MIA > Archive > Arthur Rosenberg
From International Press Correspondence, Vol. 2 No. 13, 17 February 1922, pp. 89–90.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
Public Domain: Marxists Internet Archive (2019). You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as your source.
Disregarded by the world, like an old and faded ballet dancer, the Washington Conference has peacefully passed away. The solemn session preceding the adjournment was opened by President Harding’s chaplain with a prayer, after which the President himself took the floor and assured all those present that the conference had proved a brilliant success. Lloyd George, taking his clue fröm Mr. Harding had George V echo that sentiment in his throne address. And any doubting Thomases who in the face of testimonials such as that steadfastly refuse to believe in the tremendous feat alleged to have been accomplished at the Conference must be declared ripe for the lunatic asylum.
But – the perfect concert of this mutual admiration society was somewhat cruelly interrupted by the leader writer of Temps, who coolly informed his readers that the Conference had hardly improved China’s situation nor challenged Japan’s supremacy in the Far East. The Conference had avowedly been convened with the purpose of settling the Chinese problem and of averting the danger of a new world war. Even before they met the powers concerned had been well aware of the fact that unless they reached an agreement with regard to China general disarmament would be a thing impossible. And though in the very last hour the necessary signatures were affixed to a scrap of paper providing for the return of Shantung to China, not even the shrewdest of diplomats can definitively state if and when that will happen. And of what good would be the return of Shantung to a China identical with the Pekin Government controlled by Japan’s bought agent, General Chang-Tso-Lin?
The heated discussions between the Japanese and Chinese delegates were a well rehearsed and brilliantly performed comedy. Both the British and American representatives, though they knew what was going on, had to hold their peace for fear of making the conference the laughing stock of the world. The U.S. started a counter-move in China, however, and bought the governors of a few provinces with a view of getting in by a back alley and overthrowing the Pekin Government. These efforts were of no avail, however.
The result of the Conference in a nutshell is this: Great Britain has bowed to the U.S., who on their part have yielded to Japan, while France has calmly been fishing in troubled waters.
When the British delegation left for Washington it was resolved to give way to the United States. With the whole Empire in the throes of a gigantic economic crisis, the British Foreign Office simply had to have peace, no matter what its price. Great Britain had to remain content with the knowledge that the American navy equalled its own, that the tonnage of the American merchant fleet was rapidly outdistancing that of the British and that the American Oil Trust was claiming all the rich naphta fields for its own. Great Britain’s conciliating towards the U.S. is today the basic fact of world politics. The extent of British submission had even surprised those “in the know”. M. Briand, for instance, arrived in Washington under the delusion that conflicts would arise there between the British and American delegates and in his well-known generosity offered his services as an arbitrator. He was shown the cold shoulder, however, and thus in the very beginning manoeuvered into disadvantageous position. It is characteristic of the secret diplomacy still going on in the capitals of the great powers that a man such as the Premier of France is not informed on the sentiments of Washington and London. That this really was the case was divulged by H. Wickham Steed, editor of the London Times and publicity agent to the British delegation, and then corroborated by French sources. If a Briand could err as grossly as that, it can easily be imagined what the German babes-in-the-woods of the Wilhelmstrasse accomplish on the slippery ground of world politics.
The French, however, compensated themselves for their first failure by intriguing with the Japanese who also were in an unfavorable position in the beginning because Great Britain had given notice of the termination of the British-Japanese Alliance (afterwards superseded by the Four Power Treaty). Japan which was single-handedly confronting the Anglo-Saxon combination found a certain support in the French. The situation was extremely critical. Meanwhile bitter struggles took place between the various parties in Japan. The military party, scorning concession and compromise, had one of its subjects assassinate Prime Minister Hara who, it was thought, would lend the American demands a willing ear, and, having accomplished this, organized an attempt on the life of Hara’s successor, Takashi. By means of open terror and the mobilization of all its forces, the military party finally achieved its end in Tokyo. Japan’s emperor, too, retired from public life during those weeks, suffering from an “incurable malady”, and was succeeded by the rather young and harmless crown prince. On the other side, however, the old Prince Yanagata, the leader of the military party, died suddenly and unexpectedly.
The true import of all these occurrences can only be guessed, as the Japanese police, by an extensive and elaborate censorship, guard against the truth becoming known abroad. One thing is certain, however, namely that in spite of all their smiles and courtesy the Japanese have not yielded as much as one inch in Washington. They do not think of evacuating China and Eastern Siberia, all American protest notwithstanding. And as for the naval disarmament ratio – who can penetrate the secrets of the Japanese shipyards?
President Harding had two alternatives, each of them involving very grave decisions. He could either break up the Conference and declare war on Japan or imitate the ostrich and, shutting his eyes to the Japanese manoeuvres, tell the world that everything was well. The first alternative would have meant a moral defeat both of the Republican Party in power and of the president himself. The American population, suffering under high taxes and high prices, would not tolerate a war which would only result in a further decline of its standard of living. President Harding has staged his disarmament comedy in order to hoodwink millions of American farmers, petty bourgeois and workers. Consequently he could not admit failure and give up his rôle. So he expressed his satisfaction with the various scraps of paper and told his audience that Washington has triumphed and that with it mankind had entered upon a new phase in its history, The question remains whether or not the Senate with its matter-of-fact politicians will allow itself to be duped into ratification of the treaties.
The British government is even more urgently compelled to tell its electors that thanks to its endeavors disarmament and world peace are accomplished facts. Japan has not suffered in Washington and hence for the present has no reason to disturb the peace. The same applies to France. Thus everything that we Communists said from the very beginning about the diplomatic show at Washington, which has not solved anything, has come true. All conflicts remain what they were before. The only thing that has become quite clear is the disinclination on the part of Great Britain and the United States to enter upon a new war while the world is in the throes of an economic crisis and its peoples rather wearied. But the danger of a new conflagration still exists and will continue to do so until the international proletariat has asserted itself and ensured the world’s peace.
Last updated on 27 December 2018