_The Inside Story of The Peace Conference_ _by Dr. E.J. Dillon_ HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS _NEW YORK AND LONDON_ THE INSIDE STORY OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE Copyright 1920, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America Published February, 1920 _To C.W. BARRON in memory of interesting conversations on historic occasions These pages are inscribed._ CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE FOREWORD ix I. THE CITY OF THE CONFERENCE 1 II. SIGNS OF THE TIMES 45 III. THE DELEGATES 58 IV. CENSORSHIP AND SECRECY 117 V. AIMS AND METHODS 136 VI. THE LESSER STATES 184 VII. POLAND'S OUTLOOK IN THE FUTURE 264 VIII. ITALY 272 IX. JAPAN 322 X. ATTITUDE TOWARD RUSSIA 344 XI. BOLSHEVISM 376 XII. HOW BOLSHEVISM WAS FOSTERED 399 XIII. SIDELIGHTS ON THE TREATY 407 XIV. THE TREATY WITH GERMANY 455 XV. THE TREATY WITH BULGARIA 464 XVI. THE COVENANT AND MINORITIES 469 FOREWORD It is almost superfluous to say that this book does not claim to be a history, however summary, of the Peace Conference, seeing that such a work was made sheer impossible now and forever by the chief delegates themselves when they decided to dispense with records of their conversations and debates. It is only a sketch--a sketch of the problems which the war created or rendered pressing--of the conditions under which they cropped up; of the simplicist ways in which they were conceived by the distinguished politicians who volunteered to solve them; of the delegates' natural limitations and electioneering commitments and of the secret influences by which they were swayed; of the peoples' needs and expectations; of the unwonted procedure adopted by the Conference and of the fateful consequences of its decisions to the world. In dealing with all those matters I aimed at impartiality, which is an unattainable ideal, but I trust that sincerity and detachment have brought me reasonably close to it. Having no pet theories of my own to champion, my principal standard of judgment is derived from the law of causality and the rules of historical criticism.