their governance." (Paris 1919, Pg. 98, Chapter 8) The reason for making Germany weaker is so that they wouldn't be able to fight a war again. They were the main threat of war ever arising again, and that is why it was necessary to make them weak to prevent future war.
The Treaty of Versailles helped to weaken Germany in different ways, so they would be less capable of starting a war. One of these examples is it limiting Germany's army. "Germany was left, as even the Allies admitted, with something closer to a police force than an army" (Paris 1919, Pg. 176, Chapter 14) They made Germany's army alot smaller than it used to be, in order to weaken it so they couldn't rage war.
Overall, those were just a few of the things that happened at the Paris Peace conference that helped to ensure peace. It didn't really work out overall, however, since more wars happened in the future. It did create a small period of peace, however.
After the First World War came the Paris Peace Conference. In this conference, the ultimate goal was a world peace. Wilson was very “Let’s work for peace,” while Clemenceau was very “Beat down Germany!” This caused a change in the development of peace. What was originally peace was now becoming compromise. Wilson had brought up his Fourteen Points (which would have clearly prevented the Second World War, had they been accepted), each assessing a topic that was a cause of the war, or that would hinder warfare. Two main causes that came to mind were the armaments and the colonies. The armaments were a race of their own, and the colonies were only through mercantilism for the growth of the larger nation. With Wilson’s Fourteen points, “national armaments [would’ve] been reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety,” (Wilson’s Fourteen Points) and that the colonial claims would be based off of the interest of the colonies. With these two alone, the world would have been less hostile; fewer armaments meant a lower availability for another war, and the colonial interest could have stopped some of the economic troubles. These two could have truly changed the peace after World War I. Clemenceau had his own plans for Germany’s demise and France’s rise. With this came the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to the France from Germany and the use of the German mines for France. Putting Germany in a rut and making them feel like a lesser. Helping Germany as oppose to hurting it would have changed the feeling of Germany from a rut to a stable state and lifted it up to a peaceful state as oppose to the upset state it was in.
After the end of every war comes the time to make peace and settle out who gets what and the reasons why. In previous wars the winners decided the fate of the losers and usually took all that they wanted/needed but how does this apply to a war that involved the entire world and no clear cut loser was present?
The answer is one that is both simple and complex. The short version would be that neither side won, since everyone lost in this war. The long answer would be as follows.
One side took maters into their own hands, the side involving Britain, France and the United states, and started to make peaceful treaties and arrangements making it seem that Germany had caused the war, Germany lost the war, so Germany must pay for the war. All this took place at the Paris Peace Conference where "the real task was to draft the treaties ending the war...they produced five such treaties." (TCW. 74) The 5 treaties were the following: Versailles, St. Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, and Serves; each treaty dealt with various issues of the war but the most known and possibly the most important was the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty was the one that officially ended the war, dealt with Germany's reparations and established the League of Nations.
Since the "Important decisions of the Paris Peace Conference were the work of the Big Three: President Wilson, French Prime Minister Clemenceau, and British Prime Minister Lloyd George," (TCW 75-76) it led to nothing but disaster. "The peacemakers of Paris failed because of conflicting views...World War II might have been avoided if one of the these approaches to the German problem had been fully applied." (TCW. 75) It just did not work out because of their differing views. One wanted revenge, another wanted peace for all and the third was somewhere in between. All in all, WWI solved some problems but it also created new ones, some that would not been seen until the second world war.
World War 1 ended with an armistice stating Germany's surrender to the allied powers. An already enraged Clemenceau was prepared with an official outline, stating methods on how to punish Germany's acts of destruction upon France, at the newly established Paris Peace Conference. Wilson came prepared for peace with a 14 point outline that stated methods on attaining peace. (Paris, pg. 13) Lloyd George, a moderate in the conference, came with strong convictions in terms of colonies and reparations for his country Great Britain. Although all arrived at the peace conference with differing goals and opinions, all knew one thing, Germany was to be punished. If peace was to be attainable, then Germany needed consequences in order to ensure that Germany never struck again. However, opinions differed in terms of the severity of the punishment. Clemenceau wanted the utmost severity of punishment placed upon Germany, and believed the the only way for peace to be truly attained is to keep the allied forces between America and Britain alive. (Paris, pg. 32) The main three ended up devising a treaty known as the Treaty of Versailles. Although, there were other treaties that focused on the punishment of other countries involved in the war (such as taking land away from Austria-Hungary and changing territorial boundaries so that Austria-Hungary no longer exists) the treaty of Versailles was most crucial because of the mass financial and territorial destruction Germany had caused. It was very important that the Big Three used the Treaty of Versailles as a hindrance in order to prevent Germany from dragging the country into war again. The terms in the treaty involved stripping Germany of its territories and some African Colonies, the demilitarization of the Rhine, and the demand for a payment of reparations due to the war damages caused by Germany. (Paris, pg. 202) By punishing Germany and presenting the country with limitations, the Big Three believed that the development of war would be less apparent, however they were wrong. The treaty of Versailles had weakened the German economy greatly due to the reparations that were needed to be payed, and Germany was suffering greatly. In the 1930's Germany saw the rise of a strongly charismatic man named Hitler, in the hopes of a new and better future the public voted for him as chancellor. Hitler would then go on to break the Treaty of Versailles statements (such as the demilitarization of the Rhine), and continued to pass through the breaking of the Treaty ignored. By doing so, this allotted Hitler with the chance to achieve great power, and in turn start a second World War. Peace was now distant light years away.
