Paris Peace Conference

In January of 1919, delegates from every allied country gathered together in what is known as the Paris Peace Conference to determine the peace terms that were to be imposed on defeated Germany. The Paris Peace Conference had many goals which included the constitution of the League of Nations, the promotion of international collective security and abolishing secret peace alliances. However, the first and foremost goal of the Paris Peace Conference was to ensure that a second world war could not occur. This multi-paragraph response will outline and describe the peace terms which were imposed on Germany to prevent another war.

At the Paris Peace Conference, United States President Woodrow Wilson gave a famous speech which described the measures that Wilson recommended, which are known as the “Fourteen Points. From these fourteen recommendations, the Treaty of Versailles was created, which clearly stated the peace terms and restrictions that were to be imposed on Germany. If Germany did not accept these terms, the allied countries threatened to resume hostilities. Germany had no other choice but to sign the treaty.

For many years the Germans fought with the French over the Alsace-Lorraine. This was infact one of the first reasons why the war even began. The allies recognized this, and the first of the peace terms was that the Alsace-Lorraine was to be returned to France. Germany was also forced to give up a strip of land to Poland, so that they were allowed access to the sea. Under the Treaty of Versailles, substantial territorial concessions were required from Germany. This would help to prevent war, due to the fact that Germany had always been an imperialistic country. And the more land under Germanyès rule, the more access the government had to resources. This would give Germany a slight advantage if another...