View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Dissertations Department of History 5-11-2015 Selling Peace: The iH story of the International Chamber of Commerce, 1919-1925 Shane R. Tomashot Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss Recommended Citation Tomashot, Shane R., "Selling Peace: The iH story of the International Chamber of Commerce, 1919-1925." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2015. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss/43 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SELLING PEACE: THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, 1919-1925 by SHANE TOMASHOT Under the Direction of Jared Poley, PhD ABSTRACT This dissertation is a study of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) from its inception in 1919 to the Brussels Conference in 1925. The study argues, based upon evidence from ICC conference proceedings and reports that the ICC, as well as the League of Nations, was part of the pre-war Allied (the United States, Great Britain, and France) imperial project that sought to maintain Allied global hegemony following the Great War. The businessmen of the ICC, who had numerous Allied political ties, were descendants of the social Darwinist milieu, which guided their thought processes and perceptions of the world. Their belief that they operated in a globalized world was, therefore, a misconception. Business leaders were mistakenly convinced that free trade would create and maintain world peace. Business and government operated through a symbiotic relationship throughout the 1920s. Fledgling industries, including automotive and air transport, relied upon government assistance. Thus, Allied and corporate international manipulation of markets was cloaked in the rhetoric of “free trade.” Furthermore, ICC business leaders, operating during the Progressive Era’s focus upon scientific efficiency, were convinced that mass production was the key to rebuilding the global economy in the aftermath of the Great War. Evidence shows that the political economic system erected by the bankers, businessmen and politicians of the 1920s helped lay the foundations for the Great Depression. The system, controlled by the Allied powers, included the gold standard system of international fiduciary exchange, trade regimes operated under the auspices of Anglo- Saxon jurisprudence, Allied multinational corporate (MNC) control of Latin America and the Middle East, via electrical MNCs and oil MNCs, and the control and manipulation of labor and migration. This study contributes to the literature concerning the causes of the Great Depression as well as studies regarding global capitalism. Moreover, the evidence contained within this work suggests that many parts of the neoliberalist argument are actually rooted in the 1920s rather than the late 1970s. INDEX WORDS: Business, League of Nations, Multinational corporation, Trade, Capitalism, Great Depression SELLING PEACE: THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, 1919-1925 by SHANE TOMASHOT A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2015 Copyright by Shane Robert Tomashot 2015 SELLING PEACE: THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, 1919-1925 by SHANE TOMASHOT Committee Chair: Jared Poley Committee: Michelle Brattain Alexander Cummings Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2015 iv DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my grandfathers Herbert Gray Parnell and Robert Clay Tomashot. Their lives, although long past, inspire me every day. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing a dissertation is a monumental task. However, I received much needed and appreciated help along the way. First, I wish to thank my adviser, Dr. Jared Poley. Jared read through numerous drafts of each chapter, offering suggestions, advice and much guidance. He was always receptive to my ideas and always available for my many questions whether via email or in person. For his help, I am eternally grateful. I also wish to thank Dr. Alex Cummings and Dr. Michelle Brattain. They also read through drafts and offered constructive suggestions and thoughtful guidance. The brilliance, kindness and passion of each of these three scholars has helped to make me a better scholar. I also wish to thank Dr. Carolyn Biltoft for giving me the idea to research the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Until now, ICC records have remained nearly untouched. There are numerous colleagues and friends who helped me along the way as well. Dr. Larry Grubbs stuck by my side as a colleague and a friend. His humor, wit, candor and support have been a critical asset to my career and life. Dr. Mary Rolinson, my mentor while serving in the PhD program at Georgia State University, offered much support and encouragement both during my studies and while writing the dissertation. My friends Allyson Tadjer, Catherine Oduri, Dr. Patrick Ludolph, and Dr. Greg Brooking always checked in on me, inquired about my progress, motivated me and kept me laughing along the way. I also wish to thank the libraries and librarians for their hard work. Georgia State University Library as well as the Denver Penrose and Kansas University Libraries provided the ICC proceedings that were crucial to this study. vi Finally, but most importantly, I wish to thank my intelligent and beautiful wife, Ashley. Her love, support, encouragement, dedication, wit, and humor is unmatched. I could not have accomplished this without her. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. v 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Previous Works ................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Method................................................................................................................ 10 1.3 Layout of the Chapters ..................................................................................... 18 2 CHAPTER ONE: IDEOLOGICAL ROOTS......................................................... 21 2.1 The Great War and the Call for a New International Order ....................... 41 2.2 Clèmentel’s Alternative Plan........................................................................... 52 3 CHAPTER TWO: BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT ........................................ 58 3.1 The League of Nations, the ICC and the Mandate System ........................... 75 4 CHAPTER THREE: THE BANKERS................................................................... 88 4.1 Brussels 1925 ...................................................................................................... 93 4.2 Bankers ............................................................................................................. 106 4.3 The Gold Standard .......................................................................................... 114 4.4 Multinational Corporations ........................................................................... 126 4.4.1 Oil ................................................................................................................ 127 4.4.2 Electricity ..................................................................................................... 134 5 CHAPTER FOUR: LABOR AND MIGRATION ............................................... 140 5.1 The ICC and Migratory Labor ...................................................................... 157 viii 5.2 The U.S., the ICC, and Latin America .......................................................... 164 6 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 174 6.1 The Spirit of Locarno ...................................................................................... 177 6.2 Epilogue ............................................................................................................ 186 6.2.1 Stockholm .................................................................................................... 187 6.2.2 Amsterdam ................................................................................................... 192 6.2.3 Washington, D.C. ........................................................................................ 194 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 200 1 1 INTRODUCTION Cornelius Vanderbilt, the commanding U.S. nineteenth century shipping and railroad magnate, was known to frequently say: “There is no friendship in trade.” One of the original “Captains of Industry,” Vanderbilt overcame numerous fierce rivalries and built his fortune through decades of savvy business deals and monopolization. During the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln called upon Vanderbilt for assistance. The government asked