Seperate Treaties With The Other Central Powers example essay topic

The allied leaders views on how best to create peace varied in whether or not to punish Germany for "starting the war". France and Britain both wanted Germany to pay for all the damage they had caused. While, the U.S. wanted peace and not punishment. You can see the motives of the allied leaders in their attempts of peace, or lack thereof.

The U. S seemed to want to hurry up with peace, because 10 months before the war was even over, President Woodrow Wilson developed the Fourteen Points. Wilson thought that the Fourteen Points would bring a fair peace settlement. The Fourteen Points consisted of ways to remove conflict, readjust territories, and establish a League of Nations. He called this "peace without victory". In November of that same year, Germany agreed to an armistice, thinking that the peace settlement would be based on the Fourteen Points. The rest of the allied leaders, had something else in mind.

In January of 1919 the victorious countries gathered in Paris to discuss a peace settlement. This was called the Paris Peace Conference. The conference was attended by 32 nations, but the desicions were made by the Big Four. The Big Four consisted of President Wilson of the U. S, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Lloyd George, France's Premier George Clemenceau, and Italy's Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando.

This conference disregarded the Fourteen Points. The Europeans felt that they had suffered much more than the Americans and wanted to be paid back. Wilson pressed the need for A League of Nations, but agreed with France and the U. K, on many other issues. In May of 1919, the peace conference approved the new treaty, and gave it to Germany. The only reason Germany agreed was a fear of allied invasion.

In doubt, The Germans signed the treaty in the Palace of Versailles near Paris on June 28, 1919. In addition to the Treaty of Versailles, the allied leaders made seperate treaties with the other Central Powers. The Treaty of St. Germain was signed with Austria, the Treaty of Neu illy with Bulgaria, the Treaty of Trianon with Hungary, and the Treaty of Sevres with the Ottoman Empire. These treaties ripped the Central Powers of territory and required them to pay indemnities. Germany was extremely punished.

They were forced under the Treaty of Versailles to except full responsibility for the war. Germany was forced to give up territory to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France and Poland and lost it's other overseas colonies. France gained the coal fields in Germany's Saar Valley for 15 years. An allied military force, which was to be paid by Germany, was hired to occupy the Rhine River for 15 years. Germany also recieved a bill for 33 Billion dollars. Austria -Hungary lost more than a third of their area.

The treaties now recognized the independance of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia. These new countries recieved territory from what had once belonged to Austria-Hungary. The Ottoman Empire lost Mesopotamia, Palestine and Syria. Bulgaria lost land to Greece and Romania. The rest of the Central Powers had to also pay indemnities.

It seemed as though the United States never really had a say in the treaties, and that the basis of all of them was to punish Germany and the Central powers. The Allied leaders seemed to be happy "cracking down the whip" on the Central powers and forcing them to take blame for the entire war.