The object of this history is neither to criticize nor to defend the German or any other Treaty, still less to defend or to criticize the policy of any government or nation taking part in the Conference. The aim is to produce a history at once independent and objective, to detail the facts and to sketch the opinions that prevailed at the Conference. Ultimate history cannot be obtained in this generation on this or any other subject, but the purpose of this history will be attained if it preserves or records some of the materials for ultimate history, which might otherwise have been lost or forgotten.