date settlement, and that security depended, not merely on public opinion but on ability to
bring effective military superiority to bear at the critical point. On the other hand, The
Round Table is resolutely in favour of adequate defensive armaments and of a vigorous
and if necessary defiant foreign policy at those points where we are sure that . . . we can
bring superior power effectively to bear. And for this purpose we consider that the
nations of the Commonwealth should not only act together themselves, but should also
work in the closest cooperation with all the democracies, especially the United States.”
In February 1938, Lord Lothian, "leader" of the Group, spoke in the House of Lords in
support of appeasement. This extraordinary speech was delivered in defense of the
retiring of Sir Robert Vansittart. Sir Robert, as Permanent Under Secretary in the Foreign
Office from 1930 to 1938, was a constant thorn in the side of the appeasers. The opening
of the third stage of appeasement at the end of 1937 made it necessary to get rid of him
and his objections to their policy. Accordingly, he was "promoted" to the newly created
post of Chief Diplomatic Adviser, and the Under Secretaryship was given to Sir
Alexander Cadogan of the Cecil Bloc. This action led to a debate in February 1938. Lord
Lothian intervened to insist that Sir Robert's new role would not be parallel to that of the
new Under Secretary but was restricted to advising only on "matters specifically referred
to him by the Secretary of State, and he is no longer responsible for the day to day work
of the Office." From this point, Lothian launched into a long attack on the League of
Nations, followed by a defense of Germany. In regard to the former, he expressed
satisfaction that
“the most dangerous aspect of the League of Nations—namely, the interpretation
which has habitually been put upon it by the League of Nations Union in this country—is
pretty well dead.... It seems to me that that [interpretation] is inevitably going to turn the
League of Nations itself not into an instrument for maintaining peace but into an
instrument for making war. That was not the original concept of the League at all. The
original concept of the League definitely left the way open for alteration after six months'
examination even if it meant war.... I think the League of Nations now, at last, is going to
have a chance of recovery, for the reason that this particular interpretation, which has
been its besetting sin, the one thing which has led to its failure from the beginning, is now
dead. . . . Therefore I am more hopeful of the League today than I have been for a good
long time, because it has ceased to be an instrument to try to perpetuate the status quo.”
When Lothian turned to the problem of Germany, his arguments became even more
ridiculous. "The fundamental problem of the world today is still the problem of
Germany.... Why is Germany the issue? In my view the fundamental reason is that at no
time in the years after 1919 has the rest of the world been willing to concede any
substantial justice or reasonable understanding to Germany, either when she was a
Republic or since she has become a Totalitarian State." There followed a long attack on
the war guilt thesis as applied to 1914, or even to 1870. This thesis Lothian
called"propaganda," and from this false propaganda he traced all the cruel treatment
given Germany since 1919. He disapproved of the Nazi Government's methods inside
Germany, but added: 'Ì do not think there is any doubt that modern Germany is the result
of the policy of the United States, whom I cannot absolve from responsibility, of
ourselves, and of France; and in this matter the responsibility of the United States and
ourselves is more than that of France for defaulting on the obligation to give France some
security so that she could allow Germany to recover."
It seems impossible that this could be the same man who was calling for the
extirpation of "Prussianism" in 1908-1918 and who was to call for the same crusade as
Ambassador in Washington in 1940.
In this same speech Lothian laid down what might be called the Milner Group solution
to this German problem, 1938 modeclass="underline"
“There is only one solution to this problem. You have got to combine collective
justice with collective security. You have got to give remedies to those nations which are
entitled to them.... You have got to be willing to concede to them—and one of them is
Germany—alterations in the status quo and you have also got to incur obligations with
other like-minded nations to resist changes which go beyond what impartial justice
regards as fair.... When we are willing to admit that we are ourselves largely responsible
for the tragedy that confronts us, for the fact that Germany is the center of the world
problem, and are willing to concede to Germany what a fair-minded and impartial
authority would say was a fair solution
of her problem, and if, in addition to that, we are willing to say, We will meet aggression
to secure more than this with the only means in which it can be met, then I consider there
is hope for the world.”
The fallacy in all of this rests on the fact that every concession to Germany made her
stronger, with no guarantee that she ever would stop; and if, after years of concessions,
she refused to stop, she might be too strong to be compelled to do so. The Milner Group
thesis was based not only on ignorance but also on logical deficiencies. The program of
the Chamberlain group was at least more consistent, since it involved no effort to stop
Germany at any point but aimed to solve the German problem by driving it into Russia.
Such an "immoral" solution could not be acceptable to the Milner Group, so they should
have had sense enough to stop Germany while she was weak.
Shortly after this speech, on 24 February 1938, Lothian intervened in the debate on
Eden's resignation to reject Eden's point of view and defend Chamberlain's. He rejected
the idea that Britain should commit herself to support Czechoslovakia against Germany
and criticized the President of Czechoslovakia for his failure to make concessions to
Republican Germany. He then repeated his speech of the week before, the chief addition
being a defense of the German remilitarization of the Rhineland in March 1936.
Four days after the seizure of Austria, Lothian again advised against any new pledges
to anyone and demanded rearmament and national service. In regard to rearmament he
said: "Unpreparedness and the belief that you are unwilling to accept that challenge or
that you do not mean what you say, does contribute to war. That will remain to be a
condition of the world until the nations are willing in some way to pool their sovereignty
in a common federation."
All of these ideas of Lothian's were explicitly restated by him in a speech at Chatham
House on 24 March 1938. He refuted the"war-guilt thesis," condemned the Versailles
settlement as "a very stiff Peace Treaty," insisted on revision, blamed all the disasters of
Europe on America's withdrawal from the League in 1920, called the Hitler government a
temporary "unnatural pathological state" solely caused by the stiff treaty and the failure to
revise it, defended the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the seizure of Austria,
condemned Czechoslovakia as "almost the only racially heterogeneous State left in
Europe," praised "nonintervention" in Spain, praised Chamberlain's statement of the same
day refusing to promise support to Czechoslovakia, and demanded "national service" as