# Why Paris for Peace Treaties? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494 "2011-11-01T14:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/1 "2011-11-01T14:42:18Z")
My daughter wants to know why, specifically, Paris was the chosen setting for the official resolution/restitution, etc., of the American Revolution. Your knee-jerk response may be to say the French were a neutral third party. But, we know they were a major ally of the Patriots. So, why Paris? (Geneva was already booked?) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/2 "2011-11-01T14:54:06Z")
Though hostilities had ended, the treaty negotiations would be lengthy. The battle of Yorktown was in 1781, the treaty was signed in 1783. This was the pattern of the other Paris Treaties. If you need to have numerous negotiations and strategy meetings, there are worse places to do this than Paris, which is well-stocked with hotels, restaurants, homes that can be rented, and the like. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/3 "2011-11-01T14:58:38Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > If you need to have numerous negotiations and strategy meetings, there are worse places to do this than Paris, which is well-stocked with hotels, restaurants, homes that can be rented, and the like. Don’t forget hookers. Lots and lots of hookers. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/4 "2011-11-01T15:14:32Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Don’t forget hookers. Lots and lots of hookers. That’s no joke, either. Paris has long been known as a city of (often quite fetching) whores, and this was a major draw for foreigners and Frenchmen alike for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/5 "2011-11-01T16:53:53Z")
Paris was also a major world capital. France was the most powerful nation in Europe until Germany united (Russia was bigger, but on the periphery, as was the UK). France also was the center for science and the humanities, and Paris was the center of France. It made sense to go to the center of European power. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/6 "2011-11-01T16:57:23Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Paris was also a major world capital. France was the most powerful nation in Europe until Germany united (Russia was bigger, but on the periphery, as was the UK). France also was the center for science and the humanities, and Paris was the center of France. It made sense to go to the center of European power. Right, I remember reading that French was the leading language of Diplomacy in the 19th century. The question I have is “when” did France attain this clout you mention above? Napoleon’s time? Before? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/7 "2011-11-01T17:03:48Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Right, I remember reading that French was the leading language of Diplomacy in the 19th century. > > The question I have is “when” did France attain this clout you mention above? Napoleon’s time? Before? Well before. At least since the early 1500s, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/8 "2011-11-01T17:15:12Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > That’s no joke, either. Paris has long been known as a city of (often quite fetching) whores, and this was a major draw for foreigners and Frenchmen alike for centuries. And so the burning question “wither Somalia?” was finally resolved by the Treaty of Las Vegas ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/9 "2011-11-01T18:23:07Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > And so the burning question “wither Somalia?” was finally resolved by the Treaty of Las Vegas Heh. By that logic, you’d think Amsterdam would’ve been the site of a lot more diplomatic confabs over time. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/10 "2011-11-01T18:31:52Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Don’t forget hookers. Lots and lots of hookers. [/QUOTE] And blackjack. Blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the peace treaty. ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/11 "2011-11-01T18:48:23Z")
I hope I’m not hijacking the thread by asking this question. I assume the aftermath of the first portion of the Napoleonic wars prohibited use of Paris for the treaty ending the War of 1812. Why Ghent then? Was Napoleonic influence that diminished during Napoleon’s first exile? It strikes me that someplace like Vienna might have been considered to be preferable. It was used to clean up the mess Napoleon left, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-paris-for-peace-treaties/601494/12 "2011-11-01T18:53:21Z")
Related thread: [Why are there so many Treaty(s) of Paris?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=598983)