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The Clarity of Hindsight: The Words and Deeds of the Era
The Clarity of Hindsight: The Words and Deeds of the Era
The Clarity of Hindsight: The Words and Deeds of the Era
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The Clarity of Hindsight: The Words and Deeds of the Era

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To explain the British attack on the French fleet at anchor in the harbor at Mers-el-Kébir [3.July.1940], Sir Winston Churchill said, “What matters are events, not words.”  His uncharacteristic humility vastly understates the enormous power his words held in those dark days during the summer of 1940.  Through the pri

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 15, 2016
ISBN9780943039305
The Clarity of Hindsight: The Words and Deeds of the Era
Author

Cap Parlier

Cap and his wife, Jeanne, live peacefully in the warmth and safety of Arizona-the Grand Canyon state. Their four children have established their families and are raising their children-our grandchildren. The grandchildren are growing and maturing nicely with two college graduates so far and another in her senior year.Cap is a proud alumnus of the U.S. Naval Academy [USNA 1970], an equally proud retired Marine aviator, Vietnam veteran, and experimental test pilot. He finally retired from the corporate world to devote his time to his passion for writing and telling a good story. Cap uses his love of history to color his novels. He has numerous other projects completed and, in the works, including screenplays, historical novels as well as atypical novels at various stages of the creation process.-Interested readers may wish to visit Cap's website at

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    The Clarity of Hindsight - Cap Parlier

    Dedication

    To my family, and to our generations who served this Grand Republic under arms or during wartime:

    Jean Perlier – South Company, North Carolina Militia, Tuscarora Indian War

    Private Issac Newton Parlier, Jr. USA – 152nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Western Campaign, Civil War

    Private Charles Newton Parlier, USMC – 6th Marine Regiment, Belleau Wood, France, World War I

    Private First Class I.N. Parlier, USAAC – stateside, World War II

    Mary Melissa Parlier – American Red Cross, Ft. Lewis, Washington, World War II

    Major General Warner Eugene Newby, USAF (Ret.) – 12th Bombardment Group, Deversoir, Egypt

    Sergeant Charles Frederick Parlier, USA – 96th Infantry Division, Leyte, Philippines

    Staff Sergeant Herbert Davis Parlier, USA – 28th Infantry Division, Hürtgen Forest, Germany

    Technical Sergeant Merton Burch Parlier, USA – 2nd Infantry Division, Ft. Lewis, Washington

    Lieutenant Colonel Charles Allen ‘Cap’ Parlier, II, USMCR (Ret.) [USNA 1970] – 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, Vietnam

    Colonel Gregory Hugh Parlier, USA (Ret.) [USMA 1974] – 82nd Airborne Division

    Lieutenant Colonel Sanford Norman Parlier, USA (Ret.) [USMA 1978] – 25th Infantry Division

    Lance Corporal Courtney Warden Parlier, USMC – Security Force Regiment, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba

    Corporal Taylor Warden Parlier, USMC – 7th Marine Regiment, Western Pacific

    To all of the men and women who served the purpose of liberty and especially those who gave their last full measure of devotion, and to all of the families on all sides -- innocent and combatant -- who suffered the loss or injuries, or absence of loved ones in the defense of freedom.

    Lest we ever forget

    Acknowledgements

    As always, John Richard has faithfully offered his constructive criticism and suggestions through various stages of this project’s development.

    The late Pamela Sullivan gave freely her precious time, away from her writing, to carefully edit the manuscript. She offered her skills, insight, opinions and counsel without qualification.

    This work is better for their contributions.

    A special recognition must be offered to numerous individuals who provided their knowledge, experience and precious time to assist my historical research.

    Imperial War Museum – Dr. Neil Young, Research and Information Office

    Royal Air Force Museum – Mr. Mungo Chapman, Research & Information Services

    Duxford Aerodrome Museum

    R.J. Mitchell Memorial Museum – Mr. D.G. Upward, Director

    National Railway Museum – Mr. Philip Atkins, BSc, Librarian

    Churchill Archives Centre – Ms. Carolyn Lye

    House of Lords – Mr. D.L. Prior, Record Office

    The National Archive of the United Kingdom

    National Archive and Records Administraion – Kevin M. Bailey, Eisenhower Library

    If there are errors in the representation of historical details, the responsibility rests solely with me and must in no way reflect upon the experts acknowledged above.

    Special gratitude must go to Saint Gaudens Press, Inc., for their willingness to take the risk with his humble offering.

    Nonetheless, these are the author’s words. Errors, omissions and abridgements are the sole responsibility of the author – no one else.

    Introduction

    This book represents an effort to present key documents, speeches and words in the broader context of the world events that instigated or inspired the words. More than a few of the documents affected subsequent affairs and in some cases still affect circumstances to this very day. Other words served as inspiration to beleaguered or challenged people with phrases and snippets quoted as reflective of contemporary events and situations. The two 20th-century world wars had a profound effect, some might say pivotal, and others might place watershed status, on the world we live in today, and our children and their children will live in for decades, if not centuries, to come. The impact of World War II on human history is arguably the greatest among those tragedies of life. Thus, the feature of this volume is the words, and yet the selection contained herein are a mere fraction of what is deserved. Further, monumental events of the era like the battles of Britain, the Atlantic, Stalingrad, Kursk, El Alamein, Midway, Guadalcanal, Normandy, Iwo Jima and Okinawa cannot possibly be properly reflected in a simple paragraph to capture those events and deeds in time. And yet, hopefully, the author has placed the words in the desired, expansive, descriptive context that enhances our understanding and appreciation of this epoch in human history.

