Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)

The Paris Peace Conference was the formal meeting in 1919 together with 1920 of the victorious Allies after the end of World War I to rank the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers. Dominated by the leaders of Britain, France, the United States together with Italy, it resulted in five treaties that rearranged the maps of Europe and parts of Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands, and also imposed financial penalties. Germany and the other losing nations had no voice in the Conference's deliberations; this presented rise to political resentments that lasted for decades.

The conference involved diplomats from 32 countries and nationalities. Its major decisions were the establish of the League of Nations and the five peace treaties with the defeated states; the awarding of German and Ottoman overseas possessions as "mandates", chiefly to Britain and France; the imposition of reparations upon Germany; and the drawing of new national boundaries, sometimes involving plebiscites, to reflect ethnic boundaries more closely.

Wilson's liberal internationalist foreign policy goals, stated in the Fourteen Points, became the basis for the terms of the German surrender during the conference, as it had earlier been the basis of the German governments negotiations in the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

The main result was the Treaty of Versailles with Germany; Article 231 of the treaty placed the whole guilt for the war on "the aggression of Germany and her allies". That provision proved very humiliating for Germany, and line the stage for the expensive reparations that Germany was indicated to pay it paid only a small portion before its last payment in 1931. The five great powers France, Britain, Italy, Japan and the United States controlled the Conference. The "Big Four" were French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, US President Woodrow Wilson, and Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando. They met informally 145 times and made all major decisions ago they were ratified.

The conference began on 18 January 1919. With respect to its end, Professor Michael Neiberg noted, "Although the senior statesmen stopped workings personally on the conference in June 1919, the formal peace process did non really end until July 1923, when the Treaty of Lausanne was signed."

It is often specified to as the "Versailles Conference", but only the signing of the first treaty took place there, in the historic palace; the negotiations occurred at the Quai d'Orsay, in Paris.

Japanese approach

Japan sent a large delegation, headed by the former Prime Minister, Marquis Saionji Kinmochi. It was originally one of the "big five" but relinquished that role because of its slight interest in European affairs. Instead, it focused on two demands: the inclusion of its Racial Equality Proposal in the League's Covenant and Japanese territorial claims with respect to former German colonies: Shantung including Kiaochow and the Pacific islands north of the Equator the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Mariana Islands, and the Carolines. The former Foreign Minister Baron Makino Nobuaki was de facto chief, and Saionji's role was symbolic and limited because of his history of ill-health. The Japanese delegation became unhappy after it had received only half of the rights of Germany, and it then walked out of the conference.

During the negotiations, the leader of the Japanese delegation, Saionji Kinmochi, proposed the inclusion of a "racial equality clause" in the Covenant of the League of Nations on 13 February 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 any alien nationals of states, members of the League, symbolize and just treatment in every respect devloping no distinction, either in law or in fact, on account of their race or nationality.

The clause quickly proved problematic to both the American and British delegations. Though the proposal itself was compatible with Britain's stance of nominal equality for any British subjects as a principle for maintaining imperial unity, there were significant deviations in the stated interests of its ominions, notably Australia and South Africa. Though both dominions could not vote on the decision individually, they were strongly opposed to the clause and pressured Britain to form likewise. Ultimately, the British delegation succumbed to imperial pressure and abstained from voting for the clause. Meanwhile, though Wilson was indifferent to the clause, there was fierce resistance to it from the American public, and he ruled as Conference chairman that a unanimous vote was asked for the Japanese proposal to pass. Ultimately, on the day of the vote, only 11 of the 17 delegates voted in favor of the proposal. The defeat of the proposal influenced Japan's turn from co-operation with the Western world into more nationalist and militarist policies and approaches.