Chapter 379： Paris Peace Conference (Part 2)

"Everyone, we have invited the Romanian representative in, and we can always discuss it now."

The many days of quarrels and negotiations left the representatives of several countries present with a little energy. After seeing the arrival of Prime Minister Bretianu, President Wilson glanced at the representative of Poland, Dmowski, who made the Polish issue complicated.

As the chairman of the Polish National Committee established in Paris in 1917, Dmowski's dough was thick enough to pretend not to see it. Because he knows that this meeting will determine the status of Poland after its establishment, of course, it is important to recover the territory as much as possible. What kind of stuff can you eat?

Clemenceau said with some embarrassment when he saw the Romanian representative enter the arena. "Let me tell Prime Minister Bretianu this question."

I did not expect Romania to help Poland stabilize the situation not long ago, and now he is asked to raise the territorial issue, which is indeed a bit embarrassing. Under Clemenceau's narration, Prime Minister Bretianu finally learned the details of the matter.

It turned out that Dmowski, on behalf of the newly established Polish government, formally put forward Poland's comprehensive and detailed territorial requirements to the Peace Conference. He recommended the Supreme Council. "When a territorial settlement belonging to Poland is reached, we should start from 1772 before the first partition. He proposed that Lithuania and Ukraine should be "unified" to Poland. Galicia in the southeast, although it did not belong to Poland before the 14th century Poland, but the majority of Polish people in this area should belong to Poland. In addition, in Upper Silesia and Danze in the eastern direction of Germany, Poland should also obtain a large Polish corridor to the sea."

Faced with Poland's territorial claims, the French side certainly supports them, and they intend to make Poland a strong enemy to the east of Germany. This time the war can be won, and its former ally Russia's containment on the Eastern Front plays a decisive role. France has no reason not to continue to do so.

The British side firmly opposes Poland's so-called territorial claims. Prime Minister George believes that giving a large area of ​​German territory to Poland will be the fuse for future wars.

To this end he also asked: "If the Germans in Poland oppose Polish rule and defend themselves, will the three parliaments fight to maintain Poland's rule over them?"

He also declared that if Poland occupied Danze and Upper Silesia, Germany would refuse to sign the contract. In fact, this British attitude is a reflection of his traditional policy of evenly matching on the Polish issue. Britain does not want to see Germany weaken too much and let France dominate the European continent. The United States, on the other hand, sees this issue based on the principle of national self-determination and advocates classification based on ethnic data.

As for the Galicia area involved, they advocated direct negotiations between Poland and the occupation of the area, which is also the victorious Romania. As for the Ukrainian government, it has been completely ignored.

When Clemenceau finished speaking, Prime Minister Bretianu went straight in: “I’m sorry, we cannot accept Poland’s request. We have already reached an agreement with the Ukrainian government regarding the ownership of this region. The decision of the agreement."

Facing Prime Minister Bretianu’s relentless refusal, Dmowski couldn’t help saying: “90% of the area is Poles. You have no reason to occupy the area.” (Dmowski) I really said this at the Paris Peace Conference)

Dmowski’s words, Bretianu directly retorted: "90%? Where does this data come from? According to our survey, only 43% of Poles are in this area, and 41% of Ukrainians remain. Another 16% are composed of Slovaks, Romanians, Hungarians and other ethnic groups."

Seeing that Dmowski was directly stunned by Bretianu, the negotiation collapsed. Clemenceau stepped forward and said roundly: "We don't know much about the division of local ethnic groups, so let's talk about other aspects."

Dmowski, who was awakened by Clemenceau's words, immediately changed the subject. "As far as I know, the so-called Ukrainian government was established on the basis of the Bucharest Treaty. The treaty has been abolished, so the Ukrainian government supported by Germany and Austria should also be banned."

Regarding Dmowski’s new offensive, Prime Minister Bretianu said with a smile: “I admit that the Ukrainian government was established in accordance with the Bucharest Treaty. However, according to President Wilson’s national self-determination, the region’s Ukrainians have the right to choose whether to establish power by themselves or whom they belong to."

Bretianu’s remarks are very clear. You deny the Bucharest Treaty. I will talk about President Wilson’s national self-determination. As for whether Ukraine is willing to join the Polish government, this is a joke, no one wants to find a father to take care of it.

