wheeler-bennett

DOCUMENTS ON INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 1933 EDITED BY JOHN W. WHEELER-BENNETT PREFACE THE outstanding events of international interest during the year 1933 were connected, directly or indirectly, with the concentrated efforts to solve the problem which dominated all othersthe problem of FrancoGerman Relations and the attainment of a Disarmament Convention. There were undoubtedly other important aspects of international affairs during the same period, but all were over shadowed by the drama which was played first at Geneva and latterly in the capitals of Europe. For this reason the greater part of the Documents Volume for 1933 is devoted to Disarmament and its attendant problems of Security and of the German Claim to Equality. The 1932 Volume closed with the FivePower Agreement of December 11, which paved the way for the return of Germany to the Disarmament Conference in January 1933. The present volume, therefore, begins with the British Draft Convention of March 1933, and includes all relevant documents both on this phase and also on the negotiations which culminated in the signature of the FourPower Pact in July, the second withdrawal of Germany in October, and the subsequent diplomatic conversations between the Powers. Because these were prolonged until well into the spring of the present year, and because it was considered more useful to give a complete documentation of the subject, it was decided to include the memoranda exchanged up to the final French Note of April 17, 1934, which terminated the AngloFrench and Anglo German exchanges. The whole story up to the eve of the reconvening of the General Commission on May 29 is therefore to be found under one cover and is thus made easy for reference. Other important events of which the documents are given are the World Economic Conference, the principal pronouncements on the Gold Clause in international agreements, the negotiations which pre ceded the token War Debts payments to the United States in June and December, the situation created by the activities of the NationalSocialist Party in Austria, the German Concordat with the Holy See, the recognition of the U.S.S.R. by the United States, and the PanAmerican Conference at Montevideo. Dictates of space have necessitated the omission of much other interesting material. The difficulty of choice has been very great responsibility and blame for selection lies with the Editor. Some surprise may be felt that such vital documents as the laws governing the National Recovery Administration in the United States, the Italian Corporations Bill, and the Enabling Act passed by the German Reichstag onMarch 23, 1933, find no place in this volume. Undoubtedly these documents have very great international implica tions and repercussions, but in themselves they are matters of purely domestic legislation and therefore lie outside the terms of reference of a volume of Documents on International Affairs. All these docu ments, however, and many others, will be found in the collection of the Information Department at Chatham House and may be con sulted there.