0:00

History That Doesn't Suck is a bi-weekly podcast

0:02

delivering a legit, seriously researched, hard-hitting survey

0:04

of American history through entertaining stories.

0:06

If you'd like to support HTDS or enjoy bonus

0:08

content, please consider giving at patreon.com

0:11

forward slash history that doesn't suck.

0:23

It's a dark, cold night, October 13th, 1918. The

0:25

16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry

0:27

is currently holding

0:30

a line of trenches amid the fields and

0:32

hills of Flanders that lie 10 miles

0:34

or so to the southeast of Ypres,

0:37

not far from Verfugue, Belgium.

0:39

What each of the soldiers are doing, I can't

0:41

say. But this is a seasoned

0:44

unit, filled with several men who've

0:46

seen plenty of death and multiple battles.

0:49

Many are likely smoking. Perhaps

0:51

a few are catching a little shut-eye.

0:53

Some are likely chatting. Do

0:55

they long for home? Maybe they're

0:58

discussing the recent setbacks in the war. However,

1:01

they're passing the time. It's interrupted around

1:03

midnight by the sound of Allied artillery. And

1:06

soon after the first shell strikes, a sweet

1:08

yet spicy scent and yellow cloud descends

1:11

upon them. Throughout the line, the

1:13

call goes out, gas! Immediately,

1:17

gray-clad men drop to the ground, fumbling in

1:19

the dark with their masks. Once secured

1:22

and sealed on their heads, they breathe

1:24

in hot, uncomfortable,

1:25

but filtered air. Hours

1:28

pass. The British mustard gas

1:30

is unrelenting. Yet, despite

1:32

the ongoing bombardment, one of the regiment's more

1:35

recent arrivals has hit his breaking point.

1:37

The young German rips off his mask, desperate

1:40

for the cool night's air, and inhales. His

1:43

screams turn to gags as the yellow

1:45

gas burns his eyes, blisters his skin,

1:47

then fills his lungs. Soon

1:49

enough, he succumbs and dies.

1:54

The bombardment breaks around 7 a.m.

1:57

The men tear off their masks and gulp down the But

2:01

they only get a taste before their British foe

2:03

brings the impact. Already

2:06

exhausted from the last seven hours, some

2:08

fail to get their masks back on. They

2:10

cough, leave, and die. Yet

2:14

even those who succeeded at remasking are

2:16

blinded by this point. And so,

2:19

one soldier, with some remaining, a faint

2:21

eyesight, calls for the others to form

2:23

a human chain. Each blind

2:25

man clings to the coat in front of him as

2:28

their almost blind comrade stumbles along,

2:30

leading them backward through the trenches to a

2:32

first aid station. A

2:37

short while later, the gas soldiers

2:40

are on a hospital train traveling east, away

2:42

from the deadly Western Front, back toward

2:44

the safety of Germany. It's a train

2:47

full of bloated faces and red,

2:49

swollen, blinded eyes. Nurses

2:52

tend to be suffering soldiers as best they can,

2:55

but many turn these caregivers away. The

2:57

doctors claim that this blindness is temporary,

3:00

but the men refuse to believe them. Just

3:02

more lies. God, how this army

3:04

has lied to them. Many welcome

3:07

the thought of death, but they're wrong

3:09

to disbelieve. Relief is coming,

3:11

in the form of a medical hospital in the eastern

3:14

town of Passivak. Days

3:20

pass. As they do, the

3:22

swelling in the soldiers' faces and eyes recedes.

3:26

They are hit by bit, light, shapes, and

3:28

colors return. The improvement is

3:30

slow, but certain. Days

3:32

become weeks. October turns

3:35

to November. During this time,

3:37

the recuperating soldiers here talk of some kind

3:39

of revolt. Perhaps a revolution,

3:42

even. Who knows? The

3:44

details are vague, and after all, rumors

3:47

are just that.

3:48

Rumors.

3:50

It's now November 10th. All

3:53

of the recovering troops have gathered in a small

3:55

meeting room. They're here to listen to

3:57

a local pastor speak. in,

4:00

this aging man of the cloth can't hide

4:02

the hurt he's feeling inside from showing on

4:04

his face. Sombrely, the

4:07

pro-Kaiser pastor announces to

4:09

the gathered soldiers that Imperial Germany

4:12

is no more, that the Second Reich

4:14

has fallen and a republic has risen

4:16

in its place. Tears well

4:18

up in the eyes of the many Kaiser loyal soldiers

4:21

as they listen to this news. Meanwhile,

4:23

the pastor continues on, expressing his

4:25

gratitude to the royal house of Höltenzollern,

4:28

and all it did for the Prussian and larger German

4:30

people. But then, the clergyman's

4:33

expression turns even more crestfallen

4:36

as he shares the other hard piece of news.

4:39

Germany has lost the war, and the

4:42

army is surrendering, effective

4:44

tomorrow. And with that, the

4:46

pastor hits his breaking point. He

4:48

begins to weep. So do the

4:50

soldiers. The meeting ends.

4:54

Never come with sorrow, minds turn to fallen

4:56

comrades, to their two million brothers

4:58

in arms, once young and hopeful men,

5:00

with dreams, ambitions, and loved ones. Now

5:03

dead. What was all this

5:05

death for, they wonder? And how

5:07

could they have lost? Not only

5:10

lost the war, but lost Imperial Germany.

5:13

How could the Second Reich fall? Or

5:16

at least one soldier wonders all of this. One

5:19

who, in the years to come, will devote himself

5:21

to politics, gain immense political power

5:23

within this new German republic, and ultimately

5:26

end this short-lived representative

5:28

government as he fashions a new regime that

5:31

will commit unfathomable atrocities,

5:33

including ethnic cleansing and a holocaust

5:36

against the Jewish people. His

5:38

will be another authoritarian, and this

5:40

time, genocidal, Reich. A

5:43

Third Reich. That

5:45

soldier is corporal.

5:53

That's all.

6:04

Welcome to history that doesn't stop

6:05

you. I'm your professor, Greg

6:07

Jackson, and I'd like to tell you a story.

6:25

Adolf Hitler was among the 16th Bavarian

6:27

Reserve soldiers in the hospital, but it's questionable.

6:31

In 2011, historian Thomas Weber

6:33

found a note by young Adolf's physician

6:36

diagnosing the future theory with hysterical

6:38

amblyopia. In other words, Adolf,

6:41

who as a courier wasn't manning the front

6:43

lines, may have experienced psychologically

6:46

induced blindness, hence

6:48

his rapid and full recovery. Whether

6:50

Adolf convinced himself he was gassed or

6:52

lied to look like a war hero, just

6:54

as he later lied that it was during this hospital

6:57

stay that he felt called to politics, we'll

6:59

never know. But let's not get

7:01

ahead of ourselves. Hitler's infamy

7:04

is a story for a much, much later day. Today

7:07

is a story of peacemaking, particularly

7:10

of 1919's six month Paris

7:12

Peace Conference culminating in the Allied

7:14

Powers Treaty with Germany, the Treaty of

7:16

Versailles. And it has a lot

7:19

of moving pieces. We'll start

7:21

with the US midterm elections of 1918, which

7:24

could impact the Senate's future choice to ratify

7:26

this treaty or not. From there,

7:28

we'll join Woodrow Wilson, who's personally representing

7:31

the US at the conference to push his 14 points,

7:34

especially his League of Nations. But

7:36

can the idealist American out

7:39

navigate Georges Clémenceau, who

7:41

wants to punish Germany and dismantle its

7:43

military capabilities? What

7:45

about the smooth operating Welsh wizard, Britain's

7:48

David Lloyd George? We'll find

7:50

out as we hear what their conflicting values and

7:52

goals yield amid talks of a League of

7:54

Nations assigning quote unquote mandates

7:56

in the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific.

8:00

and Woodrow's tempers flare over German

8:02

and French territory, and of course,

8:04

as we learn what this conference ultimately asks,

8:07

sorry, demands, that the Germans

8:10

sign in the Palace of Versailles Hall of Mears.

