BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY DISSENT IN 1917 "THEY LOOK IN VAIN": BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY DISSENT AND THE QUEST FOR A NEGOTIATED PEACE DURING THE GREAT WAR WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON 1917 By ANDREW G. GREGORY, M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University (c) Copyright by Andrew G. Gregory, February 1997 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (YEAR) McMASTER UNIVERSITY (History) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: "They Hope in Vain": British Foreign Policy Dissent and the Quest for a Negotiated Peace during the Great War with Particular Emphasis on 1917 AUTHOR: Andrew G. Gregory, B.A. (Carleton University) M.A. (Carleton University) SUPERVISOR: Dr. R.A. Rempel NUMBER OF PAGES: viii, 283 ii ABSTRACT Within the extensive literature on British dissent in the First World War, there is a significant lack of study on the critical year of the War, 1917. This thesis addresses this omission by examining the period from December 1916 to January 1918. In the orthodox view of dissent in the Great War, the dissenters became an increasingly powerful political movement which succeeded in capturing the Labour Party and in driving the Coalition Government into accepting a moderate set of war aims. This thesis revises the orthodox view by arguing that by August 1917 dissent was becoming a spent political force whose ideas were coopted by less radical groups who had little or no commitment to real dissenting objectives. The chronological approach focuses on the contribution of five leading representatives of Liberal-Radical and Independent Labour Party dissent: Noel Buxton, Arthur Ponsonby, E.D. Morel, Ramsay MacDonald and Philip Snowden. The analysis reveals that these dissenters assumed the prominent role in the call for a negotiated peace in the first half of 1917. In mid-1917, however, their cause suffered serious setbacks with the Southgate Brotherhood Church Riot of 31 July, the Special Labour Party Conferences of August and the creation of the Government-sponsored National War Aims Committee. Throughout the fall of 1917, the dissenters came under growing Government repression and, for a variety of reasons, increasingly found themselves displaced from their pre-eminent position in the leadership of the peace-by-negotiation movement. Seen in this light, the Labour Party's 28 December 1917 War Aims Memorandum, Lloyd George's 5 January 1918 speech at Caxton Hall and American President Woodrow Wilson's 8 January 1918 speech to Congress, all attributed to dissenting pressure, in actuality represent defeats for iii dissent. By mid-February 1918 the dissenters were even further removed from political influence than they had been before December 1916. It has been observed that the dissenters lost the War but won the peace. The epilogue examines this presumed paradox and finds it to be more apparent than real. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My fIrst thanks are to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Richard Rempel. His faith in me must have been tested many times over the years. Yet, with seemingly limitless patience, he provided true support and guidance. I could not have completed this thesis without his continued encouragement. It was my very good fortune to have been associated with Dr. Andrew Bone, a gifted historian and a tremendously generous colleague who helped me fmd my way in my darkest hour. His insightful criticism of the later drafts was and continues to be much appreciated. My gratitude also goes out to Dr. Michael McShane who also read a draft. I would like to thank all those archives cited in the bibliography for allowing me to consult their papers. The History Department at McMaster University has been a very agreeable place to call home over the last several years. That the department should be so fondly remembered is largely due to Wendy Benedetti, the Graduate Secretary, who always had a big smile and an even bigger hello, and to the Dean of Graduate Studies, John Weaver. There are many more individuals I have to thank. MyoId and patient friend, Peter Rooney, who has listened to more of my rants than I could rant on about, has been there from the beginning. Andy Bone, Garry Fagan, Eddie Grattan, Andy Holman, Mike McShane, Bill Newbigging, Russ Riddell, Matthew Trundle, and Will Wilson have been an outstanding and irreplaceable group of friends and colleagues. They have taught me a great deal about life and the importance of friendship. Maria Buko-Buchanan at the Graduate Students Association was always a source of strength and wisdom. I wish to thank my wife, Anne. She has been so supportive and has helped me keep the thesis v in perspective. Her repeated assurances that there is life after the thesis have turned out to be true. My family has been a constant source of inspiration. My siblings, Mark, Elaine, Anne and Stephen have provided me with great moral and, sometimes, financial