You can order Tim's book here! 

Something very special for you indeed history friends! A mere days away from launch, the lovely Tim Bouverie joins us for a fascinating chat about his monumental book, Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War, available in all good book stores! To say this book is monumental is to do it an injustice - in fact, I would go as far as saying, if you read any book on the build up to the Second World War in your life, you must read this. Just like I have attempted to reimagine the outbreak of the Great War from Britain's perspective, so too does Tim here work hard to bring us a refreshed look at that infamous foreign policy device. But, it'd be wrong to pigeonhole his book, or this episode, as an examination of appeasement in the late 1930s. 

We certainly do that, but we delve deep into other matters as well - believe it or not, even the Treaty of Versailles and the Suez Crisis come up in our discussion, and how could they not? If you had the impression that appeasement was an isolated thing in British foreign policy, then you'd be wrong! Appeasement lived and died in the context of the 20th century, and lessons which were learned and which could never be forgotten shaped this century beyond measure. Appeasement was one of these lessons, and it's high time we did it justice. If you're ready to join Tim and for I for this incredible ride, then please do stop by! Remember you can track down Tim's great book here, or by going to any bookshop worth its salt. Thanksss!

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The situation in our alternative universe continues to heat up, but some might say, for the better. The President Marshall of France, Ferdinand Foch, having survived the recent vote, now has his regime confirmed, but not all delegates have to like it. Foch's regime was buoyed by several successes over the last week, including one development in particular which will leave some delegates happy, and some furious - that, I'm afraid, is the nature of the Game! Remember, get scheming if you want to resolve this situation; change your character if you feel like your situation is hopeless, or change your perceptions altogether and work for a better peace for this world (yeah, right!). Either way, remember that if you want to play the delegation game and shape this world, you need only sign up for $6 a month! We cannot guarantee you a warm reception, but since the delegates involved only have three months left to make this final treaty, we can guarantee that you will be very busy indeed!

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The Japanese were utterly determined to pass the racial equality proposal, which actually consisted of a few sentences that would be inserted into the preamble of the League of Nations. This had been their for weeks, and it was publicly known, and feared, by much of the allies, with the exception perhaps of France. Neither the Americans nor the British could afford to accept this proposal, which was akin to political dynamite in 1919. However, the stories behind precisely why neither side could accept the Japanese approach were very different indeed. Either way, Edward House was determined that his President should not have to take the fall...

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It's high time we turned our attention to a neglected theatre of this story. No, not Africa...No, not the Middle East...Yes, that's right - Asian! Well, more specifically, just Japan! The story of the Japanese rise to power in the late 19th and early 20th century is one which has always fascinated us here at WDF, but in the context of the Paris Peace Conference, the story becomes more interesting still! The Japanese, clearly maligned due to their lack of European-ness, were nonetheless keen to play a prominent role in the proceedings, and yet the demands which they presented represented nothing short of dynamite for a conference already rocked by a succession of scandals...

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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!

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After a traumatic event which rocked France, the world and the Peace Conference to its core, how can the delegates involved possibly refocus their attentions to the task at hand - that of making peace? Fear not, the President-Marshall of France is on the case, and with his ambitious, but by no means impossible 16 Points, the hero of France's war effort attempts to become the hero of the peace conference, and to rebuild the peacemaking efforts of all those now knuckling down in the Anna-Bay Hotel, London...

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In the first week of April, 1919, American President Woodrow Wilson had reached the end of his tether. He was eternally sick of Georges Clemenceau lording the agonies of France over his head - what he needed was compromise, not to be accused of being pro-German by the French premier in one particularly explosive meeting. The rift between American and French leaders had arrived at long last, but it was hardly likely to be a fight either man would benefit from. Amidst a terrible illness, Wilson declared his intention to return to the United States, and requested his boat prepare itself at Brest. This was too much for Clemenceau, who backtracked, and was even somewhat nice to Wilson in the French press. Yet this was a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one - Wilson was worn out and ill from the bust up, and further afield, it was becoming clear that France and America were by no means the only issue of concern which the creaking Council of Four would have to deal...

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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!

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Whoa, Nelly, have we got a story for you! In the aftermath of failed efforts to achieve satisfaction with reparations and with the intervention into Russia, one could be left feeling sorry themselves if you happened to be a delegate in this fictional version of Paris in late March 1919. However, the real movements were coming not from the halls of peace, but out on the streets and in the devious minds of disaffected leaders and citizens, determined to right by France...no matter who stood in the way!

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We return to the question of reparations with some startling revelations. If you thought the French were the greedy, grasping and bitter sponsors of a massive reparations bill, then prepare to question everything you know! It was not the French, but the politically trapped British PM David Lloyd George, who was in fact the loudest and most inconsistent advocate of a high bill. Why? That question has puzzled those historians who have attempted to answer it, but in this episode we're going to our best. Why was Lloyd George so eager for a large payment? Why was he giving his peers moderate advice one moment, only to come down harshly the next? Was he constrained by political promises, or did he genuinely intend to punish the Germans out of a deep seated belief in the rightness of his cause? Tune in here to find out the truth...

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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!

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At long last, we turn our attention to the controversial issue of reparations. Perhaps no issue at the Paris Peace Conference, and no single tenet of the Treaty of Versailles has been the source of as much controversy as the question of how much Germany should pay to answer for its crimes of launching the Great War, yet in this first of an unofficial two-parter, we will learn that the conventional narrative of reparations is very far removed indeed from the reality. The eternal wisdom of John Maynard Keynes, we will discover, was far from so universal as historians have come to believe, and our impression of where the peacemakers went wrong and who was to blame over the reparations question is, I will explain, unfairly and unjustly skewed. It's time to set the record straight, or as straight as we can make it, so if you're eager for a revisionist take on 1919's most controversial question, look no further than our 50th episode!

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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!

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After a week of conspiracy and controversy, the fallout must be confronted. An exhausted and demoralised cast of delegates are challenged with creating some kind of policy approach to Russia, to listening to one another without going crazy, and with remaining wary at all times of former enemies, or should that be former friends? Regardless of what they planned to do in the future, there could be no denying that what they had done in the past had left Paris a haunted shell of its former self. The question remained to be answered - would it all be worth it in the end?

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The Delegation Game 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!

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