Tying Up the Loose Ends of National Self-Determination

British, French, and American Experts in Peace Planning, 1917–1919

Bibliographic Data

ID8958822
AuthorsVolker Prott (0000-0002-9000-9986, University of Tübingen, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume57
Issue3
Pages727-750
Publication date2014-08-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Historical Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0018246x14000041
OpenAlexW2165367865
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited29

This article examines Allied peace planning during the latter stages of the First World War by comparing and connecting the British, French, and American expert groups. These academic experts were expected to apply the publicly announced programme of national self-determination to the local realities in Europe without losing sight of their governments’ geopolitical directives. Contacts and exchanges between the three groups, largely neglected in the literature, played a crucial role in shaping the experts’ work. At the same time, persisting national suspicion and the fragile institutional position of the experts prevented open debate on the precise meaning of national self-determination and thereby forestalled the development of a coherent Allied peace programme. This shortcoming would become a serious burden for the negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference and the early interwar period, in that it led to growing frustration and undermined Allied commitment to the Paris peace treaties

Geopolitics · Negotiation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Tying · Work (physics · Engineering · European Political History Analysis · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Law · Public Administration · World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact

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