The Paris Peace Conference, 1919: Peace without Victory? (Studies in Military and Strategic History)

The essays in this volume, written by leading historians and a former British foreign secretary, survey the strategy, politics and personalities of British peacemaking in 1919. Many of the intractable problems faced by negotiators are studied in this volume. Neglected issues, including nascent British commercial interests in Central Europe and attitudes towards Russia are covered, along with important reassessments of the viability of the Versailles treaty, reparations, appeasement, and the long-term effects of the settlement. This collection is a compelling and resonant addition to revisionist studies of the 'Peace to End Peace' and essential reading for those interested in international history. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-6 The Rise and Fall of Morality in Peace Making....Pages 7-12 The Treaty of Versailles Revisited....Pages 13-33 Holding up the Flag of Britain ... with Sustained Vigour and Brilliance or ‘Sowing the seeds of European Disaster’? Lloyd George and Balfour at the Paris Peace Conference....Pages 35-50 ‘Appeasement’ at the Paris Peace Conference....Pages 51-66 ‘That elusive entity British policy in Russia’: the Impact of Russia on British Policy at the Paris Peace Conference....Pages 67-101 The Treaty of Versailles, ‘Never Again’ and Appeasement....Pages 103-114 Missions impossible: General Smuts, Sir George Clerk and British Diplomacy in Central Europe in 1919....Pages 115-139 The Eastern Question: the Last Phase....Pages 141-155 New Diplomacy and Old: a Reassessment of British Conceptions of a League of Nations, 1918–20....Pages 157-174 Before Gooch and Temperley: the Contributions of Austen Chamberlain and J.W. Headlam-Morley towards ‘instructing the mass of the public’, 1912–26....Pages 175-189 Back Matter....Pages 191-197