The signing of the Treaty of Versailles
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 19 June 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On 28 June 1919, in the Palace of Versailles in Paris the signing of the Treaty of Versailles took place.
It was a peace agreement that marked the end of World War One.
The terms of the treaty punished Germany for their involvement in starting the war.
British journalist, William Norman Ewer attended the signing. He told his story to the BBC World Service in 1967.
He recalls the moment of the signing and the treatment of the German delegates in this fascinating account.
Produced and presented by Gill Kearsley.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Treaty of Versailles is signed by Prime Minister Clemenceau. Credit: Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:34.2 | You're listening to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Jill Kursley. |
| 0:41.5 | We're the podcast that takes you back to a key moment in history, |
| 0:45.5 | and we bring it all to life through incredible archive and the amazing memories of a key witness. |
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| 1:06.6 | For the incredible story I've got for you today, we're going back to 1919 |
| 1:11.3 | and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, |
| 1:14.4 | a peace agreement that marked the end of World War I. |
| 1:18.7 | This day when one felt that what was being signed |
| 1:23.8 | was not going to be a real peace, but probably the source of endless trouble to come. |
| 1:30.9 | That and the, oh, to my mind, brutal way in which we were humiliating a defeated enemy. |
| 1:40.1 | That's British journalist William Norman Ewer, speaking to the BBC in 1967. |
| 1:47.0 | He was at the signing. |
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