Stay ConnectedWDF examines how wars broke out, how they were concluded, and their consequences. Expect juicy diplomacy, sneaky intrigue, fascinating characters, and incredible drama. By Dr Zack Twamley, qualified history nerd.
Current Series: The July Crisis
Patreon Series: The Age of Bismarck
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The Weimar Assembly convened on this day 100 years ago, beginning a process which contained so much high hopes and ambitions for Germany's first flirtation with democracy. Between February 1919 and June 1920, Germany would be in flux as a new constitution was developed, governments came and went, and Friedrich Ebert stood above them all...
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What happens when the Czechs, Romanians and Yugoslavs all try to make their voices heard, as the Big Five attempt to do their best to seem interested? What you get is this episode! A deliciously detailed examination of each of the cases made by the individual national leaders, in addition to a curious detour where we look at maps could be fudged to suit an argument! All this and more in your latest episode of the Versailles Anniversary Project!
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The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
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Poland's experience at the Paris Peace Conference contained its fair share of ups and downs, and nowhere was this more apparent in the early phases of the conference when its case was first presented. Poland was facing into a power vacuum and with that came great opportunities, but also grave challenges. How could Poland balance the rivalry of its major figures, Paderewski, Pilsudski and Dmowski? How could Poles balance the rivalry of its neighbours? Could Poland push back Bolshevism? Could Europe be persuaded to see things Poland's way, or was there little chance of Poland ever getting what it wanted, so long as people like David Lloyd George remained so utterly opposed to the realisation of her national ambition? Have a listen here to find out all these answers, and be introduced to the Polish case like never before...
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The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
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As the Hotel Twamley fills with guests, nobody could have imagined what happened next. A combination of factors, certainly not aided by the strong drink on tap, led to an explosion the likes of which Paris had never seen before, or imagined possible. The consequences would be fatal, but also had the effect of changing the narrative, and making compromise more palatable to some of the more stubborn delegates. From the most tragic of events did the greatest triumphs seem to emerge...
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VERSAILLES_EPISODE_29_OUT_NOW!
On this day 100 years ago, the world was getting to grips with the concept of mandates, also known as Empire 2.0. Several different opinions existed regarding the concept, but something which was becoming increasingly obvious was that Woodrow Wilson wanted to wait before defining it, until the League of Nations was good and ready, David Lloyd George wanted to get on with things and at least make provisional decisions, and Georges Clemenceau sat awkwardly in the middle.
Everyone wanted on the one hand to give their loud approval of the concept, while at the same time demonstrating why mandates couldn’t possibly apply to them. New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, France – everyone had ideas about what a mandate would look like and why direct annexation was better. Lloyd George for his part believed that everyone had best get on with things, but it wasn’t long before the Big Three were in loggerheads, while everyone pretty much ignored poor old Vittorio Orlando. Another day meant another set of meetings, but while the 30th January 1919 was a day where mandates were clarified to their greatest extent yet, it was another classic case of kicking the can down the road. This left everyone free to take what they wanted from this new concept; a mandate, indeed could be anything you wanted it to be – it could be an empire in all but name…
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The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
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In our 28th installment, we attempt to explain mandates - that surprisingly elusive concept which it was the task of those assembled in Paris to understand. Once they understood it and got to grips with how mandates would fit into the international system, it was hoped that then, this new mandates system would usher in a new era of freedom and prosperity for the formerly colonial peoples...but not all formerly colonial peoples...just those of the vanquished powers.
In a prime example of 'one rule for me and one rule for everyone else', the victorious allies insisted that they had ruled their territories as benevolent actors more interested in the well-being and fortunes of their subjects than in imperial prestige, markets or resources. All assembled would trip over themselves on the 27 and 28 January in a bid to portray their rule as that which had benefited the colonies. Furthermore, on the basis of this idea that their record spoke for itself, the allies argued that mandates were not really necessary in many cases, because the world could trust them to directly rule the former colonies of Germany and the Ottoman Empire.
