The
Paris Peace Conference, also known as
Versailles Peace Conference, was the meeting of the
Allied victors, following the end of
World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated
Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris during 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities. The major decisions were the creation of the
League of Nations; the five peace treaties with defeated enemies, including the
Treaty of Versailles with Germany; the awarding of German and Ottoman overseas possessions as
"mandates," chiefly to Britain and France; reparations imposed on Germany, and the drawing of new national boundaries (sometimes with plebiscites) to better reflect the forces of nationalism. The main result was the
Treaty of Versailles, with Germany, which in section 231 laid the guilt for the war on "the aggression of Germany and her allies." This provision proved humiliating for Germany and set the stage for very high reparations Germany was supposed to pay (it paid only a small portion before reparations ended in 1931).