My name is Cleodie Collison. I was born May 15, 1997, in Calgary, Alberta, in the kitchen of our house at the time. When I was three years old, my family moved into the mountains to a small tourist town called Banff. I would never wish to have grown up anywhere else. Banff was, and continues to be an amazing place to live. My parents met at Lake Louise Ski Resort. My mom was a ski instructor at the time, and my dad was a patroller. I have two siblings, and all three of us were taught how to ski before we could walk. When I was younger I was involved in many sports. I played soccer, was on an all boys hockey team, competed in gymnastics, trampoline, karate, and of course skiing. Little by little I had to give up one sport at a time, as my schedule became too conflicted. By the time I was eleven I was still involved in competitive gymnastics, hockey and skiing. All three of these sports got very busy, and I ended up having to choose one. I chose skiing. I raced competitively until I was 15, and that was the age that I came to Shawnigan.
What were the motives of the Big Three at the Paris Peace Conference and why were they originally the Big Four?
At the Paris Peace Conference, US, Britain and France, or the "Big Three" had varying motives. All three of them shared a mutual goal, which was to make Germany pay reparations. However, the severity of their aspirations varied. France had the harshest financial demands from Germany, and the US had the most lenient. The US believed that Germany should have been given the chance to rebuild economically, using democratic ideology. On top of reparation costs, Britain had a motive to expand their empire by taking control of German colonies. The Big Three was originally called the Big Four. The Big Four was composed of Woodrow Wilson (US), David Lloyd George (Britain), Vittoria Orlando (Italy), and George Clemenceau (France). Vittorio Orlando had demands that the other three were not interested in, so he left the group.
In what ways did Woodrow Wilson think that collective security might prevent another world war, and why was the League of Nations doomed from its creation?
Collective security is the cooperation of several countries in an alliance in order to strengthen each country's security. The idea is that the nations will work together constructively in order to prevent war. Woodrow Wilson wanted a lasting peace after World War I. He believed that this would only be achieved if the major powers worked together to ensure collective security in the League of Nations. The League of Nations was to be based in Geneva, Switzerland. Switzerland was chosen as a neutral country, because it had not fought in WWI. The League had many weaknesses from the beginning. First of all, the US (the country whose president, Woodrow Wilson, had thought of the League of Nations) refused to join it. Although Wilson attempted to have the US join, the country was enduring an isolationist policy. None of the citizens wished to fight another war, and they thought the best way to avoid that would be to keep to themselves. Since the US was the most powerful nation in the world, this was a huge blow to the League. The second reason as to why the League of Nations was a failure, is that Germany was not allowed to join. Since Germany had "started the war" (according to the Treaty of Versailles) it was not considered to be a member of the community, and therefore was not invited to join. This was not only an issue for Germany, but it also meant that the League of Nations was not able to use any of the support that Germany could have been able to offer. The third major reason for the League being unsuccessful was that Russia was not allowed to join either. In 1917, Russia had a communist government that Western Europe was fearful of, and in 1918, the Russian royal family was murdered. So, it was decided that such a country would not be allowed to join the League of Nations. Therefore, the world's three most powerful nations, played no part in supporting the League. The league's one goal was to end war for good, however they had no chance to enforce their rules using military strength, so they had little power.