After Bretianu's words, Dmowski, who was a little confused, continued: "Your calculations are wrong. The Galician region should be self-determined."

"No, the Galicia region should not be self-determined alone, it is part of Ukraine."

"We know that you and Ukraine have compensation for withdrawal, and this can be taken over by us, too."

"Sorry, this is a resolution between us and Ukraine, and you still cannot represent the Ukrainian government."

"..."

"Well, don't argue."

Seeing the red-faced disputes between the two parties, neither of them would give in. President Wilson couldn’t help but said: “At present, it seems that the issue in Galicia is a bit too complicated. Will this issue be postponed and will be discussed when Hungary is resolved? ."

In President Wilson's view, the current issue of Galicia is not within the scope of the negotiations with Germany, so this issue can be deferred and there is no need to hold on to it here.

Prime Minister George, who has never spoken, agreed: "This is a good way."

Seeing that Britain and the United States agree, and that Dmowski has been at a disadvantage in front of Bretianu, Clemenceau also nodded and said: "Let's do this. We will postpone the discussion on this matter."

The words of the Three Kingdoms made Demowski down like a **** that was defeated, while Prime Minister Bretianu walked out of the meeting room with a calm face. However, after walking out of the conference room, Bretianu immediately pulled his entourage waiting outside the door to his side and whispered: "I will immediately go back to the embassy and send a secret telegram to the country, saying that the Poles want to use diplomatic channels. Capture the Galicia region."

The entourage was shocked when he heard this. He knew the seriousness of the matter and immediately replied: "I will rush back to the embassy to report."

After giving orders to his entourage, Bretianu still smiled, and kept greeting other delegation members, as if they were okay.

After the Galicia region was left aside, the process of the Polish issue accelerated a lot, and border issues in all directions were quickly negotiated. The final decision will also be placed in the general terms for Germany.

The treaty with Germany, as in history, finally came up with a final solution on February 13 after more than three months of quarrels and compromises.

According to the treaty, Germany ceded Alsace and Lorraine to France on the territory, restoring France's borders before the Franco-Prussian War. After a referendum, North Schleswig returned to Denmark.

Recognize Polish independence and grant Polish coastline. Return the territories that originally belonged to Poland, including West Prussia, Posen Province, part of East Prussia and part of Upper Silesia; and Upper Silesia to Czechoslovakia. Danzig is managed by the League of Nations and is called the Free City of Danzig.

Ceded Yuben and Salmedy to Belgium; Klaipeda region to Lithuania (19 years).

The Saar coal mining area was managed by France for 15 years, and then its ownership was decided by a referendum.

Germany recognizes Austria's independence and can never merge with it. Recognize Luxembourg's independence.

This treaty caused Germany to lose 10% of its territory, 12.5% ​​of its population, all overseas colonies (including German East Africa, German South-West Africa, Cameroon, Togo, and German New Guinea), 16% of its coal-producing area and half of it. Steel industry.

Military restrictions; the territory on the west bank of the Rhine (Rhineland) has been occupied by the Allied forces for 15 years, and German troops within kilometers of the east and west banks cannot be fortified.

The army was restricted to less than 100,000 personnel and was not allowed to own tanks or heavy artillery. The establishment of the German General Staff was cancelled.

The navy’s number of posts is limited to members below . The ship can only have 6 battleships with displacement of 10,000 tons, 6 cruisers and 12 destroyers. Submarines are not allowed.

No air force may be organized, no weapons may be imported or exported, and no chemical weapons may be produced or stored.

In order to limit the number of people receiving military training and abolish the compulsory military service system, the period of service for non-commissioned officers was extended to 12 years and 25 years for officers.

Responsibility for war; Germany must recognize all its responsibilities for war and commit crimes against civilians in the Allies. The former Kaiser Wilhelm II was tried as the prime criminal of war crimes. Some German troops were tried for war crimes and some of them were sentenced to death.

War compensation: According to the decision of the Allied Powers Compensation Commission, Germany needs to compensate 226 billion marks (about 11.3 billion pounds) and pay in gold, which was reduced to 132 billion Reichsmarks.

The only thing implicated in this treaty with Romania is the issue of German compensation. However, because Romania did not suffer too many losses in the war, it only received 2% of the compensation. But Romania still has a long way to go to get the money.

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