On November 11, 1918 the two sides who’d been fighting World War I signed an armistice, and before long the winning side, the Allies would open the Paris Peace Conferences. The Conference would draft and sign numerous treaties dealing with the losing powers and also bring into existence the League of Nations.
During the interwar years the League would attempt to “promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war by the prescription of open, just and honorable relations between nations” (Covenant of the League of Nations). This ideal would fail though as countries continued to make secret deals, such as a proposed deal by France and Britain to Mussolini that would divide Ethiopia – a fellow signatory to the covenant (Second Italo-Ethiopian War packet). The League would also fail to address the grievances that the Treaty of Versailles left on the German people and the Japanese unlawful invasion and seizure of Manchuria (the Manchurian incident). These events would weaken the League – and the idea of collective security – to a point where it was laughable as a system and would fail to reverse the course the world was on, straight into World War II.
(I'm really sorry if I already posted this, I wasn't sure if it went through the first time or not.)
Everyone had their own self interest no one really cared for peace but Woodrow Wilson. "Wilson seemed to embody a new kind of international politics based on moral principles rather than on selfish intrest." (TCW, pg. 72)
For example, France self intrest was the reductions in territory of Germany and Britain wanted to stop Germany from taking actions and wanted Germany to pay high reparations.
Wilson was basically the only one who took action to create peace and not to benefit himself or those around him. Wilson was different from others in the way that peace was actually a target he was aiming for.
At the end of World War I, the nations involved wanted to establish a world that would never be razed by a war of that same magnitude. In order to do this, belligerent nations were dealt with and the League of Nations was established. It was believed that by doing these two things, the world would not have to suffer from another war. The belligerent nations of World War I all had peace treaties that dealt with them and their related issues (TCW 74). In some cases, this meant dealing with the ethnic diversity within the nations. In Germany’s case, this meant deconstructing the nation’s military (TCW 75). It was believed that by crippling Germany, the nation would not be able to rise up and cause another war. Woodrow Wilson also brought the idea of collective security to the world in his Fourteen Points. Nations began to believe that through collective security, looking out for one another, peace would be established worldwide (TCW 73). Through the League, laws and punishment would take the place of war during disputes between nations. The idea of the League of Nations and the Peace Treaties passed were aimed at creating peace after World War I.
The development of peace at the end of WWI came when Germany had been seen as the country at fault and decided to create the Treaty of Versailles in order to lay down territorial and political clauses as well as state who was going to fund these demands (Treaty of Versailles Article 231). As well as the terrible state that most countries were in at the end of the war, another reason for countries to put their weapons down in favor of peace was because everyone was given something in turn for their hardships during the war, “Germany cedes to France in compensation for the destruction of coal mines in North France, unencumbered and free from all debts and charges of any kind” (Treaty of Versailles Article 45). The Treaty of Versailles in itself was the development of peace, it brought every country together to determine the source of the problem, how they were going to solve it and what was necessary in order to heal the damage that was done. There were also measures taken to make sure that Germany would be able pay off the debt “the allied and associated governments recognize that the resources of Germany are not adequate, after taking into account permanent diminutions; to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage (Treaty of Versailles Article 232).
World War I was ended by an armistice in 1918. The sudden and abrupt end to WWI was a rather disappointment to many nations, as Germany was very much still able to fight. It was a stalemate in some ways, and it's very difficult to determine terms for the loser when the loser did not see itself as one.
A Peace Conference was made, inviting representatives of several countries to discuss and determine the terms of a treaty with Germany, as well as other pressing issues.
The Paris Peace Conference was a conglomeration of opposing ideas, each determined to be accepted. The US (Woodrow Wilson) insisted upon its idealist values, while many European countries insisted upon practical methods to keep Germany down. The US envisioned peace as a cooperative democratic system of each country, while others saw it necessary to use force to maintain it.
"Wilson’s was a liberal and a Christian vision. It challenged the
view that the best way to preserve the peace was to balance nations
against each other, through alliances if necessary, and that
strength, not collective security, was the way to deter attack." (Paris, p. 41)
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