An analysis of post-World War I efforts for permanent peace

370 Pages·016.858 MB·English

by  Seno, C. B

AN ANALYSIS OF POST-WORLD WAR I EFFORTS
FOR PERMANENT PEACE
A Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of
The Los Angeles University of International Relations
The University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Foreign Service
■toy
Conrado Beltran Seno
June 19^2
UMI Number: EP58342
All rights reserved
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This thesis, written by
CONRADO BELTRAN SENO
under the direction of his.. Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill­
ment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF FOREIGN SERVICE
Dean
Secretary
rw, June, 1942
Faculty Committee
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to take this opportunity to
express sincerely a special debt of gratitude he owes to the
following persons: to Miss Margaret Cressaty, head librarian
of The Los Angeles University of International Relations
Library, for her kind, gracious, and prompt assistance to
the author in the course of his research; to Miss Adalia
Haass, assistant librarian in the Sociology Department of
the Los Angeles Public Library (Main Building), for similar
reason; and last, but not least, to Dr, John Eugene Harley,
chairman of the faculty committee assigned to this thesis,
for his painstaking efforts in smoothing out the many
awkward expressions of the author as well as the many fine
suggestions and criticisms he made to him.
Other names of those who have so kindly assisted the
writer, in one way or another, should have been included
here, but the list would be too long to attempt any enumera­
tion. To all of them the author is greatly indebted, and is
profoundly appreciative of their helpful cooperation.
Conrado Beltran Seno
Los Angeles, California
May 31$ 19^2.
DEDICATION
This is heartily dedicated to the memory of my dearly
beloved mother, Mrs. Juliana Beltran Seno, who, from my
childhood, had constantly reminded me that the best thing a
man can do in this flvale of tears14 is to love and fear God,
first of all; next, to love my neighbor as myself and to
render any possible service to him; and finally, to maintain,
always, good understanding and friendly relations with all
people.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. PLANS AND PROPOSALS BEFORE WORLD WAR I . . . . 1
Pre-Christian era peace plans and
organizations ......................... 1
From the Roman Empire to the Congress of
Vienna (1815) 3
Nineteenth to early twentieth century
plans, congresses, and organizations • • . 11
Conclusions ...................... 23
II. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND COLLECTIVE
SECURITY................................. 24
Proposals which led to the establishment of
the League . . ............... 25
Peace organizations in different
States............................... 26
Various drafts presented ................ 30
The League system . 34
The Covenant of the League of Nations . . 34
The League in action as a means of
preserving peace ....................... 56
Achievements of the League.............. 56
Failures of the League.................. 64
Reasons for League failures ............ 7^
iii
CHAPTER PAGE
III. OFFICIAL EFFORTS TOWARD PEACE INDEPENDENT OF
THE LEAGUE 1920-1940...................... 79
The Washington Conference of 1921-1922 • • • 80
The Geneva Naval Conference of 1927 . . . . 91
The London Naval Conference of 1930 • • • • 94
The London Naval Conference of 1935-1936 . . 101
Inter-American Conferences 1923-1940 . . . . 106
The Pact of Paris of 1928 120
IV. THE ECONOMIC BASES FOR AN ENDURINGP EACE . . . 127
The economic causes of w a r ................ 127
The need for raw materials.............. 150
Population pressure .................... 152
Commodity and investment markets • . . . . 153
Imperialism . 154
Irredentism ......... 155
Private munitions manufacturers ........ 155
Shipping rivalry . . . . 159
Tariff and other trade barriers ........ 140
Causes of the second World W a r .......... 141
Importance of a stable international
standard of exchange............... 144
Stable foreign exchange: a prerequisite to
peaceful international economic
relations .................... 144
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
Causes of exchange instability ............ 147
Effects of exchange instability .......... 148
V. THE ECONOMIC BASES FOR AN ENDURING PEACE
(continued)................................ 152
Efforts for monetary and economic
reconstruction (1919-1959} ................ 152
The Brussels Financial Conference
(1920) 152
The Geneva or World Economic Conference
(1927)........................... . . 156
The Ouchy Pact (1952) .................... 157
The London Monetary and Economic
Conference (1955) 158
The Oslo Agreement (1957)................ l6l
The Raw Materials Committee.............. 164
The Tripartite Agreement (1956) 168
The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Program
(1954 ) ...................... 169
Other post-War I economic endeavors . . . 171
Proposals for future monetary reconstruc­
tion ................................... 174
Basis for a future stable international
exchange................................ 175
Fixed vs. flexible parity................ 184
V
CHAPTER PAGE
Importance of an international bank . . . 187
Plans for future general economic
reconstruction........................ 190
Access to, and distribution of, raw
materials.............................. 191
More free t r a d e ............... 194
Future migration policy .................. 200
Disposition of colonies .................. 202
Joint development of backward areas . . . 204
Summary and conclusion...................... 205
VI. THE IDEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO WORLD PEACE . . . 208
Peace through universal communism........ 209
The background of communism.............. 209
The Russian experiment.................... 212
Result and significance of the Russian
experiment.............................. 214
Prospects of spreading communism In other
l a n d s .......................... 218
Socialism as an instrument of world peace . 221
Definitions of socialism.................. 222
Distinction between communism and
socialism....................... 225
Sources and varieties of socialism . . . . 225
The socialists* case for peace............ 227
vi
CHAPTER PAGE
Prospects of realizing these claims . . . 229
Definition and clarification of the
term ^regionalism” ........... . . . 238
Types of regionalism........... 241
Limited geographical type of regionalism . 246
Imperial type of regionalism-. . . . . . 250
The continental type of regionalism . . 251
The hemispheric type of regionalism . . 262
The ideological type of regionalism . . 263
The advantages of regionalism . . . . . 270
The disadvantages of regionalism . . . . 271
VII. THE IDEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO WORLD PEACE
(continued)....................... 277
World federation or union the ultimate
solution to permanent world peace . . . . 277
Various advocates of world federation or
union . . .......................... 278
Differences between federation and
confederation..................... 283
Representative plans .................... 285
General summary and conclusion..... 300
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................ 305