It came about by a tangled, confused and dismaying vote in the Senate in 1919 where, despite overwhelming support for US membership of the League among the senators, political tactics produced a majority vote which fell just short of the two-thirds required (49 for, 35 against), and US entry was frustrated.
The best minds of the Republican Party—Taft, Hughes, Root, Hoover and Kellogg—supported US entry, as did the Democratic Party led by President Wilson, one of the architects of the League, and as did the media, the business community and the trades unions.
The Bill for US entry was drafted by the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate and, while supporting entry, contained reservations about membership which were to be passed on to the League Assembly for consideration after the US had joined. President Wilson thought that the reservations undermined the concept of the League and advised his supporters to vote against it. So paradoxically, the small minority who opposed the League combined with some of the outright supporters of the League to defeat the Bill.
From then on, despite public opinion surveys in favour of the US joining the League, and constant lobbying at all levels of government, the US never joined the League. It did, however, participate in many of the world conferences including the Disarmament Conference, and in many of the League technical and social programs.
American foundations, such as the Carnegie Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and individuals contributed large sums of money to the League.
Winston Churchill, in his book The Second World War (Volume One), said, ‘Nor can the United States escape the censure of history … they simply gaped at the vast changes which were taking place in Europe … If the influence of the United States had been exerted, it might have galvanised the French and British … The League of Nations, battered though it had been, was still an august instrument which would have invested any challenge to the new Hitler war-menace with the sanction of International Law … Americans merely shrugged their shoulders, so that in a few years they had to pour out the blood and treasure of the New World to save themselves from mortal danger.’
Intellectual Cooperation Section
Edith’s friend, Jeanne, belonged to the the Intellectual Cooperation Section. The head office of this Section was in Paris but some officers were in Geneva and Rome. It coordinated the Educational Cinematographic Institute in Rome, and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, the Permanent Committee of Arts and Letters, the Advisory Committee on the Teaching of the Principles and Facts of Intellectual Cooperation, the Sub-Committee of Experts for the Instruction of Youth.
It planned to rewrite history books for schools and, by so doing, remove national bias.
It had 23 expert committees, and many of the world’s leading scholars and artists served on these. With the setting of the United Nations this section evolved into UNESCO.
Kelen and Derso: Cartoonists of the League—Hard Times
Emery Kelen and his collaborator Derso were internationally renowned caricaturists in the days of the League of Nations.
In 1954 Derso wrote a letter to Arthur Sweetser: ‘I got your address from Albin Johnson; he told you about the drawing I want to sell and my hope that you might be interested. It is the most elaborate cartoon of the past Geneva scene and the finest watercolour to frame. By offering it for a modest fee, $150, I would like to see it in the hands of somebody who really could enjoy and appreciate it … (t’was a puzzle for myself to remember and recognise the 150 people we drew in that single cartoon) … I would appreciate very much if you’d be willing to pay this fee. I am now in bad shape and badly need some support of my old friends …’
Sweetser replied: ‘… The great difficulty, which I am sure you will appreciate, is the financial one. For almost two years now since my UN job came to its end, I have been without salary … in addition we have had several sicknesses in the family which have necessitated heavy expenditures … to be of what little help I can in your present difficulties, I am enclosing a check for the $150…’
Joseph Avenol
The events and interpretations surrounding the departure of the French Secretary-General of the League, Joseph Avenol, in 1940 will probably never be precisely clear.
In the chapters describing Joseph Avenol and the League, some compression has occurred but the course of events is fairly much as depicted.
The sources for the dramatisation of Avenol’s last months as Secretary-General are as follows: James Barros, Betrayal from Within, Yale University Press, 1969; Sean Lester, typewritten diary, 1939–45, League of Nations Archive, Geneva; Thanassis Aghnides, ‘The Reminiscences of Thanassis Aghnides’, typewritten manuscript in Oral History Collection, Columbia University, Butler Library (researched for me by Joanna Murray-Smith) and in a second copy at League of Nations Archive, Geneva; Quai d’Orsay archives (researched by Xavier Hennekinne); Raymond B. Fosdick, The League and the United Nations after Fifty Years, self-published, 1972, Connecticut; Arthur Sweetser, personal papers, Library of Congress, Washington DC; and internal circulars and memoranda of the League Secretariat.
