During the Paris Peace Conference, Paris could be said to be a dance of demons. Nations formed alliances and broke them, with schemes emerging one after another.
In just a few days, the Bulgarian delegation had already made contact with every other delegation. Some had talked merrily; others had glared at one another in fury. All the myriad faces of human life were on display here.
The Paris Peace Conference officially opened at the Palace of Versailles, and French President Poincaré seized the opportunity of delivering the opening address to make a lengthy speech.
One line in particular—"Born of injustice, it shall naturally die in disgrace!"—utterly shattered the conference's harmonious atmosphere. Everyone knew that the French would not let the Germans off this time!
Konstantin's expression was also extremely grim. Although Bulgaria's strategy was to allow France to expand across continental Europe, the French did not need to make their greed look this ugly, did they?
They ought to show at least some gentlemanly restraint. No matter how dissatisfied they were with the Germans, they should not say it now. They could have waited until the conference on carving up Germany, when everyone would have found it far easier to accept!
Dissatisfied though they were, no one was going to fall out with the French over such a minor matter.
As the host, French Prime Minister Clemenceau was elected chairman of the conference in his capacity as head of the French delegation.
Clemenceau said solemnly, "The weather is quite fine today! The world war so ambitiously provoked by the Alliance has finally come to an end through the joint efforts of us all!
"Yet the chief culprit still walks free. I propose that the leader of the Alliance—Germany—be subjected to the harshest sanctions!
"1. Disband all German armed forces;
"2.