Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Volume III

Paris Peace Conf. 180.0201/9

Peace Congress (Versailles), Protocol No. 1, Plenary Session of May 7, 1919

Versailles, May 7, 1919, 3 p.m.

The Presentation of the Conditions of Peace to the German Delegates

The German Delegates, their credentials having been verified and found to be in good and due form, were invited to go to the Trianon Palace (Versailles) on the 7th May, at 15 o’clock (3 p.m.), there to have the Conditions of Peace communicated to them.

On the appointed day, the Plenipotentiaries of the Allied and Associated Powers, hereinafter enumerated, meet in the Conference Room, and thereupon the German Plenipotentiaries are ushered in.

The session is then opened at 15 o’clock (3 p.m.) under the presidency of Mr. Georges Clemenceau, President.

• Present
  • For the United States of America:
    • The President of the United States. Honorable Robert Lansing, Secretary of State.
    • Honorable Henry White, formerly Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States at Paris and Rome.
    • Honorable Edward M. House.
    • General Tasker H. Bliss, Military Representative of the United States on the Supreme War Council.
  • For the British Empire:
  • great britain:
    • The Rt. Hon. David Lloyd George, M. P., First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister.
    • The Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour, O. M., M. P., Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
    • The Rt. Hon. A. Bonar Law, M. P., Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons.
    • The Rt. Hon. G. N. Barnes, M. P., Minister without Portfolio.
    • The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, Bt, K. C. M. G., Minister of Finance and Posts of New Zealand.
  • Dominions and India:
  • canada:
    • The Rt. Hon. Sir Robert L. Borden, G. C. M. G., K. C., Prime Minister.
    • The Hon. Arthur L. Sifton, Minister of Customs.
  • australia:
    • The Rt. Hon. W. M. Hughes, Prime Minister.
    • The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Cook, G. C. M. G., Minister for the Navy.
  • south africa:
    • General the Rt. Hon. Louis Botha, Prime Minister of the Union.
    • Lieut-General the Rt. Hon. J. C. Smuts. K. C., Minister of Defense.
  • new zealand:
    • The Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey, Prime Minister.
  • india:
    • The Rt. Hon. Lord Sinha, K. C., Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for India.
    • Major-General His Highness Sir Ganga Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Bikaner, G. C. S. I., G. C. I. E., G. C. V. O., K. C. B., A. D. C.
  • For France:
    • Mr. Georges Clemenceau, President of the Council, Minister of War.
    • Mr. Pichon, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
    • Mr. L. L. Klotz, Minister of Finance.
    • Mr. A. Tardieu, Commissioner-General for Franco-American Military Affairs.
    • Mr. Jules Cambon, Former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France.
    • Marshal Foch, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies.
  • For Italy:
    • Mr. V. E. Orlando, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister of the Interior.
    • Baron S. Sonnino, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
    • Mr. S. Crespi, Minister of Food.
  • For Japan:
    • Marquis Saionji, formerly President of the Council of Ministers.
    • Baron Makino, Member of the Diplomatic Advisory Council, formerly Minister for Foreign Affairs.
    • Viscount Chinda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan at London.
    • Mr. K. Matsui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan at Paris.
    • Mr. H. Ijuin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan at Rome.
  • For Belgium:
    • Mr. Hymans, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State.
    • Mr. Van den Heuvel, Minister of State, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the King of the Belgians.
    • Mr. Vandervelde, Minister of Justice, Minister of State.
  • For Brazil:
    • Mr. Epitacio Pessõa, formerly Minister of State, formerly Member of the Supreme Court of Justice, Federal Senator.
    • Mr. Pandia Calogeras, Deputy, formerly Minister of Finance.
  • For China:
    • Mr. Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
    • Mr. Cheng-ting Thomas Wang, formerly Minister of Agriculture and Commerce.
  • For Cuba:
    • Mr. Antonio Sanchez de Bustamante, Dean of the Faculty of Law in the University of Havana, President of the Cuban Society of International Law.
  • For Greece:
    • Mr. Eleftherios Veniselos, President of the Council of Ministers.
    • Mr. Nicolas Politis, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
  • For Guatemala:
    • Mr. Joaquín Méndez, formerly Minister of State for Public Works and Public Instruction; Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Guatemala at Washington; Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on Special Mission at Paris.
  • For Haiti:
    • Mr. Tertullien Guilbaud, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Haiti at Paris.
  • For the Hedjaz:
    • (Absent.)
  • For Honduras:
    • Dr. Policarpo Bonilla, on Special mission to Washington, formerly President of the Republic of Honduras, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
  • For Liberia:
    • Hon. C. D. B. King, Secretary of State.
  • For Nicaragua:
    • Mr. Salvador Chamorro, President of the Chamber of Deputies.
  • For Panama:
    • Mr. Antonio Burgos, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Panama at Madrid.
  • For Poland:
    • Mr. Roman Dmowski, President of the Polish National Committee.
    • Mr. Ignace Paderewski, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
  • For Portugal:
    • Dr. Affonso Costa, formerly President of the Council of Ministers.
    • Mr. Augusto Soares, formerly Minister for Foreign Affairs.
  • For Roumania:
    • Mr. Jean J. C. Bratiano, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
    • Mr. Nicolas Misu, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the King of Roumania at London.
  • For Serbia:
    • Mr. N. P. Pachitch, formerly President of the Council of Ministers.
    • Mr. Ante Trumbitch, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
    • Mr. Milenko R. Vesnitch, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the King of Serbia at Paris.
  • For Siam:
    • Prince Charoon, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the King of Siam at Paris.
    • Prince Traidos Prabandhu, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
  • For the Czecho-Slovak Republic:
    • Mr. Charles Kramar, President of the Council of Ministers.
    • Mr. Edouard Benes, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
  • For Germany:
    • Count Brockdorff-Rantzau, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Empire.
    • Dr. Landsberg, Minister of Justice of the Empire.
    • Mr. Giesberts, Minister of Posts of the Empire.
    • Oberbürgermeister Leinert, President of the Prussian National Assembly.
    • Dr. Schücking.
    • Dr. Karl Melchior.

