Book Review: The British Commonwealth and International Security: The Role of the Dominions, 1919–1939
| DOI | 10.1177/002070204700200308 |
| Published date | 01 September 1947 |
| Author | W. L. Morton |
| Date | 01 September 1947 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book
Reviews
THE
BRITISH
COMMONWEALTH
AND
INTERNATIONAL
SECURITY:
THE
ROLE
OF
THE
DOMINIONS,
1919-1939.
By
,Gwen-
dolen
M.
Carter.
1947.
(Toronto: Ryerson.
Issued
under
the
auspices
of
the
Canadian
Institute
of
International
Affairs.
326pp.
$4.00,
members
$2.35)
This
book
must
be
greeted
with
a
platitude,
for
it
affords
everything
the
student
of
its
subject
could
wish. The
platitude
is,
of
course,
that
Dr.
Carter
has placed
in
her
debt students
of
Commonwealth and League
affairs,
all
those
interested
in
public
affairs
in
Canada, and equally,
this
reviewer
would
think,
those
interested
in
the
public
affairs
of
the
other
members
of
the
Commonwealth.
THE
BRITISH
COMMONWEALTH
AND
INTERNATIONAL
SECURITY
carries
forward
the
same
high
standard
of
scholarly
presen-
tation,
clean-cut
organization and
moderation
of
tone which
distinguished
the
first
number
in
this
series
planned
by
the
Research
Council
of
the
Canadian
Institute
of
International
Affairs,
H.
Gordon
Skilling's
CANA-
DIAN
REPRESENTATION
ABROAD.
The
Ryerson
Press
has
repeated
its
workman-like
job
of
publication.
The
book
is
a
history
of
the
attempt
to
organize
international
security
through
the
League
of
Nations,
written
from
the
point
of
view
of
the
participation
of
the members
of
the
Commonwealth
in
the
League.
The
r6le
of
the
Dominions
is
dealt with
both
in
terms
of
the
general
effort
to
achieve
international
security
and
of
the
particular
positions
and
domestic
peculiarities
of
the
Dominions. The Dominions
joined
the
League
to
achieve
international status,
and
in
the
hope
that
membership
in
the
League would
solve
the
pre-war
problem
of
the individual
Dominions
being
automatically
committed
to
the
general
responsibilities
of
the
Empire,
that
the
general
obligations
of
the
Covenant
would
replace
the
diplomatic
unity
of
the Empire. They
hoped,
at
the
same
time,
that
the
League
would,
in
Borden's phrase,
be a
"League
of
peace
and
not
of
war,"
that,
in
Dr.
Carter's
words,
"it
would
provide
general
security
while
asking
of
them
only
limited
and
occasional
aid;
that
it
would
leave
them
free
to
pursue
their
social
and
economic
policies
so
that
their
problems
of
growth
could be
worked
out
in
a
determined framework;
that
in
return
for
general
co-operation,
their
parliaments
should
retain
the
ultimate
decision
on
the
degree
of
participation
in
a
given
situation."
(p.
9).
Having
attained international
status
by
membership
in
the
League,
and
feeling
themselves
relatively
safe,
"the
Dominions
tended
to
inter-
pret
the League's function
in
security
negatively
rather
than
positively,
security
against
war
rather
than
in
war"
(p.
100).
From this
followed
the
pre-occupation
with
disarmament,
with
conciliation
rather
than
coercion,
which led
through
the Manchurian
and Ethiopian
affairs
to
appeasement.
262
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