15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
The delegates that crafted the treaty that ended the First World War believed that they had brought lasting peace to Europe. President Wilson felt that the war had made much of the world safe for democracy to spread. However, conflicting goals, the harsh terms of the treaty, and Germany’s response to those terms would lead to the most destructive conflict in world history - World War Two.
====Deliberations==What were the goals of the Allies after World War I? ==
[[File:Versailles_1919.jpg|thumbnail|250px|left|Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson at the Formal Signing of the Treaty.]]
The delegates of the victorious powers met in Paris to discuss the terms of the peace, followed by the treaty's signing at the former French royal palace of Versailles. Led by the "Big Four," the U.S., France, Italy, and Great Britain. Each had their its own goals and vulnerabilities. While the U.S. President Wilson adhered to an idealistic view of collective responsibility and ethnic self-determination, France was driven largely by one thing: revenge. France sought to avenge its humiliating loss almost fifty years earlier in the Franco-Prussian War that resulted in a united Germany.
This idea of revanchism had consumed generations of French policy, and a clear opportunity finally presented itself. France demanded terms that would have completely de-industrialized and demilitarized Germany. The French floated proposals that included breaking up Germany proper and creating a client state in the industrial Rhineland. France demanded harsh reparations for the damage done to its country and Belgium during the conflict. Ultimately, Germany was forced to pay $31 billion in reparations under the treaty. <ref>Roekmeke, Feldman, and Glaser, Editors. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521621321/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0521621321&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=23707e21c609bf040f6ea201065827fb The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment after 75 Years]</i>, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Page 90.</ref>
