Ten Years of Secret Diplomacy

252 Pages·5.079 MB·English

by  E D. Morel

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Cornell University Library
DT 317.M83 1915b
Ten years of secret diplomac
3 1924 028 612 699
The original of tliis book is in
tine Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028612699
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— — — —
EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS OF
"MOROCCO IN DIPLOMACY."
THE BRITISH PRESS.
In the "Appeal from prejudice to reason" which concludes the book,
we learn that there are three "keys" with which to unlock the door
itnhadtispseenpsaarbalteesduutsy tfhraotmdeGveorlmvaesny.upo.n. .thTeheHousseceonodf kCeoymmiosns"thteo
understand the real nature of our relations with France." Here we
are faced by the old difficulty. The disclosure which Mr. Morel asks
for would be fatal to the object for which the understanding
between the two Powers was entered into. The Spectator.
Few men in our day have in their sphere accomplished more effec-
tive work for civilisation than Mr. E. D. Morel, whose recent book
"Morocco in Diplomacy," now lies before us. The services rendered
byhim in exposing the shameful cruelty and exploitation of the Congo
natives by the late King Leopold and his Red Rubber gang, as well as
his vigilance and work in upholding the rights of native races in other
partsofAfrica and elsewhere in the world, have won for him a unique
fame and the gratitude of all friends of humanity and freedom. His
present book is a valuable contribution to the politics and history of
present-day Imperialism. The facts stated and the documents
. .
reprinted by Mr. Morel cannot be explained away. The book is
avowedly written in the interests of creating a better understanding
and feeling between this country and Germany, a circumstance which
increases its interest to Socialist readers. It is temperately written and
forms a powerful indictment of the policy of the British Foreign
Office and an exposure of the turpitude and danger of secret dip-
lomacy. Socialist Review.
Mr. Morel has never lacked courage in denouncing abuses, and the
columns of the Times bear witness to the sympathy with which we
haveoften supported his efforts. It is with all the more regret, there-
fore, that while—we highly approve the general object with which this
book is written namely, t—he promotion of better relations between
this country and Germany we find ourselves unable to accept his
main contention or to agree with his reading of some of the more
important facts of the diplomatic history of Morocco from 1880 to the
present day. The Times.
This book should be in the hands of every Member of Parliament,
every journalist whose duty it is to instruct public opinion, and every
citizen who desires to form an independent judgment upon a very
critical passage inthelifeofthe English State. It is written withthe
lucidity and force of one of the most skilful publicists in the country
it is the fruit of extensive and thorough investigation; and it presents;
a reading which is not the official and vulgar reading. The Daily
News.
—— — —— ——
EXTRACT FROM PRESS NOTICES.
An acute risumi of a seven years' imbroglio which has more than
once led the great nations to the very brink of war. IVIr. Morel has
had a task of the utmost difficulty, but he has unravelled the tangled
skein of diplomatic activity with skill. The Athenceum.
There are a good many people, without doubt, who will disagree
more or less violently with Mr. Morel's conclusions, but there can be
nottheslightestdoubt of theabilitywithwhichhepresentsthem, orof
the skill with which he musters facts and figures to their support.
And whether the reader agree or disagree, he will arise from a perusal
of the book with an added knowledge of one of the greatest and most
difficult of European problems, with much to think about and with
newopenings for profitable thought. Newcastle Daily Chronicle.
Mr. Morel moves northward from the Congo and the Niger to
Morocco. His business also is pacific, but he understands the
Uebermesnch, and knows that war comes more ofpride than ofgreed.
Moreover, he believes in righteousness. So he tries to persuade
—Englishmen that Germans are not always and invariably in the wrong.
Church Times.
The book is a marvel of compression, and whatever one may think
of the conclusions a number of the premises are unassailable. It is
nmoatkeasboitokdetsoirbaeblneegtlheacttetdh.is bEovoekntsshoaurledpbieliwnegllupanindawiwdaeylywhreiacdh. W.e.
may not agree with all its author's conclusions, but the mass of facts
which he presents clearly and concisely will assist in forming the
opinion that, after all, the Moroccan crisis was not ALL Germany's
fault. The Acadeiny.
It cannot, indeed, be said that any of the Powers concerned
