Peacemaking, 1919

by Harold Nicolson

“Of all branches of human endeavor, diplomacy is the most protean.” That is how Harold Nicolson begins this book. It is an apt opening. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919, attended by 32 nations, had the supremely challenging task of attempting to bring about a lasting peace after the global catastrophe of the Great War. Harold Nicolson was a member of the British delegation.

Nicolson's book is in two parts. In the first, he provides an account of the conference, in the second his diary covering his six month stint. There is a piquant counterpoise between the two. Of his diary he writes, 'I should wish it to be read as people read the reminiscences of a subaltern in the trenches. There is the same distrust of headquarters; the same irritation against the staff-officer who interrupts; the same belief that one's own sector is the centre of the battle-front; the same conviction that one is, with great nobility of soul, winning the war quite single-handed.' The diary ends with prophetic disillusionment, 'To bed, sick of life.' As a first-hand account of one of the most important events shaping the modern world this book remains a classic.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War

311 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1933

About the author

Sir Harold George Nicolson KCVO CMG was an English diplomat, author, diarist and politician. He was the husband of writer Vita Sackville-West, their unusual relationship being described in their son's book, Portrait of a Marriage.

Reviews

[Simon Dobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A minor participant's view of the making of the Treaty of Versailles.

It's strange to see the inside view: strange to realise that the things that later generations perceived were mistakes were often understood to be mistakes at the time – but that events carried the negotiators along, and their differing beliefs and goals, as well as their incongruent personalities, made it impossible to avoid the consequences. Many world statesmen appear, and most come out reasonably well – the exception being Woodrow Wilson. This book is a great precursor, and complement, to the histories of the run-up to the next war and helps contextualise many of the events that often seem inexplicable.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

quite an unique look back at the Treaty of Versailles by someone (Brit diplomat) who was initially very taken by Wilson's goals. Published in 1933 and based on his diary, it documents why the peace process was flawed, and given the political/popular sentiments in Britain, US, and France, why Wilson and others could not get a more reasonable settlement.

Wilson (and Nicolson) understood that harsh, punitive terms for Germany would lead to bad outcomes in the future. Nicolson

[Tom DeMarco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readable, slightly quirky first-hand account of the Paris peace conference. Nice companion-piece to Macmillan.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read in a couple of years. Yes the language and assumptions (readers, historians, future treaty writers will all be men) as well as a definite whiff of anti-semitism and his blanket views of South Easter Europe - The Turk, the Magyar, the Bulgar are very Victorian, but once you get past that and realise it's written 100 year ago by someone born in Victorian times, it is truly superb.
He is very good on the characters of the main players, especially the often hagiographically described Woodrow Wilson and doesn't shy from the faults of his British team. His description of the jingoistic Daily Mail, it's owner and The Times newspapers and the 1918 intake of new MPs reads like he is predicting UK 2015!
In the second half of the book, the diary, he really does express the complexity of redrawing national boundaries, the ethnic trouble it is still causing today in to name a few: Azerbaijan, Palestine, the Balkans, Syria, again seems prescient
As a book describing the end of WWI it makes a great bookend to Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August describing the beginning

[Alan Saltman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicholson provides a lot of information in a book that is easily digested.