Recently we watched a film in class called “Paris 1919” to learn about the Treaty of Versailles, and the political dynamic of the world in the immediate aftermath of World War One. As the baseline assignment we had to complete some fill in the blank notes on the movie. However, as the challenge assignment we were left to ponder four inquiry questions relating to “Paris 1919,” and tasked to answer one in the form of a researched and informative blog post. The prompt I chose to write about was: Describe how the great powers, with the exception of the United States, are still behaving like 19th century imperial powers.So without further ado;

The “Paris 1919” movie cover.

Though the brutal, bloody conflict of World War One lasted a staggering four years, costing billions of dollars and millions of more lives, the Treaty of Versailles did nothing but increase the growing tension within Europe, as the notion of everlasting peace took a back seat to that of selfish retribution.

Following the after math of World War One, empires were to be divided up, borders were to be redrawn, whole new countries were to be created, and, in typical European fashion, everyone wanted a piece of the pie when there was simply not enough to go around.

France, nearly completely devastated during the war, was pushing for Germany to pay full retribution of the damages caused. However, Britain on the other hand demanded a lot more, promising its people over $300 billion. Italy was pushing for a port that belonged to Yugoslavia, while the Japanese were looking to gain territory in China, and at the same time the Jews wanted a homeland in Palestine. All across the board every country was looking for something to gain.

The “Big Four”: Wilson(USA), Lloyd George(Britain), Clemenceau(France), and Orlando (Italy), had to work out an agreement with a backdrop of wide social, economic, and political issues at hand. WW1 was thought to be “ the war to end all wars,” and the French leader, Clemenceau, with a staggering degree of personal vendetta, believed that by crippling the German economy, industry, and military that it would ensure such an enemy would never rise to power again. However, on the contrary, Wilson believed that extending such harsh reparations onto Germany guaranteed no lasting piece, as Germany, a devastated and destroyed nation, lay “prey to any demagogue that [may] come along and promise to restore Germany pride” – David Lloyd-George. So in response to the harsh demands of Clemenceau and the other countries involved, Wilson pitched his plan of establishing a League of Nations, and everlasting peace in Europe. With such conflicting political interests on the table, the Paris Peace Conference quickly became a question in finding the middle ground between national security and international idealism.

Throughout the coarse of history, the British, French, and other imperialist empires, such as Germany, have extended their roots all around the globe, establishing colonies, trade relations, and widespread political influence, as a means of power and control within Europe and around the world. As a direct result of this rapid colonization, European history had been dominated by harsh conflicts and wars up until the early 1920’s. Wilsons proposal of a League of Nations offered a chance to establish national security and peace in a way that had never been implemented in the past. The League of Nations, first proposed by President Wilson as part of his Fourteen Points plan for an equitable peace in Europe, was an international organization that provided a forum for resolving international disputes. In the wake of World War One, and centuries of other harsh, brutal conflicts, Wilson believed that the major European powers, such as Britain and France, would be eager in accepting an organization that promotes international peace and stability. However, success in the League of Nations involved having extreme faith in humanity, faith which did not exist in the early years following the First World War.

Treaty of Versailles political cartoon. Wilson blowing bubbles, 1919.

The French leader, George’s Clemenceau, clouded by personal vendetta and the 19th century imperialist values of the time, took the view that European civil war is to be regarded as a normal, or at least a recurrent, state of affairs for the future, and that the sort of conflicts between organized Great Powers which have occupied the past hundred years will also engage the next. So he was not interested in establishing a League of Nations so much as he was in restoring pride to the French empire, and making Germany pay.

The British had lost three million casualties in the war, and France, nearly completely turned to rubble, lost six million soldiers out of the eight and a half million that were deployed. On top of this, Italy lost two million casualties out of the five and a half million sent into battle, and Russia suffered staggering losses of over nine million. Similar to France, other European nations alike were pushing for the harsh punishment of Germany, not only to get pay back for the extreme oppression and brutality caused by the war, but because they all stood to gain something from the deal.

WWI Casualties.

After months of negotiation it had become clear, each of the Big Four wanted a very different kind of peace: Britain wanted to continue to Rule the seas, Italy was out for loot, France wanted protection from the day Germany might return, and America wanted the world’s conscience, and its loans repaid. However, time was running out to make a decision, and Wilsons proposal of a League of Nations sat last on the agenda as it was clear he brought his “bible to a poker game.”

On July 21st, 1920, the Paris Peace Conference came to an end after a year of negotiations, and the treaty stipulations were worse than Germany could’ve ever imagined. Germany was to be stripped of all her colonies, excluded from the world market, limited to an army of 100,000, robbed of her navy, and footed for the insurmountable bill of the war, and most were happy with this outcome except for the U.S, pushing for realistic moderation, and of course the Germans. The Germans believed that since they accepted an armistice that they technically never lost the war, and should therefore not be punished so severely when they were never truly defeated. The Germans also believed that starting the war wasn’t entirely their fault, and they should therefore not accept punishment alone. However, the wounds of the war were far from healed, and the major European powers, specifically Britain and France, held no sympathy, and punished Germany with great vengeance that crippled her economy far beyond repair. However, although the treaty of Versailles gained Europe the immediate retribution that it demanded, it far from assured the everlasting piece of man kind.

Realistically, Germany could only pay so much, approximately thirty million dollars, and hardly any of the demands of the 32 countries involved could be met because of conflicting political interests. So the real question, that many failed to realize, was: why handicap Germany with such harsh punishments when it will surely lead to an uprising and further conflict within the future?

German political cartoon based on the reparations from the Treaty of Versailles.

The lone voice of reason left to preach for peace was the United States president, Woodrow Wilson, advocating for The League of Nations, and realistic moderation of the debt bestowed upon Germany. In the eyes of Woodrow Wilson, paralyzing Germany for generations with massive wartime reparations was only a temporary answer to ensuring lasting peace in Europe. Blinded by hate, the imperialist European powers would get the immediate retribution that they deserved, but, as history can conclude, no long term solution for peace would come from paralyzing the German economy. Following WW1, the tension between European powers was too high to set aside personal vendetta. However, realistically, the only way to ensure lasting peace among the European peninsula was to work together for the betterment of mankind.

The powers of the world coming together through the League of Nations.