List of participants in the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)
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Map of the World with the Participants in World War I. The Allies are depicted in green, the Central Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey.
The Paris Peace Conference gathered over 30 nations at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris, France, to shape the future after World War I. The Russian SFSR was not invited to attend, having already concluded a peace treaty with the Central Powers in the spring of 1918. The Central Powers - Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire - were not allowed to attend the conference until after the details of all the peace treaties had been elaborated and agreed upon. The main result of the conference was the Treaty of Versailles with Germany.
The main delegations, with their secretaries and interpreters, in a painting by Herbert Arnould Olivier.
This list shows all nations and delegations who signed the Treaty of Versailles. All plenipotentiaries signed the treaty, except where indicated otherwise.[1]
Signed under 'British Empire'. Prime Minister Borden fought successfully for Canada to have its own seat at the Conference, which the British and Americans eventually relented too, opening the doors to allowing Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and South Africa to send representatives as well. Borden also insisted that he be included among those leaders to sign the Treaty of Versailles; however, it was agreed that Canada would sign under the British Empire.
Many in China felt betrayed as the German territory in China was handed to Japan. Wellington Koo refused to sign the treaty and the Chinese delegation was the only nation that did not sign the Treaty of Versailles at the signing ceremony. At the time of the Paris Peace Conference there were two governments claiming to be the legitimate government of China: the Beiyang Government in Beijing, and Dr Sun Yat-sen's Guangzhou based Kuomintang (KMT) movement. However, they worked together to create the united diplomatic team that would plead China's case in Paris.
Germany were excluded from the negotiations, but Hermann Müller and Johannes Bell, as government ministers in the new Weimar Republic, signed the treaty as representatives of Germany on 29 June 1919.
Despite not signing the treaties, other delegations were sent to the Paris Peace Conferences, some uninvited, in order to represent their national interests.
Sought international recognition of its territorial integrity and independence from Italian Eritrea, British Somaliland and French Somaliland. Also wanted to be considered not a "barbarous state" but rather a "civilised [African] country" with unique interests, so that it might strengthen its position on the world stage as a subject of international law, being capable of participating in the international arena instead of remaining isolated.[10][11]
The unrecognized Irish Republic sent representatives in hope the republic declared at the Easter Rising in 1916 would be recognised, but they were ignored.[12][13]
Three separate delegations were sent to attempt to: expand the borders of Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate and to gain recognition of the independence of Lebanon.[17][18][19]
The unification of Serbia and Montenegro on 18 November 1918 was contested by the exiled king of Montenegro. Despite Italian support, Montenegro was denied an official seat at the Peace Conferences, and the unification of Serbia and Montenegro was recognised.[21]
Iranians, as a neutral power, negotiated war reparations to both, Allies and Central Powers (suggesting Ottoman and Russian territory) due to Persian campaign.[23] Also solicited French or American help to seizure independence from Anglo-Russian spheres of influence in Persia.[24]
The Allied Powers refused to recognise the Bolshevik government of Russia, and instead invited representatives of the Russian Provisional Government (chaired by Prince Lvov), the successor to the Russian Constituent Assembly and the political arm of the Russian White movement.[25][26]
Lobbied for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.[32]
Oversights
An oft-stated myth is that the Principality of Andorra was not invited to attend, due to an 'oversight' and that the issue of Andorra being at war was eventually resolved on September 24, 1958, when a peace treaty was signed. This claim first appeared in North American newspapers in 1958[33][34] and has been repeated since.[35][36] In reality, Andorra did not officially participate in World War I.[37] In 2014, the news outlet Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra investigated the 1958 claim and could find no documentation of any original declaration of war. Historian Pere Cavero could only find an exchange of letters between the German consul in Marseille and the Catalan Ombudsman, where the former asks if there is a state of war with Andorra and the latter responds they could find nothing in their archive to indicate this.[38]
↑ "44-Year Mystery War Ends". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Newhouse Newspapers. 19 September 1958. p.20.
↑ "World War I Ends in Andorra". The New York Times. United Press International. 25 September 1958. p.66.
↑ Reich, Herb (2012). Lies They Teach in School: Exposing the Myths Behind 250 Commonly Believed Fallacies. New York: Skyhorse Publication, Inc. p.52. ISBN978-1616085964.
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![Delegation from the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan in Hotel Claridge [fr] during the Paris Peace Conference. Azerbaijani delegation in Paris.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Azerbaijani_delegation_in_Paris.jpg/250px-Azerbaijani_delegation_in_Paris.jpg)
