Agreeing a peace settlement at the end of the First World War was challenging.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2021). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1-4] e.g. 'The Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up.'
2. [1-4] 'Union between Austria and Germany was forbidden.'
3. [1-4] 'Austria's army was limited to 30 000.'
4. [1-4] 'The Austrian navy was broken up and distributed amongst the Allied powers.'
5. [1-4] 'Austria was not allowed an air force.'
6. [1-4] 'Austria would have to pay reparations.'
7. [1-4] 'Austria became a landlocked country.'
8. [1-4] 'Austria lost Galicia to Poland'.
9. [2-3] 'Danzig was an important seaport.'
10. [2-3] 'Germany may lose Danzig to Poland.'
11. [2-3] 'The population of Danzig was mainly German.'
12. [2-3] 'Poland needed a seaport.'
13. [2-3] 'Danzig was important for Poland's external trade.'
14. [2-3] 'The Allies could not agree what to do, so they placed Danzig under the League of Nations.'
15. [4-5] e.g. 'Before the First World War, Danzig had been a thriving German seaport. With the re-creation of Poland, Germany would lose Danzig to the new state of Poland. This worried the peacemakers because Danzig's population was mainly German. Transferring authority to Poland could cause great resentment and a politically unstable situation.'
16. [2-3] 'Lloyd George didn't want to punish Germany too harshly.'
17. [2-3] 'Wilson clashed with Clemenceau.'
18. [2-3] 'Wilson's idea of self-determination was difficult to achieve.'
19. [2-3] 'The British public wanted to see Germany punished.'
20. [2-3] 'Wilson wanted support for a League of Nations.'
21. [2-3] 'The US public would not support some of Wilson's ideas.'
22. [4-6] e.g. 'Lloyd George had a hard task because he knew that the British people wanted Germany to be punished for the damage caused in the war. Therefore he had to try and secure a harsh treaty in order to maintain the support of the British people. However, he also understood that Germany was an important trading partner to Britain. If it was too harshly punished, then the German economy might suffer, and the country would be unable to trade with Britain.'
23. [4-6] OR e.g. 'Wilson had the harder task as he was trying to ensure that the peace was just and Germany was punished, but not too harshly. This meant he clashed with Clemenceau who wanted Germany to be weakened. Wilson also had the idea of self-determination which Britain and France saw as a threat to their empires, making them less likely to support the policy.'