The Economic Consequences of the Peace

In the third chapter, Keynes asserts that the Big Four leaders’ personalities, communication styles, and constraints played an important role at the Paris Peace Conference and in creating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. He examines the dynamics between US President Woodrow Wilson, French premier Georges Clemenceau, Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando, and the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

According to Keynes, “the complex struggle of human will and purpose” is important to political events. In early 1919, these four key individuals became “the microcosm of mankind” (17). In this chapter, Keynes returns to his philosophical tone, which he uses to make richly detailed descriptions of the conference based on his personal observations.

First, Keynes describes Clemenceau: “The figure and bearing of Clemenceau are universally familiar […] by far the most eminent member of the Council of Four” (17). Keynes even focuses on Clemenceau’s clothing: his “gray suede gloves,” his boots made of “thick black leather,” and his “square-tailed coat of very good, thick black broadcloth” (17). At the same time, he appeared tired, like “a very old man conserving his strength for important occasions” (17).