The Persecution of Homosexuals and Lesbians by the Nazis
The scholarly estimate of the number of homosexual men severely persecuted by the Nazis is around 50,000. The estimates for those who ended up in concentration camps vary between 20,000–30,000. More than half died there, according to Rudiger Lautmann’s account in ‘The Pink Triangle: the Persecution of Homosexual Males in the Concentration Camps in Nazi Germany’, in Salvatore Licata and Robert Petersen (eds), Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality (New York, Haworth Press, 1981).
There were no special concentration camps for gays, but they were sent to camps such as Dachau, Buchenwald and Berlin-Sachsenhausen where they were beaten, starved or worked to death. Many also died in penal battalions of the German army.
There is no evidence that the Nazi regime set out to exterminate the homosexuals as they did the Jews. There were various attempts by the Nazis at ‘reeducating’ and reorienting homosexuals and towards this end some suffered medical experimentation including castration.
Their concentration camp mortality was higher than any other of the ‘anti-socials’ in the camps (excluding the Jews)—nearly twice as high, say, than that of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Rudiger Lautmann, Gesellschaft und Homosexuality, Frankfurt, Suhrkamp, 1977).
Homosexuals also suffered discrimination and violence from other concentration camp inmates, which reflected the anti-homosexual prejudices in national communities at large.
Of all the concentration camp prisoners, the effeminate homosexuals appeared to have suffered disproportionate ill-treatment.
After liberation of the camps in 1945, the homosexuals both from the West and the East were still liable to criminal prosecution under the new laws of the two parts of Germany. These laws were not reformed until 1969 and 1967 respectively.
There are also reports of lesbians being ill-treated and confined in concentration camps.
I am indebted to the late Peter Blazey and to Tim Herbert for early research advice on this subject and to Gerard Koskovich for his valuable annotated bibliography, ‘The Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals’ (http://members.aol.com/dalembert/lgbt-history/nazi-biblio.html).
The News About the Extermination of the Jews
Walter Laqueur, in his book The Terrible Secret (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980), says, ‘It will be asked whether it really would have mattered if the world had accepted the facts of the mass murder earlier than it did. No one knows. Quite likely it would not have made much difference. The Jews inside Europe could not have escaped their fate … Militarily, Germany was still very strong … There were, however, ways and means to rescue some even then. They might or might not have succeeded, but they were not even tried. It was a double failure, first of comprehension and later of seizing the opportunities which still existed …’
Précis-Writers
The task of a précis-writer was to summarise accounts of m
eetings. They made notes during the debates and then dictated their summaries. This demanded a good deal of judgement. They had to reduce individual speeches to a fraction of their size and to discriminate between short but often important speeches and long but sometimes irrelevant speeches. The vanity of delegates caused problems, as did the wish for some delegates to have their speeches recorded in full for use back home.
The League précis-writers over the years evolved a unique skill and after a while complaints were surprisingly rare.
James Joyce and the Secretary-General
James Joyce, when he was living in Zurich during the war, approached Sean Lester, Acting Secretary-General of the League of Nations, and asked for assistance in getting his daughter Lucia out of a hospital in France and into neutral Switzerland.
Lester went to see Joyce and tried to help but Joyce died before any arrangements could be made and Lucia remained in France until the end of the war.
Permanent Delegates
As the League went on, a number of member states established Permanent Delegates in Geneva, some with ambassadorial rank and staff with the role of informing their governments of League affairs and participating in committees. At most there were 34 Permanent Delegates.
