TheFontainebleau Memorandum is the name given to a document written byBritishPrime MinisterDavid Lloyd George and his advisers during theParis Peace Conference, 1919 that was drafting theTreaty of Versailles. It was titled ‘Some Considerations for the Peace Conference Before They Finally Draft Their Terms, March 25th, 1919’.[1]
Lloyd George and thePresident of the United States,Woodrow Wilson, were opposed to the French demand for Allied occupation of theRhineland except as a temporary measure to be used as a guarantee for German payment ofreparations.[2] Lloyd George therefore decided to set down in writing the limits to which the British delegation at the Conference were prepared to go. Lloyd George,General Smuts, SirHenry Wilson, SirMaurice Hankey andPhilip Kerr retired toFontainebleau to decide what kind of peace treaty they would like to see.[3]
The memorandum called for a peace based on justice that would not provoke future wars. It also warned of the danger of provoking Germany into becomingBolshevik and it endorsed the creation of aLeague of Nations to ensure international right and the abolition ofcompetitive armaments.[1]
