Paris Peace Conference of 1946
The Paris Peace Conference of 1946 took place in the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, bringing together representatives from twenty-one Allied nations. Its primary objective was to review and recommend modifications to draft treaties created by the Council of Foreign Ministers. Key issues discussed included war reparations, minority rights, and territorial disputes, particularly regarding conflicts between Italy and Yugoslavia, control of Trieste, and navigation on the Danube River. The conference was characterized by rising tensions related to the emerging Cold War, with diverging views on wartime legacies and the structure of international relations.
The conference culminated in the adoption of fifty-three recommendations, many of which were later incorporated into treaties finalized in New York later that year. Notably, the inability to reconcile differences between the Soviet Union and the United States during the conference contributed to a significant decline in trust, marking an early indicator of the Cold War dynamics that would shape global relations in the following decades. Overall, the conference played a crucial role in addressing the aftermath of World War II while highlighting the complexities of post-war diplomacy.
Paris Peace Conference of 1946
The Event Meeting among Allied Powers to determine postwar sanctions
Dates July 29 to October 15, 1946
Place Paris, France
Planned at the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers in 1945, the Paris Peace Conference brought together the victorious wartime Allied Powers—principally the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and China—to negotiate peace treaties with the minor defeated nations, such as Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland.
The mission of the Paris Peace Conference, held in the Luxembourg Palace, Paris, France, was to recommend changes in the draft treaties that had been prepared by the Council of Foreign Ministers during its sessions in London and in Paris in 1946. Representatives from twenty-one Allied countries worked together to write treaties that negotiated the payment of war reparations, a commitment to minority rights, and territorial adjustments. The conference started amid rising Cold War tensions, different ideas about the meaning of wartime declarations, and the structure and purposes of the society of states.
Among the substantive issues discussed were the border conflict between Italy and Yugoslavia, control of Trieste, Italian reparations, and Danube River navigation. No penalties were to be imposed on countries that displayed wartime partisanship for the Axis, such as Finland. The conclusion of peace treaties with the minor countries was expected to ease the tensions when the time came to negotiate treaties with the two major Axis states, Germany and Japan. The conference adopted fifty-three recommendations by votes of at least two-thirds and forty-one by majority votes of less than two-thirds. The Council of Foreign Ministers adopted forty-seven of the former recommendations and twenty-four of the latter in its final draft of the treaties in New York later in 1946.
Impact
At the conference, conflicts developed between the Soviet Union and the United States. None of the negotiators were able to resolve these differences, which resulted in a decline in trust between the Soviet Union and the West. In many ways, the conference signaled the beginning of the Cold War.
Bibliography
Byrnes, James F. Report on the Paris Peace Conference by the Secretary of State. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1946.
Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History. New York: Penguin Press, 2005.