Download or read book Britain and the Problem of International Disarmament written by Carolyn J. Kitching and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-05-20 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the aftermath of the Great War, multilateral disarmament was placed at the top of the international agenda by the Treaty of Versailles and the Covenant of the League of Nations. This book analyzes the naval, air and land disarmament policies of successive British governments from 1919 to 1934, articulating their dilemma either to fulfil their obligations or to avoid them. Daring and controversial, the present study challenges the hitherto accepted view that Britain occupied the high moral ground by drastically reducing its armaments and argues that, during this period, British disarmament policy was reactive and generally failed to provide the leadership that this extremely sensitive time in international politics demanded.

Download or read book Britain and the Problem of International Disarmament 1919 1934 written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study analyzes the disarmament policy of successive British governments from 1919 to 1934, concluding that the policy-makers' strategy was to avoid their international obligations for as long as possible.

Download or read book Britain and the Problem of International Disarmament 1919 34 written by Carolyn Kitching and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Disarmament and Peace in British Politics 1914 1919 written by Gerda Richards Crosby and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1957 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the beginning of modern warfare, one of the favorite crusades of the international peacemakers has been toward disarmament. This book investigates the British origin of the disarmament idea--from World War I through the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. It traces the development of disarmament as a war aim, with special reference to the influence of British Liberal thought, and President Wilson's acceptance of disarmament as one of his Fourteen Points. Disarmament is related to the other Allied war aims and to theLiberal and Labor parties during the war period. Particular attention is paid to the influence of public opinion and the British press. Neither an attack on nor an apology for the fiasco which followed, this is a lucid analysis of the events, tensions, personalities, and self-interests which led to the failure of an ideal.

Download or read book The British Way in Warfare Power and the International System 1856 1956 written by Keith Neilson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-16 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his groundbreaking book The British Way in Warfare (Routledge, 1990), David French outlined the skillful combination of maritime, economic and diplomatic power employed by Britain to achieve its international goals. Almost two decades later, this collection offers a reassessment of French's thesis, using it as a lens through which to explore Britain's relationship with various kinds of power (military and civil) and how this was employed across the globe. In particular, each essay addresses the ways in which the use of power manifested itself in the maintenance of Britain's place within the international system between 1856 and 1956. Adopting twin methodologies, the collection firstly addresses the broad question of Britain's relationship with other Great Powers and how these influenced the strategies used, before then testing these with specific case studies. By taking this approach, it is possible to discern which policies were successful and which failed, and whether these remained constant across time and space. Measuring Britain's strategy against her commercial, imperial, and military competitors (including France, the USA, Italy, Germany, and Russia) allows intriguing conclusions to be drawn about just how an essentially maritime power could compete with much larger - and potentially more powerful - continental rivals. With contributions from an outstanding selection of military scholars, this collection addresses fundamental questions about the intersection of military, economic and diplomatic history, that are as relevant today as they were during the height of Britain's imperial power. It will prove essential reading, not only for those with an interest in British military history, but for anyone wishing to understand how power - in all its multifaceted guises - can be employed for national advantage on the international stage.

Download or read book British Foreign Secretaries in an Uncertain World 1919 1939 written by Michael Hughes and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-08-02 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nature of international diplomacy and Britain’s world role changed immeasurably after the end of the First World War, and this book shows how the various men who headed the Foreign Office during the interwar years sought to operate in the shifting political and bureaucratic environments that confronted them. British Foreign Secretaries in an Uncertain World examines the careers of each of the interwar Foreign Secretaries, including Lord Curzon, Ramsay MacDonald and Anthony Eden. Using an extensive range of primary sources both published and unpublished, official and private, Michael Hughes provides a detailed assessment of how these men approached their role and how influential they were in international diplomacy. The book also looks at the Foreign Secretaries’ successes or failures within the British political system, analysing how influential the Foreign Office was under each Secretary in determining British foreign policy. A fascinating book with a unique focus, British Foreign Secretaries in an Uncertain World takes a rigorous look at a key topic in British history.

Download or read book Consequences of Peace written by Alan Sharp and published by Haus Publishing. This book was released on 2011-06-14 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consequences of Peace: The Versailles Settlement - Aftermath and Legacy. This final volume in the Paris Peace Conference series will evaluate the immediate and later effects of the last great peace gathering which sought to settle the world's affairs at a stroke - something that was not attempted after either the Second World War or the Cold War. The Versailles settlement has not enjoyed a great reputation. It has been blamed for causing a second major conflict within a generation, thus apparently fulfilling Marshal Foch's gloomy prediction that "This is not a peace, it is an armistice for twenty years." More recently commentators have suggested that the post-1989 ethnic disturbances in the Balkans and on the fringes of the former Soviet Union are "the old chickens of Versailles coming home to roost." The contemporary world still struggles to come to terms with the implications of President Woodrow Wilson's troublesome principle of national self-determination, and remains embroiled in the ambiguities and complexities of the Middle East, an area for whose boundaries and problems the Great War and settlement bear significant responsibility. We are also still seeking to realise more effectively some of the nobler ambitions of the peacemakers, expressed in the Covenant of the League of Nations, in their concern for the human rights of minority nationalities left on the wrong side of the new borders that they sanctioned, and in their attempt to extend criminal responsibility for war beyond the operational irregularities of combatants to political and military leaders. Ninety years on, the settlement still casts a long shadow.

