Were the peace treaties of 1919-1923 fair?

Motives of Big 3 at Versailles.
1. Woodrow Wilson
  1. President of USA
  2. Put his ideas in declaration of 'The Fourteen Points'
  3. Create League Of Nations (LON)
  4. Self-determination
  5. France regain Alsace-Lorraine
  6. Armaments reduced = every country
  7. Seas free for all ships
  8. WANTS PEACE!
2. David Lloyd George
  1. Prime Minister of Britain
  2. Hang the Kaiser
  3. Punish Germany for starting war
  4. Disarm Germany = mostly navy, wouldn't be future threat
  5. Germany pay reparations but NOT TO MUCH
  6. Take German colonies = divide to victors
  7. Build defences in eastern Europe against Russian Bolshevik threat
  8. Justice
  9. Protect against Communism
3. Georges Clemenceau
  1. Prime Minister of France
  2. Punish Germany for war & devastation of northern France
  3. REVENGE!
  4. Take back Alsace-Lorraine
  5. Divide Germany = not a single country
  6. Make Germany pay for damage in France and Belgium
  7. Disarm Germany = protect France from future attacks
  8. Take German colonies - share between victors
  9. Take land in the Rhineland region
FRANCE = PUNISH THE MOST - DEVASATION OF TOWNS AND CITIES. MORE DAMAGE THAN OTHER COUNTRIES
USA = PUNISH THE LEAST - JOINED THE WAR LATE AND TOO FAR AWAY TO HAVE ANY DAMAGE
Why did the victors not get everything they wanted?
1. Disagreements = Big 3
  1. At conference, realised they would have to compromise
  2. Sometimes they got there own way, some not
  3. Strongly disagreed a lot
  4. Lloyd George
    1. Wilson = Freedom of seas, foolish. Britain should be greatest navy, German ships should be sank
    2. Wilson = Self-determination wrong, colonies should be ours as reward for winning
    3. Clemenceau = Wrong to claim Rhineland, German land and has no right. Land loss should be kept to minimum
    4. Clemenceau = Being too greedy, too much reparations, need German as future trade partner
    5. Clemenceau = Too harsh on Germany, won't help us to fight against Communism in Europe
  5. Clemenceau
    1. Wilson = disagree with self-determination. German colonies should be ours as a reward for victory
    2. Wilson = Too idealistic if he wants all countries to disarm equally. German should be only country to disarm - can't attack France then
    3. Wilson = his 14 points for peace don't punish Germany harshly enough for the crimes they've committed
    4. Reparations must cripple German economy & if they are allowed to trade then they'll be a threat to our country again
  6. Wilson
    1. Clemenceau = Wrong to want Germany to disarm alone - I want long lasting peace and all nations equal
    2. Clemenceau = amount of reparations is wrong. For the sake of lasting peace, Germany should be treated less harshly
    3. Clemenceau = Wrong to claim Rhineland. It's German land, he has no right. Land losses should be kept to the minimum
    4. C & LG = wrong for them to reward themselves with German colonies. Everyone has right to self determination
2. Factors = limited what victors could acheive
  1. 1. War time commitments and secret treaties
    1. Some countries were made promises of land, encouraging them to fight. After war Britain and France didn't want to keep promises - but they did.
    2. Went against self-determination, Wilsons idea.
    3. Italy gained Austria, Japan gained China - that made China refuse to sign Treaty
  2. 2. Collapse of Russian & Austro-Hungarian Empires
    1. 1917: Russian monarchy (Tsars) defeated. By end of year Russia was defeated from fighting with Germany and Austria-Hungary
    2. New government = Bolsheviks/Communists signed treaty with Germans (Brest-Litovsk) where Russia gave up land on the West e.g. Finland & Ukraine
    3. When Germany lost war it meant that the treaty was annulled but the land wasn't recovered by Russia. People living in this area were clear national groups who'd rule themselves. Germany's defeat & Russia's collapse brought new countries into existence
    4. War meant that monarchy ended in Austria-Hungary. Had many national groups, Czechs and Slovaks claimed independence during war and new countries emerged. When peace conference met, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia now existed
  3. 3. Terms of the Armistice
    1. Armistice = Countries at war agree the terms on which they'll stop fighting. The countries then meet to agree on peace treaty and formally end war.
    2. Victors wanted to make sure that terms of Armistice weren't severe so war wouldn't break out again
    3. Some terms of the Armistice were in final treaty i.e. reparations and Germany leaving Alsace-Lorraine region.
    4. This meant that terms to bring the war to and end became a part of the treaty that punished Germany
  4. 4. Public opinion
    1. Politicians at Paris Peace conference under pressure from public opinion back home - different countries wanted different things
3. THE TREATY REPRESENTED AN UNEASY COMPROMISE BETWEEN WILSON'S IDEALISM (PERFECT WORLD), FRENCH SECURITY NEEDS AND BRITISH COMMON SENSE

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Were the peace treaties of 1919-1923 fair?

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