ORGANISATION OF THE SECRETARIAT—1938
Secretary-General (and Office)
Deputy Secretary-General (and Office)
Under Secretaries-General (and Office)
Attached to Principal Officer (Official with Rank of Director and Office)
Who is Who in the Book
Aghnides*, Thanassis, Greek, Under Secretary-General, Director of Disarmament Section, Secretary to the Disarmament Conference.
Alva, friend of Edith from undergraduate days in the Faculty of Science at Sydney University.
Ambrose, see Westwood.
Andrade*, Will, a professional conjurer and well-known Australian Rationalist.
Angell*, Sir Norman, British intellectual populist, one-time leading pacifist, author of bestselling book on pacifism, The Great Illusion, among many others. For a time in the early part of the century there were Norman Angell societies in Europe and the US.
Arnold*, Dot, officer of the Peace and Disarmament Committee of the Women’s International Organisation.
Avenol*, Joseph, French, Deputy Secretary-General (1920–1933), Secretary-General (1933–1940).
Bage*, Freda (1883–1970), lecturer in biology at University of Queensland and then Principal of Women’s College, Australian delegate to League of Nations Assembly 1926, 1938.
Bartou, Auguste, Swiss, Under Secretary-General.
Berry, Edith Alison Campbell, Australian, member of Section, League of Nations Secretariat, attached to Under Secretary-General Bartou.
Briand*, Aristide, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of France, great supporter of the League of Nations, received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1926, died in 1932.
Brittain*, Vera (1893–1970), English writer of novels, biography, poetry and journalism, pacifist, feminist, and supporter of the League of Nations, and part of the literary and intellectual elite of the 1930s and 1940s.
Bruce*, Stanley Melbourne, former Australian Prime Minister, then High Commissioner in London, supporter of the League and President of Council. Chaired the last committee on reform of the League in 1939 which produced what was known as the Bruce Report. Many of its proposals were taken up by the newly formed United Nations.
Cecil*, Lord Robert, member of House of Commons, sometime member of Cabinet, a dedicated British proponent of the idea of a League of Nations, frequent member of British delegation, helped draft the Covenant.
Charron*, Rene, French, member of the Economic, Financial, and Transit Section, confidant of Avenol.
Comert*, Pierre, French, Director of Information Section.
Crowdy*, Dame Rachel (1884–1964), English, Head, Social Questions Section from 1919 to 1931 (this section changed its name a few times over the years). Dame Rachel was one of the first professional social workers and had a distinguished record during WW1 behind the front lines as Commandant of the Volunteer Aid Detachment (VAD) for which she was made a Dame of the British Empire. She was never officially made director of the section but she was the only woman who headed a section during the history of the League, although for a time Florence Wilson was in charge of the library and Nancy Williams was in charge of Personnel.
Dame Rachel*, see Crowdy.
Derso*, world renowned cartoonist, companion of Emery Kelen (see Historical Notes).
Dingman* Mary, leading American feminist and peace activist.
Dole, Robert, English, journalist, not to be confused with Robert Dell*, doyen of the international press corps in Geneva, representative of Manchester Guardian.
Drummond*, Sir Eric, English, the first League Secretary-General (1919–1932). Born in 1876, a member of a prominent Catholic family, educated at Eton, entered the Foreign Office. Was successively private secretary to Asquith as Prime Minister, and to Lords Grey and Balfour as Foreign Secretaries. He was Lord Grey’s Secretary at the Peace Conference in Paris in 1920. After retiring from the League he became British Ambassador to Italy.
Eden*, Sir Anthony (1897–1977) British, Minister for the League of Nations and Foreign Secretary, champion of collective security and the League of Nations, Prime Minister 1955–1956. During World War 1 (1914–1918), he fought in France and was awarded the Military Cross for distinguished service. He graduated from Oxford University in 1922. Eden entered Parliament in 1923. He became Britain’s Foreign Secretary in 1935, but resigned in 1938 because he disagreed with the way in which Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain yielded to the demands of dictators Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy. Became Foreign Secretary under Chuchill during the war.
