[Depicted in Winds of Change, the 19th episode from the Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, produced by George Lucas - released in 1999 - it’s original edit is from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles; Episode: Paris, May 1919 - released in 1993.]
A few months later Indiana finds himself in Paris for a peace conference led by French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and US President Woodrow Wilson. He’s been sent there to be a translator and due to his performance it doesn’t take long for him to be offered a position at the state department.
During this time he once more runs into his old friend T.E. Lawrence, who is in attendance to help secure Arabia it’s independence. Lawrence is optimistic of his cause considering that freedom is the main theme of the Peace Conference, and he introduces Indy to friends Gertrude Bell and Arnold Toynbee, the latter of whom is less hopeful that the conference will produce the intended results.
Toynbee suggested that if Wilson’s League of Nations idea came to fruition by any means necessary, than the extermination of Germany now would eventually lead to a more bloodshed through retribution in the future, thus explaining to Indiana that “those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.”
The next day Lawrence reveals to the group that in spite of England’s promise to grant Arabia it’s freedom, it had also promised to trade Arabia to France in exchange for the oil fields in Kuwait, thus leaving the state of the nation in the hands of politics.
Days later Indiana is asked to transcribe a meeting between Clemenceau, Lloyd-George, and Wilson, in which the US President expresses his disappointment in regards to the secret deal between France and England, and he proposes an outside commission should it decide the outcome of Arabia.
Upon learning this news Lawrence decides to not wait on the commission, yet to instead recruit King Faisal to talk circles around Wilson at the conference, a strategy Indiana objects to considering his faith in the President (New Jersey bias perhaps).
Nonetheless, Lawrence goes ahead with his plans of letting Faisal address the conference, in which he asked for justice and the fulfillment of England’s promise of freedom. Inevitably, however, Clemenceau and Lloyd-George decide to create “Zones of Influence” throughout the region for both England and France, thus any independence of Arabia wasn’t to come in the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, the German delegation had finally arrived to the conference and were treated to an angry mob, in which the German diplomats were denied camaraderie and hospitality of any kind.
The Germans were told there wouldn’t be any negotiations and they had fifteen days to sign the treaty, however, Toynbee warned Indiana that the terms of the agreement would likely leave Germany in bankruptcy that would soon spread to the rest of Europe.
Toynbee also predicted that a World War would again be fought in approximately 10 to 20 years, leading Indiana and Lawrence to question the basis of the first World War altogether.
Indiana then later speaks with a German diplomat whom he had previously extended some generosity to (in the face of the angry mob), and they took notice of the commonalities between their personal experiences in the war.
Ultimately upon the completion of the ceremony, everyone including Wilson was left concerned with it’s inevitable impact, and feeling dismayed with politics Indiana decides to turn down the state department job to officially enroll in the University of Chicago.
Thus in this adventure Indiana has close encounters with:
Georges Clemenceau - French politician, physician, and journalist who served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906-09 as well as from 1917-20. Known as "Père la Victoire" (Father Victory) and "Le Tigre" (The Tiger), he was a leader of the Radical Party and played a central role in the French Third Republic, in which he helped architect the Treaty of Versailles at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. During this time he was remembered for taking a harsh position on Germany, proposing methods that were sure to destroy Germany’s economy indefinitely.
David Lloyd George - British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Prime Minister during the first World War, he was another major player at the Paris Peace Conference where - unlike Clemenceau - was lenient in terms of Germany’s reparations. Once asked about his performance at the Peace Conference, Lloyd-George said "I think I did as well as might be expected, seated as I was between Jesus Christ [Wilson] and Napoleon Bonaparte [Clemenceau]."
Woodrow Wilson - 28th President of the United States (1913-21), whom previously had been the President of Princeton University and Governor of New Jersey. He led the US during WWI and was a major figure at the Paris Peace Conference where he proposed the League of Nations, as a result making him the first President to travel to Europe while in office. Despite Lloyd-George’s sentiments above, Wilson took a hard-line stance against Germany stating that the treaty "seeks to punish one of the greatest wrongs ever done in history, the wrong which Germany sought to do to the world and to civilization; and there ought to be no weak purpose with regard to the application of the punishment. She attempted an intolerable thing, and she must be made to pay for the attempt." For his efforts, Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that same year, in spite of the fact that his attempt at world peace would soon prove to be futile.
T.E. Lawrence - Indiana’s longtime friend and accomplice - he did indeed attend the Paris Peace Conference between January and May of 1919 as a member of King Emir Faisal’s delegation.
King Emir Faisal - soon to be the King of Greater Syria (1920) and later the King of Iraq (1921-33), he led the Arab delegation at the Paris Peace Conference with the support of the influential Gertrude Bell.
Gertrude Bell - English writer, political officer, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy making due to the extensive knowledge and connections she acquired through traveling. Along with her collaborative work with T.E. Lawrence, she played a major role in establishing the modern state of Iraq, and is remembered as “one of the few representatives of His Majesty’s government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection”
Arnold Toynbee - British historian, author, and philosopher of history, who for more than thirty years was considered their leading specialist in international affairs.
Major events depicted within this adventure are:
Paris Peace Conference - aka Versailles Peace Conference - meeting of the victorious allies following WWI, in which the main results revolved around the newly formed League of Nations as well as the Treaty of Versailles - that delegated all the blame of WWI to Germany to be paid for through expensive reparations, that were ultimately ceased in 1931 after only minimal payment.
League of Nations - the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. By the 1930s it had been proven to be a failure after the rise of the Axis powers that would soon lead to WWII. Ultimately, the League of Nations lasted for 26 years and was replaced by the United Nations after the second World War.