The President, speaking in French, makes the following speech:—

“Gentlemen,

“This can be neither the time nor the place for superfluous words. You see before you the accredited Representatives of the Allied and Associated Powers, both small and great, which have waged without intermission for more than four years the pitiless war which was imposed on them. The hour has struck for the weighty settlement of our accounts. You asked us for peace. We are disposed to grant it to you. This volume, which the Secretary-General of the Conference will shortly hand to you, will tell you the conditions which we have fixed. Every facility which you may require for examining its text will be granted to you, including of course the usages of courtesy commonly practised among all civilized peoples.

“In order to acquaint you with another aspect of my thought, I am compelled to add that this Second Peace of Versailles, which is about to become the subject of our discussion, has been too dearly bought by the peoples represented here for us not to be unanimously resolved to secure by every means in our power all the legitimate satisfactions which are our due.

“I will now make the Plenipotentiaries aware of the procedure in regard to discussions which has been adopted. If, thereupon, anyone desires to offer any remarks, he will, of course, be permitted to speak.

“There will be no oral discussions, and their observations must be furnished in writing. The German Plenipotentiaries have a period of fifteen days within which to hand in their written observations, both in French and English, on the Treaty as a whole, the headings of which are as follows:—

• “League of Nations.
• “Geographical boundaries of Germany.
• “Political Clauses for Europe:
  • “Belgium, Luxembourg, Saar Basin, Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, Czecho-Slovak State, Poland, East Prussia, Denmark, Heligoland, Clauses in regard to Russia and Russian States, Recognition of new European States.
• “Political Clauses for Countries outside Europe:
  • “General Renunciation Clause, Colonies, Siam, Liberia, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey and Bulgaria, Shantung.
• “Military, Naval and Aerial Clauses.
• “Prisoners of War.
• “Responsibility and Penalties.
• “Reparation and Restitution.
• “Financial Clauses.
• “Economical Clauses.
• “Aerial Navigation.
• “Ports, Waterways, Rivers and Railways.
• “Organization of Labor.
• “Guarantees and Occupation of territory.
• “Final Clauses:
  • “Fulfilment of the Armistice; end of the war; state of peace.

