He wanted to be compassionate and give Germany time to recover. George wanted, and eventually got his wish, for the Rhineland was demilitarized, and not given to Italy.
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George Clemenceau, as mentioned earlier, was the prime minister of France. His nickname was "the Tiger." He wanted Germany to suffer miserably for all of the pain they had put France through. He thought that Germany should pay for the damage they had done to France. He wanted Germany to pay for France to rebuild 750,000 houses and 23,000 factories that they had destroyed. Clemenceau also made some demands concerning territory. He believed that the territories of Alsace-Lorraine must be returned to France. Germany had stole this land from France in 1871. He also believed that France should be given the Rhineland. This, he thought, would prevent Germany from attacking France again.
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The fourth member of the prestigious Big Four was Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States of America. Since the United States had only declared war on Germany in April of 1917, the United States had not suffered as much damage as the other countries involved in the Treaty. When he arrived in Paris, Wilson carried with him his "fourteen points." One of Wilson's proposed fourteen points was the idea of "Self-determination." He felt that the people of Europe should be allowed to determine their own future. Another of his points stated that a League of Nations should be formed. He said that this League would be composed of leaders from different countries. The purpose of the group would be to avoid future problems similar to World War One. President Wilson also wanted to reduce Germany's military to the "lowest point consistent with domestic safety." He also wanted to eliminate all of Germany's submarine power and greatly reduce the size of Germany's naval power.
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After much discussion and compromise, the Big Four finally agreed on the proper punishments for Germany.
