OFFICE W ITHOUT POWER Secretary-General Sir Eric Drummond I9I9-I933 Sir Eric Drummond by Sir Gerald Kelly , (Palais des Nations Geneva. Reproduced by courtesy of the United Nations and Lady Kelly). OFFICE WITHOUT POWER Secretary-General Sir Eric Drummond By JAMES BARROS CLARENDON PRESS • OXFORD 1979 Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford 0x2 6dp OXFORD LONDON GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON KUALA LUMPUR SINCAPORE JAKARTA HONG KONG TOKYO DELHI BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI IBADAN NAIROBI DAR ES SALAAM CAPE TOWN Published in the United States by Oxford University Press, New York © James Banos, igyg All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Barros, James Office without power, i. Drummond, Sir Eric I. Title 341.220924 JX1975 70-403Ï2 ISBN 0-19-822551-2 Typeset by CCC and printed and bound at William Clowes & Sons Limited Beccles and London TO LELAND M. GOODRICH James T. Shot well Professor Emeritus Columbia University Gentleman, Teacher, Scholar PREFACE This volume examines the tenure of Sir Eric Drummond as the first Secretary-General of the League of Nations. Of the secretaries-general who have served the world community since 1919 Drummond’s fourteen years of service was the longest. He organized the League’s multinational Secretariat in 1919-20 and during the years that followed acquired the reputation, at least to the uninitiated, of an unflappable and efficient administrator— which he surely was—but nothing more. How Drummond used his office, the range of his influence, his personal and political contacts, and his intervention behind the scenes in political issues facing the world organization will be examined in the pages that follow. By investigating how Drummond actually operated, as opposed to how people thought he operated, I hope that Drummond’s role as Secretary-General can be evaluated. Moreover, Drummond’s use of his high office and the precedents he established will perhaps give us a better understanding of the possibilities and limitations inherent in the office, and help frame some generalizations about its use in international politics. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace whose support made it possible for me to examine the League of Nations Archives during the period 1966-7. In particular I am indebted to the Carnegie Endowment’s Geneva Office, its director, John Goormaghtigh, and his associate, Jean Siotis, for their great assistance during the period I worked in Switzerland. I am especially obligated to the Canada Council whose generosity made it possible on two separate occasions to consult papers in London, Ottawa, and Washington. Research in Edinburgh was made possible by the International Studies Programme of the University of Toronto. The time needed to write this volume was made possible by the Earhart Foundation of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I would like to thank the trustees of the foundation for their invaluable assistance. For critical comments and suggestions which did much to improve this study I would like to thank Leland M. Goodrich, James T. Shot well Professor Emeritus of Columbia University, and Leon Gordenker of the Department of Politics of Princeton University. Sir Eric Drummond’s son, the present Lord Perth, also found time in a busy schedule to read the study and to clarify certain factual matters. Lastly, it should be noted that the views and opinions expressed in this study are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the institutions or persons who have assisted me in this endeavour. Erindale College J.B. Department of Political Economy University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS xi I PARIS 1919 I The Chancellor Drummond*s Selection II JAMES ERIC DRUMMOND: ATTITUDES, APPROACHES, AND PERCEPTIONS 20 Realism’s Restraint The American Problem The Security Question Relations with London The Myth of the Secretariat III DRUMMOND IN POWER, 1919-1920 75 Establishing the League Danzig and the Saar Mandates and Humanitarian Endeavours The War’s Aftermath IV THE GERMAN QUESTION 131 From Versailles to Upper Silesia Germany’s Admission to the League The Saar, Danzig, and Memel The Road to Locarno A Permanent Council Seat Germany in the League V DRUMMOND AND LATIN AMERICA 209 The League and Latin America The Wayward States The Brazilian Problem Latin American Disputes VI ITALY AND THE STATUS QUO 262 From Versailles to Corfu X Contents The Balkans and East Africa The Appointment of Paulucci de Calboli Barone The Duce in World Politics VII THE MANCHURIAN CRISIS 311 The League in China The Manchurian Occupation Establishing the Lytton Commission Non-Recognition of Manchukuo VIII SOME THOUGHTS ON DRUMMOND AND HIS SUCCESSORS 383 APPENDIX: Covenant of the League of Nations 403 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 413 INDEX 415