THE WORLD TO-DAY 427

deed, enormous beyond calculation. After twenty years now
the World has not yet fully recovered from its effects.
Germany and Russia suffered most, and in both the coun-
tries there were revolutions—first in Russia, then in Ger-
many. These will be dealt with later.

The War was officially brought to a close on 11 Novem-
ber 1918 by the proclamation of Armistice. Its technical
sequel was the Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919,
in the Hall of Mirrors—just where the Germans had cele-
brated their triumph in 1871. The innocent Mirrors of
Versailles therefore now reflected the inverted image of the
Europe of 1871. Versailles was the reverse of which Frank-
fort was the obverse. But the French revanche was even
more terrible and exacting than the Teutonic triumph of the
previous century. France had been crippled by Bismarck
but not paralysed. The Allies in 1919 sought to lay Ger-
many under such a heavy load of "reparations" that she
should never recover from its agonies. Besides territorial
losses, they were asked to pay the modest indemnity of
£8,000,000,000 as compensation for damage done, including
pensions for the crippled and maintenance for the bereaved !
" The atmosphere of hate was terrible," declared an eye-
witness at the Peace Conference : " A great moment, but I
fear a peace without victory, just as we had a victory with-
out peace"1

Over a thousand delegates, representing more than thirty
countries, attended ' this greatest conference in history; only
the Germans, Austrians, Bulgars, and Turks were excluded.
The terms were * discussed' with them through circulation
of papers, and their plenipotentiaries were called in only to

1. Grant and Temperley, Europe *n the XIX & XX Centuries,
pp. 549-50.