“We want a peace which will be just, but not vindictive. We want a stern peace because the occasion demands it, but severity must be designed, not for vengeance but for justice. Above all we want to protect the future against a repetition of the horrors of this war”. Woodrow Wilson’s aims were seen as building a better and more peaceful world from the ruins of the Great War. Wilson believed the treaty of Versailles should punish Germany but not so harshly that it would someday recover and seek revenge.
This allowed the far right to exploit the Germans hate of the treaty of Versailles and connect the treaty to democracy, so the people wouldn’t blame the loss of ww1 on the army but the democratic politician’s. This led to an increase in public support for a more authoritarian dictatorial system the strengthening the far-right. The other main reason the loss
France wasn’t part of the colonies like America was, America was sick of being treated badly, and unfairly so they decided to fight. But as for France they were having trouble with their government and needed to create a new one witch they did. And to me it seems like America had much more at stake. The American and French Revolution both worked out in favor of France and for America they both got what they wanted France got the government they fought for, and America parted ways with Britain. The two revolutions were a big part in both America’s history, and a big part in Frances history.
Churchill believed that in order to guarantee the security of Czechoslovakia, Europe should have held Germany back and Britain and France should have worked together as an alliance. George F. Kennan, an American Secretary of State during the cold war also disagreed with the Munich Agreement. Kennan thought that Chamberlain and Daladier only agreed with Germany’s proposal only because they didn’t want to participate in war. Chamberlain and Daladier wanted to maintain the peace in Europe. (Document 6) As written in The Origins of the Second World War, by A.J.P.
Finally, France did not want to go to war at all. France, like America, wanted to keep the peace. They wanted to keep their involvement in the war strictly defensive. They were pulled into war because the Russians violated the Franco-Russian Treaty. France did not want any country to shed blood, but when Germany attacked France, France followed the Franco-Russian Treaty to the letter and defended France.
The reason behind Napoleon III agreeing the armistice without consulting his piedmontese allies was because he was shocked by the lives lost during the war. This made the French public opinions turn against the war as they were loosing out on a lot of troops/people of France. Also, Austria was in a strong defending position that France would need thousands of troops to smash through them. There was also a unstable relationship between Cavour and Napoleon III as Cavour’s agents had overturned the rulers of central Italy and this resulted a demand in union with Piedmont so, therefore, this went against the agreements made in the plombieres. Furthermore, the nationalist’s opinion in Prussia and the other German states encouraged Prussia mobilisation on French border and this was a fear for France as they feared a war against 2 great powers.
Both political sides, the Republicans and the Federalists, did agree on one thing—that proceeding with the alliance they had with France and taking sides in the war was a bad idea. They had too many ties with trading from the British that would be destroyed if they took France’s side during the war. They also were afraid that it would cause an invasion and bring war to the United States. Overall, America came together in spite of their different views and made a decision that positively affected the United
Explain why Castlereagh opposed harsh treatment of France at the Congress of Vienna (12) Castlereagh, the foreign secretary in the Liverpool government, played the role of conciliator at the Congress of Vienna. His main objective was to maintain a peaceful relationship with France so that trade could continue after being disrupted by the Napoleonic war; he did this through the introduction of the congress system in which the idea of balancing power between the powers was put forward. Firstly, Castlereagh wanted lasting peace not only with France but with the other powers. However, his main concern lay with France as too much violence towards them may have caused revenge attacks. They achieved this by penalizing France with indemnities; however, they didn’t embitter France to want to fight for revenge.
The political impact of France was the main factor that spread ideas. Soldiers who fought in America bought some of the ideas back across to France. Even though victory restored some prestige to the monarchy, the financial impact of the war was to make this restoration of prestige short lived. The American war was an important cause because it affected France in a lot of ways. France got affected economically which made the people of France lose hope on monarch.
He wanted to punish Germany and weaken them for what they have caused to European countries and wanted them to pay for the reparations so that France can rebuild itself. Meanwhile, Woodrow Wilson wanted to make a fair treat to end the war. He didn’t want a harsh peace and was more sensible than Clemenceau and David George. Woodrow wanted justice to be paid. He issued Fourteen points which talks about what he wanted and his views that could avoid another start of