Setting the Scene
📖 Setting the Scene
WW1 Part 1 - OverSimplified WW1 Part 2 (Treaty) - OverSimplified
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The Big Three's aims — "CCC": Crush, Compromise, Create
- C — Clemenceau = Crush: He wanted to crush Germany permanently. 1.4 million dead French soldiers. France invaded twice in 50 years. The Tiger wanted Germany on its knees forever.
- C — Lloyd George = Compromise: Caught between "Make Germany Pay" (his voters) and "don't go too far" (his instincts). He compromised — and privately feared the result.
- C — Wilson = Create: He wanted to create a new world order based on his Fourteen Points — especially the League of Nations. He was prepared to compromise everything else to get his League.
Wilson's key Fourteen Points — "SOLD": Self-determination, Open diplomacy, League of Nations, Disarmament
- S — Self-determination: peoples choose their own government
- O — Open diplomacy: no more secret treaties
- L — League of Nations: the international organisation (Point 14)
- D — Disarmament: reduce weapons to remove the means for war
Key dates for the Paris Peace Conference:
- January 1918 — Wilson announces his Fourteen Points
- November 1918 — Armistice; war ends
- December 1918 — Lloyd George wins UK election on "Hang the Kaiser"
- January 1919 — Paris Peace Conference opens
- 28 June 1919 — Treaty of Versailles signed
- November 1919 — US Senate refuses to ratify — America stays out of League
The "25 years" prediction: Both Lloyd George and Clemenceau privately predicted another war. Lloyd George: "25 years." Clemenceau: "an armistice for 20 years." Both were roughly right. WW2 broke out in September 1939 — exactly 20 years after the treaty was signed.
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 8
Which leader at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 was nicknamed 'The Tiger'?
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This topic in real past papers
Every real exam question we've found on the big three, with a full worked answer.