Georges Clemenceau wanted revenge. He wanted to be sure that Germany could never start another war again. Lloyd George personally agreed with Wilson but knew that the British public agreed with Clemenceau. He tried to find a compromise between Wilson and Clemenceau. Germany had been expecting a treaty based on Wilson's 14 points and were not happy with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
“Complacent and ultimately harmful to British Interests” How far do you agree with this opinion of GB foreign policy in years 1925-1929? Between the years 1925-1929 British concerns on foreign policy were primarily on the basis of preserving peace and easing the Franco-Germany tensions, defence of Britain, maintaining the status quo, and healing the economy. The terrible losses of the First World War made both politicians and public recoil from the prospect of another war. Thus, Britain seemed to have everything to lose and nothing to gain from a major war, therefore the emphasis on preserving peace were made quite clearly throughout foreign policy as well as compromise, conciliation and concession to prevent any aggression. However some historians would say that Britain was too complacent when it came to foreign policy, and as soon as they believed they had reached satisfactory targets, they wouldn’t go any further, and so risk harming British interests.
The politicians, who signed the peace treaty on behalf of Germany, were named and shamed as ‘stabbing Germany in the back’. This notion was emphasised by opposing political parties who were egger to take any opportunity to make these politicians look bad to the people of Germany. Germany was a militaristic state which and the republic was not going to succeed with so many opposing forces such as ex-soldiers who were willing to fight any rivals. The treaty of Versailles caused a profound sense of injustice and resentment amongst the German people therefore this translated into hatred of democracy. The treaty was not the only reason for the failure of the Weimar Republic, issues such as the period time and the great depression contributed to this also.
The Treaty of Versailles had very stiff terms; it was a consequence of the struggles and the political collapse in Wilhelmine Germany. (Williamson 1995: 3) It is well known that the Republic was created under difficult circumstances; it was a constant reminder to Germany about the national humiliation and the defeat of the First World War. (Geary 1993: 14) The Weimar republic would have survived as it was a fair and democratic system but it lacked the support of the people. It was first introduction of democracy and it should have lead to a stable Germany, only it had many problems, it was to be doomed by the Treaty of Versailles. A lot of Germans thought that the Treaty undermined Germany though it was initially set up with the intentions of becoming a peace agreement between Germany and its allies.
Woodrow Wilson wanted a treaty based on his 14-point plan which he believed would bring peace to Europe. Georges Clemenceau wanted revenge. He wanted to be sure that Germany could never start another war again. Lloyd George personally agreed with Wilson but knew that the British public agreed with Clemenceau. He tried to find a compromise between Wilson and Clemenceau.
This angered Stalin as he did not want West Germany to recover and be given Marshall Aid. Marshall Aid made tension worse because it divided Europe further, the west could get richer and the east would go poorer because Stalin would not accept Marshall Aid. The back round of the Berlin Blockade and airlift cause tension because the west wanted Germany to be more prosperous but Stalin wanted Germany and Berlin to be weak. Tension increased because Britain and America joined their zones together creating Bizona. Stalin got angrier when he heard that France joined to create Trizona.
Germany was not happy about losing all this land as it made them smaller, it damaged the economy and they lost colonies to make them look stronger and to help them if another war broke out. Another reason Germany was unhappy was because they were force to take war guilt. Germany had to take all of the blame for the war. This made Germany angry as they did not actually start the war and there were other people involved. Germany also had to pay reparation.
This meant they let him increase Germany’s armed forces and put them in the Rhineland, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. They allowed him to take the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, believing that he would ultimately decide he had enough land. The policy did not have the desired affect; when Hitler knew he could get away with anything, he wanted more. Finally France and Britain realised he could not be appeased and they would need to take action against him. Had they done this earlier, there could have been a far less
The treaty forced Germany to grant territories to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. The Germans did not agree with the treaty fully and even felt a little humiliated, especially at Article 231, commonly known as the “War of Guilt Clause, which
Another cause of the stalemate on the Western Front was Germany underestimation of Russia’s mobilisation speed. This is evident in Source B where it is stated Germany “...paid insufficient heed ...and miscalculated the speed of Russia’s mobilisation. This proved to be very costly as evident within Source A as it reveals German troops reentering German territory to face the Russian threat