PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE BEGAN A CENTURY AGO
Paris, France (JFK+50) On January 18, 1919, diplomats from more than twenty nations met here in Paris to confer on terms to bring World War I to an end.
The diplomats gathered at the Palace of Versailles*, located 20 kilometers from the center of Paris, and held their meetings in the Hall of Mirrors**.
The Paris Peace Conference was attended by leaders for four of the major players of the war, the "Big Four," included David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, Vittorio Orlando of Italy and Woodrow Wilson of the United States.
The conference would continue for more than a year after which treaties were negotiated with Germany, Austria and Bulgaria. The issue of how to prevent future world wars was also addressed.
President Wilson's close friend and adviser, Edward M. House, was to write...
"I (leave) Paris with conflicting emotions. While I should have preferred a different peace, I doubt...whether it could have been made...."
*Palace of Versailles was the main residence of the royalty of France from 1682 to 1789. It is decorated with 6000 paintings and 5000 pieces of furniture & artifacts.
**Hall of Mirrors is the most famous room in the Versailles Palace. It is 230 feet long & lined with 17 arcaded mirrors.
SOURCE
"The Paris Peace Conference, January 18, 1919," America's Story for America's Library, www.americaslibrary.gov/
Palace of Versailles
Hall of Mirrors
Paris, France
Photos by Jennifer L. Mangone (2018)
