On May 7, 1919, at Trianon Palace Hotel, Clemenceau, Woodrow Wilson beside him, handed the Germans the terms of peace: “The hour has struck for the weighty settlement of your account,” said Clemenceau. “You have asked for peace. We are ready to give you peace.”

As the German foreign minister Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau read his reply to Clemenceau, he refused to stand:

"We can feel all the power of hate we must encounter in this assembly. It is demanded of us that we admit ourselves to be the only ones guilty of this war. Such a confession in my mouth would be a lie. We are far from declining any responsibility for this great world war but we deny that Germany and its people were alone guilty. The hundreds of thousands of non-combatants who have perished since 11 November by reason of the blockade were killed with cold blood after our adversaries had conquered and victory had been assured to them. Think of that when you speak of guilt and punishment."

When he heard this bristling German defiance, Clemenceau’s face turned magenta. Lloyd George snapped the ivory paper knife he was holding and said: “It is hard to have won the war and to have to listen to that.”

Woodrow Wilson exploded: “What abominable manners. The Germans are really a stupid people.”

Whispering to Lloyd George, Lord Balfour said: “Isn’t it just like them? Beasts they were, and beasts they are.”