THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A DOCUMENTARY RECORD
Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection
from Cambridge University Library

Part 9: Peace, Versailles and the League of Nations

The Peace Treaty, supposedly based on Wilson's Fourteen Points, did not herald a new start in international affairs. Instead, the old order reasserted its will and humiliated the losers. The manoeuvrings of the Peace Conferences can be studied through the eyes of the lobbyists, critics and participants, with much material in Part 9 on post-war reconstruction and the creation of the League of Nations:

• League to enforce Peace. American Branch. Its proposals and what they mean. Philadelphia, 1915.
• Masaryk, T. G. The new Europe.
• Délégation Bulgarie à la Conférence de la Paix . Paris, 1919.
• Serbo-Bulgarian relations and the question of the rectification of the frontier. 1919.
• Ehrhardt, W. H. Claims against the German Government. London, 1919.
• Davies, D. A suggestion concerning the first meeting of the Assembly of the League of Nations. London, 1920.
• Proposals for the avoidance of War. 1915.
• Tudela, F. Early efforts in both Americas towards the establishment of a League of Nations. Washington, 1919.
• McAdoo, W. G. A League to prevent war. New York, 1919.
• Taft, W. H. America can't quit & The Obligations of Victory. New York, 1919.
• Harris, J. H. Peace and colonial reconstruction. Canada, 1918.

These documents can be used to look at a range of issues including the failure of the League of Nations, the consequences of American isolationism, control of the mandated territories, the contribution of the Dominions and the unbalanced nature of the peace settlement.