B.J.C. Mckercher – författare

This collection examines various aspects of the efforts made to limit warfare through arms limitation and disarmament agreements in the period from the first Hague conference to the outbreak of World War II in Europe. The issue for each contributor is not necessarily to show whether individual endeavors, separate conferences, and the rest were successful or unsuccessful--though this is an important consideration. Rather, each chapter tends to offer differing points of view on accomplishments and failures because, as is so often the experience in historical study, the record is mixed; and this situation is certainly no less characteristic of arms limitation and disarmament between 1899 and 1939.Written by experts on disarmament issues, these chapters put into historical perspective how and why the effort, to restrain war were undertaken at the Hague conferences, the Washington conference, and among antiwar groups. Each contributor approaches this task using the method he or she deems most appropriate. Some employ an historiographical approach; others undertake to produce analyses based heavily on archival holdings in order to offer new interpretations of the past or revise existing ones. This book will be of interest to students and teachers alike of modern history and political science.

This collection uses a series of case studies to assess the impact of heretical military leaders who developed policy and strategy during war and peace in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The issue for each contributor is not necessarily to show whether the endeavors of individuals and their unorthodoxy were successful or unsuccessful--though this important consideration is not ignored. Rather, each chapter offers differing points of view on accomplishments and failure because, as is so often the experience in historical study, the record is mixed; and this is especially so in terms of the application of military power in the period since the Napoleonic wars. Technological and scientific innovation, the rise of mass armies, the advent of total war, and the need to develop effective armed forces in a period of rapid change prompted new approaches in policy and strategy. In this period, it is clear that a dialectic in military thinking existed between those who followed what can be thought of as orthodox ideas, based generally on the lessons of preceding wars, and heretics who advocate new policies and strategies.

This work considers the modern antecedants and evolution of the operational art in military thought and practice in both peace and wartime. This theme is developed over time and across military cultures. A comparative framework allows the treatment of the overall theme by examining the concept of the operational art in the context of different nationalities, different military organizations, and different societies. This study situates the current operational art in its historical context.

This study offers a new perspective on the origins of the Second World War by comparing and contrasting military planning in seven nations in the two decades before 1939 (and, in the case of the United States and Soviet Russia, before 1941). Developing themes over time and across military cultures allows the authors to provide a comparative framework in which to survey how military planning and foreign policy were interwoven and how these connections produced divergent national strategies in the context of differing nationalities, military organizations, and societies. The contributors to this volume have consciously employed a wide interpretation of military history by emphasizing the interplay of social, political, diplomatic, and economic factors with military concerns, as well as the relationship between war and society.For example, the German army developed its concept of blitzkrieg by examining military theory generated within the General Staff before 1918, and by considering the new political circumstances in which the Weimar state and its Nazi successor found themselves as a result of the Versailles Treaty. Despite its ultimate success, the German concept was merely abstract and theoretical until the combined use of armor and air power was employed effectively in Poland in the autumn of 1939 and in Western Europe during the spring of 1940. In contrast, the French defensive strategy built around the use of the Maginot Line was illustrative of a mainly defensive foreign policy, while British appeasement policy reflected the diminished level of military preparedness that was possible throughout the 1930s.

Aspects of British Policy and the Treaty of Versailles looks at some key issues involving British policy and the Treaty of Versailles, one of the twentieth century’s most controversial international agreements.The book discusses the role of experts and the Danzig Question at the Paris Peace Conference; the establishment of diplomatic history as a field of academic research; and the role of David Lloyd George and his Vision of Post-War Europe. Contributors also look at the restitution of cultural objects in German possession, and after the war, the Treaty’s impact on both Britain’s enemy, Germany, and its ally, France, revealing how it profoundly affected the European balance of power.Aspects of British Policy and the Treaty of Versailles will be of great interest to scholars of diplomatic history as well as modern history and international relations more generally. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Diplomacy & Statecraft.