8:13

A final note, we have a few big

8:16

terms to keep track of, so let me tell

8:18

you now that this conference will be dominated by

8:20

the Big Three, France, Britain,

8:23

and the United States. Less dominated

8:25

by the Big Four, which adds Italy, and

8:28

slightly less still by the Big Five,

8:30

which adds Japan. The Big Five

8:32

also compromises the Supreme Council,

8:35

also known as the Council of Ten, since

8:38

each of the five countries has two people serving

8:40

on it. You'll also hear me mention

8:42

several other Great War ending treaties, apart

8:45

from the Treaty of Versailles. While Versailles

8:47

deals with Germany, these others handle the

8:49

other Central Powers, the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian

8:52

empires. The US isn't a signatory

8:54

on those treaties, so as a US history podcast,

8:57

we'll tread lightly, but I'll still give you the highlights,

8:59

particularly those dealing with the post-Ottoman

9:02

Middle East. Since those impactful decisions,

9:04

as you'll see, start at the Paris Peace

9:06

Conference. So much important,

9:09

stage-setting, 20th century diplomatic

9:11

history, so little time. So

9:14

let's dive in, beginning with the United States

9:16

going to the polls in 1918. Rewind.

9:24

Going into the midterm congressional elections of 1918, President

9:27

Woodrow Wilson's Democrats control Congress. They

9:30

hold an outright majority in the Senate, and

9:32

although the Republicans outnumber them in the House, third-party-wrapped

9:35

caucuses with the Democrats let them call

9:38

the shots there as well. A great

9:40

situation for the Democratic professorial

9:42

president, but the Republicans aren't about

9:44

to just roll over and accept that, especially

9:47

not Theodore Roosevelt. Just

9:49

before the election, in October 1918, the

9:52

former trust-busting president and bold moose 1912

9:56

presidential candidate turned repentant Republican,

9:58

travels the West. urging Americans to vote

10:01

in a Republican Senate.

10:03

And why?

10:04

Because of becoming peace talks. T.R.

10:07

a sales of vagueness of Woodrow's 14 points,

10:10

calling them the conditional surrender

10:12

of the United States. The

10:14

Rough Rider Colonel also rails against Woodrow's

10:16

League of Nations, doubting its ability to keep

10:19

peace and expressing concerns that it may

10:21

meddle with the United States' sovereignty.

10:24

T.R. is joining his dissent with that of his dear

10:26

friend, the U.S. Senator most easily

10:28

mistaken as a just-for-men touch of gray

10:30

model. Massachusetts man Henry

10:32

Cabot Lodge. Woodrow

10:35

intended to stay out of this election, to

10:37

keep his focus on the war and negotiating peace

10:39

with Germany. But fearful that Teddy

10:41

might cost him and his Democrats control

10:44

in Congress, the President responds, telling

10:46

the American people that electing Republicans

10:48

would leave him quote unquote seriously

10:50

impaired in his negotiations through

10:53

the end of the war. Wrong move.

10:56

The President comes across as petty. Like

10:58

he's dismissing the bipartisan support

11:01

he's enjoyed from Republicans, likewise

11:03

doing their wartime patriotic duty. While

11:06

significantly fewer Americans dare to vote

11:08

as the great influenza epidemic, aka

11:11

the Spanish flu, sends some 25%

11:14

of the population to their sick beds and

11:16

half a million to their graves, the masked

11:18

and unmasked voters who do go to the

11:20

polls on November 5th, send a Republican

11:23

majority to both houses of Congress for

11:25

the first time in eight years. It's

11:31

a blow to Woodrow's cause, but he's absolutely

11:33

determined to hold the line on his 14 points.

11:36

In fact, Woodrow so determined that

11:39

as the armistice takes effect on November 11th and peace

11:42

talks for a war ending treaty are planned for

11:44

Paris in January, the square

11:46

jawed President uses his sixth annual

11:48

message on December 2nd, 1918 to

11:51

announce to Congress that he'll personally attend and

11:53

participate in these negotiations. Already

11:57

displeased with his partisan words before the

11:59

election. Many in Congress are

12:01

all the more disappointed by this. Honestly,

12:04

it's a bit odd that Woodrow's going. For

12:06

one, he'll be absent from the White House for six

12:08

months, and further, none of the other

12:11

heads of state, like Britain's King

12:13

George V, or French President, Raymond

12:15

Poincaré, are going as negotiators.

12:19

And frankly, Woodrow's buddy and fellow

12:21

U.S. negotiator, Colonel Edward House,

12:23

or just the Colonel, as he's called, can't

12:26

help feeling like the President's stepping on his

12:28

toes. But to Woodrow, the

12:30

coming piece is based on his 14 points, so

12:33

he must ensure that the Paris Peace Conference

12:36

builds his League of Nations.

12:39

Thus, in his mind, it's exactly as

12:41

his physician, Dr. Kerry Grayson puts

12:43

it, he must go. And

12:46

Woodrow will hope that the now Republican-dominated

12:48

Senate will later ratify his work. On

12:52

December 4th, 1918, Woodrow

12:54

Wilson boards the USS George Washington.

12:57

He reaches France a little more than a week later,

12:59

on December 13th. Once

13:01

there, the professorial president continues

13:04

tinkering with his plans for a League of Nations. But

13:07

as more and more delegates arrive in Paris, the

13:09

hour is upon him. Let the

13:11

Paris Peace Conference begin. It's 2.50

13:18

in the chilly afternoon, Saturday, January

13:21

18th, 1919. A

13:23

crowd of 2,000 or so Cheers as limousines,

13:26

decorated with miniature national flags

13:28

or colorful buntings, drop off international

13:31

delegates at 37 Quai

13:33

d'Orcée in Paris, France. Before

13:36

them, scans a pillared two-story stone

13:38

building with several windows that scream

13:41

second-time power elements. Le

13:43

cèle de Ministre des d'affaires et tanger,

13:46

that is, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

13:50

Cheers fill the street as the American president,

13:52

Woodrow Wilson, arrives, and the French crowd

13:54

grows louder still at the sight of their own president,

13:57

Simon Francaise. Sorry,

13:59

Woodrow. does have the home field advantage.

14:03

The delegates file into an ornate, white,

14:06

gold-covered room, filled with statues

14:08

ranging from trubic figures to a female personification

14:10

of France. She stands over the

14:13

fireplace, and just at her feet, mounted

14:15

on the mantel, is an exquisite clock.

14:18

Hence, this is called the Salons de

14:20

L'Olage, or the Clock Salon.

14:23

Although during these treaty deliberations,

14:26

they're calling this La Salle de Laté, or

14:28

the Hall of Peace. The

14:30

men sit in crimson leather chairs at

14:32

a large U-shaped, green felt

14:34

covered table. Our old acquaintance,

14:37

the rotund, walrus mustache, and,

14:40

for today, bowler hat-wearing, French

14:42

Prime Minister Georges the Tiger

14:44

Clémenceau sits up ahead. On

14:47

his right is Woodrow Wilson, and to his left

14:49

is British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George.

14:53

This is the big three, though they

14:55

don't all love each other. George

14:57

finds both men annoying. David

14:59

for his slick maneuvering that's earned him the title

15:01

of the Welsh Wizard, and even more so,

15:04

Woodrow for his holier-than-thou idealism.

15:07

The table then rounds to seat some 70

15:09

delegates hailing from some 30 different

15:11

countries. If these gentlemen

15:13

didn't know the pecking order before today, surely

15:16

that's dawning on them as they find their seats. French

15:19

President Raymond Poincaré opens the

15:21

proceedings with a brief welcome speech. But

15:24

not being a delegate, he then leaves as the group

15:26

moves to naming a conference chairman. Our

15:29

American President nominates French Prime Minister

15:31

Georges Clémenceau. Britain's Welsh

15:33

Wizard seconds the motion, and further down the table,

15:36

Maron Sunino of Italy follows suit. The

15:39

motion passes unanimously. Now

15:42

the chairman, Georges the Tiger Clémenceau,

15:44

rises to address the room. He doesn't

15:46

waste this opportunity, quickly laying ground

15:48

for reparations, which, though not said

15:50

now, he wants Germany to pay to

15:53

France. Britain pivots to placating

15:55

flattery for Woodrow. Because

16:00

I see in it a new strength for

16:03

all three of us which will allow

16:05

us to carry through with the help

16:07

of the whole conference the arduous

16:09

work entrusted to us. We

16:12

have come here as friends. We must leave

16:14

this room as brothers. That

16:17

is the first thought which I wish to

16:19

express. Everything

16:21

must yield to the necessity of

16:24

a closer and closer union

16:26

among the peoples who have taken part

16:28

in this great war. The

16:30

League of Nations is here. It

16:33

is in yourselves. It is

16:35

for you to make it live. And

16:38

for that it must be in our hearts. As

16:41

I have said to President Wilson, there must

16:43

be no sacrifice which we are not ready

16:45

to accept. With these

16:47

politically deft words of brotherhood that

16:49

seem to both accept and perhaps dismiss

16:52

Woodrow's League of Nations, the Tiger then

16:54

asks delegates to prepare memorandums on

16:57

the responsibilities of the authors of the

16:59

war, penalties for crimes committed during

17:01

the war and new international

17:03

legislation on labor. He then

17:05

adjourns this first session at 4.35 p.m. So

17:11

the Paris Peace Conference has officially begun. But

17:14

as we saw in the seating setup, few

17:16

in attendance are real decision makers. Instead,

17:20

a Supreme Council or Council of Ten

17:22

made up of the heads of government and foreign ministers

17:24

of the five most powerful allied nations, France,

17:27

the United Kingdom, the U.S., Italy, and

17:29

Japan, is calling the shots.

