Paris Peace Conference, 1919

For the John Cale album, see Paris 1919 (album)

The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 was a conference organized by the victors of World War I to negotiate the peace treaties between the Allied and Associated Powers and the defeated Central Powers. The conference opened on January 18, 1919 and lasted until January 21, 1920 with a few intervals.

Overview

The following treaties were prepared at the Paris Peace Conference:

Germany (Treaty of Versailles, 1919, June 28, 1919),
Austria (Treaty of Saint-Germain, September 10, 1919),
Bulgaria (Treaty of Neuilly, November 27, 1919),
Hungary (Treaty of Trianon, June 4, 1920), and the
Ottoman Empire (Treaty of Sèvres, 10 August, 1920; subsequently revised by the Treaty of Lausanne, July 24, 1923).

Also considered was the "holy grail" of Palestine, the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement (January 3, 1919).

The Paris peace treaties, together with the accords of the Washington Naval Conference of 1911-1922, laid the foundations for the so-called Versailles-Washington system of international relations. The remaking of the world map at these conferences gave birth to a number of critical conflict-prone international contradictions, which would become one of the causes of World War II.

The decision to create the League of Nations and the approval of its Charter both took place during the conference.

The 'Big Four' — Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France; David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America; and Vittorio Orlando, Prime Minister of Italy — were the dominant diplomatic figures at the conference. The conclusions of their talks were imposed on the defeated countries.

Participants

The countries that did take part were:

Germany and its former allies were not allowed to attend the conference until after the details of all the peace treaties had been elaborated and agreed upon. The Russian SFSR was not invited to attend.

Ireland sent representatives in the hope of achieving self-determination and legitimizing the Republic declared after the Easter Rising in 1916 but had little success.

Australian approach

The Australian delegates were Billy Hughes, (Prime Minister), and Joseph Cook (Minister of the Navy). Their principal aims were reparations, annexation of German New Guinea and rejection of the Japanese racial equality proposal. Hughes had a profound interest in what he saw as an extension of the racist White Australia Policy. Despite causing a big scene, Hughes had to acquiesce to a class C mandate for New Guinea

Japanese approach

The Japanese delegation was headed by Saionji Kimmochi, with Baron Makino Nobuaki, Viscount Chinda Sutemi (ambassador in London), Matsui Keishiro Ambassador in Paris) and Ijuin Hikokichi (ambassador in Rome and others making a total of 64. Neither Hara Takashi (Prime Minister) nor Yasuya Uchida (Foreign Minister) felt able to leave Japan so shortly after their election. The delegation focussed on two demands: a) the inclusion of their racial equality proposal and b) territorial claims for the former German colonies; Shandong and the Pacific islands north of the Equator i.e. the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Mariana Islands, and the Carolines. Makino was de facto chief as Saionji's role was symbolic, limited by ill-health.The Japanese were unhappy with the conference because they got only one half of the rights of Germany, and walked out of the conference.

The racial equality proposal

After the end of seclusion, Japan suffered unequal treaties and obtaining equal status with the Powers was Japan's dream. In this context, the Japanese delegation to the Paris peace conference proposed the race equality proposal. The first draft was presented to the League of Nations Commission on February 13 as an amendment to Article 21:

The equality of nations being a basic principle of the League of Nations, the High Contracting Parties agree to accord as soon as possible to all alien nationals of states, members of the League, equal and just treatment in every respect making no distinction, either in law or in fact, on account of their race or nationality.

Although the proposal received a majority (11 out of 16) in the voting, the chairman, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, overturned it saying that important issues should be unanimously approved. It is said that behind the issue Billy Hughes and Joseph Cook vigorously opposed it as it undermined the White Australia Policy. Later, as conflicts between Japan and America widened, the Japanese media reported the case widely leading to a grudge toward the U.S. in Japanese public opinion and becoming one of the main causes of Pearl Harbor and World War II.

Territorial claims

The Japanese claim to Shandong was disputed by the Chinese. In 1914 at the outset of First World War Japan had seized the territory granted to Germany in 1897. They also seized the German islands in the Pacific north of the equator. In 1917 Japan had made secret agreements with Britain, France and Italy as regards their annexation of these territories. With Britain, there was a mutual agreement, Japan also agreeing to support British annexation of the Pacific islands south of the equator. Despite a generally pro-Chinese view on behalf of the American delegation Article 156 of the Treaty of Versailles transferred German concessions in Shandong, China to Japan rather than returning sovereign authority to China. Chinese outrage over this provision led to demonstrations and the cultural movement known as the May Fourth Movement and China's eventual withdrawal from the Treaty. The Pacific islands north of the equator became a class C mandate administered by Japan.

United States' approach

After Woodrow Wilson failed to convince Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau to support his Fourteen Points, the conference settled on discussing the possibility of a League of Nations. After most points were agreed on, the written document detailing the League was brought back to the U.S. to be approved by Congress. Congress objected only to Article 10, which stated that an attack on any member of the League would be considered an attack on all members, who would be expected to support, if not join in on the attacked country's side. Wilson, disheartened, returned to Paris in March after all the diplomats had reviewed the League outline with their respective governments. Without the approval of Congress, Clemenceau noted Wilson's weak position and furthered the interests of Britain and France, opposed by Wilson. Germany was forced to accept full blame, which the new governmant disliked, and so resigned. Germany was being asked to accept all responsibility, lose all colonies and some home land, and to pay the Allies of World War I 33 billion dollars. Wilson would not sign these treaties, and so the United States signed separate treaties with Germany, approved by Congress.

References

MacMillan, Margaret (2001), Peacemakers: Six months that changed the world, John Murray (Publishers) Ltd.. ISBN 0-7195-6237-6
Naoko Shimazu (1998), Japan, Race and Equality, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-17207-1

External links

Charles T. Evans NVCC|Info
Excerpt and reviews of Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed The World by Margaret MacMillan ISBN 0375760520 (softcover), ISBN 0375508260 (hardcover)

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