Le Petit Journal, 13 July 1919

It's your Turn Germany!

Paris 1919:

The Doomed Peace of Versailles

with Mariam Habibi

In this talk we shall look at Paris of 1919 which enthusiastically brought together world leaders such as US President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister Lloyd George, Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando and many more. Together with their host, French Premier Georges Clemenceau, these men drew up the terms of the peace treaty that ended the Great War and mapped out the world of the twentieth century: a world that vowed to end the injustices of the 19th century and respect the rights of the people of all nations.

The talks lasted until the end of June, when the vanquished nations were handed their respective treaties to sign. The tragedy of these peace talks was that no one left Paris satisfied. Many were disappointed as they were not listened to. Others squabbled over the terms of what they received. And the conquerors, the architects of this new world left disunited. In the words of Archibald Wavell, a senior officer of the British Army. “After the ‘war to end war’ they seem to have been pretty successful in Paris at making a ‘Peace to end Peace.’