Treaty of Versailles Analysis

1. Document 6 is a primary source because the author of the excerpt took part in the Paris Peace
Conference. By definition a primary source is a firsthand account produced by a participant or an
eyewitness of an event.
2. Document 1 is a reliable source of historical evidence because it was spoken by the American
President Wilson, and the information is an accurate representation of what Wilson wanted the Treaty
of Versailles to be.
3. The Documents support each other by carrying the same ideal that the treaty is unfair for some of
the countries. Some of the allied members believe that the treaty does nothing for the economic
situation in Europe, that the others are just focused on taking revenge on Germany.
4. Document 1 differs from document 5 because Wilson is no longer trying to leave the Germans
uninjured. Instead in this statement he has explained that they deserved the severe punishment and
that it is not severe enough that the Germans won't be able to bear the weight of the punishment.
5. George's aims are contradicted by most Britons because he would like to make an example of
Germany, but the Britons opinion of the treaty was that it was a mistake as it was unfair, and it kept the
economy of Europe from recovering after the war.
6. Document 8 supports the idea of reparation to the uttermost of the German power because
Germany had the highest number of soldiers participate in the war, and that the amount of German
soldiers in the war should be a contributing factor to the reparation cost.
7. The data in document 8 would have impacted the reparations largely. The United States had not
demand a large amount of reparations as it had lost very little in the Great War, instead is was France
demanding an absurd amount of reparations as it had lost the most in war times, such as lives,
resources, etc. The casualty list would have impacted the peace agreement largely as maybe the amount
of casualties would have changed the outlook on what they would be losing, so instead their country
could recover.
8. Although many countries and leaders participated in forming the Treaty of Versailles, only two
leaders had their views reflected in the treaty. The first leader was Georges Clemenceau the president of
France, who wanted to punish Germany for what had happened to their country over the Great War.
Clemenceau wanted the German Government to pay a staggering amount of reparations for the damage
caused, he wanted revenge for his country and people, he wanted the blame for the Great War on
Germany to tarnish their reputation, and he wanted Germany to become dependent on the other major
European countries. Although these are his views, only some were reflected in the treaty, such as
Germany taking full responsibility for starting World War I, the promise of Germany paying reparations,
and Alsace- Lorraine back from Germany. On the other end of the spectrum was the American
President, Woodrow Wilson. Wilson wanted just and lasting peace in Europe, the spread of democracy
in European countries, and a League of Nations. Wilson didn't demand much of the Germans, as he has
lost the least in the Great War. Instead he focused on trying to create a peaceful Europe, with many new
countries given a chance with self-determination. In the end it was more of a punishment than an
everlasting peace, as Germany was forced to pay reparations, lost land, was forbidden alliances with
Austria, lost colonies, while the League of Nations was created, and Germany's army reduced.