    The American Civil War (1861-1865) was the first episode of human carnage to be photographed – accurate images of the death and destruction. However, World War I was the first conflict to have those images brought to the public at large through unprecedented access by the press. The numbers of dead alone were staggering. The methods of war amplified the public nausea. Death was now delivered with inanimate, anonymous precision. And, to make it even more revolting, the combat leaders of the day could only imagine using the tactics of the past in the face of horrible new weapons – toxic gas, large bore artillery against massed, near stationary troops, rapid-fire machine guns, and submarine torpedoes against unarmed merchant ships. War is an ugly, brutal affair no matter how it is portrayed or presented.

    On 28.June.1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in Sarajevo, Serbia. This event, through a series of treaties of mutual support, led to the opening of hostilities between Germany and France on 3.August.1914, in what would become known as the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, and by a mere two decades later, World War I. The German onslaught nearly broke through to Paris, and then fell into the seesaw meat-grinder of trench warfare. The combatants armed with aircraft, long-range artillery, armored vehicles, sophisticated submarines and chemical warfare introduced these technological marvels to the battlefield.

    The last artillery shell was fired at 10:59:38 with a calculated time of flight of 22 seconds -- the last, momentary spasm of anger, spite or rage. The fighting stopped at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the Gregorian year 1918, as the armistice took effect. The Versailles Treaty, the best known of the peace documents ending the war, set massive reparation demands upon Germany. The terms of peace were so oppressive they would become the fuel for the roaring conflagration of the mid-century. While World War I became a clarion call for pacifists and isolationists, as well as the general public revulsion over the carnage of the modern battlefield, World War II defined the most horrific, repugnant and vile brutality among human beings on a truly global scale in all of history. We can only hope and pray that we can look back a hundred years from now and say, World War II was the worst war in human chronology; and, there is no other.

    Taken in sheer numbers of lives lost, both innocent and combatant, or as a percentage of humanity affected by the consequences, the Gregorian years from 1939 to 1945, will maintain this infamous position in human history. We must never forget what happened. We must teach our children and their children of those destructive episodes lest our perpetual consciousness lapse into amnesic complacency. Perhaps the best means we have for preventing a recurrence comes through the study of those events that led us to the second maelstrom and what it took to extricate us from the abyss.

    Memories and the spoken word are perishable. Film and audio recordings can deteriorate, although modern methods make such loss less likely. The written words of the documents, the speeches, the orders, the declarations can forever mark the path that took us into the firestorm, enabled us to fight the flames and emerge tempered to a greater resiliency than before the trial. This journal will present the key documents that show us why it happened, and if we are careful, it will provide the map for what we must avoid in the future. These documents also reflect the monumental changes induced within society as a consquence. Some documents of World War I are vital to understanding why the subsequent world war occurred, but also offer us stark contrast with the documents of the post-World War II era and their effect on mankind.

    The documents contained herein shall be as they were written, spoken or otherwise recorded for history. With few exceptions, the documents will be complete. The only abridgment taken serves to avoid clouding the view of the words by removing irrelevant or administrative language that has little value to history. As such, this volume is a simple compendium of words and facts, associated by the time of chronology and the interdependence of the events that contributed to and represented what became World War II.

    The process of compiling these words and facts transpired over many years, and in some ways, only became possible with the availability of broadband Internet access to national archival materials, law books, biographies, newspaper reproductions, and an extraordinarily wide variety of reference materials. The mountains of documents, words and events cannot possibly be complete in a reasonable volume. However, the author’s attempt to summarize the words and deeds of World War II provide a unique perspective for the reader’s use and purposes.

    The author is neither a professional historian nor an expert on these documents. However, as a student of these events, he does offer others a unique compilation and observations of a broad range of words that represent the cause and effect relationship for World War II. The author’s observations and opinions are not intended to be definitive, rather only a prism through which the reader may draw his own conclusions, perspective and opinions. The past gives us an invaluable view of the hazards to be avoided in our journey through the sliver of time that is life on God’s little green earth.

    The author believes this to be a unique compilation of operational, political and diplomatic documents to represent the cause and effect of those events that became known as World War II. It should go without saying, the document collection herein is undoubtedly a mere, infintesimal fraction of the plethora of words generated during World War II. Just the correspondence between Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill took three large volumes. Thus, this humble tome is meant simply to reflect a broad spectrum of documents and speeches set in the context of surrounding events. Hopefully, the reader will find this work useful.

    It is much easier to judge events with the clarity of the victor’s hindsight. While this chronicle endeavors to do just that, a profound and expansive recognition and gratitude must go to those diplomats, leaders, heads of state, generals and admirals who gave their utmost effort for the cause of peace and freedom in the turbulence of general warfare. If there is one nugget of wisdom that might be the hallmark of what we learned, it must be the immortal words of Winston Churchill.

    "In war, resolution;

    in defeat, defiance;

    in victory, magnanimity;

    in peace, good-will."

    Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, KG, MP

    12.December.1905

    Churchill’s prophetic words would be validated on a global scale a half century later and as the reader shall see in some of the official words of the era, and should remain the manifesto of diplomacy between states. Perhaps we can remember the lessons of this grim segment of human history and prevent such tragedy in the future.

    Notations

    Date: All dates are noted as day-month-year, e.g. 6.June.1944, except shown as-is in original documents.

    Time: In reflecting a truly global war, time notations become more complex and difficult to represent, since decisions and operations often crossed time zones. Further, sequencing of decisions, actions and events around the globe occasionally prove to be vital to understanding what happened as a consequence.

    In a general sense, a time zone is 15 degrees of longitude and one hour of solar time. Since the British were the first nation to solve the longitude problem, the prime meridian (0 degree longitude) was set at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England – the center of the Zulu Time Zone [Z], also called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or later Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), or standard time. The time zones have military designations with an alphabet letter – the first half toward the east, and the second half toward the west from Greenwich, England. In this volume, a 24-hour time reference is used, rather than the 12-hour version with AM (ante meridiem = before midday) and PM (post meridiem = after midday). Further complicating the time reference, local governments often adjust time zone boundaries so that communities split by a time zone boundary have the same time reference, or artificially adjust the clock an hour forward during summer time to have more daylight in the evening. During World War II, both the British and the Americans moved the clock time two hours forward – called War Time in the U.S., and Double Summer Time in the UK. An example of the time notation used in this volume:

    13:00 [R] EWT

    The time noted is 1 PM clock time, in time zone Romeo, geographically centered at 75° West longitude, encompassing 67.5° West to 82.5° West, (East coast of the United States), with a politically adjusted clock time noted as Eastern War Time, two hours forward; thus, it was actually one hour prior to local solar zenith, but the clock displayed one hour after local solar zenith. The time notation used herein is the clock time recorded, placed in its geographic place by the time zone designator, and as modified by the local governmental time adjustment, where applicable.

    List of abbreviations or acronyms: provoided prior to the Bibilography.

    Endnote notation, e.g., C11EN369 = Chapter 11, Endnote 369.

    Chapter 1

    Fuel for the Bonfire

    [1916-1922]

    The War to End All Wars began in August 1914. The Allies – Great Britain, France and Russia – opposed the Central Powers – Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire. The seesaw of brutal battles over mere yards of blood soaked soil slaughtered so many young lives and left a gruesome stalemate. The United States reluctantly joined the war in Europe and the tide turned for the Allies, although the carnage continued unabated for another painful year. As the Allies slowly gained ground and the end seemed to be within distant reach, the Allied leaders turned their thoughts to the future. Events in Russia deteriorated rapidly in 1917, as the country withdrew and turned inward with civil strife and revolution. With the horror and destruction of the Great War, the victors sought to recover damages, punish the Central Powers, and lay the foundation to prevent all future wars.

    16.May.1916

    Sykes-Picot Agreement

    During the war, the Ottoman Empire allied itself with the Central Powers. The British and French carried out combat operations against the Central Powers in the Middle East, primarily against the Ottoman Turks, with the popular Major T.E. Lawrence, ¹ leading various indigenous Arab tribes.

    In an effort to avoid conflict amongst the Allies and to deal with the final dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the governments of France, Russia and Great Britian entered negotiations to define spheres of influence with the Middle East. French diplomat François Georges-Picot ² and British representative Sir Mark Sykes, ³ along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov , served as the principals for their respective governments; thus, the commonly accepted name for this agreement.

    The negotiations produced the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 -- a secret protocol between the United Kingdom and France, dividing the Middle Eastern region of the Ottoman Empire into zones of influence. The Area (A) [Blue] {France} and Area (B) [Red] {United Kingdom} referred to in the agreement were derived from an annotated map of the region that geographically defined the respective spheres of influence – Lebanon, Syria, South-Central Turkey, Northern Iraq [Area (A)]; Palestine, Trans-Jordan, Southern Iraq, Arabia [Area (B)]. A green area including Eastern Turkey and Armenia was given over to Russian influence, although the Russians did not exercise their portion of the agreement.

    —————————

    It is accordingly understood between the French and British Governments---

    1. That France and Great Britain are prepared to recognize and protect an independent Arab State or a Confederation of Arab States in the areas (A) and (B) marked on the annexed map, under the suzerainty of an Arab chief. That in area (A) France, and in area (B) Great Britain, shall have priority of right of enterprise and local loans. That in area (A) France, and in area (B) Great Britain, shall alone supply advisers or foreign functionaries at the request of the Arab State or Confederation of Arab States.

    2. That in the blue area France, and in the red area Great Britain, shall be allowed to establish such direct or indirect administration or control as they desire and as they may think fit to arrange with the Arab State or Confederation of Arab States. 3. That in the brown area there shall be established an international administration, the form of which is to be decided upon after consultation with Russia, and subsequently in consultation with the other Allies, and the representatives of the Shereef of Mecca.

    . . .

    10. The British and French Governments, as the protectors of the Arab State, shall agree that they will not themselves acquire and will not consent to a third Power acquiring territorial possessions in the Arabian peninsula, nor consent to a third Power installing a naval base either on the east coast, or on the islands, of the Red Sea. This, however, shall not prevent such adjustment of the Aden frontier as may be necessary in consequence of recent Turkish aggression.

