Book Reviews : Documents on British Foreign Policy, 1919-1939. Series 1A Volume VIII German, Austrian, Middle East Questions. Edited by W. N. Medlicott. Douglas Dakin and M. E. Lambert. 852 pp. £16.50
| Published date | 01 April 1976 |
| Date | 01 April 1976 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/004711787600500312 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
1050
Documents
on
British
Foreign
Policy,
1919-1939.
Series
1A
Volume
VIII
German,
Austrian,
Middle
East
Questions.
Edited
by
W.
N.
Medlicott.
Douglas
Dakin
and
M.
E.
Lambert.
852
pp.
£16.50.
This
volume
concludes
Series
1A
and
deals,
in
the
main,
with
questions
relating
to
Germany,
largely
reparations
settled
at
the
Second
Hague
Conference,
and
disarmament.
On
both
questions
there
was
developing
disagreement
between
the
French
and
British
Governments
on
desirable
and
actual
policy,
the
United
Kingdom
Government
adopting
a
more
detached
view
of
German
infringement
of
the
disarmament
clauses
of
the
Versailles
Treaty
than
that
taken
by
the
French.
Symptoms
of
the
political
and
social
unrest
in
Germany
were
already
becoming
evident;
as
Harold
Nicolson
reported,
the
success
of
the
National
Socialist
Party
in
local
elections
in
1929
formed
a
further
disturbing
element
&dquo;in
an
internal
situation
which,
below
an
apparently
healthy
surface,
shows
symptoms
of
septic
inflammation&dquo;.
Two
weeks
later
Herr
Schacht
stated
that
Germany
was
unable
to
carry
out
the
provisions
of
the
Young
Plan.
The
relations
between
Austria,
Hungary
and
Italy,
and
between
Hungary
and
the
Little
Entente,
are
covered,
as
are
the
differences
between
France
and
Italy
over
the
former’s
alliance
with
Yugoslavia.
The
British
attitude
towards
the
movement
for
some
form
of
European
unity,
supported
by
M.
Aristide
Briand,
was
also
very
cautious.
Mr.
Henderson
wished
to
keep
&dquo;the
two
questions
of
economic
co-operation
and
security
against
military
aggression&dquo;
distinct.
Since
the
United
King-
dom
attitude
to
the
proposal
&dquo;seemed
(to
the
French)
so
hopeless,
they
were
prepared
to
go
ahead
and
organise
Europe
without
us&dquo;;
at
the
time
this
was
a
pipedream
only
to
be
realized
much
later.
The
final
Chapter
(IV)
is
concerned
with
British
policy
on
the
continuing
efforts
to
settle
outstanding
questions
with
Persia
and
with
King
Ibn
Saud,
and
with
the
improvement
of
relations
with
Turkey.
The
Volume
concludes
with
an
Appendix
containing
Sir
Robert
Vansittart’s
famous
Old
Adam
Memorandum.
It
was
not
only
pregnant
with
ominous
warning
for
the
future
when
it
was
written
but,
in
its
main
trends,
can
be
said
still
to
hold
good
today,
given
the
necessary
alterations
to
adjust
to
the
results
of
World
War
II
on
the
map
of
Europe-results
which
accurately
fulfilled
his
&dquo;predictions&dquo;.
Moreover,
it
is
as
true
today,
as
it
was
then,
that
the
Old
Adam
has
survived
not
only
1914-1918
but
also
1938-1940,
although
his
guise
today
is
slightly
different.
As
Sir
Robert
writes
&dquo;His
disturbing
feature
is
not
that
he
exists,
but
that
he
exists
in
such
demonstrable
force
and
quantity.
International
communications
have
vastly
improved;
but
mixed
up
with
the
traffic
are
ancient
trains
of
thought;
full
of
glaring
and
striking
examples
of
him,
that,
ignoring
danger
signals,
would
be
bound
towards
former
destinations&dquo;.
It
can
only
be
hoped
that
Sir
Robert’s
fears
will
not
prove
to
have
been
right
for
the
second
time - but
with
incalculably
more
disastrous
results.
British
Foreign
Policy
1945-73.
Joseph
Frankel.
Oxford
University
Press
for
The
Royal
Institute
of
International
Affairs.
£6.95
in
the
United
Kingdom.
The
tone
of
Professor
Frankel’s
work
is
set
in
his
Introductory
section
in
Part
I:
&dquo;The
conception
of
a
’national’
contemplated
foreign
policy
is
utterly
remote
from
operational
reality.
As
British
foreign
policy
is
marked
by
pragmatism
and
an
absence
of
ideology,
to
analyse
it
by
means
of
fundamental
philosophical
structures
would
force
it
into
a
straitjacket&dquo;.
The
emphasis
is
more
heavily
upon
internal
domestic
politics
and
aspirations
than
upon
foreign
policy
as
such,
although
it
is
true,
of
course,
that
the
former
influences,
and
often
shapes,
the
latter,
as
Bevin’s
famous
plea
to
the
miners
to
give
him
more
coal
for
export
illustrated
so
aptly.
But,
for
instance,
to
found
one’s
foreign
policy
largely
upon
the
British
people’s
present
demand
for
a
standard
of
living
which
we
seem
unable
to
earn
and
to
subordinate
all
other
considerations
to
such
a
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