Versailles
The Paris meeting of The Versailles Peace Conference, held at the Palace of Versailles (January 1919 to January 1920), defined the structure of post-World War One Europe and involved 30 nations.
For months, Paris was effectively the centre of a world government, as the WWI victors sat at the conference table and broke up old empires, including imposing punitive reparations on Germany and created new countries.
Yalta: Crimea conference call
The Yalta Conference (February 1945), in the Livadia Palace, Ukraine, involved the ‘Big Three’: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin and followed the Tehran conference of 1943 and was key to coordinating moves bringing WWII to an end and charting spheres of influence beyond.
The Livadia Palace, formerly belonging to the Romanov tsars, is open for tourists to see where one of the most influential conferences took place.
The work that went into negotiating accommodation and the seating plan for the Big Three, it is clear from the exhibits dedicated to the event at the Livadia palace today, would have been a challenge even for even most professional of modern-day core PCOs.
Vienna diplomatic dances
The Austrian capital has hosted many pivotal world conferences, including the Congress of Vienna 1814/15, called to re-establish the territorial divisions of Europe at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Delegates from all of the major world powers of the day came to the glittering Hofburg for what was later dubbed ‘Congress dances’ due to the high content of ballroom meetings and galas.
The Hofburg’s Redoutensaele remained a venue for major political events, including the 1961 summit between US President John F. Kennedy and the head of the USSR Nikita Khrushchev. In 1979, the SALT II treaty between the US and the Soviet Union was ratified at the venue and, in 2006, during Austria’s presidency of the European Union, the Hofburg hosted EU conferences and the EU-USA summit.
Vienna, like Geneva and Helsinki, has a record as a ‘neutral’ venue location for many political summits during the Cold War and beyond.
Until 1918 the palace was the imperial residence of the Habsburgs and, to this day, the historic rooms have been preserved in their original condition.
Work on reconditioning and modernising the rooms for use as a congress centre commenced in 1958. The first event to be held in the new-look space was the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Organisation, which took place the same year.
In 1969, Wiener Kongresszentrum Hofburg BetriebsgesmbH, owned by renowned companies from the tourist industry, took over the management of the venue, marking the start of a development which saw Vienna become a world-leader in the international congress tourist industry. Since 1987 the Hofburg has also been home to the permanent seat of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
In the 21st century, glass architecture and modern conference technology have created an unique interplay between history and modernity.
The Festival Hall can hold up to 1,300 people. The Ceremonial Hall, once the throne room of the Habsburgs, can hold up to 500 guests. Thirty-five exquisite event rooms of various sizes are available with a total floor space of 17,000sqm. Spacious exhibition areas complete the facilities.
In October 2013 the Hofburg Congress Center will celebrate its 55th anniversary.
Reykjavik in from the cold
Iceland’s former French consulate, called Höfði, was the site of the Reykjavík Summit in October 1986 between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Since its restoration in 1958, the venue has been used for formal receptions and festive occasions.
The summit talks in 1986 collapsed at the last minute, although Gorbachev had proposed banning all ballistic missiles. Reagan insisted on continuing with the Strategic Defence Initiative.
Reykjavik did, however, pave the way for the subsequent signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty at the Washington Summit on 8 December, 1987.
On 25 September 2009, on the building’s 100th birthday, Höfði was damaged in a fire, although the most valuable artifacts were saved.
Philadelphia story
The Pennsylvania legislature loaned its room out to the men of the Second Continental Congress in May 1775. Meeting just a month after shots had been fired at Lexington and Concord, the men prepared for war. They approved the nomination of George Washington as Commander in Chief of the newly-created army and, on 2 August, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed in Independence Hall.
The Pennsylvania legislature again agreed to play host in May 1787 to the great and the good. In four months, 55 delegates created the US Constitution. George Washington, who presided over the meeting called it “little short of a miracle”. The signatories included an 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin carried into sessions on a sedan chair.
Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is now visited by four million people a year who come to Independence National Historical Park.
While Independence Hall is not available to rent for meetings, there are sites within Independence National Historical Park that are, including the Independence Visitor Center and National Constitution Center.
London Calling
Central Hall Westminster in London has played host to a number of events of national and international significance over the last 100 years.
In 1946 Central Hall was the chosen venue for the first General Assembly of the newly-formed United Nations. This assembly saw the appointment of the first Secretary General, Norwegian Trygve Lie, along with the creation of the Security Council and the International Court of Justice. Fifty-one countries sent delegations.
These seminal conferences are just a selection and CMW looks forward to returning to the theme to report other destination and venue names, from Quebec to Maastricht, that ring loud in the world thanks to having hosted a meeting that changed history.
This was first published in issue 74 of CMW. Any comments? Email cmw@mashmedia.net
