Lloyd George, the Russian Bolsheviks and the Paris Peace Conference
British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, said during the Paris Peace Conference that Russia had become a land of the unknown: “Russia was a jungle where no one could say exactly what was happening”. The Great Powers did not understand what the situation in Russia...
The Paris Peace Conference, the leaders of the Great Powers and the Russian Bolsheviks
In January 1919, all roads led to Paris. After the greatest war that mankind had ever seen, the peace conference was the most discussed topic. The most powerful politicians and generals in the world arrived in Paris. Countries large and small had interests closely...
The political and diplomatic battle of Romania at the Paris Peace Conference (1919)
At the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Romania fought fiercely to have its rights recognized regarding the incorporation of the territories inhabited by Romanians from Austria-Hungary. On August 17, 1916, the Romanian Prime Minister, Ionel Brătianu, signed with the...
The first repercussions of the Paris Peace Conference. “In Romania, you have to throw the body out to save the boat”
The treaties between the Allied Powers and the defeated states began to be signed beginning with the end of June 1919. Standing in between the great powers, the delegations of the smaller states each tried to have their claims recognized, while the delegations of the...
1919- the time of financial restitution. “Germany is unable to pay”
The Paris Peace Conference was about more than determining the victors and the losers or resolving territorial claims. There was the question of compensation. Clemenceau wanted to get as much of the war reparations as possible: to slow down Germany’s recovery, while...
Queen Marie, the first day in Paris: “Everything and everyone is pressing me at the same time”
She hardly just resumed her ordinary life in Cotroceni- as it was before she went into exile- that Queen Marie was again called on to serve the country. The Romanian delegation had already left for the Paris Peace Conference, but the Queen’s relations, prestige and...
The Treaty of Sèvres and it legacy
Treaty of Sèvres, (Aug. 10, 1920), post-World War I pact between the victorious Allied powers and representatives of the government of Ottoman Turkey. The treaty abolished the Ottoman Empire and obliged Turkey to renounce all rights over Arab Asia and North Africa....
“In the name of righteousness, there is a great wrongdoing, in wishing to punish Romania for the misfortunes it endured…”
Romania was not looked upon with good eyes at the start of the Paris Peace Conference by the leaders of the great victorious powers, especially by Clemenceau and partly by Wilson. However, diplomacy and persuasive speeches of the Romanian delegation together with the...
The Controversial Versailles Treaty
The Versailles Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles in Paris, was the peace settlement between Germany and the Allied Powers that officially ended World War I. After this moment all the others allies signed in Paris...
Queen Marie, face to face with Clemenceau: “Transylvania up to the Tisa and all of Banat”
On March 6, 1919, Queen Marie asked to be received in an audience by the Prime Minister of France, Georges Clemenceau. The protocol required, even if the visit was not an official one, that the politician go to the Ritz to greet the queen. The official response was...