CIIA Toronto - Past Events

Event Summary:

The Long Shadow of the Paris Peace Conference: 1919 and Now
Margaret MacMillan
Thursday, 23 September 2004
Summary by Millie Poon

Margaret MacMillan , the author of “Paris 1919”, spoke about the important role that history plays in understanding today’s issues. To understand today’s complex world, one must understand the history of its people, their beliefs, the social structures, and the economies. History matters, and the shadows that its lessons cast into the present are long.

The context of the Paris peace conference in 1919 was unique. Leaders of the most powerful nations gathered together for 6 months, in the context of uncertainty and chaos, to redraw the borders of the world. Margaret MacMillan spoke about this historic event and the relevance its lessons offer modern historians and decision makers.

History offers lessons to decision makers

Many parallels can be drawn between 1919 and the end of the Cold War in 1989, as both were times of great change and the direction of where the world was headed was unclear. After the Cold War ended, many believed that the world was becoming more uniform and its people increasingly similar, and that history before World War II had been rendered irrelevant. However when regimes fell apart in communist block after the Cold War, major themes such as nationality and the border issues from 1919 resurfaced as important reasons for change.

Today, we are also faced with times of significant change and uncertainty, and themes from history still recur today. Just as nationalism after the Cold War was difficult to rationalize, the implications of revolutionary Islamicism today are equally difficult to rationalize. In 1919, a common theme was the concept of the “price paid”, or sacrifice incurred, by a nation and the change that had to result because of it. This theme has recurred repeatedly since and continues today.

History is used as a justification

History has been widely used as a justification for claiming territory. Nations still reference past empires at their largest state and use it as a reason to claim land and wage war. History was used by Saddam as a justification to invade Kuwait, and is still used as a justification for conflict and land disputes between Israel and Palestine.

History offers warnings

Perhaps the most important lesson history teaches is humility.

History is subject to the limits of power and material conditions. During the Paris peace conference, the powerful repeatedly came up against the practical limits of reality, as defined by the number and positioning of soldiers, weapons, ships, and train tracks.

More importantly however, history is subject to the limits of human error. The events of history are the result of impersonal influences such as societal structure and time period, but also the personalities of the decision makers. Decision makers are people, and people are subject to error and prejudice. History has shown us that although someone possesses great power, intelligence, and / or wealth, it does not mean that he or she will make the right decision.

Conclusion

History teaches us to be careful. It teaches us to draw parallels, but to be wary of analogies. It warns us to be suspicious of grand, all-encompassing solutions, and teaches us that one should never be beguiled by their own power. History teaches us to not underestimate the power of people and their beliefs.

Margaret MacMillan’s book speaks of the Paris peace conference in 1919, a turning point of western civilization that provided many lessons to modern historians. However, any major period of history offers valuable lessons, and they continue to cast their long shadows to understanding the facts and myths of the complex world today.

View the event flyer: Flyer.