The first dispute occurred in January 1919. A meeting was held at Versailles in France by the leaders of each country as to decide how to punish the Germans. The leaders who attended the meeting were Lloyd George, prime minister of England, Georges Clemenceau, prime minister of France, and Woodrow Wilson, president of America. They were also known as “The Big Three” However they disagreed with each other’s ideas. They each wanted something, which benefits themselves.
Firstly, as the French were probably one of the worst victims of WWI. The prime minister of France wanted the German to be deeply punished. A request to have Germany demilitarized from the border of Germany to France and a restriction which Germans could only have 100000 men on their army. Also they wanted the Germany to pay all the reparations coursed during WWI. As well, he believed that Germany should be blamed for everything of what happened in WWI.
Secondly, the British Prime Minister Lloyd George had different opinions to Clemenceau’s points. The main reason was because England got everything they wanted from the war. First the German military got destabilized. Second, the German naval threat was gone and the British colonies aren’t threatened anymore. England’s punishments for Britain aren’t as harsh as the French. A restriction on German’s army and pay a large amount for reparation was all they wanted. This was mainly due to the fact that Germany was one of their big trading partners. If Germany was bankrupt, England won’t benefit at all. Lloyd George declared if the treaty listened to Clemenceau, Germans would revenge in 25 years.
The Essay on Disarmament Germany Wanted
DISARMAMENT AND INTERNATIONALISM Introduction In the years immediately after World War I, the view developed that it was the existence of the massive military machines of the European powers that had made war possible in 1914. Thus it followed that if another disaster were to be avoided, these military machines needed to be destroyed. A war cannot be fought without military power. Furthermore it ...
Thirdly, the Americans had a total different idea. Woodrow Wilson believed that the factors, which caused WWI, weren’t all because of Germany. France and England should also be blamed for the cause of the war. Wilson considered that the Europeans’ diplomatic was too self-determined, they ignores the public’s wishes or opinions. He also believed that the problems could only be solved if there is the relations between the countries were improved and a new self determined diplomatic government was being could be created through all the European countries.
In conclusions, the main courses of the conflict during the “The Big Three” meeting were: firstly, the diplomatic relationships between the three countries, where the Americans hated the British, England and France also hated each other, they were only uniting before cause had to face a tough enemy. Secondly, the French wanted Germans to pay for more than what they caused, where England just wanted Germany to pay for a certain amount since they got exactly what wanted. Thirdly America had a totally different opinion to both of the other countries in the treaty, which was probably the major cause of the conflict.