appears to advantage in the tale that Mr. Morel unfolds. There
have been faults on all sides. . Mr. Morel's narrative is instruc-
tive as showing that the standing acquired by Germany in Morocco
is no new matter, and that German influence has been persistently
exercised in the direction of maintaining the principle of the open
door. Aberdeen Free Press.
There is much in Mr. Morel's book to shock the man whose motto
is "my country right or wrong," but as an expression of a wider
tolerance in judging other nations, which we hope is gradually per-
meating the public mind, it deserves to be widely read. Methodist
Times.
One of the morals which the author desires to impress upon the
British public is the danger of a system that makes it possible for
those who operate the diplomatic machine to involve the nation in
rash and costly enterprises, as to which they have no opportunity of
expressing an opinion. Nottingham Guardian.
The author's views and arguments are so weighty, and he '..icludes
such a mass of material in support of them, that it is impossible to
give more than the briefest outline of his purposes; but we can say
without hesitation that even if the British reader will not entirely
allow himself to be convinced by Mr. Morel's dignified pages, and
abandon altogether his cherished beliefs in the infallibility, wisdom
and discretion of our Foreign Office, he will yet grant that there are
two sides to this important question, and that Germany's attitude is
as much justified as the fact that British and French diplomatic
manoeuvres have not been devoid of blemish is obvious. Western
Morning News.
iii
— — —
.
EXTRACT FROM PRESS NOTICES.
Several points on which light is cast by Mr. Morel well deserve
public attention. . . Our Foreign Office, loyally devoted to the fetish
"continuity of policy" and apparently the cat's paw of the Jingo party
in France, plunged into the fray against Germany on motives
infinitesimally smallcompared with thepossibleconsequences. ^Esop's
fable of the dog which dropped the real bone to secure its reflection
seems appropriate to some very distinguished statesmen. Edinburgh
Evening News.
Mr. Morel is a trained observer. His "Red Rubber'" exercised a
distinct and powerful effect in this country. More recently his book
aonndNiwgeerdieasihraesthbeeeandvreenatd aofndaaphparpepciiearterde.la.ti.onWsheipdetshiarne nthoatquwarhrieclh,
at present prevails with Germany, but we prefer to accept a view of
the international situation accepted by the well-informed leaders on
both sides in the British Parliament to that set forth by Mr. Morel,
and the few who agree with him, that the British public has been
deliberately misled by ignorance and duplicity of the British Foreign
Office. . . The volume, however, is exceedingly useful as a record of
events, and for the valuable appendix it contains, and the maps illus-
trative of the scope of the secret treaties. As was inevitable, Mr.
Morel sets forth his case ably and well. Dublin Daily Press.
THE FRENCH PRESS.
— —
Le Temps the organ of the French Foreign Office in a three-
column review (May 14, 1912) declared, in substance, that "Morocco
in Diplomacy" was aneffort to destroythe"entente cordiale," "at the
verymoment whenthemissionofthenewGermanAmbassador, Baron
Marshall von Bieberstein, to London is expressive of an official
German attempt to approach the British Government." This view
was successively developed in further issues of that journal.
The book is a tissue of the basest calumnies. . . Mr. Morel is the
unofficial agent of Baron Marshall von Bieberstein. . . . He is
endeavouring to mislead his countrymen to please the merchants of
lHoawmebsutrpga.ssi.ons. oHfethmeahkuemsana mpianrda.de. .of. mBorirtailsihtyopainnidoninivsotkoeosstenh-e
sible to let itself be moved by the author's equivocations, lies, and
hypocrisies. La Dipeche Coloniale (organ of the French Colonial
Party)
From theliterary point of view we havenothing but praise for Mr.
Morel's book, which is written in a lucid style, compiled on a wejl-
—constructedscheme and supported by serious andpowerful arguments.
La Nouvelle Revue.
The human value of Mr. Morel's personality is a reason for care-
fully listening to his testimony even if we do not accept all his
conclusions. . . With these reserves it is necessary to state that the
spirit wh—ich inspires Mr. Morel's book is neither anti-Fre—nch nor pro-
German as has been said by some French newspapers but simply
pacifist and, in the true sense of the term—, internationalist. He is not
campaigning against the entente cordiale of whichhe was one of the
firmest partisans when to be so required somecourage in the Fashoda
days. But he protests against the transformation of this friendly
understanding into a warlike alliance directed against Germany. He
desires that the friendly feeling between France and England should