17:33

This council faces a thousand questions and

17:35

competing priorities. Woodrow Wilson

17:37

keeps pushing his League of Nations. Joss

17:40

Climonso is far more concerned about

17:42

creating barriers between France and Germany

17:45

and while making Germany pay. David

17:47

Lloyd George is all about Germany paying the bill

17:50

for this war, but impressively

17:52

he seems able to thread the needle between

17:54

the American and the Frenchman. Italian

17:57

Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando is

17:59

really just there to make sure Italy gets its slice

18:01

of the pie, while Japan wants to ensure

18:04

that its empire is respected as a world

18:06

power, which includes territorial

18:08

gains. Yet powerful

18:11

as the Council of Ten is, this conference

18:13

is flooded with representatives interested

18:15

in one of Widro's 14 points, self-determination,

18:19

that is, the idea that a given people

18:21

have the right to exercise their own sovereignty. A

18:24

lofty idea in this world of empires. It

18:27

will play out decently for many European peoples,

18:29

which will be impacted by this treaty as well

18:31

as the Allies' two treaties with the coming-apart

18:34

Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Lait,

18:37

and the Treaty of Trianon, and with Bulgaria,

18:40

the Treaty of Nuit-sur-Sens. But

18:42

the idea is also drawing interest from those

18:44

hailing from other parts of the globe, even

18:47

those not officially recognized as representatives.

18:50

One is a 29-year-old from France's Southeast

18:52

Asian colony of French Indochina, who

18:55

is asserting his homeland should have independence.

18:58

His bid won't go anywhere, but we'll give a passing

19:00

nod to this fellow, later to be known as Ho

19:02

Chi Minh, and save his story for a much

19:04

later day. Realizing

19:07

that they can't ignore Woodrow Wilson's League

19:09

of Nations after his impassioned speech

19:11

on January 25th—seriously,

19:13

this idealist American won't drop

19:15

it—the Council looks at wrapping the

19:18

League and the self-determination issue

19:20

together. They'll create his

19:22

League of Nations, and it, in

19:24

turn, will assign a great power

19:27

nation to tutor and guide the former

19:29

German colonies in Africa, Asia,

19:31

and the Pacific, and the Ottoman territories

19:33

in the Middle East, as these developing regions

19:35

learn to exercise sovereignty and self-governance.

19:39

They'll call these embryonic nations mandates.

19:43

But is this really about helping these new

19:45

mandates? Can the League of Nations truly

19:48

ensure no or little abuse occurs?

19:51

Or are the Supreme Council's British, French,

19:54

and Japanese members just setting up colonialism

19:56

light under a better-sounding name as they

19:58

divvy up some of the former holdings of

20:00

the defeated central powers among themselves.

20:03

I'll let you ponder that as the Supreme Council

20:06

meets with two men who've traveled to Paris from

20:08

the Middle East. It's

20:11

about three in the afternoon, February 6, 1919. The

20:15

Supreme Council is gathered at 37 Quai d'Orsay

20:19

in the ornate wood-paneled office of

20:21

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Pichon.

20:24

Even here, the seating arrangements reflect

20:26

the power dynamics. French

20:28

Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau rests

20:31

in a gilded armchair at the head of the table

20:33

just before the fireplace. The

20:35

British and American delegates, including Prime

20:38

Minister David Lloyd George and President Woodrow

20:40

Wilson, are seated next to each other, while

20:42

the Japanese and Italians are at a table in

20:44

the corner. With the Council wrapping up

20:46

a discussion about destroying German U-boats, Conference

20:49

Chairman Georges Clemenceau calls for today's

20:51

invited guests to enter. The

20:54

Arab Revolt's leader, Emir Faisal,

20:56

of the Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz. Okay,

21:00

time out. Here's a bit of background as Faisal

21:02

enters. Through an exchange of

21:04

letters between 1915 and 1916, Faisal's

21:08

father, the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein

21:10

Ben Ali al-Hashimi, and Britain's

21:12

High Commissioner to Egypt, Lieutenant Colonel

21:15

Sir Henry McMahon, plotted the Arab

21:17

Revolt. The deal was that

21:19

the Sharif would raise an Arab army

21:21

to fight against his Ottoman rulers and

21:23

in return, Britain would fund it, and

21:25

crucially, recognize his independent

21:28

Hashemite Kingdom. Ah,

21:30

but the boundaries of this kingdom were ambiguously

21:32

defined, and that may have been intentional.

21:36

More complicated still, Britain and France

21:38

concluded a secret agreement in 1916. The

21:41

Sykes-Picot agreement much divided much

21:43

of the Ottoman Middle East between them, while

21:45

conflicting with some of the ambiguities of

21:47

the McManh-Hussein letters. Now,

21:50

the Sykes-Picot agreement was scrapped as Russia

21:52

made it public in 1917, yet the Supreme

21:55

Council is now entertaining League of Nation

21:57

mandates run by Britain and France. that

22:00

align with some of its thinking. And

22:03

as if those two layers aren't complicated enough,

22:05

here's a third. In 1917, British

22:08

Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour issued

22:10

a formal declaration designating Palestine

22:13

as a homeland for the Jewish people. Future

22:15

historians will argue over the incompetency,

22:17

duplicity, short-sightedness, or mixture

22:20

of all three that led the British to make these

22:22

conflicting promises for a post-Ottoman

22:24

Middle East. But it's in that

22:26

context that Faisal appears

22:28

before the Council to fight for what he understands

22:31

to be his promised Arab kingdom. Dressed

22:35

in gold embroidered white robes and

22:37

wearing a jewel-encrusted revolver and

22:39

gold-handled scimitar at his waist, Emir

22:42

Faisal looks every part the hero

22:44

of the Arab revolt as he steps into the

22:46

room. At the Prince's side

22:48

and forced out of his own white robes and into

22:50

his old British officer's uniform is his

22:52

ally and, for today, interpreter,

22:55

Colonel T. E. Lawrence, better known

22:57

as Lawrence of Arabia. George

23:00

Climenceau bellows out, the floor

23:02

belongs to Prince Faisal. The

23:05

Prince and Lawrence both rise. Faisal

23:07

speaks as Lawrence translates, I

23:10

am pleased to be in this company that

23:12

includes the great leaders of the world, and

23:14

I believe that this higher forum will treat

23:16

the Arab nation equitably as

23:19

they seek to defend their natural rights.

23:22

Faisal presents 11 reasons for his independent

23:25

Arab kingdom, including that 20,000 Arabs

23:28

died fighting for the Allies, that the

23:30

British promised them independence, and

23:32

that this is in accordance with President Woodrow

23:34

Wilson's principles of self-determination. The

23:37

American president nods in agreement with each point.

23:40

In stark contrast, George Climenceau

23:42

and Stéphane Peychant, whose French government

23:45

is looking to run a mandate for Syria that conflicts

23:47

with Faisal's vision.

23:49

Glower.

23:51

With Lawrence still translating, the Prince continues.

23:53

The Allies promised the Arab nation

23:56

its freedom and independence. Now they

23:58

have emerged from the war victorious. It

24:01

is necessary they abide by their promises.

24:04

I am confident that the great powers will

24:06

be more interested in the welfare of the Arab

24:08

people than in their own material

24:10

interests." Faisal and

24:12

Lawrence take their seats. Georges

24:15

asks questions. Woodrow

24:17

has one. Georges asks, Seeing that

24:19

the plan of mandatories on behalf of the League of Nations

24:21

has been adopted, would you prefer for

24:23

your people a single mandatory or several?

