Paris Peace Conf. 185.111/28
General Tasker H.
Bliss to the Secretary of State
Paris
, December 25,
1918.
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I send you herewith a
preliminary report on the subject of the League of Nations15 which, possibly, you
[Page 520]
may find of some interest. The
copy of the letter to me from General Nolan,16 which
precedes the report, will explain its origin.
I received yesterday a second and fuller report, being an analysis of
propositions for a League of Nations and for Disarmament, which I am now
having copied and which I hope to be able to send to you before the end of
the week.17
Cordially yours,
[Enclosure]
Brigadier General D. E.
Nolan to General Tasker H. Bliss
18
General Headquarters, A. E.
F., December 6, 1918.
My Dear General Buss: Pursuant to your
instructions, I am forwarding herewith a preliminary report on the
various schemes proposed for a League of Nations and Disarmament.19 This report was
prepared by Captain H. C. Bell, whom I sent to
London for the purpose.
Captain Bell found in London a collection of schemes
published in 1917 under the title, “The Framework of a Lasting Peace”.
His report therefore omits all material contained in this book, a copy
of which is forwarded with the report. The report contains some
information of a confidential character. This was secured largely
through the courtesy of the Military Attaché at London and his
assistants, Major Winthrop and Captain
Dennis, who gave generous and valuable
assistance wherever opportunity offered.
Owing to the brief period of time which it was possible to allow for the
preparation of the report no attempt has been made to digest or compare
the various schemes. I have therefore ordered Captain
Bell to continue his study of the subject along
these lines and to make such additions to the report as may be
possible.
A number of books on the subject have been ordered and will be forwarded
to you as soon as received. Lists of these and of other books of minor
value accompany the report.
In sending Captain Bell to London I directed him to
form what estimate he could of the feeling existing there with regard to
the League. His impressions are as follows. A large amount of thought
and of study have been devoted to the subject for the last year or two,
and the interest has greatly increased during the last few months. On
the other hand there is no stabilised public opinion on the subject.
There are very marked divisions of opinion existing everywhere, so
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that American proposals are
not likely to be confronted by any unified opposition. There is however
very general agreement on the idea that the League must be developed
gradually and that any attempt to form an actual world state would be
premature and probably disastrous. The League must be based above all on
an understanding between Great Britain, France and the United States.
There is no apparent feeling that the co-operation of Italy is
necessary. It is also plain that Great Britain is not prepared to
relinquish her sea power. The attitude of the Government is not entirely
clear, but there is reason to believe that it regards the whole
proposition rather cynically. It has had various experts working on the
matter for some time, including Mr. Balfour’s committee, which made its report last March.
Careful studies of the various aspects are being made at the present
time.
I shall of course furnish you with copies of everything that Captain
Bell is able to produce here.
Yours very truly,
D. E. Nolan
Brig. Gen., General Staff
