Aims of the Big Three

Question 1

What is an idealist?

Answer 1

A person who believes in ideals (rather than harsh reality). e.g. Woodrow Wilson

Question 2

Who were the ‘Big Three’ at the Paris Peace Conference?

Answer 2

Woodrow Wilson (US President), David Lloyd George (British PM), George Clemenceau (French PM)

Question 3

What principles guided Wilson?

Answer 3

Those set out in his Fourteen Points

Question 4

What did Wilson believe about Germany?

Answer 4

That Germany should not be punished too harshly because when it grew strong again it would want revenge.

Question 5

What did Wilson believe about democracy?

Answer 5

That democracy should be installed in defeated countries (e.g. Germany) as the people would not allow their leaders to take them to war again

Question 6

What did Wilson want for people that had once been under imperial rule (e.g. Serbians, Croats)?

Answer 6

Self-determination e.g. he wanted Poles and Croats to rule themselves, not be ruled by Austria-Hungary

Question 7

Where did the Paris Peace Conference take place?

Answer 7

At the Palace of Versailles just outside Paris

Question 8

What was the most important of Wilson’s Fourteen Points?

Answer 8

That a League of Nations should be established where disputes could be peacefully resolved

Question 9

Why was Wilson more idealistic than Lloyd George and Clemenceau?

Answer 9

• The USA suffered FAR few casualties than Britain and France.
• Also, no fighting took place in the USA.
• And they joined the war in 1917.

Question 10

What did David Lloyd George want to do to Germany?

Answer 10

DLG wanted to punish Germany, but not too harshly.

Question 11

What was trade like between Germany and Britain before the war?

Answer 11

Good - Germany was Britain’s second largest trading partner before WWI

Question 12

What was DLG keen to see Germany lose AND why?

Answer 12

Germany’s navy and colonies were both threats to the strength of the British Empire

Question 13

What pressures were on DLG?

Answer 13

There was huge pressure on DLG from the British public because he had won the 1918 general election promising to ‘make Germany pay’.

Question 14

What did Clemenceau want to achieve in Paris?

Answer 14

He wanted to destroy Germany so it could never threaten France again

Question 15

Why did Clemenceau personally want to destroy Germany?

Answer 15

He had seen his country invaded twice by Germany, in 1871 and 1914

Question 16

How had the war affected France? (2)

Answer 16

1. Two-thirds of men who had served in the French army had either died or were injured
2. Much of the fighting had taken place in France, ruining its land and its industry

Question 17

What did the French president, Poincare, want?

Answer 17

• He wanted to see Germany broken up into a series of smaller states.
• (Although Clemenceau knew DLG and Wilson would never agree to this)

Question 18

How many troops did the USA lose during the war?

Answer 18

110,000

Question 19

Did any fighting take place in the USA during WWI?

Answer 19

No - so there was less public pressure on Wilson than in, say, France

Question 20

How many British soldiers died in the war?

Answer 20

Approx. 750,000

Question 21

How many French died in the war?

Answer 21

Approx. 1.3 million

Question 22

Why did Lloyd George fear an overly punitive (punishing) treaty?

Answer 22

He feared the Germans would one day seek revenge

Question 23

What did Lloyd George fear an overly punitive treaty might lead to (as in Russia)?

Answer 23

A Communist revolution (like in Russia in 1917)

Question 24

Lloyd George wanted Germany to bounce back economically after the war. Why?

Answer 24

So Britain could start trading with Germany again (and make both countries richer)

Question 25

How had propaganda during the war contributed to anti-German feeling in Britain?

Answer 25

• The propaganda Britons had been fed was strongly anti-German.
• Therefore, many Britons thought Germans were evil.

Question 26

How had wartime conditions in Britain contributed to British anger towards Germany?

Answer 26

The British had had to endure food shortages and felt Germans should now endure the same (or similar)

Question 27

What example did the British people point to to justify a harsh treaty?

Answer 27

The harsh treaty Germany had inflicted on Russia (the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)

Question 28

How many casualties (deaths + wounded) had Britain suffered?

Answer 28

Approx one million

Question 29

What percentage of its population had Russia lost as part of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

Answer 29

34% (or: one-third, 1/3)

Question 30

What percentage of its COAL mines had Russia lost as part of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

Answer 30

89% (nearly 90%!)

Question 31

What percentage of its coal mines had Russia lost as part of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

Answer 31

25% (one quarter)

Question 32

How many gold roubles did Russia have to pay as part of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

Answer 32

300 million gold roubles

Question 33

What was Clemenceau fundamentally trying to achieve?

Answer 33

The future security of France

Question 34

What only enhanced France’s desire for revenge?

Answer 34

The fact that when the German army were retreating at the end of the war they had caused deliberate damage of towns, railways and villages

Question 35

What were Wilsons most important of the 14 points?

Answer 35

• Self-Determination
• No secret treaties
• Reduction of armaments
• General association of all nations

Question 36

What was the Anglo/American treaty of Guarantee?

Answer 36

• A treaty proposed by Clemenceau to secure France’s safety
• Britain and USA would be committed to helping France in case of German aggression
• Failed to materialise