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Norman Lindsay's cartoon of Billy Hughes returning to Australia laden with concessions from the Paris Peace Conference, 1919

Racial equality and the White Australia policy

Just as the Versailles Treaty was being drafted, so was the League of Nations Covenant, which provided the framework for the establishment of the league two years later.

The league was established to maintain world peace. Despite some early successes it failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War. It did, however, serve as a precursor to the United Nations.

The Japanese delegation advocated that the Covenant contain a racial equality clause.

Hughes was concerned the clause might be used to mount a legal challenge to the White Australia policy, which he considered to be 'the corner stone of the national edifice'.

Along with his New Zealand and South African counterparts, Hughes exerted pressure on the British who decided to reject the proposal.

Reparations and Nauru

Hughes was less successful when it came to reparations. As a deputy chairman of the reparations committee, Hughes argued that Germany should fully repay the war costs of the Allied nations.

The US did not agree, arguing that only Belgium should be fully compensated. Britain's Lloyd George also objected because full reparations would destroy the German economy, which would itself affect that of Britain.

Hughes was not interested in how Germany would pay, only that it should. This time, the other dominions did not support him and the Council of Four resolved to distribute reparations on a ratio of 3:2:1 to France, the British Empire and Belgium respectively.

The war cost Australia about £300 million. By 1931, when reparations ceased, Australia had received £5,571,720.

Having missed out on meaningful reparations, Hughes turned his attention to Nauru whose millions of tons of guano (bird droppings) was meeting most of Australia's need for phosphate - an effective fertiliser. Hughes wanted Nauru to become an Australian mandate and was prepared to refuse to sign the Versailles Treaty if he did not get his way.

Hughes' Cabinet did not support him, and the Council of Four gave the island to Britain. Australia was able to join Britain and New Zealand in buying out the company responsible for mining the phosphate, and over the next 50 years exploited the guano at great profit.

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Just as the Versailles Treaty was being drafted, so was the League of Nations Covenant, which provided the framework for the establishment of the league two years later. The league was established to maintain world peace. Despite some early successes it failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War.

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Vladimir Lenin and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson encouraged the concept of Self-determination, meaning that 'a nation...can seek to create its own independent government or state' (1). The idea was extremely vague, which led to it being interpreted in many ways. In a speech, where he intended to persuade the American people (however never delivered), he meant self-determination is a way that “people have the right to live their lives, led by governments that they can choose for themselves”. (2) Concerning the peacemaking process in Paris 1919, this meant a nation could implement their own government that they elected to represent them, which would be valuable, as that would encourage peace amongst a nation. However, for that to be successful, a majority of the nation would have to agree to it, and without it, it would be difficult to achieve
The principle aimed to help give non-Europeans a place in the European-dominated world. Wilson's own Secretary of State raised criticism of Self-determination, including 'how do you define a nation? It will give rise to hopes that can never be fulfilled.
Therefore, the principle failed, as it was never explicitly defined, as each nation interpreted as they saw it would benefit them.

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Japan proposed the idea of 'racial equality in the discussion around the Treaty of Versailles, that would have 'affirmed the equality of all nations, regardless of race' (3). Their aim was to strengthen their place at the table dominated by white European men and earn an equal seat amongst them.
Due to their winnings in the Russo-Japanese War against the Russians in 1905, and them playing a critical role in World War I, Japan was proving to be a critical player amongst the Western-dominated world. They, therefore, viewed the Treaty of Versailles as a way to gain respect on a national basis.
They believed that because they had played an equal role as the Western nations in defeating the threat in WWI, that they were entitled to this.
Historian Chris Suh believes Japan's proposal of Racial equality would have solidified the principle of self-determination, however, the "racial superiority" (4) amongst the Western parts of the world didn't want to let go of the power they held over the minority nations. Due to this, there is a belief that the participants in the treaty missed an opportunity to more positively influence the future if they have been more open to the idea of equality amongst nations.

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Members of Mochida family awaiting evacuation bus, wearing...

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Racial Equality, as stated above, was presented by the Japanese as an idea to help facilitate equality amongst nations, within the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, where they aimed to end all wars. However, the Japanese did not specify they were seeking equality for all races. If they were successful, it would have significantly impacted the 21st century in shaping Racial Equality.
While a few countries backed the efforts of the proposal, including France, Italy, and Greece. There were some who did not.
Australia being one of them, as Prime Minister at the time, Billy Hughes believed the proposal would hinder the Australian White policy (1901), which was a policy put in place to make Australia a 'white' country, which gave them the power to reject non-white immigrants, and even deport those who did not appear white, or of British descent. Therefore, as this policy specifically meant the discrimination of Asians from settling on Australian land, solidifying a 'White' and 'British' Australia, Hughes, who was present at the discussion, pressured the British to reject the proposal, as it would mean 'legal challenge could occur' (5).
Due to this reasoning, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson also came to oppose the proposal, even though it would have supported his idea of self-determination.
It can be observed this is due to migration, where people move from one country to another. As the proposal was 'one of the first attempts to establish....the unprecedented principle of free and open migration', which was an issue as Japanese migration significantly increased in the 19th century, due to overpopulation. Therefore, the American fear of more Japanese settlers brought Wilson to reject the proposal.
Therefore, America and Japan, who were once allies, become 'bitter' due to their mistreatment of the Japanese and the constant discrimination against those who migrated to America. This can be due to the fact that Japanese laborers occupied many jobs, and many Americans were left with less or no work at all, which caused further hostility.
Which therefore led to future conflicts between the two nations, including the bombing of Pearl Harbour (1941) and the Japanese-American incarceration camps.

Therefore, Japan's mission for Racial equality ultimately failed, due to the Western nation once again dominating the discussion concerning the world, as well as the idea of white supremacy still being an issue. This is evident with the representation of Western white males present, compared to those of different orientations, including Asians, and Africans, when the Treaty was supposed to represent the whole world, not just the 'white mans' ideals.