    11. The negotiations with the Arabs as to the boundaries of the Arab State or Confederation of Arab States shall be continued through the same channel as heretofore on behalf of the two Powers.

    12. It is agreed that measures to control the importation of arms into the Arab territories will be considered by the two Governments.

    I have further the honour to state that, in order to make the agreement complete, His Majesty’s Government are proposing to the Russian Government to exchange notes analogous to those exchanged by the latter and your Excellency’s Government on the 26th April last. Copies of these notes will be communicated to your Excellency as soon as exchanged.

    I would also venture to remind your Excellency that the conclusion of the present agreement raises, for practical consideration, the question of the claims of Italy to a share in any partition or rearrangement of Turkey in Asia, as formulated in article 9 of the agreement of the 26th April, 1915, between Italy and the Allies.

    His Majesty’s Government further consider that the Japanese Government should be informed of the arrangement now concluded.

    —————————

    The Sykes-Picot Agreement produced considerable doubt and confusion among the Arabs, and conflict with His Majesty’s Government (HMG), namely due to the disparity of other correspondence between HMG and various Arab leaders, e.g., the McMahon-Hussein Agreement, and later the Balfour Declaration (2.November.1917).

    After the ascendancy of the Bolsheviks in Russia (7.November.1917), the secret agreement was discovered in the Russian government archive and released to the Press. The public disclosure became a major embarrassment to both the British and French.

    16.April.1917

    The United States declared war against Germany. There are many varied reasons for America’s entry into the war, but it is largely linked to German unrestricted submarine warfare and alleged German overtures toward Mexico, to enter the war on the side of the Central Powers, to draw the attention of the United States away from the Europe Theater.

    Work began on the peace treaty with the Central Powers before the last shot was fired. The objective of the diplomats was noble and quite simple – define peace terms that would prevent all future wars.

    The countries upon whose soil the war was fought and which suffered the most, wanted vengeance. They wanted the price of war to be so great that no nation would ever again turn to war as a means of diplomacy, as von Clausewitz so succinctly stated it. Other nations, led primarily by the Americans and specifically President Wilson, favored disarmament of all nations, not just the Central Powers, as the path to permanent peace.

    2.November.1917

    Balfour Declaration

    The issue regarding a Jewish homeland had been debated for several years, and the Zionists had lobbied the Allies hard. His Britannic Majesty’s Government took a bold step and issued a declaration in the form of a simple letter from the British Foreign Minister, Lord Balfour, ¹⁰ to a Zionist leader in Great Britain, Lord Rothschild. ¹¹

    —————————

    November 2nd, 1917

    Dear Lord Rothschild,

    I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

    His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

    I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

    Yours sincerely,

    Arthur James Balfour

    —————————

    The letter was published in The Times a week later, and was popularly believed to be an effort to garner support within the Jewish community. The Balfour Declaration was the first official governmental recognition of Jewish homeland aspirations and a commitment to form that homeland in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration in conjuction with the Sykes-Picot Agreement initiated a series of events that ultimately led to the political divisions (and the problems) that exist today. ¹²

    7.November.1917

    The Provisional Government of Russia capitulated in St. Petersburg. The Bolsheviks took control. The precise beginning of the Russian Revolution leading to Bolshevik domination of the government depends on how the reader wishes to define the precipitating event. The first worker demonstrations against Tsarist rule began in 1905. By the winter of 1917, government suppression of demonstrations became markedly more violent. Lenin ¹³ returned to Russia in July.1917 with the help of the Germans to destabilize the East further.

    Tsar Nicholas II had relinguished his throne in March of that year, after the February Revolution eroded his remaining authority.

    8.January.1918

    Wilson’s Fourteen Points

    United States President Woodrow Wilson ¹⁴ was the first president since George Washington to attend Congress personally for the purpose of delivering the State of the Union message as required by the Constitution. ¹⁵ Wilson saw the path of a lasting peace differently from his European colleagues and delivered his blueprint for peace in his wartime State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress. Wilson’s Fourteen Points ¹⁶ outlined the American position regarding the eventual peace, while at the same time, attempted to placate the isolationists within the government and the American population.

    —————————

    (I.) Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.

    (II.) Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.

    (III.) The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.

    (IV.) Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.

    (V.) A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.

    (VI.) The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.

    (VII.) Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired.

    (VIII.) All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all.

    (IX.) A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.

    (X.) The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.

    (XI.) Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into.

    (XII.) The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

    (XIII.) An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant.

    (XIV.) A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

    —————————

    The magnanimity of Wilson’s vision is reflected in every word. Of particular note is Point I advocating open and public negotiations for peace in order to allow public scrutiny and foster public trust in the process. Wilson reached out to all the countries involved in the conflict. Points II, III, and V articulated hallmarks of long held positions in American foreign policy – free trade, freedom of the seas necessary to foster trade among nations, and the right of self-determination of the governed. In Point IV, Wilson threw down the gauntlet for disarmament as a means to achieve and maintain world peace. Wilson’s Fourteen Points, and specifically Point XIV, would become the basis for the League of Nations upon which the U.S. President staked such high hopes for world peace.