“Before this period of fifteen days expires the German Delegates will be entitled to send their replies or to put questions in regard to these matters. The Supreme Council, after examining the observations which may be furnished within the period laid down, will send a written reply to the German Delegation, stating the period within which it must hand in its final reply on all questions.

“I will add that, when the Plenipotentiaries of the German Empire have given us a written reply, let us say within two, three, four, or five days, we shall of course not await the expiration of the fifteen days’ delay before acquainting them in turn with our answer. In order to lose no time, the discussion will be started as soon as possible in the form which I have described.

“If anyone has remarks to make in this connection, we shall be at his disposal, as soon as this speech has been translated.”

This speech is translated into English and German.

The text of the Conditions of Peace is handed to the principal German Plenipotentiary by the Secretary-General of the Peace Conference.

Count Brockdorff-Rantzau (Germany) reads in German the following statement, which, at his request, is translated, sentence by sentence, first into French and then into English:—

“Gentlemen,

“We are deeply impressed with the lofty character of the task which has brought us together with you, namely, to give the world a speedy and enduring peace. We cherish no illusions as to the extent of our defeat—the degree of our impotence. We know that the might of German arms is broken. We know the force of the hatred which confronts us here, and we have heard the passionate demand that the victors should both make us pay as vanquished and punish us as guilty.

“We are required to admit that we alone are war-guilty; such an admission on my lips would be a lie. We are far from seeking to exonerate Germany from all responsibility for the fact that this world war broke out and was waged as it was. The attitude of the former German Government at the Hague Peace Conferences, their actions and omissions in the tragic twelve days of July, may have contributed to the calamity, but we emphatically combat the idea that Germany, whose people were convinced that they were waging a defensive war, should alone be laden with the guilt.

“None of us will wish to assert that the calamity dates only from the fateful moment when the Heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary fell a victim to the assassin’s hand. During the last fifty years the imperialism of all European States has chronically poisoned the international situation. The policy of retaliation and that of expansion as well as disregard of the rights of peoples to self-determination, contributed to the disease of Europe, which reached its crisis in the world war. The Russian mobilization deprived statesmen of the possibility of effecting a cure and placed the decision in the hands of the military authorities.

“Public opinion in all the countries of our adversaries is echoing with the crimes which Germany is alleged to have committed during the war. Here, again, we are ready to acknowledge wrong which has been done. We have not come here to belittle the responsibility of the men who conducted the war politically and economically, and to disown breaches of international law which have been actually committed. We repeat the declaration which was made in the German Reichstag at the beginning of the war: wrong has been done to Belgium and we wish to redress it.

“Moreover, as regards the methods of conducting the war, Germany was not alone at fault. Every European nation knows of deeds and persons on whose memory their best citizens are reluctant to dwell. I do not wish to answer reproaches with reproaches, but if it is from us that penance is demanded, then the Armistice must not be forgotten. Six weeks passed before we obtained it, and six months before we learnt your conditions of Peace. Crimes in war may not be excusable, but they are committed in the struggle for victory, in anxiety to preserve national existence, in a heat of passion which blunts the conscience of nations. The hundreds of thousands of non-combatants who have perished since the 11th November through the blockade were killed with cold deliberation, after victory had been won and assured to our adversaries. Think of that, when you speak of guilt and atonement.

“The measure of the guilt of all participants can only be determined by an impartial inquiry by a neutral Commission, before which all the principal actors in the tragedy should have their say, and to which all records should be disclosed. We have demanded such an inquiry and we repeat the demand.

“Though we stand alone at this Conference, without Allies, and confronted by our numerous adversaries, yet we are not defenseless. You yourselves have brought us an ally: Justice, which was guaranteed to us by the agreement relating to the bases of Peace.

