Versailles #22: OTD 12 Jan 1919 - Lloyd George Makes Three (Patreon)

[PATRONS]

 ON_THIS_DAY_IN_HISTORY - 12th January 1919 - David Lloyd George arrives in Paris for the preliminary peace talks.

Before the Paris Peace Conference opened, it was important for all sides to meet and talk together. As all three men spoke English well, Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George could be expected to do the bulk of the negotiating personally. However, the initial set up of the Conference did not allow this personal arrangement, so the three men took advantage of that precious week before the conference officially opened, during the preliminaries, to build relationships, wrest concessions and have a ramble around the French capital.

The arrival of the British PM on 12 January kicked the preliminaries into high gear, and from the beginning, it became clear that everyone had travelled to Paris with a degree of optimism, but also with their own aims and ambitions. The Italians, as well, could not be ignored, and their support and assent for certain agreements was clearly going to be necessary if the wheels were to be greased and everything moved along. Give and take would have to be the motto of the day, if any progress was to be made...