Treaty of Versailles

The Treay of Versailles

The Big Three

Lloyd George: He vowed to make Germany pay and 'squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeeked'. Due to the fact that he had an upcoming election, he had to be hard on the Germans though he knew being too hard was bad for trade for the U.K. and would only cause more problems in the future due to resentment. 

• He also didn't want France to have full control of the Rhineland as France could then have too much power and despite their alliance, France and Britain were traditional rivals. Instead, he requested that the Rhineland be demilitarised and controlled by the allies for a 15 year period. 
• He wanted the German people living on the border to decide wheather they wanted to remain with Germany- a plebscite. A plebiscite was ordered in Northern Schleswig- population chose to become a part of Denmark 
• He opposed self-determination for all people (which was a part of WW 14 points) as it opposed British colonies in Africa etc. Plebscites were issued but not in French and British colonies
• He wanted reparations from Germany for the damage caused in Britain however not reparations that were too high
• He wanted Germany's colonies to weaken Germany and increase British power- colonies given as mandates to the British- still added to their world wide empire in the short term
• He didn't want to be too harsh on Germany in terms of reparations etc.- Even after the terms were agreed, he feared the Treaty was too harsh. A good sum couldn't be agreed…