Thesis

The Effects of the Great War on Europe and the World

After Germany agreed to sign the armistice on November 11, 1918, the victorious Allies gathered in Paris at the Palace of Versailles to stabilize peace and recreate the European continent.  The guiding idea behind the decisions made at Versailles was nationalism.

 

Countries Represented		Countries Absent
United States England France Italy (did not join in the war with the Triple Alliance, but joined with the British in 1915) Poland Czechoslovakia Belgium Greece nations of the British Commonwealth (worldwide) many Latin-American nations Japan (Asia) Siam (Asia) China (Asia) Liberia (Africa)		Russia (withdrew from the war in 1917 to deal with Bolshevik revolutions at home) Germany Austria-Hungary Turkey Bulgaria (joined the Central Powers in 1915)

The "Big Three" (England, France, and the United States), dominated the meeting at Versailles.  The "Big Three" also included Italy and was therefore the "Big Four", however Italy did not hold the same amount of power as the other three countries did.  The leaders of each of the three larger countries had different goals for the peace conference.

• Georges Clemenceau of France adamantly pushed for the dismantling of Germany.  France and Germany had always been enemies, and therefore France had no trouble punishing Germany for the terrors of the war.
  
• David Lloyd George presented two opinions.  His English people, like the French, desired retribution.  Personally, Lloyd George saw a stable Germany as a benefit to Europe.  Lloyd George was aware of the danger that the ever-growing communist faction in Russia presented to Western Europe.  Communism would threaten the stability that he and the other Allied leaders were trying to achieve.  Lloyd George thought that Germany would be an effective buffer state between Russia and Western Europe.
  
• Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, was interested in the European affairs in relation to the impact of the war and the aftermath of the war upon the entire world.  Wilson did not want to be involved in European politics so much as he wanted to create a framework for universal peace based on nationalism and democracy.  His Fourteen Points outline his plan for peace.

Wilson came up with the idea of a "League of Nations" who would govern the political affairs between colonies of the European empires and protect the rights of minority peoples, eliminating the trend whereby the small national groups were overlooked by the more powerful national groups.

The Allies created the Treaty of Versailles based upon Wilson's Fourteen Points and demanded that Germany accept the stipulations within in order to create a lasting peace between the European nations.  Germany was forced to accept the "war guilt clause" that stated that the "war [was] imposed upon [the Allies] by the aggression of Germany and her allies"¹.  The German people were outraged at the accusation that they were at fault for the war.  At first Germany refused to sign the Treaty, but seeing no other choice, the Social Democratic Party and the Catholic Center Party agreed to accept the clause and all the penalties associated with the war guilt clause.  On June 28th, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France.

To view the Treaty of Versailles, visit the website located here.

¹The Treaty of Peace between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany

© Julie
May 2005