ABSTRACT
The statesmen assembled at the Paris conference of 1919 did not succeed in devising a peace settlement in Europe or a world security system that offered any prospect of durability. From the very first, their work was subjected to extensive criticism. The settlement was condemned with particular vehemence by the defeated nations, especially the German people, but it was by no means approved without reservation in the victorious countries: some considered the terms of Versailles and its associated treaties too lenient, others too severe.