24:27

At first, Faisal skirts the question,

24:29

saying that the exact divisions are a question

24:31

for the Arab people. But Woodrow

24:33

pushes, I understand

24:36

perfectly, but I would like to know the Emir's

24:39

personal opinion. Again,

24:41

he answers with Lawrence translating, My

24:44

principle is Arab unity. It

24:46

was for this that the Arabs have fought. My

24:49

nation has a great civilizational

24:51

legacy, and when it was at its height

24:53

of civilization, the nations that you represent

24:55

were in a state of chaos and barbarism.

24:58

For four hundred years, the Arabs

25:01

have suffered under a violent military oppression,

25:04

and as long as life remains in them, they

25:06

mean never to return to it. The

25:09

room again falls silent.

25:10

Faisal and Lawrence then rise, shake

25:13

hands, resort to mon soeur, and

25:15

leave.

25:20

Littleton Coin Company is ringing in the holiday

25:22

season with daily deals. Visit

25:24

LittletonCoin.com for at least 15% off

25:27

select products now through November 28th. Save

25:30

on your favorite coins, such as Morgan Silver

25:32

Dollars, Kennedy Half Dollars, Commemorative

25:35

Quarters and much more. But hurry,

25:37

each day offers a new deal you don't want to miss.

25:40

Visit us now at LittletonCoin.com. That's

25:43

LittletonCoin.com. Littleton

25:46

Coin Company, serving collectors since 1945.

25:50

Littleton Coin Company, serving collectors since 1945. Littleton

25:54

Coin Company, serving collectors since 1945.

25:58

LittletonCoin.com.

25:59

that the Treaty of Versailles focused on Germany,

26:02

not the Ottoman Empire. But Feisal

26:05

speaking to the Supreme Council in Paris made

26:07

sense because this treaty will include the

26:09

League of Nations Covenant, that is

26:11

the League's Charter, and as such

26:14

will address the post-Ottoman Middle East in

26:16

Article 22. It will state

26:18

that certain communities of

26:20

the Ottoman Empire are ready for provisional

26:23

independence, but need

26:26

the League of Nations advice and assistance

26:28

through the mandate system. We want

26:30

to keep our focus on the peace with Germany, but

26:33

briefly let me explain what Article 22 ultimately

26:35

unfolds as treaties with the Ottomans

26:38

and later conferences rely on the mandate

26:40

system to redraw the map of the Middle East. Next

26:43

year, in April 1920, the US

26:46

will be an observer only as the other four

26:48

major Allied powers sort out the Middle

26:50

East mandates at the San Remo Conference.

26:53

A few months later the Ottomans will surrender that

26:55

territory in the Treaty of Sèrès. After

26:58

more war and revolution leading to

27:00

the death of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of the Turkish

27:02

Republic, this will be further clarified in

27:04

the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. As

27:07

for the mandates, they go as follows. The

27:10

French will get the mandate for Syria and Lebanon,

27:13

the latter of which France will treat as a separate

27:15

entity for Middle Eastern Christians. The

27:17

Brits mandated territory will include Iraq

27:20

and an initially sizable Transjordan

27:23

including Palestine. In

27:25

administering Palestine, the British will

27:27

hold to the Balfour Declaration, designating

27:29

it as a but not the

27:32

Jewish homeland, by which they mean a

27:34

Jewish homeland not to infringe on the rights

27:36

of Muslims and Christians already living there. Jews

27:39

and Muslims could not interpret this more differently.

27:42

For Jews the world over, this is a welcome

27:44

reprieve from centuries of ardent, often

27:47

deadly anti-Semitism. Jewish

27:49

nationalists, known as Zionists, see

27:51

it as a return to their ancestral home as

27:54

described in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament.

27:56

Much most Arabs, this is rampant and unchecked

27:59

immigration. sanctioned by the British at

28:01

the expense of Palestine's predominantly Muslim

28:04

population. As for

28:06

the Hashemites, they won't be out of the picture

28:08

but will feel betrayed. The

28:10

Sharif of Mecca, Hussein de Ali, will

28:13

refuse to sign any of the Great War ending treaties.

28:16

In a few years, his short-lived Arabian

28:18

Peninsula Kingdom of Hajjaz will fall

28:20

to the House of Sufod. As for Faisal,

28:23

he will attempt to rule Syria only to

28:25

be chased off by French forces under the

28:27

new mandate. The British will do nothing

28:30

at first, until Faisal's brother,

28:32

Abdullah, responds by marching an army

28:34

from Mecca toward French Syria. This

28:37

in turn will lead the Brits to place Faisal

28:40

on the throne of the British mandate for Iraq,

28:42

and to split their mandate for Palestine in

28:45

half, dubbing the eastern section

28:47

Transjordan and making Abdullah

28:49

its king. Thus, these

28:51

two Hashemite brothers will reign in their respective

28:54

realms by under-British supervision, not

28:56

as rulers of independent Arab nations. And

28:59

Arab nationalists will never forget this.

29:02

But, all of this is yet to come,

29:04

and their subsequent events are noise

29:07

for another day.

29:11

Right now, in mid-February 1919,

29:15

as the Supreme Council is thinking through the mandates,

29:17

be they in the former Ottoman Empire or

29:20

German colonial empire, Woodrow is

29:22

excitedly presenting a proposed Covenant

29:24

of the League of Nations to the peace conference.

29:26

It goes well. Convinced

29:29

his league is secure, Woodrow returns to

29:31

the US for a few weeks to, you know,

29:34

be the president. Woodrow isn't

29:36

the only MVP temporarily taking

29:38

the sidelines. On February 19th,

29:41

a would-be assassin wounds Georges Climanceau,

29:43

leaving him temporarily homebound. Pulling

29:46

a Woodrow, David Lloyd George returns to the

29:48

UK to fulfill his duties as prime minister.

29:51

Suddenly, the big three are all relying

29:53

on their second string. Ah,

29:56

Colonel Edward House finally gets

29:58

to represent the United States. France's

30:01

diplomats are delighted. The colonel

30:03

is far more malleable than the American

30:05

president. Meanwhile,

30:07

the Japanese are trying to ensure that they have an equal

30:10

seat in the League of Nations. They

30:12

introduce an amendment to the League's covenant

30:14

that would exclude racial prejudice. The

30:16

London born and raised Australian Prime

30:19

Minister, Billy Hughes, pushes back. No

30:21

government could live for a day in Australia

30:24

if it tampered with a white Australia. But

30:26

that question, like so many, gets tabled,

30:29

and back in the States, Woodrow is terrified to

30:31

learn of all the compromises that his best

30:33

friend, the colonel, is making. So

30:35

the square jawed, bespectacled president high-tails

30:38

it back to Paris. To Woodrow, these

30:40

aren't compromises, but sacrifices

30:43

of principles, and he won't surrender

30:45

his vision for a better world. Woodrow

30:47

isn't the only one who can stand his ground, though. They

30:50

don't call the now gunned down yet recovering

30:53

French Prime Minister and Conference Chairman Joss

30:55

Clémenceau, the Tiger for nothing, and

30:58

he is determined to protect France from future

31:00

German aggression, as well as make Germany

31:02

pay. Woodrow can oppose him,

31:05

but beware, this roaring tiger

31:07

has claws. It's

31:12

just past 4pm, Friday, March

31:14

28th, 1919. The

31:17

Big Four have gathered once again

31:19

in the office of French Foreign Minister, Stéphane

31:22

Pichon. British Prime Minister

31:24

David Lloyd George is the last to shuffle in. I

31:27

apologize for being late. Woodrow

31:29

Wilson smirks and answers. I

31:32

would hate to use the term the late

31:35

Mr. Lloyd George, a quality

31:38

dad joke. The two Statesmen

31:40

chuckle together. David

31:42

sits as the Tiger's lieutenant. Andrei

31:44

Tardilou reports on the coal-rich territory

31:47

of the Saar Basin, which sits between France

31:49

and Germany. Andrei's position

31:51

is clear. That she joined France.

31:54

Joss Clémenceau smiles. Woodrow

31:58

looks concerned. Turning

32:00

to Georges, the American president counters,

32:03

if we do not wish to place ourselves

32:05

in the wrong and break our word, we

32:07

must not interpret our own principles

32:09

too generously to our benefit. I

32:12

say this solemnly, let us avoid

32:15

acting in a manner which would risk creating

32:17

sympathies for Germany. The tiger's

32:19

smile is gone. He's ready

32:21

to pounce. I will keep in mind

32:24

the words and excellent intentions of

32:26

President Wilson. He eliminates

32:29

sentiment and memory. The

32:31

president of the United States disregards

32:33

the depths of human nature.

