100 years of Chatham House: Top ten articles from the 1920s
Editorial Team
In a new monthly blog series to celebrate 100 years of Chatham House, the editorial team of International Affairs will be delving into the archive to bring you the stories behind some of our most significant articles and authors. In February our focus is on the 1920s.
Many of these articles are records of speeches originally given to Chatham House members. We chose these pieces for a variety of reasons. Some feature historically-significant speakers, while others deal with particularly salient political issues of the time. All provide a snapshot of current affairs discourse in the elite milieu of interwar London (and, as such, some have not necessarily aged well…), but they also reveal how many of the central questions facing international society today have been with us for far longer than we might expect. From the geopolitical impact of religious fundamentalism to legal efforts to protect minorities, and from accommodating the rise of China to dealing with the implications of new technologies, this collection of articles feels deeply relevant even 100 years on. However, they also reflect the prevailing attitudes of the time, both in terms of content and the individuals who had the opportunity to speak at Chatham House during this time.
1) Major General Frederick B. Maurice on military disarmament
Who was he?
Sir Frederick Barton Maurice (1871–1951) was an army officer, military historian and educational administrator. He served in the British Army during the Second Boer War and the First World War. In May 1918, Maurice was pressured to retire after writing a letter to The Times which criticized British Prime Minister Lloyd George’s handling of the war.
In 1922, Maurice gave a speech to members of Chatham House, in which he discussed how states could go about reducing the size of their armies.
From the article:
‘If armed forces are to be limited, it is absolutely necessary that there shall be a general agreement that any Member of the League [of nations] subjected to wanton aggression or to unprovoked attack should be assured of timely assistant from other Members.’
2) George Peabody Gooch on European diplomacy
Who was he?
G. P. Gooch (1873–1968) was a British journalist and historian, who between 1906 and 1910, was the Liberal MP for Bath. After the First World War, Gooch became a prominent historian who revised understandings of how the conflict had begun.
In 1922, Gooch gave a speech to members of Chatham House during which he reflected on the long-term causes of the First World War, looking back as far as 1870.
From the article:
‘The outbreak of the Great War is the condemnation not only of the performers who strutted for a brief hour across the stage, but of the international anarchy which they inherited and which they did nothing to abate.’
3) Alfred E. Zimmern on international fiscal policy
Who was he?
Alfred Zimmern (1879–1957) was a historian, international relations scholar and co-founder of Chatham House. Between 1930 and 1944 he held the inaugural position of Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at Oxford University. Meanwhile, he also contributed to the founding of UNESCO, work that saw him nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947.
In 1924, Zimmern explored the connections between the global economy and conflict. He predicted that, in the future, wars would increasingly be fought over resources.
From the article:
‘The issues of commercial policy, oil and the rest of them, being vital issues in the fullest sense of that term, together constitute a mass of explosive material of the kind which has in the past inevitably led, sooner or later, to a war between the Great Powers.’
4) Herbert Sidebotham on military strategy
Who was he?
Herbert Sidebotham (1872–1940) was a journalist and sketch-writer. He was the lead reporter for the Manchester Guardian throughout the Second Boer War and the First World War and later covered the proceedings of the UK Parliament for The Times.
In 1924, Sidebotham gave a speech to Chatham House members in which he argued, in light of the catastrophe of the First World War, that military decisions could no longer be left to generals, but should be made with the input of civilians. The discussion following his speech was chaired by Winston Churchill.
From the article:
‘The indubitable moral is forced upon us that the whole tragedy arose out of the miserable delusion that strategy is a matter for professional soldiers and that mere civilians must not pry into its mysteries.’
5) D. G. Hogarth on Wahabism in the Middle East
Who was he?
David Hogarth (1862–1927) was a scholar and intelligence operative who was greatly involved in Middle East geopolitics during and soon after the First World War. As part of the Naval Intelligence Division during the conflict, Hogarth collaborated with T. E. Lawrence (‘Lawrence of Arabia’) to encourage an Arabic uprising against the Ottoman Empire. After the war, he was responsible for communicating the highly controversial Balfour Declaration, which established an independent Jewish state in Palestine, to Arab leaders in what would later become Saudi Arabia.
In 1925, Hogarth gave a speech to Chatham House members which reported the potential impact of ‘Wahabism’, a conservative interpretation of Islam, on British interests in the Gulf.
