The First World War ended hastily in the sound of quarrels among various countries at the Bellevue Palace, the German presidential palace in Berlin, but the real core countries did not stop there, and the heads of state of the United States, Britain, France, and Germany all had their own small calculations, first sending those second-rate followers, and then the real substantive negotiations.

Britain's demands were the least clear, and in addition to the need for an ideological balance of forces in Europe, it meant wanting to get Germany's overseas colonies, including Jiaozhou Bay.

The position of the Americans will touch the nerves of the British to a great extent, especially in the case of French claims, which are even more ambiguous, in other words, Britain does not want a strong France, nor a weakened Germany, and when France is strong, Britain loses its European hegemony, and if Germany is weakened, it loses a strong ally against the Red Soviet Union, both of which are not cost-effective. So, when the French delegate denounced Germany for being "born of injustice and died in disgrace" and proposed sanctions against the scourge of war and the dismemberment of Germany, Lloyd? George resolutely stood in the lineup of US President Wilson: "Since it is a peace talk, it is necessary to establish mutual trust and understanding on the basis of countering violence with violence, and Britain is resolutely opposed to it." ”

President Wilson felt that the French delegate was too harsh and ignored it.

Although Britain did not suffer serious fighting during the war, the capital London was bombed by German warplanes many times, and many British soldiers were killed in the war, so the widespread public opinion in Britain still hoped that Germany would be punished. However, Prime Minister Lloyd? George realized that once Britain made various demands, it would probably be detrimental to the continuation of the peace talks, and besides, there were still a large number of British prisoners of war who had not been returned, and he did not want to let the peace talks have unexpected problems, after all, President Eric of Germany was a guy who played his cards out of common sense. Lloyd's? George thought a lot, he didn't want Germany to bear too many reparations, and he didn't want to change the overall pattern of the European continent, and if France became a superpower on the continent, it would be contrary to his country's traditional policy of wanting to maintain a balanced Europe: "At the beginning of the Berlin peace talks, we reached a consensus that, on the basis of the conditions and sincerity that Germany had provided for the peace talks, Britain agreed to weaken Germany's naval power if Germany had to be punished. ”

Clemenceau, the chief negotiator of France, harbored strong hatred of Germany: "The main attitude of France was to weaken German military power to the maximum, not only to recover Lorraine, but also to move the borders of France east to the Rhine, and at the same time to establish a Rhine state in the west of Germany. ”

Lloyd's? Although George understood the hatred of the French, Clemenceau's proposal surprised him unusually much: "Your Excellency Chancellor Clemenceau, do you think the Germans would do this?" President Wilson has repeatedly stressed the need to maintain the status quo ante on the European continent, and your proposal will only further tear apart post-war Europe, which I firmly oppose on behalf of the British Government! ”

In fact, Chancellor Clemenceau also knew that Germany would not give in easily, but he was still unwilling to give up: "It is okay to give up the demand for the establishment of the Rhine, but in exchange, the Allied troops will occupy the left bank of the Rhine for 30 years and hand over the Saar mining area to France." ”

President Wilson's original intention was to maintain the balance of power between Germany and France, and at the same time to make Germany's military power a bulwark in the Western world against the Soviet Union, and he was very unhappy with Clemenceau's repeated proposal to weaken Germany, and when he heard that a new demand had appeared in France, he was immediately very annoyed, and said impatiently: "I am very sorry Chancellor Clemenceau, Germany has made great efforts in the peace talks, and the topics discussed are also very wide. But the U.S. government never heard of any Saar problems. ”

When Clemenceau heard this, he was almost angry, and thought to himself, "Okay, Wilson, are you a pro-German element?" He looked at the delegates present and said: "I can say to gentlemen with great responsibility that no French prime minister will sign a treaty that throws Lorraine to the Germans, and I will not be a sinner of France." ”

Wilson was very upset, and coldly ridiculed Clemenceau, saying: "Does Your Excellency Chancellor mean that France will refuse to cooperate with Britain, the United States, and other Entente countries if it does not get what it wants?" ”

Clemenceau was speechless for a while by Wilson, because the American position was often supported by the British side, and Clemenceau could not face the united front of Britain and the United States, so he left the conference room in a rage.

German Chancellor Stresemann has been silent, as the host of the peace talks, he is not convenient to be domineering, and in addition, Adrian had told him before the meeting that President Wilson of the United States would not let a powerful France dominate Europe, and as long as Germany kept a low profile, the outcome of the peace talks would not be too bad. At present, he believes that the leaders of Britain and the United States must also be aware of the sinister intentions of the French issue, and in this case, it is better to really make a gesture that reassures Britain and the United States.

The meeting was temporarily suspended, and President Wilson, sensing that something was wrong, agreed to make a slight concession, and sent someone to the aisle to find Clemenceau, telling him that the United States could understand France's position on the Lorraine, Saarland, and Rhine issues. When Clemenceau heard this, he thought that Britain and the United States had relented, and immediately put forward three demands: the first was to establish a strong state in the east of Germany, which must include parts of Germany. The rationale was to counter the red threat from the Soviet Union; The second was to try to control the pockets of the Germans, and demand that Germany must pay proper compensation for the war losses, even if only symbolically, because the French government must give an account to its citizens; The third is to restrain the German military apparatus, especially to limit the number of German land forces and the production capacity of munitions.

These demands of France have been opposed to varying degrees by Britain and the United States. Britain believes that the establishment of a new country in eastern Germany according to France's blueprint means that Germany and France will lose their strengths and weaknesses in Europe, and that the newly established country will definitely get closer to France, which is not conducive to Britain's right to speak in Europe, so it resolutely disagrees with France's proposition.

Lloyd's? Prime Minister George said to Clemenceau bitterly: "Your Excellency Chancellor's blueprint is very tempting, and such a meticulous idea is not just out of anger against Germany, nor does it seem to be an idea that is only available today." ”

Clemenceau spread his hands: "Your country has always favored Germany everywhere on these issues, which has puzzled France and other Entente powers, and France has admitted defeat, but at least we can't let the Germans destroy all the artillery fire with our own ideas."

Wilson saw that Clemenceau was not angry and left this time, so he had to relieve him: "The issue of compensation can be considered, and Chancellor Stresemann is also there, and he can make a statement later, but he can't go too far, because the current Germany is also full of holes and wastes, and the people's lives are very difficult, if we still want to force them to pay high war reparations, it will be tantamount to raising a butcher's knife to kill people." I think this issue can be taken to the next step, and it can be referred to a special committee to study and solve it, Prime Minister Clemenceau, do you have any other opinions? ”

Obviously, the United States did not want to use Germany's reparations to strengthen France's power, especially the United States, which was more worried that France's excessive demands would force Germany to really follow the red Soviet Union. That would lose the true meaning of the peace talks. At this time, Lloyd's in scheming? George took the opportunity to raise the question of the limitation of German armaments, and Britain and the United States had different intentions than France, their main interest was to weaken Germany's naval forces, while to advocate leniency with regard to the army, to preserve to Germany the forces necessary to suppress the Red Soviet Union.