ARTICLES Organisational aspects of the Paris Peace 34 René PETRÁŠ Conference (1919–1920) Organisational aspects of the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) René PETRÁŠ Ústav právních dějin, Právnická fakulta, Univerzita Karlova v Praze Institute of Legal History, Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague Nám. Curieových 901/7, 116 40 Praha1, Czech Republic
[email protected] The Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) was expected to resolve all the contemporary is- sues, which were extremely numerous. World War I had been (with the exception of World War II) the most brutal war in human history. Moreover, it broke out after a very long period of relative peace, and society was not prepared for a war. World War I was terminated by a series of separate armistices with the defeated Central Powers. The first state was Bulgaria (at the end of September 1918), followed by Turkey, Austria-Hungary, and finally Germany. The rapid end of the war surprised the Allied victors in many ways, as the fighting had been expected to move to Germany in 1919. However, the German imperial regime swiftly collapsed at the beginning of November, and the new political leaders desired peace. At any rate, towards the end of 1918, the situation was rather chaotic in many parts of Europe, characterised by a hasty creation of new states in the large area between Germany, Italy, and Russia, as well as by revolutionary conditions in many regions. The former tsarist Russia was in a state of complete disorder and confusion, with severe fighting involving the Bolsheviks, their opponents of various political inclinations, as well as nationalists seeking separation from the hated country.