<P> In late 1918, a Polish government was formed and an independent Poland proclaimed . In December, Poles launched an uprising within the German province of Posen . Fighting lasted until February, when an armistice was signed that left the province in Polish hands, but technically still a German possession . </P> <P> Negotiations between the Allied powers started on 18 January in the Salle de l'Horloge at the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris . Initially, 70 delegates from 27 nations participated in the negotiations . The defeated nations of Germany, Austria, and Hungary were excluded from the negotiations . Russia was also excluded because it had negotiated a separate peace (the Treaty of Brest - Litovsk) with Germany in 1918 . The terms of this treaty awarded Germany a large proportion of Russia's land and resources . Its terms were extremely harsh, as the negotiators at Versailles later pointed out . </P> <P> At first a "Council of Ten" comprising two delegates each from Britain, France, the United States, Italy and Japan met officially to decide the peace terms . It became the "Big Four" when Japan dropped out and the top person from each of the other four nations met in 145 closed sessions to make all the major decisions to be ratified by the entire assembly . Apart from Italian issues, the main conditions were determined at personal meetings among the leaders of the "Big Three" nations: British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and American President Woodrow Wilson . </P> <P> The minor nations attended a weekly "Plenary Conference" that discussed issues in a general forum, but made no decisions . These members formed over 50 commissions that made various recommendations, many of which were incorporated into the final treaty . </P>

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