List of participants in the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)

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The Paris Peace Conference gathered over 30 nations at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris, France, to shape the future after World War I. The Russian SFSR was not invited to attend, having already concluded a peace treaty with the Central Powers in the spring of 1918. The Central Powers - Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire - were not allowed to attend the conference until after the details of all the peace treaties had been elaborated and agreed upon. The main result of the conference was the Treaty of Versailles with Germany.

Map of the World with the Participants in World War I. The Allies are depicted in green, the Central Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey.

Signing delegations

The main delegations, with their secretaries and interpreters, in a painting by Herbert Arnould Olivier.

This list shows all nations and delegations who signed the Treaty of Versailles. All plenipotentiaries signed the treaty, except where indicated otherwise.[1]

More information State, Plenipotentiaries ...
StatePlenipotentiariesNotes
AustraliaBilly Hughes
Joseph Cook
BoliviaIsmael Montes
BelgiumPaul Hymans
Jules Van den Heuvel
Emile Vandervelde
 BrazilJoão Pandiá Calógeras [pt]
Rodrigo Otávio de Langgaard Menezes [es]
CanadaRobert Borden[a]
Charles Doherty
Arthur Sifton
Signed under 'British Empire'. Prime Minister Borden fought for Canada to have its own seat at the Conference, which the British and Americans eventually relented to, opening the doors to allowing Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and South Africa to send representatives as well. Borden also insisted that he be included among those leaders to sign the Treaty of Versailles; however, it was agreed that Canada would sign under the British Empire.
 ChinaLu Zhengxiang[a]
Wellington Koo[a]
Cao Rulin[a]
Many in China felt betrayed as the German territory in China was handed to Japan. Wellington Koo refused to sign the treaty and the Chinese delegation was the only nation that did not sign the Treaty of Versailles at the signing ceremony. At the time of the Paris Peace Conference there were two governments claiming to be the legitimate government of China: the Beiyang Government in Beijing, and Dr Sun Yat-sen's Guangzhou based Kuomintang (KMT) movement. However, they worked together to create the united diplomatic team that would plead China's case in Paris.
 CubaAntonio Sánchez de Bustamante y Sirven
CzechoslovakiaKarel Kramář
Edvard Beneš
EcuadorEnrique Darn y de Alsua
FranceGeorges Clemenceau
Stephen Pichon
Louis-Lucien Klotz
André Tardieu
Jules Cambon
GermanyHermann Müller
Johannes Bell
Germany were excluded from the negotiations, but Hermann Müller and Johannes Bell, as government ministers in the new Weimar Republic, signed the treaty as representatives of Germany on 29 June 1919.
GreeceEleftherios Venizelos
Nicolas Politis
GuatemalaJoaquín Méndez
Haiti HaitiTertullien Guilbaud
 HejazRustam Haidar
Abdul Hadi Aouni
Later absorbed into Saudi Arabia.
HondurasPolicarpo Bonilla
IndiaEdwin Samuel Montagu
Ganga Singh
 ItalyVittorio Emanuele Orlando[a]
Sidney Sonnino
Guglielmo Imperiali
Silvio Crespi
 JapanSaionji Kinmochi
Makino Nobuaki
Chinda Sutemi
Matsui Keishirō
LiberiaCharles D. B. King
New ZealandWilliam Ferguson Massey
NicaraguaSalvador Chamorro
PanamaAntonio Burgos
PeruCarlos de Candamo
Poland PolandIgnacy Jan Paderewski
Roman Dmowski
PortugalAfonso Costa
Augusto Soares
 RomaniaIon I. C. Brătianu
Constantin Coandă
Serbs, Croats and SlovenesNikola Pašić
Ante Trumbić
Milenko Radomar Vesnić
Slobodan Jovanović[a]
Miodrag Ibrovac[a]
Later Kingdom of Yugoslavia
SiamCharoonsakdi Kritakara
Traidos Prabandhu
 South AfricaJan Smuts
Louis Botha
 United KingdomDavid Lloyd George
Bonar Law
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner
Arthur Balfour
George Barnes
United StatesWoodrow Wilson
Robert Lansing
Henry White
Edward M. House
Tasker H. Bliss[2]
See also American Commission to Negotiate Peace.
UruguayJuan Antonio Buero
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  1. Non-signatory

Other national representatives

Delegation from the First Republic of Armenia [fr] during the Paris Peace Conference.
Delegation from the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan in Hôtel Claridge [fr] during the Paris Peace Conference.

Despite not signing the treaties, other delegations were sent to the Paris Peace Conferences, some uninvited, in order to represent their national interests.

