Exercise 1: Why Apponyi's Well-Received Appeal Still Failed to Change the Treaty — Possible Solution
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This exercise is asking you to explain the real gap between how an
argument is received and whether it has any actual power to change an
outcome.

WHAT MADE APPONYI'S APPEAL GENUINELY WELL RECEIVED
Apponyi's own real performance had genuine merit on its own terms - a
striking, memorable delivery in three languages, and an argument grounded
in a principle, national self-determination, that the victorious powers
themselves had publicly endorsed through President Wilson. Offering to
accept the results of genuine plebiscites was a real, good-faith gesture
that made Hungary's own position appear reasonable and consistent with the
peace conference's own stated ideals.

WHY BEING WELL RECEIVED DID NOT TRANSLATE INTO ACTUAL INFLUENCE
The Allied powers had already reached their own real decisions about
Hungary's postwar borders before Apponyi ever spoke, based on their own
strategic priorities - rewarding allied states like Romania, Czechoslovakia,
and the new Yugoslav kingdom, and permanently weakening a defeated power.
Being persuaded that an argument is eloquent or principled is not the same
as having any actual reason or incentive to reopen decisions already made.
The real record confirms this directly: the Allies "refused to amend the
terms of the peace treaty, or even to discuss them" at all.

WHY THIS DISTINCTION MATTERS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE OUTCOME
A defeated power's own diplomatic argument, however genuinely well
constructed, carries force only to the extent the parties who actually hold
decision-making power have some real reason to reconsider - whether out of
genuine persuasion, self-interest, or practical necessity. Since the
territorial settlement had already been decided in line with the victors'
own real interests, and Hungary itself had no comparable leverage to offer
in exchange for reconsideration, no quality of argument alone could change
the outcome.

WHY THIS IS A CLARIFYING, NOT JUST A SAD, EXAMPLE
Recognizing that admiration and actual influence are separate things
prevents a common misreading of this event - that Apponyi's appeal "failed"
because it was somehow inadequate. His own real performance was not
inadequate; it succeeded entirely at what persuasive argument alone can
achieve (admiration, sympathy, reputation) while demonstrating exactly why
that is not the same as having the power to change a decision the other
side had no real incentive to revisit.

ANSWER: Apponyi's appeal failed to change the treaty's terms, despite being
genuinely well received, because being persuaded that an argument is
eloquent and principled is not the same as having a real incentive to
reopen decisions already made. The Allied powers had already settled
Hungary's postwar borders based on their own strategic interests before
Apponyi ever spoke, and the real record confirms they refused to amend or
even discuss the treaty's terms afterward. His own performance succeeded
at winning admiration and sympathy - exactly what persuasive argument alone
can achieve - which is precisely why it demonstrates so clearly that
admiration is not the same thing as actual political leverage.

WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER
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It separates the real success of the appeal (winning genuine admiration)
from the real reason it had no effect (the Allies' own decision was
already settled and Hungary had no leverage to offer), rather than
treating the appeal's failure as evidence the argument itself was weak.