Delegate: ###, ###
School: ########
Country: The Portuguese Republic
Committee: Paris Peace Conference
Topic: Treaty of Peace between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany
In the aftermath of the Great War, a new round of reconstruction of the international patterns began to happen. After the four-year war, people all over the world have strong desires to see the arrival of a durable peace. Therefore, in order to set the peace terms for the post-war world, the allied victors included Portugal decided to hold the Paris Peace Conference to discuss various options and develop a series of treaties. Portugal government believes that long-term peaceful system is undoubtedly what the current world needs most and that maintaining peace and order of the world are the most pressing. Meanwhile, government highly concerns the post-war Germany problem and thinks that handling it must be cautious and appropriate.
The international community has held large and small conferences and put forward quite a few treaties to seek for the solution to the post-war problem. Early in 1644, delegates from several countries attended the Westphalia Peace Conference during the Thirty years’ War and in 1648 they signed the Peace of Westphalia which is recognized as a milestone in the history of nation-state. In 1814, Congress of Vienna was held to redraw the European political map after Napoleon’s defeat and the Final Act was adopted to create the political and military balance in Europe. In 1856, belligerents of the Crimean War held the peace conference in Paris and signed the Treaty of Paris to end the war. Portugal government always pays much attention to post-war problem and has long been working on readjusting international patterns without damaging its own interest. So Portugal attended great international conference many times and participated in the signing of some important treaties. For instance, Portugal once signed the Treaty of Paris in 1814, which ended the war and established peace between France and the Sixth Coalition.
Portugal affirms the intention of cooperating with other Entente Countries to establish a peaceful new world order and consolidate the foundation of balance of power in Europe. Second, on the post-war Germany problem, Portugal insists that the colonies which were occupied by Germany like German South West Africa and East Africa should be distributed to Portugal in return for entering the war. Moreover, Portugal demands trading privileges and lowering of tariff barrier from German government, which will facilitate the development of economic trade among nations. To sum up, Portugal firmly maintains its self interest and hopes profoundly that Paris Peace Conference can be carried on under fair and just circumstances.
