World War I: Treaty of Versailles - Essay Example

Write a two page response to compare and contrast Woodrow Wilson’s Idealistic View with Georges Clemenceau’s Demands for Security and Revenge. What arguments did each use to advance his claims? How did the German Delegation react to the Treaty of Versailles?  France suffered the most during the World War I. It underwent immense monetary damage and lost millions of its youth, because almost all the fighting on the western fronts had taken place in France. France had also suffered invasion from Germany in 1870, therefore France wanted to weaken Germany in every possible way so that the country could feel secure from the German borders.

Hence Georges Clemenceau desired for the security of his country and revenge from the Germans for the losses incurred by France. He wanted to limit the military and economic activity of Germany and to strip valuable lands so that it would not rise on its feet again. Woodrow Wilson on the other hand held a milder approach towards the whole issue. He presented his fourteen points as a manifesto for global peace. Like Georges Clemenceau he wanted Germany to get punished but he felt that it should be the one in power who should be liable for punishment rather than the common public.

He wanted to focus on global peace rather than the peace between a few countries and that is why he proposed the creation of a League of Nations. In contrast to Clemenceau, Wilson believed that reconciliation with Germany would be a better option for the global peace as inflicting punishments and restrictions on the Germans would only create resentment in their hearts. Even though there were differences between Wilson and Clemenceau’s views, eventually heavy punishment in the form of treaty of Versailles was imposed on the Germans.

The treaty of Versailles was heavily disliked by the German delegation. The most important reason for this was clause number 231 which held Germany solely responsible for the war. They were infuriated by the harsh terms and condition of the treaty which could prove detrimental for the country in the future. Count Brockdorff, the head delegate gave a long speech in which he openly criticized the terms of the treaty. The delegation left the conference for a brief period to prepare a counterargument for the treaty and returned a little later with their proposal based on the fourteen points.

The counter-proposals were considered by the Allies but eventually they were rejected and the delegation was given an option to either sign the treaty or face invasion from the Allies. The delegation was not allowed to take part in the negotiations but was only supposed to comment and sign the document. The German government protested against this unfair treatment and the delegation returned home without signing the treaty. In Germany, a new government was formed which weighed the country’s chances to restart the war.

Germany however had suffered irreparable losses and reinitiating the war was not plausible. The majority in the national Assembly supported the signing of the treaty as it would buy the country some peace and time which the Germans could use to rebuild their country. Despite the hatred and dislike for the treaty, the foreign minister and the colonial minister was sent to Versailles to sign the treaty. Works Cited Perry, M., Berg, M., & Krukones, J. (2010). Sources of European History: Since 1900.

Wadsworth Publishing; 2nd edition.