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AP European History
Rye High School
Paris Peace Conference of January 1919: A Historical Simulation
Bienvenue! Delegates from 27 nations have gathered here today to decide the fate of the post-Great
War world. Over the course of the next few months, you will be divided into 52 commissions that will
meet more than 1,600 times to prepare reports on topics ranging from prisoners of war to international
aviation. Those of you who represent the five major victorious powers (U.S., Britain, France, Italy,
Japan) will undoubtedly have the most input, but all of your voices are crucial. Together, our goal is to
arrange treaties that bring closure to the war, tackle pressing issues that have emerged from the war,
and deal justly with the defeated nations (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria).
Our job won’t be easy, but it will be vital if we are to set Europe, and the world, on the right path.
In Attendance (21 roles)
Moderator: It is your job to facilitate the discussion, preserve order, ensure that topics are thoroughly
discussed, and balance the interests of the various delegates.
Played by ________________________________ and __________________________________
Woodrow Wilson (USA): Idealistic in his vision, Wilson is the first U.S. president to visit Europe while in
office. Having articulated a series of ideals known as the Fourteen Points, Wilson has high hopes for
“open covenants of peace, openly arrived at” and for “self-determination of people so that all welldefined national aspirations shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction.” Wilson, by all accounts, presided
over the Paris Peace Conference.
Played by ________________________________ and ________________________________
David Lloyd George (Britain): Having won the election for prime minister in December 1918 on a
platform of making the Germans pay for the war, David Lloyd George feels the need to balance idealism
with pragmatism. Your overarching goal is to preserve the British empire, and you also feel strongly
about securing France, removing the threat of the German High Seas Fleet, settling territorial
contentions, and supporting a League of Nations.
Played by ________________________________
Georges Clemenceau (France): Believing France has borne the brunt of German aggression and thus
seeking revenge, a demilitarized Germany, vast reparations, and a separate Rhineland as a buffer
between France and Germany, Clemenceau is increasingly aggressive in his posture.
Played by ________________________________ and ____________________________________
Vittorio Orlando (Italy): In 1914, Italy had remained neutral despite its alliance with Germany and
Austria-Hungary. The next year, in 1915, Italy joined the Allies. Foremost among Italy’s motivations for
joining the war was a desire to gain territories that had been promised by the allies via the secret Treaty
of London. Thus, Orlando’s major goal at Paris to obtain the lands that were promised to Italy and to
obtain additional lands, most notably the city of Fiume and large expanses of the Dalmatian Coast.
Played by ________________________________
Sir Robert Borden (Canada): Having lost nearly 60,000 men in the Great War (and therefore 10,000
more men than the US), Canada believed itself worthy of having a seat at the Paris Peace Conference.
Although technically part of the British Dominion, Canada saw itself as worthy of at least a seat as a
“minor power.” Sir Robert Borden asks for neither reparations nor mandates.
Played by ________________________________
Billy Hughes (Australia): Like Canada, Australia is also technically part of the British dominion but
manages to gain a seat at Paris. The Australian prime minister fights hard for his demands: reparations,
annexation of German New Guinea, and rejection of the Japanese racial equality proposal. Indeed,
Hughes is deeply concerned about Japan’s rise to prominence in East Asia.
Played by ________________________________
Eliftherious Venizelos (Greece): The Greek prime minister proposed an expansion of Greece into Thrace
and Asia Minor (lands of the former Bulgarian and Ottoman empires). As a liberal politician, Venizelos
was a strong proponent of Wilson’s Fourteen Points. Foremost on Venizelos’ mind may have been
realization of the Megali Idea, which was a concept of Greek nationalism that sought to establish a
Greek state that would encompass all ethnic Greek-inhabited lands. In particular, this would mean
bringing into the fold large Greek populations who even after Greek independence of 1830 continued to
live under Ottoman rule.
Played by ________________________________
Marquess Saionji Kinmochi (Japan): The former PM of Japan, Kinmochi represented the Japanese
delegation, which was originally one of the “big five” but relinquished that role since Japan had minimal
interest in European affairs. The Japanese delegation has two major goals: the inclusion of the Racial
Equality Proposal in the League of Nation’s Covenant and territorial claims in former German colonies.
Played by ________________________________
Alfred Drasche-Lazar (Hungary): The Hungarian writer, diplomat, scholar, and politician was one of the
signatories at the Treaty of Trianon. As a representative of a defeated nation/empire, he brings with
him a unique set of ideas and grievances about the peace process.
Played by ________________________________
Lutz von Krosigk (Germany): During the Great War, he served in the German army and attained the rank
of Lieutenant before being awarded the Iron Cross. In the post-war years, his political career would take
off as he earned a position as a senior government official in 1922 and as the head of the budget
department in 1929. In 1931, he joined the department of reparations department to deal with
reparations that Germany still owed the Allied Powers after the Great War.