    Through late 1918 and early 1919, the diplomatic wrangling among the victors became intense as the victorious Allies sought their national political objectives, and the bitterness of war boiled up from the divergence of those perspectives. President Wilson spent an unprecedented six months outside the United States in a personal effort to negotiate a lasting peace. He sought to avoid retribution, but at the end of the day, he lost the argument to the weight of the French losses on the battlefields. There would ultimately be five documents negotiated to achieve the noble peace. The most widely known, and perhaps the master document was the Treaty of Versailles – the direct product of the peace conference.

    11.November.1918

    The Great War ended, as the armistice between the Allied and Central Powers took effect.

    March.1919

    Lenin, the professed leader of the Russian Communist Party, called for and founded the Third Communist International, or Comintern, a Soviet-sponsored organization to coordinate the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism worldwide. The consolidation of Bolshevik control of Russia was still far from over, and the Third Comintern was seen as a means to garner support within communist movements in Europe and elsewhere. Members of the Third Comintern included communists from Europe, Asia and elsewhere, who acted under the direction of Moscow as the General Staff of the Revolution. ¹⁷

    At Quai d’Orsay on 12.January.1919, the peace conference began. A Council of Ten was formed consisting of two representatives each from the Allied Powers – United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan. The Central Powers – Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey – were excluded. Russia was not invited due to instability of government after the revolution of 1917.

    Presentation of terms was set for 15:00 [A] CET, 7.May.1919 at the Trianon Hotel, and then came the announcement: "Messieurs les délégués allemands!" ¹⁸ On reading the terms, Reichsminister des Auswärtigen ¹⁹ Ulrich Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau declared: "The fat volume was quite unnecessary. They could have expressed the whole thing more simply in one clause – ‘L’Allemagne renoncé à son existence.’" ²⁰ The Germans refused to accept sole responsibility for the war as well as obligations in Articles 227-230 (the Penalties section). ²¹

    The heavily punitive terms produced a grave crisis within the German government already seriously weakened by the destruction of war and the early terms of the armistice. The debate within the German government was intense and divisive, and resulted in the resignation of Reichskanzler ²² Philipp Scheidemann at 01:00, 20.June.1919. Germany had no government.

    At 12:16 the same day, the German battleship DKM Friedrich der Grosse sank – the first of the surrendered and interned German Navy warships scuttled at Scapa Flow by their disgruntled crews. ²³ Marshal Foch, still commander of the Allied forces, visited his deployed troops on the frontier on the 24th to ensure readiness to march. The world held its collective breath as the fragile peace teetered in the balance. After a new government was hastily formed, the Germans finally agreed to sign unconditionally and without protest.

    28.June.1919

    The Versailles Treaty

    Newly appointed Reichsminister des Auswärtigen Hermann Müller, and Reichsverkehrsminister ²⁴ & Reichskolonialminister ²⁵ Dr. Johannes ‘Hans’ Bell, signed the Treaty of Versailles ²⁶ in the Hall of Mirrors that Saturday.

    The Covenant of the League of Nations (Articles 1 through 26) was presented and adopted on 14.February.1919. The League of Nations was intended to satisfy Wilson’s Point XIV – an international body to maintain peace.

    NOTE: The Covenant of the League of Nations is presented in toto, while the remainder of the voluminous treaty is abridged in an effort to find balance between brevity and conveying the historical significance as well as the derived consequences of the document. Further, keys elements of interest to this compendium are annotated in bold.

    —————————

    Part I - The Covenant of the League of Nations

    THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, In order to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war by the prescription of open, just and honorable relations between nations by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one another Agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations.

    ARTICLE 1

    The original Members of the League of Nations shall be those of the Signatories which are named in the Annex to this Covenant and also such of those other States named in the Annex as shall accede without reservation to this Covenant. Such accession shall be effected by a Declaration deposited with the Secretariat within two months of the coming into force of the Covenant Notice thereof shall be sent to all other Members of the League. Any fully self-governing State, Dominion, or Colony not named in the Annex may become a Member of the League if its admission is agreed to by two-thirds of the Assembly provided that it shall give effective guarantees of its sincere intention to observe its international obligations, and shall accept such regulations as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its military, naval, and air forces and armaments. Any Member of the League may, after two years’ notice of its intention so to do, withdraw from the League, provided that all its international obligations and all its obligations under this Covenant shall have been fulfilled at the time of its withdrawal.

    ARTICLE 2

    The action of the League under this Covenant shall be effected through the instrumentality of an Assembly and of a Council, with a permanent Secretariat.

    ARTICLE 3

    The Assembly shall consist of Representatives of the Members of the League. The Assembly shall meet at stated intervals and from time to time as occasion may require at the Seat of the League or at such other place as may be decided upon. The Assembly may deal at its meetings with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world. At meetings of the Assembly each Member of the League shall have one vote, and may not have more than three Representatives.

    ARTICLE 4

    The Council shall consist of Representatives of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, together with Representatives of four other Members of the League. These four Members of the League shall be selected by the Assembly from time to time in its discretion. Until the appointment of the Representatives of the four Members of the League first selected by the Assembly, Representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Spain, and Greece shall be members of the Council. With the approval of the majority of the Assembly, the Council may name additional Members of the League whose Representatives shall always be members of the Council; the Council with like approval may increase the number of Members of the League to be selected by the Assembly for representation on the Council. The Council shall meet from time to time as occasion may require, and at least once a year, at the Seat of the League, or at such other place as may be decided upon. The Council may deal at its meetings with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world. Any Member of the League not represented on the Council shall be invited to send a Representative to sit as a member at any meeting of the Council during the consideration of matters specially affecting the interests of that Member of the League. At meetings of the Council, each Member of the League represented on the Council shall have one vote, and may have not more than one Representative.

