ways at the expense of F! rench interest that concessions were to be made."18 Wilson thought both France and Britain were being too vindictive and unreasonable. The allies used Wilson's Fourteen Points program to convince Germany to sign an armistice. However, once Germany complied, these points were ignored. "The French, for example, had no intention of abandoning what Wilson castigated as the "old diplomacy," with its secret understandings and interlocking alliances."19 Therefore, in the end, the European Allies, including France and Britain, received what they wanted from the treaty."The actual costs, for Germany, included: the guilt of the entire war and, paying 132 billion gold marks in reparations. Germany also lost one eighth of its land, all of its colonies, all of its overseas financial assets and limiting their once powerful military."20 Britain and France would receive large sums of the reparations and German colonies in Africa as mandates.21 France also received its wishes with Alsace-Lorraine. "France would recover Alsace-Lorraine outright."22 However, the main delight for France and Britain was seeing Germany suffer. The biggest problem Germany had with Versailles was the war guilt, which was stated in article 231 of the Versailles Treaty. The Allies were astonished to find this particular paragraph was the most violently disputed point in the entire treaty. Article 231 stated: "The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."23 It seems weird that they would treat Germany that way after they too had been in the war. Fighting and killing were done by both sides but only the Germans were punished. "If our army and our workmen had known that peace would ...
