Dylan Andrews

Ms. Pierce
LBST 2101
28 March 2016

Exam 2
The Paris Peace Treaties took place in the year 1919, after the end of World War I.
They were comprised of a series of conferences to discuss the post war peace in Europe.
There were diplomats from 32 different countries present at the conferences. The major
representatives were the United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy. It is also
important to note that no German diplomats were present for any of the conferences.
Each of the World super powers had their own agenda as to what they wanted to gain
from the conferences.
For instance, France wanted to protect themselves from another attack. In
McDonough document 3.1 Clemenceau states that they need to save the world from
German aggression; but the German spirit is not going to change so fast. At this point it
is obvious that France feels that Germany is still a threat to Europe so they set out to
weaken them. To do this they cut down the German military until it was so small that it
was no longer a threat to France or the rest of Europe.
Next the United States and President Wilson stepped in. Wilsons main goal was to
get all the countries to join his league of nations. This was Wilsons vision of how to
prevent future wars by giving countries a place to workout their problems peacefully.
Wilson viewed some of the things that were forced onto Germany as unjust. As we see in

McDonough document 3.4 it says The reparations clauses contributed largely toward a
German psychology which has changed the political complexion of much of the world.
Wilson predicted that the German people would be unhappy and this would lead to
communism. The United States was worried that the treaty may not work, but Wilson
gave up anything to preserve his League of Nations idea.
Italy only wanted to gain land from these conferences. They had no other agenda
while they were there.
Great Britain was most worried about the economic repercussions of the war.
They wanted to go back to minding their own business but knew the impact the treaty
could have on trade. In Document 3.3 Keynes goes as far to say The treaty is no treaty.
I believe that Great Britain knew how poorly the treaty was conducted and was only
concerned about the impact it would have on Europe.
Word Count: 409