32:36

The fact of the war cannot be

32:38

forgotten. America did not

32:40

see this war at a close distance for

32:42

its first three years. During

32:44

this time, we lost a million and

32:46

a half men. You

32:49

seek to do justice to the Germans. Do

32:52

not believe that they will ever forgive

32:54

us. They only seek

32:57

the opportunity for revenge. The

33:00

history of the United States is a glorious

33:02

history, but short. Essentially

33:05

for you, it's a very long period.

33:08

For us,

33:09

it is a little thing. I

33:11

have known men who saw Napoleon with their

33:13

own eyes. I simply ask

33:15

you to think about what I have

33:18

just said when you are alone and

33:20

to ask yourself in conscience if

33:22

that does not contain a part of the

33:24

truth. Ever the idealist,

33:27

would your answers. It is painful for

33:29

me to oppose you. I could

33:31

not do otherwise without shirking my duty. One

33:34

cannot satisfy everyone. By

33:37

seeking general satisfaction, you run the

33:39

risk of sowing the seed of general

33:41

discontent. Britain's Welsh

33:43

wizard chimes in. I agree with

33:45

the declaration of principle so forcefully

33:47

presented by President Wilson. There

33:50

are cases in which equally

33:52

respectable principles are in conflict.

33:55

To reconcile them, each side must consent

33:57

to some sacrifice. Italy's

33:59

white. White-haired and dark-mustached Prime

34:01

Minister Itorio Orlando now enters

34:04

the fray. He suggests that the

34:06

historical argument in and of itself must be excluded.

34:09

Otherwise, Italy could, if she wished,

34:11

claim all the former territories of the Roman Empire.

34:15

That gets a hearty laugh out of Woodrow and David,

34:17

but Georges is as stone-faced as ever.

34:20

The Frenchman says that Woodrow is favoring the

34:23

Germans over the French and declares that

34:25

if France does not receive the Sar Valley, he

34:27

won't sign the Treaty of Peace. That

34:30

does it, Woodrow. He shouts

34:32

at the tiger.

34:33

And if France does not get what she wishes, she

34:36

will refuse to act with us. In that event,

34:38

do you wish me to return home?

34:40

Georges shouts back. I

34:43

do not wish you to go home, but I

34:45

intend to do so myself. With

34:47

that, the French Prime Minister

34:50

storms out of the room. Hearing

34:55

about this tense exchange between the tiger

34:58

and his president, U.S. Secretary of State

35:00

Robert Lansing quips, I

35:04

am sure that he will not forgive, much

35:07

less forget this affair. The

35:09

president is a wonderful hater.

35:11

Robert is right. Things only get worse.

35:14

The president's close friend and press secretary,

35:17

Ray Standard Baker, calls this the

35:19

dark period as Woodrow and

35:21

Georges grind this conference to a near stop

35:24

on almost every issue.

35:26

Meanwhile, Woodrow complains to the colonel

35:28

about the tiger's stubbornness and that

35:30

it seems the other council members just want

35:32

him to shut up now that they've given him his League

35:34

of Nations. Entering the

35:37

month of April, Woodrow suffers from exhaustion

35:39

and fever. Perhaps a nasty

35:41

cold, but perhaps symptoms that,

35:44

along with his decreasing patience and

35:46

increasingly spotty memory, point

35:48

to something more. Whatever

35:52

it is, David Lloyd George and Georges Climenceau

35:55

are happy to use their Woodrow-free moment

35:57

to talk about Germany pain reparations. Learning

36:01

of this, Woodrow fumes. Still

36:04

ill on April 6th, he nonetheless

36:06

threatens to leave the peace conference. But

36:08

even as the American president talks of taking

36:10

his ball and going home over reparations

36:13

and various national borders, he knows he can't.

36:16

Until this treaty is finalized, his

36:18

baby, the League of Nations, is

36:20

at risk.

36:21

So, Woodrow swallows

36:23

his idealism and compromises all

36:26

through April. The only point

36:28

the American president stays firm on is opposing

36:30

Japan's racial equality clause in the League

36:32

of Nations' covenant. Japan agrees

36:35

to water down its language to the

36:37

principle of equality of nations

36:39

and just treatment of their nationals. But

36:42

Woodrow's still not on board. See,

36:45

he needs the U.S. Senate to ratify the treaty,

36:47

and he knows that southern senators and

36:49

increasingly anti-Japanese West Coast

36:51

senators would never approve of this. So

36:54

when the Japanese put it to a vote and win the

36:56

majority, the professorial president

36:58

plays dirty politics. Woodrow

37:01

says it can't pass anyway, not

37:03

while there are still strong objections. Though

37:06

upset, the Japanese pivot. They

37:08

will look past this in exchange for more

37:10

Chinese territory. Woodrow

37:12

accepts. Other nations

37:14

are feeling stepped on as well. Even

37:16

the big four is Italy. On April 23,

37:20

1919, with only days until the Germans are set to arrive

37:23

and receive this still-not-finished peace

37:25

treaty, Woodrow Wilson and Georges

37:27

Clemenceau find common ground, opposing

37:30

Italy taking the territory of Fiume.

37:33

Italy's Vittorio Orlando is sick of

37:35

this American's hypocrisy. The

37:37

Italian leader announces that he's leaving and

37:39

further complains that. Now

37:42

President Wilson, after ignoring

37:44

and violating his own 14 points, wants

37:46

to restore their virginity by applying them

37:48

vigorously where they refer to Italy.

37:51

And if we're honest, he's right. Woodrow

37:54

stands firm on self-determination when it comes to

37:56

Fiume or the Yugoslavs, but

37:58

is willing to compromise on an independent Arab

38:00

nation, Germany's former colonies, or

38:03

other issues important to his closest allies. Indeed,

38:06

Woodrow is firmly beside David Lloyd

38:08

George in ignoring pleas from India

38:11

and Ireland to cast off British rule and

38:13

become independent nations. Why

38:15

is that? Perhaps the answer

38:18

is best illustrated by Woodrow's question

38:20

to Ray Baker amid concerns that Japan

38:22

might leave. If Italy remains

38:25

and Japan goes home,

38:26

what becomes of the League of Nations?

38:29

Ah yes, for Woodrow, this

38:31

whole conference boils down to the League.

38:34

As he sees it, any failures on

38:36

nationalities or borders made now, the

38:38

League of Nations can sort out in the future. The

38:41

League's creation then is paramount,

38:44

even if the idealistic president has

38:46

to roll in the mud to get it. The

38:49

text of the treaty comes together much

38:51

like my students' term papers, just

38:53

hours before the deadline. I'll give

38:55

you an overview, but not just yet. We'll

38:58

let this conference presented to the Germans first.

39:01

But I warn you, this isn't a pleasant

39:04

experience. It's

39:09

3pm, May 7th, 1919. We're 10

39:12

miles west of Paris, in Versailles,

39:15

France, at the Trianon Palace Hotel.

39:18

The peace conferences, more than 200 delegates,

39:20

are taking their seats at tables arranged in the same

39:23

U-shaped layout used at the first session

39:25

back in January. But this time,

39:28

there are six new faces among them. Six

39:31

German faces, preceded

39:33

in the room's center, just below the big three.

39:36

Foremost among them is Germany's toothbrush

39:38

mustache-wearing Minister of Foreign Affairs,

39:41

Count Ulrich Brachdorf-Uranzau.

39:44

The Count shuffles two speeches in his

39:46

hands. The first is a short,

39:49

non-committal response to whatever is said

39:51

here today. The other is longer, mildly

39:54

defiant. He still hasn't decided

39:57

which one he'll use. That will depend

39:59

on how things go. The

40:01

gavel strikes. Georges

40:03

Kimonso opens the meeting by addressing

40:05

the Germans in a cold tone. Monsieur,

40:09

you see before you the accredited

40:11

representatives of the Allied and

40:14

associated powers, both small

40:16

and great, which have waged without

40:18

intermission for more than four years

40:20

the pitiless war which

40:23

was imposed on them. You

40:25

ask for peace. We are

40:27

disposed to grant it to you. This

40:30

volume, which the secretary-general

40:32

of the conference was sharply hand to you, will

40:35

tell you the conditions which we have fixed.

