In 1919, the victors of the First World War gathered in Paris with an extraordinary task: to redraw borders, dismantle empires and create a new international order that they hoped would prevent another global war. The consequences would reach far beyond Versailles.
In this episode, I examine the Paris Peace Conference and ask whether the decisions made there helped shape more of the twentieth century than any other single event — from the rise of fascism and the Second World War to the creation of new states, the decline of empires and conflicts that continue into the present day.
But another gathering was taking place in Paris. W. E. B. Du Bois and delegates to the 1919 Pan-African Congress sought to challenge the contradiction at the heart of the new world order: European and American leaders were talking about self-determination while millions of people across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean remained under colonial rule.
From Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau to Du Bois, Blaise Diagne and Ida Gibbs, this episode explores who was allowed a seat at the table, who wasn't — and how decisions made in Paris in 1919 helped create the world we live in today.
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