A Century Later: The Treaty Of Versailles And Its Rejection Of Racial Equality
A century ago, a new world order began.
The Treaty of Versailles concluded the war to end all wars. Constructed through diplomacy, a fragile peace replaced global bloodshed.
The treaty's proclamations are now iconic: that nations should have the right to self-determine, that a war's victors should negotiate how to move forward, that the defeated powers should be held responsible for the damage.
Yet the treaty, negotiated by the key players in World War I — notably France, Great Britain, Italy and the United States — was deeply flawed and could not fend off the rise of fascism, the Nazi party and, eventually, World War II.
Versailles' mixed legacy is even further complicated by a little-known attempt by Japan, one of the emerging players at the table, to move the world forward on the issue of racial equality.
Japan asked for, and nearly got approved, a clause in the treaty that would have affirmed the equality
