Germany was treated harshly by the French and British after the first World War. The aim of this was to prevent Germany from ever being a threat to the rest of the world. The conditions in the Treaty of Versailles were harsh. The aim was to pay Germany back for the war and protect British, French and USA territories interests. These countries were known as the big four and they wanted to punish Germany for the loss of lives and destruction of buildings. There were 1.5 million French soldiers killed as well as at least 900 000 British soldiers killed. This count excludes soldiers from the other countries involved in the war.