posed that if these demands were not complied with, the League constitution should be refused by the United States.

The determined attitude of the Senate of the United States aided somewhat in reducing the opposition to the League in France 2 and after a hearing given to the neutral states by the Commission, the final constitution was quickly shaped. A number of the American demands were accepted, mainly through the efforts of ex-president Taft who remained a strong advocate of the League. The Commission was careful to maintain the sovereignty of the states as members of the League and equally careful to maintain all the practical plans for peace which had been previously worked out. The League of Nations as finally accepted by the Conference provided for the voluntary cooperation of such states as accepted the League constitution for the purpose of maintaining the peace of the world. The members agreed to enforce peace, if necessary, upon those who did not accept the League terms as well as upon those who did accept them. It provided a regular machinery for investigation of all matters pertaining to peace. It required the reduction of national armaments, agreed to respect and to preserve against external aggression the political independence of its members, required the publication of all international agreements and established a mandatory 3 for backward peoples of the world.

The League was organized to deal with labor problems in their international aspect, to regulate traffic in arms and ammunition and to maintain the freedom of traffic for the commerce of the world. The capital of the League was fixed at Geneva but was made subject to change, and the first Secretary-General was Sir Eric Drummond. The League of Nations was made an integral part of the peace terms and the Central Powers accepted them in accepting the terms of peace, although they were not permitted to become members of the League until they had fulfilled certain of the peace provisions.

General

Peace

In the meantime the other commissions were rapidly shaping the general peace terms. In an address before the House of Commons on April 16, the English Premier, Lloyd George, set forth some of the difficulties of the Conference. "The task with which the peace delegates have been confronted is indeed a gigantic one. No Conference that ever assembled in the

Terms.

France had opposed the League terms because she wanted a League army to protect her against future German aggression. Now she began to fear that even a league without an army might be voted down by our Senate.

'The peoples not prepared for self government were placed under the control of some one Power whose duty it was to educate the people for self government

history of the world has been confronted with problems of such variety, of such perplexity, of such magnitude and of such gravity. The Congress of Vienna was the nearest approach to it. It had to settle the affairs of Europe. It took eleven months. But the problems of the Congress of Vienna, great as they were, sink into insignificance compared with those that we have to settle at the Paris Conference.

"It is not one continent that is engaged. Every continent is affected. With very few exceptions every country in Europe has been in this war. Every country in Asia is affected by the war save Thibet and Afghanistan. There is not a square mile of Africa which has not been engaged in the war in one way or another. Almost the whole of the nations of America are in the war. There has never been in the whole history of the globe anything to compare with this. "Ten new states have sprung into existence. Some of them are an independent, some of them seem dependent, some of them may be protectorates. . . Boundaries of fourteen countries have to be recast.

"But there are problems equally great, equally important, not of a territorial character, but all affecting the peace of the world, all affecting the well being of men, all affecting the destiny of the human race, and everyone of them of a character where, if you make a blunder, humanity may have to pay.

"Armament, economic questions of commerce and trade, questions of international waterways and railways, the question of indemnities. . . . . international arrangements for labor, practically never attempted before--a great world scheme-have been adopted."

After reviewing the methods of work and the complexity of the Russian problem, Lloyd George said: "We want peace. We want a peace that is just but not vindictive. We want peace, a stern peace, because the occasion demands it, the crime demands it; but its severity must be designed not to gratify vengeance, but to vindicate justice. Every clause in the terms must be justified on that ground.

"Above all we want to prevent a repetition of the horrors of the big war by making the wrong doer repair the wrongs and losses which he has inflicted by his wanton aggression; by punishing each individual who is responsible, and by depriving the nations which menaced the peace of Europe for half a century with flourishing the sword of their weapons.

This was the task of the Conference, which, through the work of its various commissions, finally finished the draft of the treaty and

4 Lloyd George, Speech in House of Commons, April 19, 1919.

asked Germany to send her delegates to Paris. There they received the treaty on May 7, 1919, 177 days after the signing of the armistice. All discussions of the treaty were conducted in writing with Germany. After considerable protest against the terms which she professed would ruin her, Germany yielded and the "second peace of Versailles" was signed on June 28, 1919.

5

The Treaty of Peace which finally brought to an end the greatest war in history contains some eighty thousand words and covers a multitude of subjects. Only a brief resumé of its most important provisions can be given here. Part I of the treaty deals with the The League terms of the covenant of the League of Nations and has already been reviewed."

of Nations

Discussion of Territorial Changes.

The question of territorial changes and German boundaries gave the Conference great trouble. These questions were long and anxiously discussed before agreements were reached. France was so fearful of Germany's intention to renew the war that she not only asked for indemnities but desired that all German territory west of the Rhine be organized into a buffer state independent of Germany. She feared that the action of the League of Nations would be too slow to protect her from future aggression. She was led to accept the terms as drawn by the promise of a treaty of defense with both Great Britain and the United States which should bind those Powers to give immediate aid in case of an unprovoked attack.7

A second question which gave great trouble was Italy's desire to guard herself on the frontier of the Adriatic sea. During the war Great Britain, France, and Russia had recognized Italy's right to secure the Italian territories still held by Austria-Hungary, but Italy laid claim to part of Fiume as necessary to her frontier with the newlyorganized state of Jugo-Slavia. The United States representatives opposed this claim and after interminable discussion, Italy yielded, though a decision was not reached until after the German treaty was signed. Fiume and its surrounding territory were internationalized and Italy gave up her claims to most of Dalmatia.8

Of course the U.S. did not accept the peace when it was completed although the war was not continued.

* See page 8 ff.

The Senate has so far (1921) failed to ratify the Treaty between France and the United States.

This settlement was included in the treaty with Austria. The attempt of the poet soldier, D'Annunzio, to take possession of Fiume for Italy was so far successful that Italy was enabled to secure control of the City after D'Annunzio had held it for six months in defiance of the Allies.

The third problem which gave great difficulties and left considerable dissatisfaction was the Shantung Peninsula settlement. Japan participated in the war largely to secure possession of that peninsula. After Germany

The Shantung Peninsula.

surrendered it to Japan during the war, that nation forced China to

ALSACE LORRAINE AND THE SAAR VALLEY.

recognize her right to hold it, on promise of returning the actual territory to China when Japan should have indemnified herself for her war expenditure. Under the terms of this treaty with China, Japan will retain the economic rights formerly held by Germany in the port and province. This treaty the Conference practically accepted in