    ARTICLE 5

    Except where otherwise expressly provided in this Covenant or by the terms of the present Treaty, decisions at any meeting of the Assembly or of the Council shall require the agreement of all the Members of the League represented at the meeting. All matters of procedure at meetings of the Assembly or of the Council, including the appointment of Committees to investigate particular matters, shall be regulated by the Assembly or by the Council and may be decided by a majority of the Members of the League represented at the meeting. The first meeting of the Assembly and the first meeting of the Council shall be summoned by the President of the United States of America.

    ARTICLE 6

    The permanent Secretariat shall be established at the Seat of the League. The Secretariat shall comprise a Secretary General and such secretaries and staff as may be required. The first Secretary General shall be the person named in the Annex; thereafter the Secretary General shall be appointed by the Council with the approval of the majority of the Assembly. The secretaries and staff of the Secretariat shall be appointed by the Secretary General with the approval of the Council. The Secretary General shall act in that capacity at all meetings of the Assembly and of the Council. The expenses of the Secretariat shall be borne by the Members of the League in accordance with the apportionment of the expenses of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union.

    ARTICLE 7

    The Seat of the League is established at Geneva. The Council may at any time decide that the Seat of the League shall be established elsewhere. All positions under or in connection with the League, including he Secretariat, shall be open equally to men and women. Representatives of the Members of the League and officials of the League when engaged on the business of the League shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities. The buildings and other property occupied by the League or its officials or by Representatives attending its meetings shall be inviolable.

    ARTICLE 8

    The Members of the League recognize that the maintenance of peace requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations. The Council, taking account of the geographical situation and circumstances of each State, shall formulate plans for such reduction for the consideration and action of the several Governments. Such plans shall be subject to reconsideration and revision at least every ten years. After these plans shall have been adopted by the several Governments, the limits of armaments therein fixed shall not be exceeded without the concurrence of the Council. The Members of the League agree that the manufacture by private enterprise of munitions and implements of war is open to grave objections. The Council shall advise how the evil effects attendant upon such manufacture can be prevented, due regard being had to the necessities of those Members of the League which are not able to manufacture the munitions and implements of war necessary for their safety. The Members of the League undertake to interchange full and frank information as to the scale of their armaments, their military, naval, and air programs and the condition of such of their industries as are adaptable to war-like purposes.

    ARTICLE 9

    A permanent Commission shall be constituted to advise the Council on the execution of the provisions of Articles 1 and 8 and on military, naval, and air questions generally.

    ARTICLE 10

    The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled.

    ARTICLE 11

    Any war or threat of war, whether immediately affecting any of the Members of the League or not, is hereby declared a matter of concern to the whole League, and the League shall take any action that may be deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations. In case any such emergency should arise the Secretary General shall on the request of any Member of the League forthwith summon a meeting of the Council. It is also declared to be the friendly right of each Member of the League to bring to the attention of the Assembly or of the Council any circumstance whatever affecting international relations which threatens to disturb international peace or the good understanding between nations upon which peace depends.

    ARTICLE 12

    The Members of the League agree that if there should arise between them any dispute likely to lead to a rupture, they will submit the matter either to arbitration or to inquiry by the Council, and they agree in no case to resort to war until three months after the award by the arbitrators or the report by the Council. In any case under this Article the award of the arbitrators shall be made within a reasonable time, and the report of the Council shall be made within six months after the submission of the dispute.

    ARTICLE 13

    The Members of the League agree that whenever any dispute shall arise between them which they recognize to be suitable for submission to arbitration and which cannot be satisfactorily settled by diplomacy, they will submit the whole subject-matter to arbitration. Disputes as to the interpretation of a treaty, as to any question of international law, as to the existence of any fact which if established would constitute a breach of any international obligation, or as to the extent and nature of the reparation to be made or any such breach, are declared to be among those which are generally suitable for submission to arbitration. For the consideration of any such dispute the court of arbitration to which the case is referred shall be the Court agreed on by the parties to the dispute or stipulated in any convention existing between them. The Members of the League agree that they will carry out in full good faith any award that may be rendered, and that they will not resort to war against a Member of the League which complies therewith. In the event of any failure to carry out such an award, the Council shall propose what steps should be taken to give effect thereto.

    ARTICLE 14

    The Council shall formulate and submit to the Members of the League for adoption plans for the establishment of a Permanent Court of International Justice. The Court shall be competent to hear and determine any dispute of an international character which the parties thereto submit to it. The Court may also give an advisory opinion upon any dispute or question referred to it by the Council or by the Assembly.