From the article:
‘Small men losing, from generation to generation, the gains of the great men, make a rule in Arabia to which there have been very few exceptions. I prophesy, therefore, that Arabia is not in for more than a decade at most of Wahabite domination outside Nejd.’
6) Blanche E. C. Dugdale on the ‘Minority Treaties’
Who was she?
Blanche Dugdale was an author and researcher who became heavily involved with British activities at the League of Nations. A niece of UK Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, she was part of the British delegation to the 1932 Assembly of the League of Nations.
In 1926, Dugdale spoke at Chatham House on the legitimacy of the ‘Minority Treaties’, a series of agreements protecting the rights of ethnic and religious minority groups which were written in the aftermath of the First World War.
From the article:
‘I do not know whether the instincts that we are trying to combat by treaties and guarantees will ever be subdued. They are rooted in the ages.’
7) Hu Shih on China’s renaissance
Who was he?
Hu Shih (1891–1962) was a philosopher and diplomat who was an influential voice in the Chinese liberal movement. He promoted the use of vernacular Chinese language in publishing, which was seen as more accessible to ordinary readers than the classical version. Between 1938 and 1942, he served as the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, and later became Chancellor of Peking University.
During a visit to London in 1926, Hu Shih outlined the major developments in China since the turn of the 20th century.
From the article:
‘We are expected to perform a miraculous task — to change and to remain the same. There is little wonder then that the Chinese have continued to live in comfortable dreams of compromise, accepting certain externals from the Western Barbarians whilst preserving the restrictions and negations of the past.’
8) Brigadier General P. R. C. Groves on aviation and international relations
Who was he?
Percy Groves (1878–1959) was a leading British military strategist who drove forward the development of the Royal Air Force between the two world wars. Having fought in the infantry during the Second Boer War, in 1914 he joined the Royal Flying Corps. By 1918 he had risen to the post of Director of Flying Operations at the Air Ministry, and he later represented the ministry at the Paris peace conference.
In 1927 Groves spoke at Chatham House, advocating for the importance of developing aviation as a commercial and military tool, and revealing how far behind the British had fallen compared to their immediate allies. The speech was published in this article.
From the article:
‘Aviation is already a big factor in the international psychology of fear. And it would seem that this sinister influence in the sphere of international relations is likely to increase as aviation, and particularly specialised military aviation, develops, because of the speed and range of aircraft and their power to deliver a sudden and devastating blow.’
9) Lucy Mair on the protection of minorities
Who was she?
Lucy Mair (1901–1986) was a British social anthropologist who worked extensively in Africa and lectured at the London School of Economics. During the Second World War she conducted research for Chatham House and the Ministry of Information.
In 1928, she wrote a survey, published in International Affairs, of recent discussions around the structure of the ‘Minority Treaties’, expressing doubt as to whether the League of Nations was satisfactorily protecting the rights of minorities.
From the article:
‘Many conclusions might be drawn from the published facts. A possible one would be that, since we seldom see minorities questions discussed in the Council, the Treaties must be working so well that there is nothing for it to discuss … Those who have not to depend on published League documents for their information know that it would be much nearer the truth to say that so many petitions are received as to make it physically impossible to examine them all.’
10) Philip Kerr on the outlawry of war
Who was he?
Philip Kerr (1882–1940), 11th Marquess of Lothian, was a British politician and diplomat. Between 1916 and 1922, Kerr served as private secretary to British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and attended the Paris peace conference in that capacity. In the lead-up to the Second World War he advocated the policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany, and at the outset of the conflict he served as British Ambassador to the United States.
In 1928, Kerr spoke at Chatham House on the possibility of international cooperation on outlawing war.
From the article:
‘It is impossible to prevent suspicion, fear and competition in armaments so long as violence, that is, war, is regarded as an inevitable and a lawful method of settling international disputes. As inside the State so in the world as a whole, the only way of maintaining peace — that is, the settlement of disputes by reason and justice and not by force — is to outlaw violence altogether. In practice as in theory there is no half-way house. Either you outlaw war or war will master you, every time.’
We hope you enjoyed this first post in our new series, ‘100 years of Chatham House’. Every month throughout 2020, the editorial team of International Affairs will be publishing some of the highlights from each decade since the founding of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
Read more from the series here.
Find out more about the Chatham House Centenary here.