40:38

The 413 page volume

40:41

makes a dull thud as it lands on the Germans'

40:43

table. Georges lays

40:45

out the treaty's broad strokes, like

40:48

Germany's loss of its colonies, some European

40:50

territory, reparation payments, as well

40:52

as an explicit assertion that Germany

40:54

is entirely at fault for the war, and

40:57

tells them they have fifteen days

40:59

to submit any questions in writing. By

41:02

that, he asks if anyone present

41:04

would like to speak. The

41:07

Count raises his hand. Georges

41:10

accepts. The distinguished

41:12

German picks up his long speech. Defiant

41:15

it is then, and it feels all the more defiant

41:18

as the Count refuses to stand and delivers

41:20

the message in his gravelly voice. We

41:23

cherish no illusions as

41:25

to the extent of our defeat. We

41:27

know the force of the hatred

41:30

which confronts us here. And we

41:32

have heard the passionate demands

41:35

that the victors should both make

41:37

us pay as vanquished and punish

41:40

us as guilty. We are required

41:42

to admit that we alone are

41:44

more guilty. Such

41:46

an admission on my lips would be

41:49

a lie. We are far

41:51

from seeking to exonerate, but we

41:54

emphatically combat the idea that

41:56

Germany, whose people were convinced

41:59

that they were waging a defensive

42:01

war should alone be laden

42:03

with the guilt. A peace

42:06

which cannot be defended in the

42:08

name of justice before the whole world

42:11

would continually call forth fresh

42:13

resistance. We will

42:16

examine the documents submitted to us

42:19

with all goodwill, and

42:21

in the hope that the final result

42:23

of our meeting can be subscribed by us

42:26

all. David Lloyd

42:28

George snaps his ivory paper knife

42:30

into fuming. Georges

42:33

swings down the gavel once more. Meeting

42:37

adjourned. As they walk

42:39

out, Widrow turns to David and says,

42:43

this is the most tactless speech I have

42:45

ever heard. The Germans are really

42:47

stupid people. They always

42:49

do the wrong thing. The Welsh

42:52

wizard answers an agreement. It was

42:54

deplorable that we let him talk. At

42:57

this same moment, the German Count is stepping

42:59

outside. He lights up a cigarette

43:01

on the steps of the palace. From

43:04

a distance, he casts an air of strength

43:06

and defiance. It's only the people

43:08

close by that can see his

43:10

lips are friendly.

43:25

With no time to lose, the Germans dive

43:28

into the treaty. They're appalled

43:30

at what they find in the 15 section 440 article 413

43:35

page tome. It

43:37

opens with the Covenant creating Woodrow Wilson's

43:39

pride and joy, the League of Nations, which

43:42

Germany is not allowed to join. Germany

43:44

is also to surrender about 10% of its population

43:47

and territory. Those losses include

43:50

the Sar Basin and the port city of Danzig,

43:52

both of which the League of Nations will watch over.

43:55

West Prussia and Pozen going to

43:57

a reconstituted and independent Poland.

44:00

Further territory is going to Belgium, Denmark,

44:02

and the new state of Czechoslovakia, and of course,

44:05

Alsace-Laurent, which France has longed

44:08

to take back since losing the region five decades

44:10

ago in the Franco-Prussian War. Also,

44:13

Germany's overseas colonies are becoming League

44:15

of Nations mandates. As

44:18

for operations, Germany will pay.

44:21

A commission will yet calculate the cost, but

44:23

that will come to the equivalent of 33 billion

44:26

US dollars. It's an astronomical

44:28

figure for the era, one that any experts

44:31

worth their salt know that Germany can't pay

44:33

without upsetting the global economy itself. Georges

44:36

Climenceau wanted Germany's military neutered.

44:39

He got it. Germany's navy may not exceed 15,000

44:42

sailors and no submarines. The

44:45

army may not exceed 100,000 men. Various

44:48

arms are forbidden and Germany may not send its own

44:51

military into its French boring Rhineland,

44:53

which the Allies will also occupy temporarily.

44:57

Then there's the insult to injury. One

44:59

is where this treaty is being signed, a palace

45:01

of Versailles. As we know from episode 128,

45:05

this is where the Germans proclaimed the Second

45:07

Reich. The Germans insulted France

45:10

by creating their empire in this symbolic place

45:12

of French power, and now France will

45:14

debase the Germans in the same place. I

45:17

mean, karma,

45:19

but damn.

45:22

The other deep cut is Article 231,

45:24

dubbed the War-Guild Clause. With

45:27

this article, Germany is forced to accept total

45:30

responsibility for starting the war.

45:32

Period.

45:33

The German delegates are floored. Reading

45:36

through this and more in the 413-page

45:38

treaty, Count Ulrich Brachtorf

45:41

Bransau declares, This

45:43

fat volume was quite unnecessary.

45:47

The could have expressed the whole thing, more

45:49

simply in one clause. Germany

45:52

surrenders odd claims to its existence.

45:56

The Count and his colleagues prepare their objections and

45:58

counterproposals by the end of May. In

46:00

brief, they denounced the treaty as a violation of

46:02

the 14 points. While the French

46:04

are happy to say, sucks to suck,

46:07

there are many who agree with the Germans. These

46:09

include the American Relief Administrator

46:12

Herbert Hoover and Secretary of State

46:14

Robert Lansing. All the same,

46:17

the big three only allow small changes and

46:19

by June 16, 1919, the Germans are

46:22

told they have three days to sign or resume

46:24

the war. They are then

46:26

given three extra days until 7pm

46:28

on the 23rd to get authorization from

46:31

the German government. Germany's

46:33

Armistice Commissioner, Matthias Erzberger,

46:35

whom we met in the last episode as he tearfully

46:38

signed the Armistice in the Compiègne Forest,

46:41

favors signing. He fears Germany

46:43

won't survive if war resumes. All

46:46

but broken, the German army feels the

46:48

same way. Given that, Germany's

46:51

National Assembly ascends. The

46:53

Assembly's despondent chairman declares, recommend

46:57

our unhappy country to the care

46:59

of the merciful God. At

47:02

5.40pm, just over an hour

47:04

until the deadline, the big four receives

47:07

a note declaring that Germany will sign. Relief

47:10

fills the room as Georges Clemenceau sends

47:13

word to Marshal Ferdinand Foch not

47:15

to resume hostilities on Germany. The

47:18

war really is over. And

47:20

it will become official with German signatures

47:23

in just five days. It's

47:28

about 3 in the afternoon, June 28th, 1919. Five

47:32

years to the day since the assassination of Archduke

47:35

Franz Ferdinand. As symbolic as

47:37

the date is our location, the

47:39

palace of Versailles, Galerie des

47:41

Glace, or Hall of Mirrors. Nearly 50

47:45

years ago, German princes came

47:47

here to Louis XIV's palace. This

47:50

shrine to France's glory, and in this

47:52

very 80-yard long hall, proclaimed

47:54

Wilhelm as emperor of a second German

47:57

Reich. humiliating

48:00

peace upon the French taking Alsace-L'Haines.

48:03

It's a wound the French have never forgotten, but

48:06

today, as plenipotentiaries

48:08

make their way through the throngs of reporters and

48:11

hundreds of chatting guests to reach

48:13

the horseshoe table in the middle, the

48:15

shoe is on the other foot. Today,

48:18

the French celebrate victory at their

48:20

sight. The Germans shall

48:22

play the role of the vanquished. Our

48:25

French Prime Minister and Peace Conference Chairman,

48:27

Georges the Tiger Climenceau, glances

48:30

about as America's Woodrow Wilson and Britain's

48:32

David Lloyd George take their seats. Ushers

48:35

then hush the crowd, which goes silent. Standing

48:38

at the door with Marshal Splendour, the

48:40

Gavre Publican placed their swords

48:42

into scabbards with a loud click. The

48:46

Tiger now roars out his order for the Germans

48:48

to enter. A

48:51

company by two escorts, two Germans,

48:54

Foreign Minister Hermann Muller and Colonial

48:56

Minister Johann Bell slowly

48:59

walk the thin slice of the hall's

49:01

parquet floor not covered by

49:03

savonary carpets. The

49:05

sound of their feet shuffling sends a

49:07

haunting echo through the room. Thousands

49:10

of eyes stare at the deathly pale men.

