Negotiating the Impossible

10STAY AT THE TABLE

Peacemaking from Vienna to Paris

THE FIRST WORLD WAR (1914–1919) has been labeled “the war to end all wars.” In fact, it may have been better described as “the war that forgot all wars.” Whether we look at the catastrophic decisions that led to the outbreak of war or at the structure of the flawed peace agreements that followed, we discover the tragic consequences of faded memories and of lessons too easily forgotten. Much has been said about the mistakes made in the Paris negotiations at the end of WWI, especially regarding how the treatment of defeated Germany likely played an important role in Germany’s march towards instigating World War II. Of course, we sit in the privileged position of the future, making such judgments ...