Esme Howard (1863-1939), 1st Baron Howard of Penrith, was one of Britain's most important diplomats of the early part of this century. Linguistically and diplomatically gifted, he was an integral member of the small group of men who made and implemented British foreign policy between 1900 and 1930, a critical transitional period in Britain's history as a world power. The years between 1890 and 1903, which preceded Howard's major diplomatic achievements, are seen as crucial to his development, years when his marriage, his conversion to Catholicism, his foreign travel, and his work with London's working classes moulded the confidence and strengths of his later character. Thereafter, the book covers Howard's personal and historical importance as consul general in Crete, Budapest and Berne and at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, and as ambassador at Madrid (1919-24) and Washington (1924-30). Made possible by the recent discovery of Howard's private papers, this well-informed and readable biography of a hitherto neglected figure will eliminate a major gap in the history of twentieth-century British foreign relations by giving Howard's career its first full treatment.

It has long been argued that Baldwin's second government, especially the Foreign Office led by Austen Chamberlain, was to blame for the deterioration in Anglo-American relations in 1927-9. This book argues that Austen Chamberlain, by suggesting a reduction in maritime belligerent rights, consistently worked for an improvement in relations and found the means for a settlement in 1929, though Labour's success in the general election caused the credit to go to others and Chamberlain's reputation remained tarnished. While the earlier view was based mainly on the memoirs of contemporary critics, Dr McKercher bases his analysis on a wide range of public and private archival material.

It has long been argued that Baldwin's second government, especially the Foreign Office led by Austen Chamberlain, was to blame for the deterioration in Anglo-American relations in 1927-9. This book argues that Austen Chamberlain, by suggesting a reduction in maritime belligerent rights, consistently worked for an improvement in relations and found the means for a settlement in 1929, though Labour's success in the general election caused the credit to go to others and Chamberlain's reputation remained tarnished. While the earlier view was based mainly on the memoirs of contemporary critics, Dr McKercher bases his analysis on a wide range of public and private archival material.

Aspects of British Policy and the Treaty of Versailles looks at some key issues involving British policy and the Treaty of Versailles, one of the twentieth century’s most controversial international agreements.The book discusses the role of experts and the Danzig Question at the Paris Peace Conference; the establishment of diplomatic history as a field of academic research; and the role of David Lloyd George and his Vision of Post-War Europe. Contributors also look at the restitution of cultural objects in German possession, and after the war, the Treaty’s impact on both Britain’s enemy, Germany, and its ally, France, revealing how it profoundly affected the European balance of power.Aspects of British Policy and the Treaty of Versailles will be of great interest to scholars of diplomatic history as well as modern history and international relations more generally. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Diplomacy & Statecraft.

Britain, America and the Special Relationship since 1941 examines the Anglo-American strategic and military relationship that developed during the Second World War and continued until recent years. Forged on a common ground of social, cultural, and ideological values as well as political expediency, this partnership formed the basis of the western alliance throughout the Cold War, playing an essential part in bringing stability to the post-1945 international order.Clearly written and chronologically organized, the book begins by discussing the origins of the ‘Special Relationship’ and its progression from uneasy coexistence in the eighteenth century to collaboration at the start of the Second World War. McKercher explores the continued evolution of this partnership during the conflicts that followed, such as the Suez Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the Falklands War. The book concludes by looking at the developments in British and American politics during the past two decades and analysing the changing dynamics of this alliance over the course of its existence. Illustrated with maps and photographs and supplemented by a chronology of events and list of key figures, this is an essential introductory resource for students of the political history and foreign policies of Britain and the United States in the twentieth century.

Britain, America and the Special Relationship since 1941 examines the Anglo-American strategic and military relationship that developed during the Second World War and continued until recent years. Forged on a common ground of social, cultural, and ideological values as well as political expediency, this partnership formed the basis of the western alliance throughout the Cold War, playing an essential part in bringing stability to the post-1945 international order.Clearly written and chronologically organized, the book begins by discussing the origins of the ‘Special Relationship’ and its progression from uneasy coexistence in the eighteenth century to collaboration at the start of the Second World War. McKercher explores the continued evolution of this partnership during the conflicts that followed, such as the Suez Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the Falklands War. The book concludes by looking at the developments in British and American politics during the past two decades and analysing the changing dynamics of this alliance over the course of its existence. Illustrated with maps and photographs and supplemented by a chronology of events and list of key figures, this is an essential introductory resource for students of the political history and foreign policies of Britain and the United States in the twentieth century.