The Paris Peace Conference: Fail Results

Why is the Paris peace conference, and the resulting peace treaties considered such a failure? Name Course Date of submission The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that lasted until 1920 was a significant meeting. It brought reprieve of promoting world peace after the death of over eight million people and destruction of property amounting to 260 billion dollars during the World War I. The international meeting occurred in Versailles, Paris bringing together over thirty countries together in an attempt to establish measures that could bring about long-lasting peace. The peace conference, primarily dominated by the United States, France, Great Britain and Italy, reached upon various decisions. The formation of a League of Nations, which would act as a global security forum to prevent future wars and imposing of reparation on Germany for causing the war among others. Despite the spirited negotiations among the participating countries, uneasy negotiations, the absence of crucial nations at the conference and the extreme punishment on German resulted in the total failure of the Paris Peace Conference and the subsequent treaties.[. Shepley, Nick. 2015. Britain, France and Germany and the Treaty of Versailles: The Failure of Long Term Peace.] Uneasy negotiations among the participating countries created hurdles that led to the failure of the conference and treaties. According to Tillman, the peace delegation comprising of representatives from twenty-seven nations begun meeting in Paris with the intent to develop the Versailles Treaty. However, the Allied powers, including the U.S, Italy, France and Great Britain mostly dominated the talks. Consequently, the conference changed from a peace finding mission into the push for individual agendas by the four powers most of which, conflicted with each other’s interests. For instance, the United States through President Woodrow Wilson sought to impose his idealistic view of the world through the ‘14 points speech’ that pushed for the free trade, entering of public agreements among nations, the founding of the League of Nations to promote world peace and imposing of minimal punishment in Germany. Great Britain, Italy, and France, on the other hand, prioritized on the redistribution of territories and the imposing of harsh penalties on Germany. Hence, the talks elicited significant disagreements among the four countries leading to their inability to bring other nations together subsequently, the failure to uphold the agreed upon treaties.[. Tillman, Seth P. 1961. Anglo-American relations at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.] The absence of critical nations in the peace conference led to its weakening and eventual failure. The meetings to negotiate peace, organized by winners of the war brought together the allied powers, associated countries and the defeated ...