There were over thirty national delegations, as well as dozens of representatives from colonial territories, at the Paris peace conference. To some extent, many of these colonial representatives, which included Ho Chi Minh, represented the hope generated by Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, one of which emphasized self-determination in drawing national boundaries. However, the so-called "Big Four": Wilson, Georges Clemenceau of France, David Lloyd George of Great Britain, and (briefly) Vittorio Orlando of Italy, dominated the proceedings. Even many of the proposals made by large nations, such as the "racial equality" proposal offered by Japan, did not achieve much traction among these powers.

The fact that these nations dominated the conference helped contribute to agreements that were ultimately unsuccessful in (and not terribly concerned with) achieving anything like self-determination for colonial peoples, and many people within Europe itself. Even many of the minority protection provisions agreed upon at the conference did little to protect ethnic minorities in the long run. Concessions to Great Britain and especially France contributed to the harsh terms imposed on Germany, as well.