sustenance. But I am most deeply indebted to my father and mother, George and Paule Gregory. I cannot count the ways in which they helped me-without referring to the obvious, without them I would not be writing this. It is fitting then that this thesis is dedicated to them. Thank you Mom and Dad for everything. VI CONTENTS Abstract iii Acknowledgments v List of Abbreviations viii Introduction 1 1. Early Days--December 1916 to January 1917 36 2. The Flow of the Tide--February 1917 to March 1917 72 3. "Untrustworthy Guides to Follow--AprilI917 to May 1917 100 4. Dissent's False Dawn--June 1917 to August 1917 125 5. In the Doldrums--September 1917 to November 1917 170 6. Days of Old--December 1917 to January 1918 190 7. Conclusion 233 Appendices 248 Bibliography 266 vii ABBREVIATIONS ACIQ Advisory Committee on International Questions ASE Amalgamated Society of Engineers BSP British Socialist Party CAB Cabinet Papers CO Conscientious Objector DORA Defence of the Realm Act FO Foreign Office Papers FOR Fellowship of Reconciliation ILP Independent Labour Party NCF No-Conscription Fellowship NAC National Administrative Committee NEC National Executive Committee NWAC National War Aims Committee PD Hansard, Parliamentary Debates, fifth series TUC Trades Union Congress UDC Union of Democratic Control WIL Women's International League viii INTRODUCTION British foreign policy dissent in the First World War has been a source of interest since the period itself. This is somewhat paradoxical in light of the failure of the League of Nations--the establishment of which seemingly fulfilled what was ostensibly a key dissenting demand--in the inter-war period. Indeed, it has been said that the dissenters lost the war but won the peace. It was their view of the origins of World War I which remained the unchallenged orthodox interpretation until the 1930s, and in some respects, until the 1960s. This might explain the dissenters' appeal. Despite the broad acceptance of the dissenters' version of history, considerable gaps exist in the historiography of British foreign policy dissent. In particular, historians have not examined closely, from the perspective of peace advocates in the belligerent countries, the most significant year of the First World W ar--1917 . As the noted historian of British dissent, A.J.P. Taylor, has observed: 1917 was in every country the great year of discussion for a negotiated peace; it was also the year which saw the dawn of the New World--in more senses than one ... Two great events caused this Dawn. One was the entry of the United States into the war; the other was the Russian Revolution. Although existing historical treatments of British foreign policy dissent have touched on 1917, they have not demonstrated the confluence of dissenting ideas and personalities with the dramatic international and domestic political events of this pivotal twelve month period. 1 1 A.J.P. Taylor, The Trouble Makers: Dissent over Foreign Policy, 1729-1939, (London, 1957), pp. 145-146. One significant exception is the recently published volume 14 of The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell. In this work, the editors have followed the career to emphasize the importance of 1917. See R.A. Rempel, L. Greenspan, M. Lippincott, B. Haslam, A. Lewis, The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, vol. 14, Pacifism and Revolution, 1916- 1918 (London, 1995), passim. 1 2 By concentrating on the dissenting experience during 1917, this thesis attempts to enrich current historical understanding of British dissent. Using a narrative and chronological approach, this thesis will highlight the impact of political, military, diplomatic and social factors on the development of foreign policy dissent. Within this basic framework, the thesis will place in particular prominence the peace advocacy of five individuals. Each contributed significantly to the dissenting movement during the First World War, yet at the same time represented a different facet ofthis peculiarly amorphous British tradition. The individuals concerned are, Noel Buxton, an example of moderate Liberal-Radicalism; Arthur Ponsonby, a more radical Liberal dissenter; E.D. Morel, an extra-parliamentary Liberal publicist; James Ramsay MacDonald, a moderate Independent Labour Party (ILP) parliamentarian active in foreign policy dissent; and Philip Snowden, a more fervent and strident advocate of foreign policy reform than MacDonald. The thesis will also consider other people within the broad dissenting movement. The interpretation of British dissent that is presented below questions the orthodox view of a movement that gathered momentum steadily throughout 1917 and, indeed, continued to do so up to November 1918. This thesis, by contrast, will argue that, by January 1918, the dissenters' campaign for a negotiated settlement was as distant a prospect as at any time since August 1914. The dissenters' campaign for a negotiated peace reached a climax, not towards the end of the war, but in the summer of 1917.