Played by ________________________________
Paul Hymans (Belgium): The foreign minister sought to rectify the restriction of neutrality imposed
upon her in 1839 and also to gain major economic and territorial concessions. The list of desired
territorial concessions included Flemish Zeeland, Dutch Limburg, German borderland cantons,
Luxemburg, and in Africa, a significant widening of the narrow sea coast of the Belgian Congo and large
gains in German East Africa. Perhaps naïve and unskilled after decades of forced neutrality, the Belgians
were not always as effective at diplomacy in Paris as they would have liked to be.
Played by ________________________________
Wellington Koo (China): The Chinese have a vital and specific agenda—to ensure that now that they
have been set free from the clutches of German imperialism, they do not have to fall victim to Japanese
aggression in the wake of the Great War. In 1918, China had signed secret treaties with Japan that gave
significant economic and territorial rights to Japan over the Shandong province. Perhaps China signed
these secret treaties under duress. But nevertheless, China will leave the Paris Peace Conference feeling
betrayed by the Allies if Japan is indeed given leasing rights in the Shandong Peninsula.
Played by ________________________________
Ignace Paderewski (Poland): With the blessing of military leader Josef Pilsudski, Paderewski is the new
head of government of the fledgling Poland. In a speech to the Polish people mid-way through the Paris
Peace Conference, he posed three major questions that he was attempting to settle: 1) what will Poland
be like?; 2) what will her frontiers be?; 3) will the decision makers at Paris give Poland everything she
deserves? Paderewski expresses continued gratitude to Wilson and America for saving Poland.
Played by ________________________________
Ion I.C. Bratianu (Premier of Romania): Romania delayed entry into the Great War but ultimately
declared war on the Central Powers in 1916. The war was a disaster for Romania, which was quickly
overrun and promptly occupied. But after the war, Romania’s government reasserted control. Arriving
at the Paris Peace Conference, the Romanian delegation has its eyes fixed on receiving territorial
concessions in Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina. Difficulties will potentially arise, as the new
Greater Romania is twice as large as Romania had been in 1914 and ethnic minorities (Hungarians and
Germans) may pose an eventual threat. In addition, the Romanian delegation feels slighted because the
Allies seem to be treating it as a “defeated nation”, perhaps wanting to take Romanian petroleum.
Played by ________________________________
Chaim Weizmann (World Zionist Organization): Having faced persecution in Europe as far back as the
Middle Ages and finding yourself increasingly disenchanted with life in Fin de Siecle Europe, you
represent Zionists everywhere in your desire to seek a Jewish homeland. You are particularly interested
in the newly unveiled Mandate system, which deals directly with lands that you hope will become the
Jewish homeland. You are likely intent on discussing the Balfour Declaration, which in a seemingly
paradoxical manner promises British support of a Jewish homeland in Palestine as long as “the rights
and position of other sections of the population [Arabs] are not prejudiced [negatively impacted].”
Played by ________________________________
Emir Faisal (Arab Leader): Faisal’s father, King Hussein, had led an Arab Legion in its fight against the
Ottomans during the Great War. King Hussein had been promised Arab independence in exchange for
bringing down the Ottomans. Further, the Arabs have been outraged by the revelation of the Balfour
Declaration (1917), a letter that pledged British support for a Zionist homeland in Palestine, and by the
Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916), in which the British and French allocated Middle Eastern lands to each
other with no reference to Arab claims. Outraged over the newly unveiled Mandate system, which puts
your lands into the hands of Europeans who offered you promises of independence, you are here to
defend yourself against two perceived threats: 1) the Mandate system; 2) the Zionist movement
Played by ________________________________
Paul von Hindenburg (Recently Retired German General): Hindenburg retired from the army for the
first time in 1911, but was recalled shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and first came to
national attention at the age of 66, as the victor of the decisive Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914.
Together with Erich Ludendorff, he led Germany in a de facto military dictatorship throughout the war.
Although he has just retired in early 1919, he has been invited (by us) to attend this Peace Conference
because we feel guilty about having no representative of Germany. Note that age 78, he will become
the second president of Germany in 1925!
Played by ________________________________
AP European History
Rye High School
Paris Peace Conference of January 1919: A Historical Simulation
Name: ____________________________
Role:___________________
Discussion Format: We will break our discussion into four distinct segments (~8 minutes each).
1. How should we deal with Germany? Be specific. How should we deal with the other defeated
Central Powers?
2. How should we proceed with Mandates? (Ottoman lands AND German lands). Specifically, let’s
consider three types 1) Turkish Mandates; 2) New Guinea, Samoa, South West Afrika; 3) African
Colonies (known as “Class B Mandates”)
3. What role should the League of Nations play in the post-war world?
4. How do we feel about the Racial Equality Proposal?
5. Other topics that arise during out simulation
Scoring, Requirements, and Preparation
Scoring System: Your success at this conference will be based on:
1) quality of interaction with other delegates
2) timely and accurate referencing of primary sources
3) ability to pose questions that entice others to answer
4) integration of real-life quotables
Requirements and Preparation:
1) name tag
2) primary source contribution (to be submitted the day before our simulation). Length should range
from one sentence to one short paragraph. Be sure to include title/source info.
3) discussion as per usual AP European History expectations
4) ample knowledge about your historical character, his viewpoints, and his nation’s priorities