The Big Three and their Aims
President Woodrow Wilson of the USA
A fair peace treaty: he thought that Germany should have been punished, not humiliated.
He set out his aims in his Fourteen Points( a mixture of ideas and practical measures)
Included: -Self-determination: peoples in Austro-Hungarian empire ruling themselves in other countries, and people in colonies having a say in their own government.
-League of Nations: An international police to help countries sort out disputes without going to war.
Not to blame Germany for the war since he hated the guilt clause.
Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Britain
Peace and Trade: he wanted peace in Europe that would last to allow Britain to rebuild its trade.
Expand the British Empire: he wanted to take some of Germany's colonies if he got the chance.
To safeguard Britain's navy.
Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France
Future security for France from any German attack.
Compensation from Germany for damage caused by the war and huge reparations.
Revenge and to punish Germany.
To return Alsace-Lorraine to France( was lost in Franco-Prussian war to Germany in the 1870s)
No League of Nations.
An independent Rhineland to lessen Germany's power.
To disband the German army so that it would never be strong enough to attack France again and to lessen its power.
A 'just' peace that would be tough enough to please people back home who wanted to 'make Germany pay' but leave Germany strong enough to trade.
To break Germany up into smaller states to lessen its power.