Question

According to Wilson, how does “peace forced upon the loser” of a war affect the losing country?

Answer 1

Woodrow Wilson and David Lloyd George were two of the representatives at the peace accords in Paris that felt that a vindictive peace treaty would only lead to a future conflict. Wilson said: “It must be a peace without victory….Victory would mean peace forced upon the loser, a victor’s terms imposed upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace would rest, not permanently, but only as upon quicksand. Only a peace between equals can last.” Was the final product of the treaty a “peace between equals” or was it too harsh on Germany? Were the Germans in fact guilty of causing the war? Should they bear sole responsibility?