CHAPTER III

THE CONFERENCE

In Chapters IV. and V. I shall study in some detailthe economic and financial provisions of the Treatyof Peace with Germany . But it will be easier toappreciate the true origin of many of these termsif we examine here some of the personal factors whichinfluenced their preparation. In attempting this task,I touch, inevitably, questions of motive, on whichspectators are liable to error and are not entitled totake on themselves the responsibilities of final judg-ment. Yet, if I seem in this chapter to assumesometimes the liberties which are habitual to his-torians, but which, in spite of the greater know-ledge with which we speak, we generally hesitateto assume towards contemporaries, let the readerexcuse me when he remembers how greatly, if it isto understand its destiny, the world needs light,even if it is partial and uncertain, on the complexstruggle of human will and purpose, not yetfinished, which, concentrated in the persons of four

individuals in a manner never paralleled, made

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