To what extent was the desire for revenge the main objective of the Big Three at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919? Explain your answer. [12]

Introduction:
When the Big Three met at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Europe had just experienced four years of war. As victors of the war, representatives from France, Britain and the US had a responsibility to decide what to do. However, the representatives from these 3 countries might not have the same objectives in deciding what to do.

Main body:
France was certainly bent on revenge. Much of the fighting took place in France. It suffered more losses than Britain and the USA in terms of casualties and damages. The people in France wanted a harsh treaty as a retribution for the Germans, who were regarded as being responsible for their suffering. Therefore, it was not surprising that Clemenceau, the French Prime Minister, wanted the terms in the Treaty of Versailles to be harsh. He demanded that lands be taken away from Germany. He wanted to cripple Germany as a military power. He also wanted Germany to pay large sums of reparations over many years, so that the Germans would suffer from poverty for a long time.

Britain also wanted revenge, but not to the extent that France wanted. After all, Britain did not suffered as much damage as the French. Britain's desire for revenge was also coupled with its intention to restore Europe to peace and prosperity. Permanently weakening the Germans was not regarded as a way to help Europe's recovery. Terms that were too harsh would generate German resentment and thus, not conducive to the restoration of peace. Keeping Germany economically weak would also obstruct Europe's attempts to regain its prosperity. Therefore, Lloyd George, British Prime Minister, was mainly concerned with the reduction of German military strength in order to ensure peace. His demand for huge sums of reparations was not as strong as the French.

The USA had the least desire for revenge and its main concern was to prevent war from breaking out again in the future. As it suffered the least in terms of casualties and damages, it could afford to be more forgiving to the Germans. Woodrow Wilson, the US President, came up with ideas like self-determination and collective security in the Fourteen Points in order to minimise the outbreak of conflicts. With self-determination, it was assumed that there would be less desire for conflict, since the people could choose their countries to leave in. The idea of collective security was also aimed at deterring aggression as it was assumed that the combined strength of the majority would be enough to convince aggressors the futility of their aggressive acts.

Conclusion:
When we examine the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, we can actually see that each of the Big Three did attempt to influence the direction of the treaty through their objectives. However, judging from the terms, it certainly seemed that France's desire for revenge was the dominant objective. The loss of lands, the destruction of the German military and the huge sums of reparations were the dominant features of the treaty and thus, fulfilling France's desire for revenge. While Wilson's ideas of self-determination and collective security were also reflected with the creation of various independent states and the League of Nations respectively, these were imperfect creation. The Germans were deprived of self-determination as well as membership of the League as a punishment. Thus, the desire for revenge turned out to be the dominant objective of the Big Three.