“Between the 5th October and 5th November, 1918, the Allied and Associated Governments abandoned the idea of a peace of violence and inscribed the words ‘Peace of Justice’ on their banner. On the 5th October, 1918, the German Government put forward the principles of the President of the United States of America as a basis of Peace,¹ and was informed on the 5th November by Mr. Lansing, Secretary of State, that the Allied and Associated Powers had accepted this basis with two specific reservations.² President Wilson’s principles therefore became binding upon both belligerent parties—upon you as well as upon us, and also upon our former allies.

“These principles taken individually demand of us grievous national and economic sacrifices; but the sacred and fundamental rights of all nations are protected by this agreement. The conscience of the world is behind it; no nation will be permitted to violate it with impunity.

“On this basis you will find us prepared to examine the Peace Preliminaries which you lay before us, with the fixed purpose of sharing with you the common task of rebuilding that which has been destroyed, of righting the wrongs that have been done, first and foremost the wrong done to Belgium, and of pointing mankind to new goals of political and social progress. In view of the bewildering number of the problems which beset the fulfilment of our common purpose, we ought to refer the principal questions individually at the earliest possible moment to special Commissions of experts, for discussion on the basis of the draft presented by you. In this connection it will be our chief task to build up anew the shattered human energy of the nations concerned, by international protection of the life, health, and liberty of the working classes.

“I consider our next aim to be the restoration of the territory of Belgium and Northern France, which were occupied by us and devastated by the war. We solemnly accepted the obligation to do this, and are determined to carry it out to such extent as may be agreed upon between us. To do this we are thrown back on the cooperation of our former adversaries. We cannot complete the task without the technical and financial participation of the victors; you can only carry it through with our aid. It must be the desire of impoverished Europe that reconstruction should be carried out as successfully and economically as possible. This desire, however, can only be fulfilled by means of a clear and business-like understanding in regard to the best methods. The worst method would be to continue to have the work done by German prisoners of war. Such labor is certainly cheap. It would, however, cost the world dear, if hate and despair were aroused in the German people at the thought of their captive sons, brothers, and fathers continuing to languish in their former bondage after the Peace Preliminaries. We can attain to no enduring Peace without the immediate settlement of this question, which has dragged on far too long already.

“Our experts on both sides will have to study how the German people can best meet its obligation of financial reparation without breaking down under the heavy load. Such a collapse would deprive those entitled to compensation of the advantages to which they have a claim, and would entail irreparable confusion in European economic existence as a whole. Both victors and vanquished must be on their guard against this threatening danger and its incalculable consequences. There is only one way of warding it off: unreserved recognition of the economic and social solidarity of peoples, of a free and comprehensive League of Nations.

“Gentlemen, the lofty conception that the most terrible calamity in the history of the world should bring about the greatest advance in human progress has been formulated and will be realized. If the goal is to be attained, if the slain in this war are not to have died in vain, then the portals of the League of Nations must be thrown open to all peoples of good will.

“The German nation is earnestly prepared to accommodate itself to its hard lot, provided the foundations agreed upon for peace remain unshaken. A Peace which cannot be defended in the name of justice before the whole world would continually call forth fresh resistance. No one could sign it with a clear conscience, for it would be impossible of fulfilment. No one could undertake the guarantee of fulfilment which its signature would imply.

“We will examine the document submitted to us with all good will, and in the hope that the final result of our meeting can be subscribed by us all.”

As nobody else asks leave to speak, the President declares the session adjourned at 16 o’clock (4 p.m.)

The President,

G. Clemenceau.

The Secretary-General,
P. Dutasta,

The Secretaries,
J. C. Grew,
M. P. A. Hankey,
Paul Gauthier,
Aldrovandi,
Sadao Saburi.

1. See note from the Swiss Chargé to President Wilson, October 6, 1918, Foreign Relations, 1918, supp. 1, vol. i, p. 337.
2. See ibid., p. 468.