Download or read book Britain Soviet Russia and the Collapse of the Versailles Order 1919 1939 written by Keith Neilson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-12-22 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major re-interpretation of international relations in the period from 1919 to 1939. Avoiding such simplistic explanations as appeasement and British decline, Keith Neilson demonstrates that the underlying cause of the Second World War was the intellectual failure to find an effective means of maintaining the new world order created in 1919. With secret diplomacy, alliances and the balance of power seen as having caused the First World War, the makers of British policy after 1919 were forced to rely on such instruments of liberal internationalism as arms control, the League of Nations and global public opinion to preserve peace. Using Britain's relations with Soviet Russia as a focus for a re-examination of Britain's dealings with Germany and Japan, this book shows that these tools were inadequate to deal with the physical and ideological threats posed by Bolshevism, fascism, Nazism and Japanese militarism.

Download or read book Lloyd George and the Appeasement of Germany 1919 1945 written by Stella Rudman and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2011-01-18 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines Lloyd George’s attitudes to Germany during the inter-war period and beyond. As Prime Minister until October 1922 and a leading player in the shaping of postwar Europe, Lloyd George maintained an active critical interest in Britain’s European policy almost until his death in 1945. After a brief survey of his role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the book considers Lloyd George’s policy towards Germany during the rest of his premiership. It then examines his interventions across the remaining inter-war years, concluding with an evaluation of his advocacy of a compromise peace with Hitler during World War Two. In 1941 Churchill likened Lloyd George’s attitude to Germany to that of Marshal Pétain. The evidence in some ways vindicates that comparison. It shows that, after 1918, Lloyd George supported appeasement on most issues involving Germany—even during Hitler’s chancellorship, and even after World War Two began. His belief that Germany had just grievances, his suspicion of French motives, his admiration for Hitler and his growing conviction that Germany had been treated unfairly at Versailles, led him to see her as a long-suffering under-dog. The book also sheds light on the evolution of the appeasement policies of successive British governments throughout the inter-war period; and, by comparing Lloyd George’s views with those of contemporary leaders and opinion-formers, it highlights ideas for alternatives to appeasement as conceived at the time rather than by historians in hindsight.

Download or read book Imperial Defence written by Greg Kennedy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-11-21 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new collection of essays, from leading British and Canadian scholars, presents an excellent insight into the strategic thinking of the British Empire. It defines the main areas of the strategic decision-making process that was known as 'Imperial Defence'. The theme is one of imperial defence and defence of empire, so chapters will be historiographical in nature, discussing the major features of each key component of imperial defence, areas of agreement and disagreement in the existing literature on critical interpretations, introducing key individuals and positions and commenting on the appropriateness of existing studies, as well as identifying a raft of new directions for future research.

Download or read book Peacemaking Peacemakers and Diplomacy 1880 1939 written by Gaynor Johnson and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2020-05-22 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a collection of essays by leading scholars of the international history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that aims to explore the dynamics of the way in which diplomacy was conducted before, during and after the First World War. It is a history of the origins, nature and conduct of the so-called ‘new diplomacy,’ a phrase often used by historians of this period but not full understood. Other key themes include changes in the way war as a diplomatic tool was viewed in this period, primarily from the perspective of the British and American governments. This book also contributes to the growing literature on how the Paris Peace Conference and the peace treaties it produced were viewed from outside as well as inside Europe.

Download or read book Strange Allies written by Andrew Webster and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Strange Allies examines three intersecting themes of fundamental importance to the international history of the period between the two world wars. First, and most broadly, it is a study of the international history of the pivotal ‘hinge years’, running from the onset of the Depression in late 1929 to the Nazi capture of power in Germany in early 1933. The second theme is the strategic relationship between Britain and France, the critical dynamic in the management of global and European international relations during this time of great fluidity and uncertainty. The most contentious and intractable issue that divided the two countries was the pursuit of international disarmament, which forms the third theme of the book. Strange Allies is based upon extensive research in British and French archives, as well as in the archives of the League of Nations in Geneva. The book’s focus on 1929–31 in particular makes a major contribution to the international history of the interwar period by re-examining the security and strategic policies of the second Labour government in Britain and of foreign minister Aristide Briand in the post-Locarno years in France. For 1931–33, the book looks at the impact of the great financial and economic crisis of 1931 on security and disarmament planning in Britain and France. It then considers the impact of the Anglo-French relationship on the instability of Europe and on the failure of the World Disarmament Conference. This book is the first detailed study of the Anglo-French relationship during a critical period which saw a reshaping of the boundaries of global security. Although the Anglo-French alliance is rightly seen to be pivotal to both the initial phase of implementing the Versailles settlement of 1919 and the efforts to contain Hitler and protect Europe after 1936, Strange Allies demonstrates the degree to which these states’ conflicting views of security were central to international relations in the years leading up to Hitler’s accession to power.