More information Nation, Representatives ...
NationRepresentativesNotes
Arab delegationFaisal
Lawrence of Arabia
Faisal, later King of Iraq, advocated for an independent Arab state. T. E. Lawrence acted as the delegation's translator.[3][4]
First Republic of ArmeniaAvetis Aharonian
Hamo Ohanjanyan
Armen Garo
[citation needed]
Aromanian delegationNational Committee of the PindusAttempted to establish an autonomous Aromanian entity.[5]
Assyrian delegationBishop Aphrem BaroumAttempted to establish an autonomous Assyrian entity in the Assyrian homeland.[6]
Democratic Republic of AzerbaijanAlimardan bey Topchubashov[citation needed]
Belarusian Democratic RepublicAnton LuckievichAttempted to gain international recognition of the independence of Belarus.[7]
EstoniaJaan Poska
Nikolai Köstner
Jaan Tõnisson
Ants Piip
Karl Robert Pusta
Mihkel Martna
Eduard Laaman
Joakim Puhk
Attempted to gain recognition of the independence of Estonia.[8][9]
Ethiopian Empire Dejazmach Tafari

Dejazmatch Nadew

Sought international recognition of its territorial integrity and independence from Italian Eritrea, British Somaliland and French Somaliland. Also wanted to be considered not a "barbarous state" but rather a "civilised [African] country" with unique interests, so that it might strengthen its position on the world stage as a subject of international law, being capable of participating in the international arena instead of remaining isolated.[10][11]
Democratic Republic of GeorgiaNikolay Chkheidze
Irakli Tsereteli
Zurab Avalishvili
[citation needed]
Irish RepublicSeán T. O'KellyThe unrecognized Irish Republic sent representatives in hope the republic declared at the Easter Rising in 1916 would be recognised, but they were ignored.[12][13]
Korean Provisional GovernmentKim Kyu-sikRepresenting the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, in-exile in China.[14]
Kurdistan Region Kurdish delegation Şerif Pasha Representing Society for the Rise of Kurdistan and its goal to establish an independent country, or an autonomous entity, in Kurdistan.[15]
LatviaJānis ČaksteAttempted to gain recognition of the independence of Latvia.[8][16]
LebanonDaoud Amoun (first delegation)
Elias Peter Hoayek (second delegation)
Abdullah El-Khoury (third delegation)
Three separate delegations were sent to attempt to: expand the borders of Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate and to gain recognition of the independence of Lebanon.[17][18][19]
LithuaniaAugustinas Voldemaras
Antanas Smetona
Attempted to gain recognition of the independence of Lithuania.[8][20]
 MontenegroNicholas I of MontenegroThe unification of Serbia and Montenegro on 18 November 1918 was contested by the exiled king of Montenegro. Despite Italian support, Montenegro was denied an official seat at the Peace Conferences, and the unification of Serbia and Montenegro was recognised.[21]
NewfoundlandWilliam F. Lloyd[22]
Mountainous Republic of the Northern CaucasusAbdulmajid Tapa Tchermoeff[citation needed]
Iran Persia Mostowfi ol-Mamalek

Vosugh od-Dowleh Mohammad Ali Foroughi

Iranians, as a neutral power, negotiated war reparations to both, Allies and Central Powers (suggesting Ottoman and Russian territory) due to Persian campaign.[23] Also solicited French or American help to seizure independence from Anglo-Russian spheres of influence in Persia.[24]
Russia RussiaSergey SazonovThe Allied Powers refused to recognise the Bolshevik government of Russia, and instead invited representatives of the Russian Provisional Government (chaired by Prince Lvov), the successor to the Russian Constituent Assembly and the political arm of the Russian White movement.[25][26]
San MarinoM. Bucquet[27]
SyriaChekri Ganem
Jamil Mardam Bey
See Central Syrian Committee.
Tripolitanian RepublicLobbied for the independence of Tripolitania from Italian Libya.[28]
Ukrainian People's RepublicHryhorii Sydorenko
Mykhailo Tyshkevych
Lobbied for the independence of Ukraine and for support in its war against Russia.[29]
VietnamNguyen Ai QuocNguyen Ai Quoc (later known as Ho Chi Minh) petitioned the conference, seeking self determination and independence for the Vietnamese people.[30][31]
West Ukrainian People's RepublicVasyl PaneikoUntil December 1919, part of the Ukrainian People's Republic mission. Following negotiations with Poland, lobbied for the independence of West Ukraine.[29][32]
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Non-national representatives

Inter-Allied Women's Conference.

Other non-national or pan-national delegations were in Paris, hoping to petition the allies on issues relating to their causes.

More information Group, Major People ...
GroupMajor PeopleNotes
1st Pan-African CongressW. E. B. Du Bois
Ida Gibbs
Held in February 1919 in order to petition the allies on African issues.
Inter-Allied Women's ConferenceMarguerite de Witt-SchlumbergerConvened and met from 10 February to 10 April 1919.
Zionist OrganizationDr. Chaim WeizmannLobbied for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.[33]
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Oversights

An oft-stated myth is that the Principality of Andorra was not invited to attend, due to an 'oversight' and that the issue of Andorra being at war was eventually resolved on September 24, 1958, when a peace treaty was signed. This claim first appeared in North American newspapers in 1958[34][35] and has been repeated since.[36][37] In reality, Andorra did not officially participate in World War I.[38] In 2014, the news outlet Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra investigated the 1958 claim and could find no documentation of any original declaration of war. Historian Pere Cavero could only find an exchange of letters between the German consul in Marseille and the Catalan Ombudsman, where the former asks if there is a state of war with Andorra and the latter responds they could find nothing in their archive to indicate this.[39]

References

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