49:13

Many wonder how can these defeated

49:16

souls represent Germany's brutal

49:18

militarism? They look so

49:21

human. Georges

49:23

Climenceau now opens the meeting. Monsieur,

49:26

la séance et ouvert. He

49:29

adds a few more remarks. The escorts

49:31

then, once more, lead the Germans

49:33

forward. With the vacant eyes

49:35

of condemned convicts approaching a guillotine,

49:38

they advance to a small table on which lies

49:41

the treaty. Germans

49:43

and tensions fill the room as the Germans stare

49:45

painfully at the parchment before them. Each

49:48

takes up a pen. As they sign,

49:51

every stroke fills them with the weight of

49:54

crushing national debt, lost lands

49:57

and a humiliating acceptance of blame. But

50:00

now it's done, and delegates

50:02

representing this conference's 30-odd nations

50:05

form a line to add their signatures. From

50:08

outside, the sound of cannon fire

50:10

fills the mostly quiet hall. The

50:13

celebratory salute announcing that the Germans

50:15

have indeed signed the treaty oversight. And

50:18

then, with surprising rapidity,

50:20

the last delegate signs, it's all

50:23

over. As Jors Kimelso

50:25

walks out, a man stops him

50:27

to congratulate him. With tears

50:29

streaming, the tiger announces joyfully,

50:32

ìOui, second best

50:34

journey.î But as British

50:37

diplomat Harold Nicholson watches this exchange,

50:40

he doubts if this is, in fact, a beautiful

50:42

day. He shares this concern

50:44

with Marie-Moureux as she stands by

50:46

his side. Marie doubts it too.

50:53

The contrast and frankly foreshadowing

50:55

captured in that last exchange is so powerful

50:58

and terrifying. Here we have

51:00

a relieved Jors Kimelso who looks

51:02

at the treaty of her sight as justice and righteousness.

51:05

In his mind, 50 years of wrong is being

51:08

set aright as France recovers a Zassleurin

51:10

as those German brutes lose their

51:12

military might and eat both the blame

51:14

and cost of this most recent wall-stating war.

51:19

But is he right? Or are

51:21

Harold and Marie right as they look on,

51:23

wondering if this evisceration of Germany

51:25

hasn't gone too far? We'll hold

51:28

that thought. We'll dig deeper here,

51:30

but first, let's find out if, after

51:33

all of Woodrow Wilson's work, the

51:35

U.S. Senate will ratify this treaty. The

51:38

Republican-leaning Senate has seen notable

51:40

developments as Woodrow has been working to build

51:42

his idea of a better world at this

51:44

six-month peace conference. Perhaps

51:46

most notable is an event that occurred after Woodrow

51:49

arrived in Paris but before the first session.

51:51

On January 6, 1919, the great

51:54

Rough Rider himself, the former president

51:57

and likely 1920 presidential candidate,

52:00

Theodore Roosevelt passed away in his sleep.

52:03

We'll bid to your farewell properly in a later

52:05

episode, but for today's tale, we will only

52:07

note that he died opposing Woodrow's League

52:09

of Nations, and his dear friend, Senator

52:12

Henry Cabot Lodge, has carried that torch

52:14

in his stead. Meanwhile, the

52:16

League for the Preservation of American Independence

52:19

has been questioning how the League of Nations doesn't

52:22

run contrary to the wisdom of George Washington

52:24

and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom warned

52:26

against permanent or entangling alliances.

52:30

Indeed, as Woodrow puts this treaty before

52:32

the Senate, concerns over American sovereignty

52:34

are paramount in his opponents' minds.

52:37

They ask what implications this League might have

52:39

over the century-old Monroe Doctrine. How

52:42

might the League impact the United States' ability to

52:44

make military decisions? For

52:46

few senators, called irreconcilables,

52:49

no amount of assurances can overcome their concerns.

52:52

Those deemed mild reservationists, though,

52:54

are open to it if Woodrow can shore

52:57

up concerns over American sovereignty. With

52:59

minor revisions, then, perhaps the President can

53:01

win them over, as well as the dozens of other

53:04

senators who remain undecided. True

53:06

to form, the idealist President will

53:08

not entertain any revisions. This

53:11

treaty must be ratified as is,

53:13

and he will not see the League of Nations

53:16

watered down. Months pass

53:18

as the Senate battles, but still, Woodrow

53:20

holds his ground. He decides to

53:22

take the fight out of the halls of the Capitol

53:25

and into the hearts of the American people. In

53:28

September 1919, Woodrow boards

53:30

his seven-car presidential train, called

53:32

the Mayflower, and embarks on a

53:34

national tour. He stops as often

53:37

as possible, sometimes giving two or three

53:39

speeches a day, and well, you

53:41

know our professorial President. None

53:43

of these addresses are short. He's

53:45

not feeling physically well, but it's

53:47

working. During some 40

53:50

speeches over 21 days, he's winning

53:52

over the nation's citizenry. On September 25,

53:54

Woodrow stands firm in his

53:57

unwillingness to revise the treaty's League of Nations

53:59

covenants, killing the United States. In a crowd of 3000 in Pueblo,

54:01

Colorado, we have got to adopt

54:03

it or reject it. Woodrow

54:06

returns to his train car with a terrible headache.

54:09

He has a lot of those these days. Dr.

54:11

Kerry Grayson recommends a walk so the train

54:13

stops about 20 miles outside of Pueblo while

54:16

Woodrow strolls through the Colorado countryside.

54:19

Along the road, he encounters a veteran doughboy

54:22

and his family on their porch. It's

54:24

a nice visit. Woodrow returns

54:26

to his train and they continue down the tracks. That

54:30

night, Woodrow calls for his wife, Edith.

54:33

Sitting in a chair, he says that the headache

54:35

is back.

54:36

It's excruciating. He coughs,

54:39

complains that the walls are closing in. His

54:42

face twitches. His ever faithful

54:45

presidential physician, Dr. Grayson, is soon

54:47

there, insisting that they cancel the rest

54:49

of the tour. But Woodrow can't.

54:51

He must be to the people. He insists

54:54

that he must save the League of Nations. When

54:57

the doctor tries to talk Woodrow out of continuing

54:59

the tour again in the morning, the president

55:01

fires back. Don't you see

55:04

that if you cancel this trip, Senator

55:06

Lodge and his friends will say that I am a quitter

55:08

and the treaty will be lost. But

55:11

even Woodrow's iron will can't overcome

55:13

the frailties of being a mere mortal. Something

55:17

is wrong. And finally, he relents

55:19

to his wife, doctor, and others. They

55:22

return to the White House. But it won't

55:24

be long before things get worse. It's

55:30

about 8.45 a.m., October 2nd, 1919. Whereas

55:34

the White House in Washington, D.C., where Edith

55:36

Wilson's just waking up again,

55:39

the First Lady's had a rather restless night, getting

55:42

up every hour or two to check on her husband

55:44

over and over. Then again, it's

55:47

been like that for a while. Edith

55:49

thinks of last month's national tour as

55:52

one long nightmare. But

55:54

as she walks toward Woodrow's room this

55:56

morning, she's comforted that things have been

55:58

a touch better in the few days. since they returned

56:00

to the executive mansion. Last

56:02

night, Woodrow even managed to play billiards,

56:05

watch a movie and read some scripture. He

56:07

did forget his watch going to bed, which

56:10

was unusual for him, but Edith laughed

56:12

it off. He's always forgetting things. But

56:15

now, stepping into her husband's room, Edith

56:18

is utterly unprepared for what she sees. Seated

56:21

at the edge of the bed, Woodrow is desperately

56:23

attempting to grab a water bottle. His

56:26

left hand is completely limp, helpless,

56:30

Woodrow addresses his wife. I have

56:32

no feeling in that hand. Will

56:34

you rub it? But first, help

56:36

me to the bathroom. Edith

56:38

dutifully supports her husband as he staggers.

56:41

Sarah grips the first lady, as she can feel

56:44

Woodrow's body stasming and pain

56:46

at every step. Reaching

56:48

the presidential bathroom, Edith guides,

56:51

then stabilizes Woodrow. She

56:53

asks him if he can handle her stepping away long

56:55

enough to call for their tireless doctor and

56:57

friend. I'll ask for Carrie Grayson. Woodrow

57:00

says he can. But Edith can't

57:02

use the phone in the nearby bedroom. She's

57:05

heard rumors that people eavesdrop on that

57:07

line, and Woodrow would never want the public to

57:09

know about his current condition. With

57:12

this in mind, the first lady dashes down

57:14

the hall to a private phone, answered by

57:16

the presidential couple's long-time usher, Ike

57:18

Hoover. Ike picks

57:20

up, and Edith softly but firmly instructs

57:23

him.

57:23

Please get Dr. Grayson. The president is very

57:25

sick.

