Question

Which Allied leader is described below? His actions at the peace conference reflected the desire of the English people to punish Germany for the destruction and suffering of World War I. He believed Germany had to be punished for World War I, but not to the extent that Germany was left powerless and destitute. He wanted Germany to serve as a barrier to resist the spread of Communism. Woodrow Wilson / David Lloyd / George Georges Clemenceau/ Vittorio Orlando

Answer 1

David Lloyd George. He represented the United Kingdom at the Treaty of Versailles. He wanted the removal of the German High Seas fleet, but he did not want to completely browbeat the Germans, unlike the French representative Georges Benjamin Clemenceau.

Answer 2

The answer is David Lloyd George.

The mentioned conference was the Versailles Peace Conference that took place in 1919, after the world war I. It set the peace terms for vanquished Germany.

David Lloyd George, a Prime Minister of Britain, was one of the three great statesmen at the Conference. He found himself in the middle, between an American President who proposed peaceful negotiations to a long-lasting peace in Europe, that included not only to go easier on Germany but also conditions for all countries involved (Disarmament, free trade, freedom of the seas, open diplomacy, etc) and the Prime Minister of France, who wanted a ruthless revenge and to weaken Germany so it'd never be able to invade another country again.

George's personal view was to make justice, but not revenge, to impose some reparations on Germany, but not be too harsh on them to the point that it ruined their economy since eventually, Europe would have to reconcile with Germany and ruining its economy would affect others nation's economies as well. He was also concerned that the Communist of the Russian Revolution of 1917 would spread west, so the treaty should leave Germany strong enough to stop them.

He tried his best to persuade the other leaders on this, but others British politicians wanted harsh reparations as well.

Though the treaty resulting was certainly harsh on Germany, it is believed that it could've been worse if George hasn't had tried to get to a halfway point between U.S. and France.