Versailles #3: The House That House Built
11/17/18 • 59 min
Now THIS is exciting - click here to learn more about the aforementioned Delegation Game which I talked about for a great deal in this episode, and remember to connect with me if you have any questions! To everyone else, I hope you weren't too bothered by my rambling about it for ten minutes - I'm just super excited, and I think it could really be something special!
Onto this episode at hand though, and we come to Edward House, Woodrow Wilson's best friend; a man whom the president could truly talk to like no other man. Wilson and House had been friends for years, and this friendship had grown and blossomed ever since Wilson became President. Considering their relationship, it seems bizarre to me that Wilson would send his friend to a place like Paris in late October 1918, and task him with arranging the preliminary negotiations for an armistice. Not only that, House was also tasked with paving the way forward for a peace conference that upheld the Fourteen Points as its basis.
This was quite the mission, even for a formidable man like House, yet according to one source in particular (namely, House's diary), he was more than up to the task. From 26 October to 3 November, House represented his President to the British and French premiers, as the terms of an armistice, and an agreement about the foundations for a peace settlement were hammered out. House proclaimed a diplomatic triumph, but on closer inspection, the American diplomatic position was not as strong as the President may have liked to believe.
Listening to this episode, 'The House That House Built' is a must for those interested in the American diplomatic approach, and in characters like Edward House, who were to dominate the peace negotiations for the next six months. House is the first of many vibrant characters which the era threw up, and while he was far from perfect, his actions would create an indelible mark upon the proceedings which were to follow, for better and for worse...
Interested in reading Edward House's diary online for free? Click here, and thanksss again to Yale for making it all possible!
*******
The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
->Visit the homeland for this new project!
->Support the podcast financially and access ad free episodes with transcripts from just $2 a month!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Now THIS is exciting - click here to learn more about the aforementioned Delegation Game which I talked about for a great deal in this episode, and remember to connect with me if you have any questions! To everyone else, I hope you weren't too bothered by my rambling about it for ten minutes - I'm just super excited, and I think it could really be something special!
Onto this episode at hand though, and we come to Edward House, Woodrow Wilson's best friend; a man whom the president could truly talk to like no other man. Wilson and House had been friends for years, and this friendship had grown and blossomed ever since Wilson became President. Considering their relationship, it seems bizarre to me that Wilson would send his friend to a place like Paris in late October 1918, and task him with arranging the preliminary negotiations for an armistice. Not only that, House was also tasked with paving the way forward for a peace conference that upheld the Fourteen Points as its basis.
This was quite the mission, even for a formidable man like House, yet according to one source in particular (namely, House's diary), he was more than up to the task. From 26 October to 3 November, House represented his President to the British and French premiers, as the terms of an armistice, and an agreement about the foundations for a peace settlement were hammered out. House proclaimed a diplomatic triumph, but on closer inspection, the American diplomatic position was not as strong as the President may have liked to believe.
Listening to this episode, 'The House That House Built' is a must for those interested in the American diplomatic approach, and in characters like Edward House, who were to dominate the peace negotiations for the next six months. House is the first of many vibrant characters which the era threw up, and while he was far from perfect, his actions would create an indelible mark upon the proceedings which were to follow, for better and for worse...
Interested in reading Edward House's diary online for free? Click here, and thanksss again to Yale for making it all possible!
*******
The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
->Visit the homeland for this new project!
->Support the podcast financially and access ad free episodes with transcripts from just $2 a month!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
Versailles #2: Germany Falling, Germany Falling
It is impossible to tell the story of the Treaty of Versailles without Germany, and in episode 2 of the VAP, 'Germany Falling, Germany Falling', we examine the state of Germany in military, economic and societal terms by mid-1918. A campaign which had started out so strong and filled everyone with false hope ended in failure. The gamble to move all men from east to the western front had failed, and the chasm in capability was growing by the hour.
Stark pronouncements on the true state of affairs may have caught many Germans by surprise, but for those that had endured horrific deprivations, been starved, wounded, abandoned or simply vanished into the despair of total war, the reality cannot have been too much of a surprise. In this episode we place in context the gradual collapse of Germany in 1918, even while some in the country attempted, for their own reasons, to mount some form of final stand. Grim though the prospects of Germany seemed, there were some in the upper echelons of the military and civilian government who believed, for one reason or another, that Germany still had some potent cards to play. Episode 7, 'Ignoring Defeat' examines these last ditch efforts to save face and achieve peace with honour for Germany.
What could Germans realistically do to avoid the worst peace terms? What did America's associates think of these back channel negotiations? How, indeed, did the Germans interpret all that went down in autumn 1918 as anything other than a catastrophe to be exited from at once? The truth is that, although she was defeated, the German army was not destroyed, and for as long as they could, certain figures within the country were willing to use the threat of resistance to the end as a last resort, even while at home, emaciated bodies lined the streets, mutinies piled up and soldiers deserted in droves. The collapse was imminent, seen most infamously in the Spartacist Revolution, but while she teetered on the edge, Germany made one last attempt to have things her way...
*******
The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
->Visit the homeland for this new project!
->Support the podcast financially and access ad free episodes with transcripts from just $2 a month!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
Versailles #4: Vision of Division
Remember - check out the Delegation Game, and find out how you can participate in this exciting new way to make the very most out of this incredible centenary era...
Sometimes, it isn't always the best idea to take vain people at their word. In the case of Edward House, the situation which he claimed to have created in Paris, in the run up to the signing of the armistice, and the situation he ACTUALLY created, proved to be two very different things.
After several days meeting intimately with European leaders, House may have believed that he understood and could read these men, but in reality, they were the ones reading and manipulating him! In episode 4, 'Vision of Division', we examine this disconnect between what House believed he had achieved, and what had actually taken place during the preliminary peace negotiations.
This episode is essential for establishing the foundations of what would take place later on at Versailles. House, indeed, had wrested from the allies a concession to make the Fourteen Points the basis for all peace settlements. However, this was qualified with several reservations, and House gave so much in return, particularly to the harsh armistice document, which was being drawn up at the same time, that his gains appear inconsequential in contrast to what he had been forced to sacrifice.
The story, as ever, is one of intrigue, personal diplomacy, lobbying, disappointment, lies and frustration, and represents a prelude to the Paris Peace Conference which was to come. By the end, the allies had their armistice in hand, and the Germans were expected to agree to make peace within a few days, but at what cost?
*********
The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!
->Visit the homeland for this new project!
->Support the podcast financially and access ad free episodes with transcripts from just $2 a month!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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