57:27

But before she can even hang up, Edith hears

57:29

something from the bathroom. She rushes

57:31

back to find her husband, the esteemed

57:33

Princeton professor-turned-president of the United

57:36

States,

57:37

unconscious on the bathroom floor. Woodrow

57:43

survives the stroke. It does,

57:45

however, leave the president paralyzed on his

57:47

left side and confined to his room. More

57:50

than that, he's not the man he was

57:52

before. Dr. Grayson

57:54

and Edith decide to keep the full extent of his illness

57:57

to themselves, with Woodrow

57:59

out of the public seat. though, the Senate is

58:01

able to make changes to the treaty. The

58:03

idealistic president recovers enough to push back

58:05

by November and answers that he will

58:07

not accept any of the Senate's amendments to

58:10

the treaty. In the weeks following, Woodrow

58:12

learns that as the author of the 14 points and

58:15

founder of the League of Nations, he's won the Nobel

58:17

Peace Prize for 1919. Yet, ironically, becomes

58:21

clear in following months, in March

58:23

of 1920, that the US Senate

58:26

will not be ratifying the Treaty of Versailles. Instead,

58:29

the US will work out separate treaties with

58:31

Germany as well as with Austria and Hungary.

58:34

That's right. After all that work

58:36

to create and promote it, Woodrow will not

58:39

see his own nation join his beloved

58:41

League of Nations. Coming

58:46

to the end of our tale, let's reflect

58:48

and take in the big picture. The Paris

58:51

Peace Conference of 1919 takes a truly honorous

58:54

task. How do some 30

58:57

nations from across the globe create

58:59

a peace after the most destructive, unparalleled

59:02

war in human history? That's

59:05

a tall order. Perhaps

59:07

we should be surprised that the big three managed to produce

59:09

anything at all, especially with the bad

59:11

blood between Georges Clémentso and Woodrow

59:13

Wilson. Georges did not

59:16

like Woodrow. In case I

59:18

failed to convey Georges' distaste

59:20

for Woodrow, let me quote the tiger on

59:22

the American president and his 14 points. What

59:26

ignorance of Europe and how difficult

59:29

all understandings were with him. He

59:31

believed you could do everything by formulas

59:34

and his 14 points. God

59:37

himself was content with 10 commandments.

59:40

Wilson modestly inflicted 14

59:43

points on us. The 14 commandments

59:46

of the most empty theory. Biting,

59:51

as was the Peace Conference chairman's jab

59:53

at both Woodrow and David Lloyd

59:55

George that made all of Paris chuckle. I

59:57

find myself between Jesus Christ and the Lord.

1:00:00

on the one hand and Napoleon

1:00:02

Bonaparte on the other. As

1:00:05

for David Lloyd George, he had his witticisms

1:00:07

too, saying of Georges Clemenceau

1:00:09

that he loved France but

1:00:11

hated Frenchmen. Yet

1:00:14

somehow, between Woodrow's idealism,

1:00:16

Georges' drive to safeguard France

1:00:19

from another German attack and make

1:00:21

the Germans pay, and all the complications

1:00:24

of the British government's contradictory implications

1:00:26

and promises in the Middle East, and

1:00:29

the Welsh wizard, somehow pragmatically

1:00:31

riding the space between them, they

1:00:33

produced a treaty. But a

1:00:35

highly problematic treaty. Further

1:00:38

conferences and other treaties will shape the post-Ottoman

1:00:41

Middle East, but as we saw, the

1:00:43

Treaty of Versailles article 22

1:00:45

planted its seeds with the League of Nations

1:00:47

mandate system. From the Middle East

1:00:50

to Africa and the Pacific, these mandates

1:00:52

will function less as the tutoring and developmental

1:00:55

system of which Woodrow dreamed, and

1:00:57

more as the latest iteration of imperialism.

1:01:00

Then we come to the heart of the treaty's focus. Germany.

1:01:04

When I think about the soul-crushing terms that the

1:01:06

Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany in 1919,

1:01:09

my mind always goes back to the last time

1:01:11

war-torn Europe made peace at the Congress

1:01:13

of Vienna in 1815. I

1:01:16

told you about this brilliant peacemaking in

1:01:18

episode 128. Let's

1:01:20

recall that, at Vienna, the other

1:01:22

four great powers of Europe chose not

1:01:24

to punish the French for Napoleon Bonaparte's

1:01:27

conquest, nor overly fear

1:01:29

a resurgent France. Instead,

1:01:31

they dealt rather generously with France and established

1:01:34

a concert system that brought the continent

1:01:36

relative peace for a century. The

1:01:38

Treaty of Versailles does the opposite. Frankly,

1:01:41

between the 1918 Armistice signing

1:01:44

and Marshal Fethan en Foches train carriage and

1:01:46

this treaty's signing in the Hall of Mirrors, the

1:01:49

Germans felt every intentional humiliation,

1:01:51

not the least of which was the Versailles Treaty's

1:01:54

Article 231 war guilt clause.

1:01:57

It's hard not to wonder to what extent these harsh

1:01:59

conditions and insights added to the sense of betrayal

1:02:01

Germans felt toward their own government with the

1:02:03

war's sudden reversal and end as we

1:02:06

saw in today's opening Helped pave

1:02:08

the sinister path down which young

1:02:10

corporal Adolf Hitler will

1:02:12

soon drag the world Politicians

1:02:16

policy wonks historians and more will

1:02:18

long debate the failures of the 1919 Treaty

1:02:21

of Versailles

1:02:23

For some in the 21st century It will become

1:02:25

the explanation for many of the worst events

1:02:28

in the 20th century and even our present

1:02:30

Ranging from World War two towards and conflicts

1:02:33

in the Middle East But for all the

1:02:35

treaties failures, I have to agree

1:02:37

with professor Margaret Macmillan the brilliant

1:02:40

author of the book Paris 1919 After

1:02:43

acknowledging all these same failings She

1:02:45

reminds us that none of the 20th century's

1:02:47

evils even Hitler was guaranteed

1:02:50

or foreordained by the Treaty of Versailles And

1:02:53

finally well quote

1:02:55

her directly if they could have done much

1:02:57

better. They certainly could have done

1:03:00

much worse They tried

1:03:02

even cynical old Clemenceau

1:03:05

to build a better order It

1:03:08

could not foresee the future and they certainly

1:03:10

could not control it

1:03:12

I

1:03:27

Initial research in outlines

1:03:28

my dark glasses rather than about production

1:03:31

by airship known designed by molly

1:03:33

boss theme music composed by Greg Jackson

1:03:36

Arrangement and additional composition by Lindy Graham

1:03:38

He

1:03:59

Amanda Grime, Art Lane,

1:04:02

Ashley Berringer, Ben Kelly, Beth M. Chishanson,

1:04:04

Bob Thompson, Bob Drzazovich, Brad

1:04:07

Furman, Brian Goodson, Tannen Stewart,

1:04:09

Carl Zinshirley-Condenden, Chris Mendoza,

1:04:11

Christopher Merchant, Gabe Longlin, David

1:04:13

and Holly Cottle, David Aubrey, Gabe

1:04:16

Nefazio, David Rifkin, Benki,

1:04:18

Geronke Spencer, Donald Moore, Henry

1:04:20

Grunges, Jacob McDaniel, James

1:04:23

Black, Jamie Lilly, Jamie McCreary,

1:04:25

Jeffrey Neuth, Jennifer Magnolia, Jessica

1:04:28

Poppett, Joe Dovis, John Fugel-Dougall,

1:04:30

John Beuven, John Kaller, John Oudebaados,

1:04:33

John Radlovich, John Schaffer, John

1:04:35

Scheff, Jordan Corbett, Juliana Paper,

1:04:38

Justin M. Spriggs, Karen Bartholomew,

1:04:40

Kristin Kennedy, Kyle Decker, Lawrence

1:04:43

Neubauer, Linda Cunningham, Logan

1:04:45

Tillbint, Mark Ellis, Matthew Mitchell,

1:04:47

Matthew Simmons, Melanie Jan, Michael

1:04:50

Umbre, Natalie Brewer, Paul

1:04:52

Goringer, Rich Miller, Rick Brown,

1:04:54

Roberto Hinn, Eric Freiwick,

1:04:57

John Heppert, Sharon Peasen, Sean

1:04:59

Dames, Sue Lang, creepy girl,

1:05:02

Thomas Stewart, the Black

1:05:04

Hack Hack. Join

1:05:06

me in two weeks where I'd like to tell you a

1:05:08

story.