Convinced or not, what these powers neglected to do with much effect or conviction was actually DEFINE what a mandate was, and what role or future it would have in the new international system. The grab for spoils, it seemed, dominated the imaginations of the allies and their dominions. Was this a new era, or was it simply more of the same? The jury might have been absent, but the ambition to rule certainly was not...
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The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
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Maybe following the REAL story of Versailles makes you feel glum. If so, why not follow a different tale - that of 37 delegates doing their part to have their own way and achieve their goals...by making a really big historical mess! As the League of Nations stood ready for presenting to the Plenary Conference in Paris, there was much going on in the Hotel Twamley...
In the second episode the DG, we follow the fate of Lloyd George, as he attempted to confront the man responsible for imagining a proposal for devolved government in Ireland. What awaited the British Prime Minister when he met with Joseph Doherty face to face was a scene which was nothing like what Lloyd George had expected. He was out of his element, and he was at a loss, but perhaps there was silver lining?
As the PM worked through this difficult experience, the Intermarium Free Trade Agreement was causing a great deal of controversy among those nations who felt overlooked or disadvantaged because of it. The Polish, Italian, Greek, Hungarian and Russian delegates had found success in this proposal, but the mission for defending it had the potential to unite all their enemies against them. The test was just about to begin...
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ON_THIS_DAY_IN_HISTORY - 25TH JANUARY 1919
The first steps of the League of Nations were taken on this day a century ago, as the world learned exactly what Woodrow Wilson's idea meant for them and the future relations of so many states. What kind of principles would be adhered to, and which ones would be abandoned? How could Wilson traverse the objections, cynicism and scepticism of his friends and rivals? What did other people who were present at the time have to say about this second plenary conference?
Considering the fact that the world had been welcomed to Paris, it was strange indeed that this was only the second time that all of its inhabitants had been welcomed together at once, but they were not here to debate or change Wilson's mind, only to listen and hopefully approve. This was the president's dream, and as far as was concerned only HE was qualified to make this dream a reality...
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The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
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Before the League of Nations could be presented to the world, it was necessary to build up to that great and seismic event by examining...Russia? That didn't sound quite right, and yet the Council of Ten or Supreme Council worked through the 20-24 January as though the League of Extraordinary Nations which they were about to chair was weeks, rather than days away. In these circumstances, how could a coherent proposal for reimagining international relations be prepared on time? Mercifully, the committees were on the case, but this didn't mean that matters would proceed at all smoothly...
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The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
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The Irish problem had not solved itself. Ever since the aftermath of the 1916 Rising, the neighbouring island had provided troubling signs of a future catastrophe, and with the proclamation of the Dáil or Irish assembly coinciding with an attack launched on Royal Irish Constabulary policemen, the catastrophe seemed to have arrived. The conflict which followed did not erupt evenly across the island. Instead it took the form of several ripples; a murder here, a robbery there, a high profile assassination somewhere in between.
It was however, an unmistakable fact that Ireland was becoming more volatile. With the political mandate vested in Sinn Fein, violent Irish nationalism had reached a level of popularity and acceptance previously unknown, and this in turn meant that Britain faced an island mobilised more completely against her occupation and domination than ever before. Such facts were painfully awkward at a time when David Lloyd George was attempting to cast British rule as benevolent and civilising, as a force for good and as a facilitator of self-determination movements across the globe. Why, critics could ask, was London then ignoring its closest neighbours, in their quest to attain independent self-rule?
These questions and so many more were etched into what became, by the summer of 1919, the Irish War of Independence, but the opening shots, in politics and on the battlefield, were fired on this day 100 years ago, when Ireland launched its bid for independence on a scale and with a passion never before seen or imagined possible...
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The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
->Visit the homeland for this new project!
->Become a delegate and play the Delegation Game for just $6 a month!
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