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Home of the 'Versailles' (Europe 1929) Diplomacy Variant

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New Features
Last Site Update on 19 June 2002
New Files for Realpolitik and DipChief - added 25 May 2002
New Maps (cosmetic/colour changes) - added 25 May 2002
Updated Game Results information - added 16 May 2002
New DipPouch Versailles Article by Craig Murray - added April 2002
USTR Games Now Full - See Games Page for details

Future Projects
Game Archive: Versailles game results, stored DipChief & Realpolitik game files for 'game playbacks', edited player End of Game statements and comments
Next Versailles Version: A new draft v4 (speculative only), to be unveiled after some further feedback and results from the current round of v3.1 games
Improved Realpolitik Support: Revised and de-bugged Versailles files for Realpolitik - new versions added 25 May 2002! Testing for Judge input using current games.


An Introduction to Versailles: Why start in 1929?

The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, laid out the post-war settlement in Europe. The map of Europe was redrawn, with some of the old Great Powers dismembered or relegated to secondary status, while some significant new powers were created.

The Paris Peace Conference, Versailles, 1919

By 1929, Germany and Russia had consolidated their post-war positions, but were not yet the dominant powers they would become by 1939. The Great Depression had just begun, Hitler was not yet in power. The era of Western appeasement - destined to become a discredited diplomatic policy by 1939 - was yet to come. Who knows how different things might have been, if only you had been in charge!


And what is the Versailles Diplomacy Variant all about?
The variant only changes two key elements of the 'Standard' Diplomacy game. There is (not surprisingly) a new map. More importantly, Minor 'proxy' Powers have also been introduced, one controlled by each of the seven Major Powers in the game. The details are in the Versailles Maps, Player Notes and Rules pages. In 'Versailles', you are the leader of one of seven major powers in post-Versailles Europe. Your country (along with all the other major European players) has ratified the Pact of Paris (the 'Kellogg-Briand Pact') signed on 27 August 1928, which renounced war as an instrument of national policy. 'Collective security' and peace will now replace the old-style alliance diplomacy of the pre-WW1 era...

 Oh, really? Any experienced Diplomacy player could have told you otherwise!


News Flash! Breaking Headlines

1919 Treaty of Versailles... 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact - "War Outlawed!"... 1929 Wall Street Crashes... 1938 Munich Agreement - "Peace in Our Time!"... 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact... Poland Invaded... WW2 begins ...

It is now 1929. Wall Street has crashed. The Great Depression has started. Uncertainty grips post-Versailles Europe. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Can you create a New European Order from the turmoil?

What would you do as France or Great Britain when the Germans start flexing their muscles? Will you appease them, or even join them? Or can the erstwhile WW1 allies overcome their own innate mutual distrust to forge a common approach?

As Poland, how might you seek to survive and even prosper with the Germans on one side and the Russians on the other? How much weight would you give pledges of support from Britain and France in the event of attack?
Neville Chamberlain British PM in 1939 Marshal Smigly-Rydz Polish C-in-C in 1939

Should the Italians join an Axis with Germany, reach an understanding with Soviet Russia or court allies among the Western Democracies? As the Germans, would you preserve the Weimar Republic, or would you simply become another power crazed military adventurist?
Mussolini and Hitler in 1937

As the Soviets, would you conclude a pact with the Germans to dismember Poland? Or perhaps pursue a Northern or Southern strategy? What of your traditional interests in Central Europe and the Balkans?

As Kemal Ataturk, how will you lead a rejuvenated Turkey? Will you be an ally or a threat to the USSR? How will you deal with Egypt and the many new minor powers in the Balkans?
Ribbentrop and Stalin at the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1939 Kemal Ataturk, President of Turkey in 1929

Added to these major themes is the interplay with the various Minor Powers. Learn first hand why the Balkans and Central Europe remained so important in the diplomacy of the time. Spain, Egypt and Sweden can all be significant players on the 'periphery'. Go with a Standard set-up with designated major-minor pairs selected for play balance, or experiment with the many different opening combinations and strategies possible in 'Versailles' using the Advanced Rules.

Seeking your own answers to these questions and many more is what ‘Versailles’ is all about. See the links to the maps, notes and rules for Versailles to find out more about the variant. I'll periodically update the games open page, or just start one of your own!

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Welcome!
This site includes information on my ‘Versailles (1929)’ and ‘Factional’ Diplomacy variants, together with my ‘House Rules’ for PBEM play. If you have hit this site by chance and want to learn more about Hasbro's Diplomacy game and the Diplomacy hobby on the Net, please check out the links in the Links page. Otherwise, please come in and have a look around. You can either use the frame based nav buttons on the side, the text nav bar at the bottom of each page, or you can go to the Site Directory for a more detailed index of what is on offer. Please feel free to let me know what you think of the site.

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This site opened on 23 October 1998. This page last updated on 19 February 2003
Please contact me if you have any comments, questions, suggestions or corrections for this site at:
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