Eric*, Sir, see Drummond.
Field*, Noel, US, former US State Department officer, joined Disarmament Section of the League in 1937, during war worked for Unitarian Relief organisation in Europe, spied for Soviet Union during 1930s and 1940s, defected to Czechoslovakia 1946. He and his wife and adopted daughter were separately gaoled by the communist government for five years for being American spies. After their release Field and his wife continued to live in Prague.
Florence (Travers, surname not mentioned), Canadian, bookkeeper, Finance.
Follett, Bernard, Swiss, owner-manager of the Molly Club, Geneva, patron of the arts, friend of Ambrose and Edith, part of organisation smuggling Jews from Germany, supplied intelligence to the Dutch until Holland fell to the Germans. Delegate for the International Red Cross.
Gerig*, Benjamin, US, Information and Mandates Sections of the League, Commissioner-General of the League of Nations Pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair, then Department of State and Deputy Secretary-General of the United States delegation at the San Francisco Conference of the United Nations.
Gerty, Dutch, Edith’s personal assistant.
Gilbert*, Prentiss, US Consul-General, Geneva, later at the US Berlin Embassy. Was outspoken against the Nazis and met with the German underground.
Gray*, Potato, colourful English journalist of the period.
Haile Selassie* (1892–1975), became Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 and worked for economic and social reforms, such as making slavery illegal. He gave Ethiopia its first written constitution in 1931. Ethiopia was attacked by Fascist Italy in 1935, and Haile Selassie lived in exile in England until 1941. During WW2 (1939–1945), British forces assisted in the liberation of Ethiopia and restored him to the throne. He belonged to a dynasty that claimed to be descended from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. His reign ended in 1974, when military leaders overthrew him.
Hall*, H. Duncan, Australian, a graduate of Sydney University, he worked for the League’s Opium Section, 1927–1939, the second Australian to join the Secretariat, Jocelyn Horn being the other (see below). In 1940 he went to Yale as a visiting professor and subsequently held a number of positions in international affairs. He was an authority on the British Commonw
ealth. He died in 1976.
Harada*, Japanese Under Secretary-General until Japan withdrew from the League in 1933.
Henderson*, Arthur (1863–1935), British, President, World Disarmament Conference 1932–35, pioneer of the establishment of British Labour Party, Labour member of Parliament, Foreign Secretary, Nobel Prize for Peace 1934. Believed in strengthening coercive powers of the League, financial, economic, and military.
Hirschfeld*, Magnus, German, physician and early pioneer of the study of human sexuality, campaigned to reform laws against homosexuality. He established the Hirschfeld Institute for the study of sexuality in 1919. He coined the word ‘transvestite’. The Nazis destroyed the Institute in 1933.
Horn*, Jocelyn, Australian, Head of Administrative Department of the Pool of Shorthand-Typists, first Australian to be employed by the League of Nations in 1921, former resident of Adelaide, dismissed for unacceptable conduct including ‘dancing too much’ at one of the early League conferences in Barcelona.
Howard*, Miss J. ‘Tiger’, English, private secretary to Sir Eric Drummond.
Hutchinson*, Leslie, black American singer and pianist, thought to be the man involved in the scandal with Edwina Mountbatten.
Hudson*, Manley, US, Judge Permanent Court of International Justice.
Huneeus, a Deputy President in the Azerbaidjhan government-in-exile.
Ingersoll*, Colonel Robert Green (1833–1899), lawyer, Attorney-General Illinois, friend of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman, campaigner against religion and for liberal causes. He entered politics as a Democrat, but he became a prominent Republican after the Civil War. He was a centre of controversy for almost 30 years because he attacked orthodox Christian beliefs. He wrote The Gods, and Other Lectures (1876), Some Mistakes of Moses (1879), and Great Speeches (1887). His writings and beliefs influenced Edith’s mother and father.
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