    ARTICLE 15

    If there should arise between Members of the League any dispute likely to lead to a rupture, which is not submitted to arbitration in accordance with Article 13, the Members of the League agree that they will submit the matter to the Council. Any party to the dispute may effect such submission by giving notice of the existence of the dispute to the Secretary General, who will make all necessary arrangements for a full investigation and consideration thereof. For this purpose the parties to the dispute will communicate to the Secretary General, as promptly as possible, statements of their case with all the relevant facts and papers, and the Council may forthwith direct the publication thereof. The Council shall endeavor to effect a settlement of the dispute, and if such efforts are successful, a statement shall be made public giving such facts and explanations regarding the dispute and the terms of settlement thereof as the Council may deem appropriate. If the dispute is not thus settled, the Council either unanimously or by a majority vote shall make and publish a report containing a statement of the facts of the dispute and the recommendations which are deemed just and proper in regard thereto Any Member of the League represented on the Council may make public a statement of the facts of the dispute and of its conclusions regarding the same. If a report by the Council is unanimously agreed to by the members thereof other than the Representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute, the Members of the League agree that they will not go to war with any party to the dispute which complies with the recommendations of the report. If the Council fails to reach a report which is unanimously agreed to by the members thereof, other than the Representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute, the Members of the League reserve to themselves the right to take such action as they shall consider necessary for the maintenance of right and justice. If the dispute between the parties is claimed by one of them, and is found by the Council, to arise out of a matter which by international law is solely within the domestic jurisdiction of that party, the Council shall so report, and shall make no recommendation as to its settlement. The Council may in any case under this Article refer the dispute to the Assembly. The dispute shall be so referred at the request of either party to the dispute, provided that such request be made within fourteen days after the submission of the dispute to the Council. In any case referred to the Assembly, all the provisions of this Article and of Article 12 relating to the action and powers of the Council shall apply to the action and powers of the Assembly, provided that a report made by the Assembly, if concurred in by the Representatives of those Members of the League represented on the Council and of a majority of the other Members of the League, exclusive in each case of the Representatives of the parties to the dispute shall have the same force as a report by the Council concurred in by all the members thereof other than the Representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute.

    ARTICLE 16

    Should any Member of the League resort to war in disregard of its covenants under Articles 12, 13, or 15, it shall ipso facto be deemed to have committed an act of war against all other Members of the League, which hereby undertake immediately to subject it to the severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibition of all intercourse between their nations and the nationals of the covenant-breaking State, and the prevention of all financial, commercial, or personal intercourse between the nationals of the covenant-breaking State and the nationals of any other State, whether a Member of the League or not. It shall be the duty of the Council in such case to recommend to the several Governments concerned what effective military, naval, or air force the Members of the League shall severally contribute to the armed forces to be used to protect the covenants of the League. The Members of the League agree, further, that they will mutually support one another in the financial and economic measures which are taken under this Article, in order to minimize the loss and inconvenience resulting from the above measures, and that they will mutually support one another in resisting any special measures aimed at one of their number by the covenant breaking State, and that they will take the necessary steps to afford passage through their territory to the forces of any of the Members of the League which are co-operating to protect the covenants of the League. Any Member of the League which has violated any covenant of the League may be declared to be no longer a Member of the League by a vote of the Council concurred in by the Representatives of all the other Members of the League represented thereon.

    ARTICLE 17

    In the event of a dispute between a Member of the League and a State which is not a Member of the League, or between States not Members of the League, the State or States, not Members of the League shall be invited to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, upon such conditions as the Council may deem just. If such invitation is accepted, the provisions of Articles 12 to I6 inclusive shall be applied with such modifications as may be deemed necessary by the Council. Upon such invitation being given the Council shall immediately institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the dispute and recommend such action as may seem best and most effectual in the circumstances. If a State so invited shall refuse to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, and shall resort to war against a Member of the League, the provisions of Article 16 shall be applicable as against the State taking such action. If both parties to the dispute when so invited refuse to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purpose of such dispute, the Council may take such measures and make such recommendations as will prevent hostilities and will result in the settlement of the dispute.

    ARTICLE 18

    Every treaty or international engagement entered into hereafter by any Member of the League shall be forthwith registered with the Secretariat and shall as soon as possible be published by it. No such treaty or international engagement shall be binding until so registered.

    ARTICLE 19

    The Assembly may from time to time advise the reconsideration by Members of the League of treaties which have become inapplicable and the consideration of international conditions whose continuance might endanger the peace of the world.

    ARTICLE 20

    The Members of the League severally agree that this Covenant is accepted as abrogating all obligations or understandings inter se which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly undertake that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms thereof. In case any Member of the League shall, before becoming a Member of the League, have undertaken any obligations inconsistent with the terms of this Covenant, it shall be the duty of such Member to take immediate steps to procure its release from such obligations.

    ARTICLE 21

    Nothing in this Covenant shall be deemed to affect the validity of international engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings like the Monroe doctrine, for securing the maintenance of peace.

    ARTICLE 22

    To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant. The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories on behalf of the League. The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions, and other similar circumstances. Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. Other peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage that the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience and religion, subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms traffic, and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the establishment of fortifications or military and naval bases and of military training of the natives for other than police purposes and the defense of territory, and will also secure equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other Members of the League. There are territories, such as South-West Africa and certain of the South Pacific Islands, which, owing to the sparseness of their population, or their small size, or their remoteness from the centers of civilization, or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the Mandatory, and other circumstances, can be best administered under the laws of the Mandatory as integral portions of its territory, subject to the safeguards above mentioned in the interests of the indigenous population. In every case of mandate, the Mandatory shall render to the Council an annual report in reference to the territory committed to its charge. The degree of authority, control, or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory shall, if not previously agreed upon by the Members of the League, be explicitly defined in each case by the Council. A permanent Commission shall be constituted to receive and examine the annual reports of the Mandatories and to advise the Council on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates.

