Paris 1919: The Peace Conference That Changed the World

Featured Speaker: Professor Blaine Davies

The World Leaders who convened in Paris in January 1919 met to ensure that World War I, the “War to End All Wars,” was not fought in vain. They resolved to build a world where a second World War would be unthinkable if not impossible. Inspired by President Woodrow Wilson’s dream of creating a more just world, the delegates established the League of Nations. The U.S. Senate, to Wilson’s bitter disappointment, refused to join the League. While the League failed to prevent the outbreak of World War II, it served as a model for the United Nations established after World War II. The Peace Conference dictated the borders of countries in Europe, the Balkans, the dissolved Ottoman Empire, Africa, and former German colonies in the Pacific. The Treaty of Versailles imposed crippling reparations on Germany that created conditions at least partly responsible for the rise of Adolf Hitler and the German Nazi Party. This lecture series will describe the evolution of the Peace Conference and will explain how the new world it created set in motion political and social upheavals that plague us to this day.
 

April 4: Part I
April 11: Part II (Note this is an afternoon class)
April 18: Part III

Presenter Biography

Blaine Davies taught U.S. history at Boise State University for 14 years. Prior to that he was a product marketing manager for Hewlett- Packard. Davies has traveled extensively in the United States and internationally. He especially enjoys visiting the historical sites he discusses in his lectures. He earned a Master’s degree in history from Boise State University.

Coordinator: Steve Clarey