The Entente, Lloyd George proclaimed, was an alliance of democracies fighting for a democratic peace. ‘The days of the Treaty of Vienna,’ the Prime Minister announced, are ‘long past’.81 It would be a peace, he openly declared, of self-determination, ensuring that governments ruled by the consent of the governed. It would restore the sanctity of treaties and would be underwritten by an international organization to see to it that peace was preserved and the burden of armaments was lifted.