Download or read book The League of Nations written by Ruth Henig and published by Haus Publishing. This book was released on 2010-04-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ninety years ago, the League of Nations convened for the first time, hoping to create a safeguard against destructive, world-wide war by settling disputes through diplomacy. This book looks at how the League was conceptualized and explores the multifaceted body that emerged. This new form for diplomacy was used in ensuing years to counter territorial ambitions and restrict armaments, as well as to discuss human rights and refugee issues. The League’s failure to prevent World War II, however, would lead to its dissolution and the subsequent creation of the United Nations. As we face new forms of global crisis, this timely book asks if the UN’s fate could be ascertained by reading the history of its predecessor.

Download or read book David Lloyd George written by Alan Sharp and published by Haus Publishing. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Lloyd George (1863-1945). The end of the First World War saw Britain at the height of its power. Its fleet and air force were the largest in the world. Its armies had triumphed in the Middle East and spearheaded the final attacks in Western Europe that had driven the defeated Germans to seek an armistice. Britain now had to translate this military victory into the achievement of its war aims and future security and prosperity. Its main negotiator at the forthcoming peace conference would be its prime minister, the ebullient and enigmatic David Lloyd George, the "Welsh Wizard" and "the man who had won the war." Lloyd George's energy had maintained the war effort through the dark days of 1917 and early 1918, but now he anticipated, with relish, the prospect of winning the peace. Few were better equipped. He was a skilled and accomplished negotiator with the knack of reconciling the apparently irreconcilable. His admirers, of whom there were many, pointed to his brilliant and agile mind, his rapid grasp of complex questions and his powers of persuasion. His critics, who were also numerous, distrusted his sleight of hand, fleetness of foot and, frankly, his word. His six months in Paris in 1919, as he pitted his wits against formidable world leaders like Woodrow Wilson and Georges Clemenceau, were among the most enjoyable but exhausting of his life. This study investigates the extent to which Lloyd George succeeded in his aims and evaluates the immediate and longer-term results of his negotiations for Britain.

Download or read book The Royal Navy in the Age of Austerity 1919 22 written by G. H. Bennett and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-10-06 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book thoroughly explores and analyses naval policy during the period of austerity that followed the First World War. During this post-war period, as the Royal Navy identified Japan its likely opponent in a future naval war, the British Government was forced to “tighten its belt” and cut back on naval expenditure in the interests of “National Economy”. G.H. Bennett draws connections between the early 20th century and the present day, showing how the same kind of connections exist between naval and foreign policy, the provision of ships for the Royal Navy, business and regional prosperity and employment. The Royal Navy in the Age of Austerity 1919-22 engages with a series of important historiographical debates relating to the history of the Royal Navy, the failures of British Defence policy in the inter-war period and the evolution of British foreign policy after 1919, together with more mundane debates about British economic, industrial, social and political history in the aftermath of the First World War. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of British naval history.

Download or read book Deterrence Coercion and Appeasement written by David French and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-17 with total page 634 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deterrence, Coercion, and Appeasement presents a compelling and original survey of British grand strategy in the inter-war period. Whereas most existing accounts privilege either diplomacy and foreign affairs, intelligence, or military affairs more narrowly, this study underlines the inexorable relationships between foreign policy, grand strategy, military force, intelligence, finance and not least, domestic politics and public opinion. Britain was the world's only global power in the inter-war period, and it confronted problems on a global scale. Policy-makers sought two goals: peace with security. They did so successfully in the 1920s, partly due to favourable circumstances that made their task relatively easy, and partly because they understood the strengths and limitations of British power and knew how to wield them. The situation deteriorated rapidly in the 1930s, however, as the international system became increasingly unfavourable to Britain. Policy-makers proved less adept than their predecessors at meeting these new challenges, partly because those challenges were more formidable, but also because they lacked the self-confidence of their predecessors, who had held high office during the most difficult years of the First World War and who lacked their understanding of how to wield the lever of international power. The study ends by providing a new and more sophisticated account of how and why Neville Chamberlain appeased the fascist powers in the late 1930s, and why Winston Churchill opposed him and eventually supplanted him in May 1940.

Download or read book Between Depression and Disarmament written by Jonathan A. Grant and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-26 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This business history analyzes the connections between private business, disarmament, and re-armament as they affected arms procurement and military technology transfers in Eastern Europe from 1919 to 1939. Rather than focusing on the negotiations or the political problems involved with the Disarmament Conferences, this study concerns itself with the business effects of the disarmament discussions. Accordingly, Schneider-Creusot, Škoda, Vickers, and their respective business activities in Eastern European markets serve as the chief subjects for this book, and the core primary sources relied upon include their unpublished corporate archival documents. Shifting the scope of analysis to consider the business dimension allows for a fresh appraisal of the linkages between the arms trade, disarmament, and re-armament. The business approach also explodes the myth of the 'merchants of death' from the inside. It concludes by tracing the armaments business between 1939 and 1941 as it transitioned from peacetime to war.