Treaty of Guarantee (proposed)
The Treaty of Guarantee was an agreement in which the United Kingdom and the United States guaranteed the French border against future German aggression. It came out of a proposal by British Prime Minister
Origins at Versailles
Along with Foch,
Lloyd George's proposal and Foch's protest
Lloyd George suggested a compromise. If France relinquished its claims on the Rhine, the United Kingdom and the United States would guarantee the French border against future German aggression. Wilson agreed and treaties to that effect were drawn up. Foch had stated:
"If we do not hold the Rhine permanently there is no neutralization, no disarmament, no written clause of any nature, which can prevent Germany from breaking out across it and gaining the upper hand. No aid could arrive in time from England or America to save France from complete defeat".[1]
Rejection
In return for abandoning the Rhine, Clemenceau accepted solemn guarantees of his country's frontier from his two great allies. Both houses of the
Clemenceau had been promised that aid in return for giving up the security of the Rhine that his generals had demanded.[2] It was believed that Germany would not have invaded France if it known by Germans that to the British and the Americans would oppose the invasion by military force.[3]
The rejection made Clemenceau unpopular and so ended his political career.