... Great Britain's leading diplomat was Prime Minister Lloyd-George. Lloyd-George needed to give the British people a reason to keep him in his position, and a harsh, yet not too damaging peace treaty would assure that. From the start, Lloyd-George was unhappy with the way the meetings had gone. Quotes such as `Diplomats were invented simply to waste time' support this. At the Paris conference more for political popularity than to secure a safe prosperous Europe, Lloyd-George tended to follow the popular ideas. Numerous contradicting quotes make this apparent.
If Wilson had been a base, then Clemenceau would have been an acid. The American and French leaders could not have been more different in their views on the unwritten treaty. Clemenceau, having told his people at Verdun `It is far easier to make war than to make peace' was not about to sit back and let the Germans get off lightly. The French President Poincarй shared this view stating that `Should it [Germany] remain unpunished...the most splendid victories would be useless.' It was for this reason that Clemenceau and Wilson did not get along. Clemenceau wanted the Germans to pay for everything they had done in the war, with no mercy. It was up to the politically minded Lloyd-George and the deeply injured, aging Wilson to suppress Clemenceau's cries for German Blood.
But it was blood the public wanted in return for the eradication of an entire generation of allied nationals. Cries of `Hang the Kaiser' and `Squeeze the German Lemon until the pips squeak' showed accurately the public opinion. The principles that Wilson had wanted to embody could not be fully entertained on a continent in the revolutionary condition it empowered. This all angered the German delegation, who were expecting a light treaty since they had ended the war with an armistice; Effectively giving up for the good of Europe. Instead the final treaty of Versailles not only led to territorial changes, as outlined by Wilson in his fourteen points, but also huge reparations (monetarily and the relinquishment of land and industry), and the abolishment of nearly the entire German military might. The principles of independence, reparation and disarmament are apparent in the treaty of Versailles, but these standards were set to such an extreme that Germany would never be have been able to grow economically or politically.
The Other treaties of the Paris Conference, settled disputes caused by WWI in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Near East.
The Treaty of St. Germain was surprisingly harsh to Austria. Not only did it make Austria's wealthiest areas Czech, it shattered the nations economy, leaving a small nation, not allowed even to integrate with Germany. The main Principle of this treaty was to hurt Austria by giving away her land. Only the new Czech land gave independence to any population. Thus, we can say that the rest of the treaty was in terms of the principle of reparations. The treaty also served to highlight some of the mistakes made by Wilson in his fourteen points, some of which were implemented here. In giving South Tyrol to Italy, for example, Wilson had allowed Italy control over an entirely Austrian area...