    ARTICLE 23

    Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of international conventions existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the Members of the League: (a) will endeavor to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women, and children, both in their own countries and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend, and for that purpose will establish and maintain the necessary international organizations; (b) undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control; (c) will entrust the League with the general supervision over the execution of agreements with regard to the traffic in women and children, and the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs; (d) will entrust the League with the general supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with the countries in which the control of this traffic is necessary in the common interest; (e) will make provision to secure and maintain freedom of communications and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all Members of the League. In this connection, the special necessities of the regions devastated during the war of 1914-1918 shall be borne in mind; (f) will endeavor to take steps in matters of international concern for the prevention and control of disease.

    ARTICLE 24

    There shall be placed under the direction of the League all international bureaus already established by general treaties if the parties to such treaties consent. All such international bureaus and all commissions for the regulation of matters of international interest hereafter constituted shall be placed under the direction of the League. In all matters of international interest which are regulated by general conventions but which are not placed under the control of international bureaus or commissions, the Secretariat of the League shall, subject to the consent of the Council and if desired by the parties, collect and distribute all relevant information and shall render any other assistance which may be necessary or desirable. The Council may include as part of the expenses of the Secretariat the expenses of any bureau or commission which is placed under the direction of the League.

    ARTICLE 25

    The Members of the League agree to encourage and promote the establishment and co-operation of duly authorized voluntary national Red Cross organizations having as purposes the improvement of health, the prevention of disease, and the mitigation of suffering throughout the world.

    ARTICLE 26

    Amendments to this Covenant will take effect when ratified by the Members of the League whose representatives compose the Council and by a majority of the Members of the League whose Representatives compose the Assembly. No such amendment shall bind any Member of the League which signifies its dissent there from, but in that case it shall cease to be a Member of the League.

    ANNEX.

    I. Original members of the League of Nations signatories of the treaty of peace.

    United States of America, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, British Empire, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hedjaz, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene State, Siam, Czecho-Slovakia, Uruguay

    States invited to accede to the Covenant.

    Argentine Republic, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Persia, Salvador, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela.

    II. First Secretary General of the League of Nations.

    The Honourable Sir James Eric Drummond, KCMG, CB

    Part II - Boundaries of Germany

    LEFT BANK OF THE RHINE

    ARTICLE 27

    The boundaries of Germany will be determined as follows . . . .

    . . . .

    Germany renounces in favor of . . . all rights and title over the territory . . . .

    . . . .

    Part III - Political Clauses for Europe

    SECTION I. - Belgium.

    ARTICLE 31

    . . . .

    SECTION II – Luxemburg

    ARTICLE 40

    . . . .

    SECTION III -Left Bank of the Rhine

    ARTICLE 42

    Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct any fortifications either on the left bank of the Rhine or on the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometers to the East of the Rhine.

    ARTICLE 43

    In the area defined above the maintenance and the assembly of armed forces, either permanently or temporarily, and military maneuvers of any kind, as well as the upkeep of all permanent works for mobilization, are in the same way forbidden.

    ARTICLE 44

    In case Germany violates in any manner whatever the provisions of Articles 42 and 43, she shall be regarded as committing a hostile act against the Powers signatory of the present Treaty and as calculated to disturb the peace of the world.

    SECTION IV - Saar Basin

    ARTICLE 45

    As compensation for the destruction of the coal-mines in the north of France and as part payment towards the total reparation due from Germany for the damage resulting from the war, Germany cedes to France in full and absolute possession, with exclusive rights of exploitation, unencumbered and free from all debts and charges of any kind, the coal-mines situated in the Saar Basin as defined in Article 48.

    . . . .

    SECTION V - Alsace-Lorraine

    The HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, recognizing the moral obligation to redress the wrong done by Germany in 1871 both to the rights of France and to the wishes of the population of Alsace and Lorraine, which were separated from their country in spite of the solemn protest of their representatives at the Assembly of Bordeaux . . . .

    . . . .

    SECTION VI – Austria

    ARTICLE 80

    Germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence of Austria, within the frontiers which may be fixed in a Treaty between that State and the Principal Allied and Associated Powers; she agrees that this independence shall be inalienable, except with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations.

    SECTION VII - Czecho-Slovak State

    ARTICLE 81

    Germany, in conformity with the action already taken by the Allied and Associated Powers, recognizes the complete independence of the Czecho-Slovak State which will include the autonomous territory of the Ruthenians to the south of the Carpathians . . . .

    . . . .

    SECTION VIII - Poland

    ARTICLE 87

    Germany, in conformity with the action already taken by the Allied and Associated Powers, recognizes the complete independence of Poland, and renounces in her favor all rights and title over the territory bounded by the Baltic Sea, the eastern frontier of Germany as laid down in Article 27 of Part II (Boundaries of Germany) of the present Treaty up to a point situated . .

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