This volume begins on November 9, 1918, the eve of the Armistice between the Allied and Associated Powers and the principal Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary. It ends on January 11, 1919, just before the first plenary session of the Paris Peace Conference. The interval finds Wilson preoccupied with preparations for the conference. Accompanied by a large entourage of State Department officials and "experts" from the Inquiry grup, Wilson sails for France on December 4, convinced that he alone will represent the liberal, forward-looking peoples of the world. After initial meetings with Allied leaders in Paris, he makes triumphal tours of England and Italy. At the same time, he begins to focus his attention on what he now considers to be the foundation stone of future peace -- the League of Nations.