Betrayal in Paris by Paul French

Author:Paul French
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143800361
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Published: 2014-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

‘A cynical disregard of manifest rights’ –

Paris, April 1919

As the conference drew to a conclusion, reports of the resurgence of the Spanish flu continued to grow. The flu pandemic the year before had terrified the world even more than the war, and talk of its resurgence had cast a pall over Paris since the start of the conference. For the superstitious it was a portent of things to come, a bad omen. Wellington Koo had arrived recently widowed by the outbreak. A British diplomat, Sir Mark Sykes, had died in his room at the Hôtel Lotti near the Jardin des Tuileries in February. President Wilson, who had become such a central figure in Paris in his top hat and trademark rimless spectacles, became acutely ill during the night of 3 April, ‘seized with paroxysms of coughing, which were so severe and frequent it interfered with his breathing’.35 His temperature reached 39.4°C (103°F) and he was confined to bed. Spanish flu was suspected but not officially confirmed; his illness was probably exacerbated by the onset of the arterial sclerosis that would eventually kill him.

Wilson was an infamous workaholic throughout the conference, and after five days he insisted on resuming work, receiving Clemenceau and Lloyd George as he lay in his sickbed. Lloyd George commented, ‘The rest of us found time for golf and we took Sundays off, but Wilson, in his zeal, worked incessantly’.36 The rumour mill said Wilson was broken spiritually and unable to think clearly, with his deeply desired league not yet agreed and European great power intransigence on so many issues; it said his judgement was impaired and that he had begun to abandon convictions for compromises he had previously been unwilling to consider. Whether his illness weakened his resolve, or whether Wilson had decided that compromising was essential to America’s best interests in Paris, China had cause to be alarmed.

Baron Makino and his fellow delegate Viscount Chinda pressed the Council of Ten for a resolution to the Shantung Question before the treaty with the defeated Germany was signed. Wilson, still ailing, met again with Lloyd George and Clemenceau in mid-April, hoping to delay a decision on Shantung. But time was running out – a treaty had to be concluded. Some leaders had been away from their own countries and sequestered in Paris for nearly four months. It was decided that the Shantung Question must be decided once and for all, without further delay. Makino knew one of the Council of Ten, Italy, was on the verge of walking out of the conference and refusing to sign the final treaty over its claim to the disputed territory of Fiume.37 If Japan were to threaten the same, that would leave the so-called ‘inviting powers’ (including Japan) looking weak, and the treaty far from unanimous among the major powers. Makino demanded a resolution to the Shantung Question or Japan would not sign the peace treaty. He had played a great go move. Robert Lansing was annoyed, declaring the move ‘a cynical disregard of manifest rights’.

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