beginning to show symptoms of that guilt complex that has so profoundly affected post-Versailles British policy. (21) Birdsall refers to the well-known British policy of appeasement concerning the demands of Hitlers Germany preceding World War II, directly a result of the harsh terms of the treaty. Clemenceau apparently held some reservations about the treaty himself. In his thoughts on the French occupation of the Rhineland, as a revenge for the forty-eight year German occupation of Alsace-Lorraine, he says, From distant times warriors of all countries have had nothing but a system of annexation for their policy of aggressive defence, and this conception of an organization of military disequilibrium has merely maintained the warlike habits it had been intended to abolish. (22) Here, about ten years after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Clemenceaus warning sounds hypocritical in light of his ardent participation in putting forth the conditions of the Treaty. The disunity of the Allied leaders contributed to the weakness and ineffectiveness of the treaty.Although originally the Germans had been in support of the Treaty of Versailles, which they believed would be based on President Wilsons Fourteen Points, their hopes of lenient peace settlement were crushed. Wilsons Fourteen Points were designed to create a lasting peace in Europe and embodied many liberal ideals. The Fourteen Points included open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, open trade, disarmament, fair adjustment of colonial claims, a just and lasting peace, self-determination, no annexations, no contributions, and no punitive damages, and most importantly a League of Nations. (23) The German people in the closing months of the war began to push for peace, believing that such a peace would be based on the Fourteen Points. German liberals were romanced by the liberal reforms suggested, merchants and manufacturers thought that they would reduce post war reprisals a...
