Trevor McGowan

LBST 2102
5-3-15

Paris Peace Conference Debate

In November of 1918 The War to End All Wars officially ended with a
cease fire on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month. Once the war
ended the next task was determining how to maintain peace for a very long
time. A variety of treaties were written up for all of the countries who were
on the losing side, the most important was The Treaty of Versailles. The
Versailles Treaty was the agreements that Germany would make with the
victorious countries like Great Britain and France. But the Versailles Treaty
was full of issues that ultimately led to future problems like World War II. The
failure of the treaty can be attributed to a few things. First being the lack of
compatibility between the victorious leaders of America, Italy, France, and
Great Britain, who were responsible for determining all punishments and
future regulations for Germany. The other issue is that the treaty wasnt
specific enough in terms of paying debts, nor did it include a reasonable way
for Germany to pay back what they owed.
The leaders of America, Italy, France, and Great Britain after World War
I were known as The Big Four. Woodrow Wilson was president of the United
States, Vittorio Orlando was prime minister of Italy, Georges Clemenceau
was prime minister of France, and David Lloyd George was prime minister of
1. Sabol, Steve. "LBST Global Connections." Class Lecture, WWI, Charlotte, April,
2015.
2. Lyons, Michael J. World War I: A Short History. Second ed. Prentice Hall, 2000.
3. Marks, Sally. "The Myths of Reparations." Central European History 11.03
(1978): 231. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web.

Trevor McGowan
LBST 2102
5-3-15

Great Britain. These four leaders met together for months at the Paris Peace
Conference throughout 1919, they were trying to agree on how Germany
would be punished. Obviously each leader wanted his country to reap the
benefits of winning a World War, but this would prove to not be easy. It was
also made especially more difficult since these four men already didnt get
along particularly well as a group and rarely actually all met face to face,
instead they often delegated messages to lower officials to do the dirty work
for them. This system of messengers relaying their bosss ideals to the
others left no room for debate, it just created a lengthy process of denials
and questions about what was going to be agreed on for Germany. One of
the biggest disagreements was between France and Great Britain. France
had just experienced war and devastation on their homeland mainly with
Germany. So France wanted to punish the barbaric Germans and send them
into a constricting debt that would leave Germany powerless. Britain wanted
to be trade partners with the Germans who were large producers of
commodities that the British didnt have access to. Another issue was the
League of Nations idea proposed by Woodrow Wilson. Woodrow Wilson
wanted a representative from every nation to have a voice and for there to
be no secret alliances that created tension. The League of Nations would
also be in place to discipline countries when rules of war, treaties, or
1. Sabol, Steve. "LBST Global Connections." Class Lecture, WWI, Charlotte, April,
2015.
2. Lyons, Michael J. World War I: A Short History. Second ed. Prentice Hall, 2000.
3. Marks, Sally. "The Myths of Reparations." Central European History 11.03
(1978): 231. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web.

Trevor McGowan
LBST 2102
5-3-15

alliances were broken. The only issue with The League of Nations is that not
every country was involved, in fact America was never actually in The
League of Nations. An organization made to enforce rules didnt include the
worlds most powerful and internationally active country, leaving The League
of Nations basically powerless. The lack of creating a uniform system of laws
that was respected internationally is a huge reason the Paris Peace
Conference failed and led to future conflicts.
The other main reason the Treaty of Versailles specifically failed was
because of the inability to properly and clearly define what Germany owed
for their war debts. After the war Germany was basically responsible for the
debts of all losing countries in the war. In the Treaty of Versailles it
specifically says that Germany would owe 132 billion gold marks. This was an
incredibly large amount for any country to pay for, but even more for
Germany who was going through a depression due to naval blockades
enforced by the British during and after the war. The winning countries were
aware of Germanys struggles so the number of 132 billion gold marks was
more or less just to satisfy those who were angered at the Germans and felt
they should be punished into bankruptcy. Germany was actually only
required to pay about only a third of what civilians expected them to pay,
1. Sabol, Steve. "LBST Global Connections." Class Lecture, WWI, Charlotte, April,
2015.
2. Lyons, Michael J. World War I: A Short History. Second ed. Prentice Hall, 2000.
3. Marks, Sally. "The Myths of Reparations." Central European History 11.03
(1978): 231. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web.

Trevor McGowan
LBST 2102
5-3-15

only 50 billion gold marks. This number would still prove nearly debilitating
for Germany. The Treaty only came up with a split payment plan of 2
payments for Germany to pay their debts, nearly impossible for any nation.
So ideas like the Dawes plan had to be enacted to help the Germans pay
their debt. The Dawes Plan was a system where America would loan
Germany money to pay their payments to the British and French, and then
the British and French would pay America with interest. This seemed to work
until the market crashed and the credit system became nonexistent. The
other issue is that Britain didnt mind receiving kind from Germany,
commodities like coal or timber instead of cash. France did not like this idea
and only wanted cash, feeling that paying in kind was an easy way out. This
issue led to uncertain views on how much Germany had actually paid off. In
the end around 1930 Germany was no longer required to make payments
and were essentially relieved of their war debt, rendering the Treaty of
Versailles useless and leaving Germanys war damages unpaid for. These
issues became a cause for World War II, mainly the German people believing
the Allies actually wanted all 132 billion gold marks from the Germans when
they in fact didnt.

1. Sabol, Steve. "LBST Global Connections." Class Lecture, WWI, Charlotte, April,
2015.
2. Lyons, Michael J. World War I: A Short History. Second ed. Prentice Hall, 2000.
3. Marks, Sally. "The Myths of Reparations." Central European History 11.03
(1978): 231. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web.

Trevor McGowan
LBST 2102
5-3-15

In the end the Paris Peace Conference following World War I was
supposed to end war for the foreseeable future. In fact things enforced in the
treaties such as the Versailles Treaty essentially provoked a Second World
War 20 years later. Also the inability to create a justice system that countries
could respect across international boundaries allowed for conflict to arise yet
again in Europe. World War II obviously did occur and the ineffectiveness of
the Paris Peace Conference is largely to blame because of this.

1. Sabol, Steve. "LBST Global Connections." Class Lecture, WWI, Charlotte, April,
2015.
2. Lyons, Michael J. World War I: A Short History. Second ed. Prentice Hall, 2000.
3. Marks, Sally. "The Myths of Reparations." Central European History 11.03
(1978): 231. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web.