persons in other countries or of persons in other classes in their own country—these
things, it seems to me, have brought many of the things which they and I hold dear close
to disaster. In this Group were persons like Esher, Grey, Milner, Hankey, and Zimmern,
who must command the admiration and affection of all who know of them. On the other
hand, in this Group were persons whose lives have been a disaster to our way of life.
Unfortunately, in the long run, both in the Group and in the world, the influence of the
latter kind has been stronger than the influence of the former.
This has been my personal attitude. Little of it, I hope, has penetrated to the pages
which follow. I have been told that the story I relate here would be better left untold,
since it would provide ammunition for the enemies of what I admire. I do not share this
view. The last thing I should wish is that anything I write could be used by the
Anglophobes and isolationists of the Chicago Tribune. But I feel that the truth has a right
to be told, and, once told, can be an injury to no men of good will. Only by a knowledge
of the errors of the past is it possible to correct the tactics of the future.
Carroll Quigley
1949
Chapter 1—Introduction
One wintry afternoon in February 1891, three men were engaged in earnest
conversation in London. From that conversation were to flow consequences of the
greatest importance to the British Empire and to the world as a whole. For these men
were organizing a secret society that was, for more than fifty years, to be one of the most
important forces in the formulation and execution of British imperial and foreign policy.
The three men who were thus engaged were already well known in England. The
leader was Cecil Rhodes, fabulously wealthy empire-builder and the most important
person in South Africa. The second was William T. Stead, the most famous, and probably
also the most sensational, journalist of the day. The third was Reginald Baliol Brett, later
known as Lord Esher, friend and confidant of Queen Victoria, and later to be the most
influential adviser of King Edward VII and King George V.
The details of this important conversation will be examined later. At present we need
only point out that the three drew up a plan of organization for their secret society and a
list of original members. The plan of organization provided for an inner circle, to be
known as "The Society of the Elect," and an outer circle, to be known as "The
Association of Helpers." Within The Society of the Elect, the real power was to be
exercised by the leader, and a "Junta of Three." The leader was to be Rhodes, and the
Junta was to be Stead, Brett, and Alfred Milner. In accordance with this decision, Milner
was added to the society by Stead shortly after the meeting we have described.(1)
The creation of this secret society was not a matter of a moment. As we shall see,
Rhodes had been planning for this event for more than seventeen years. Stead had been
introduced to the plan on 4 April 1889, and Brett had been told of it on 3 February 1890.
Nor was the society thus founded an ephemeral thing, for, in modified form, it exists to
this day. From 1891 to 1902, it was known to only a score of persons. During this period,
Rhodes was leader, and Stead was the most influential member. From 1902 to 1925,
Milner was leader, while Philip Kerr (Lord Lothian) and Lionel Curtis were probably the
most important members. From 1925 to 1940, Kerr was leader, and since his death in
1940 this role has probably been played by Robert Henry Brand (now Lord Brand).
During this period of almost sixty years, this society has been called by various
names. During the first decade or so it was called "the secret society of Cecil Rhodes" or
"the dream of Cecil Rhodes." In the second and third decades of its existence it was
known as "Milner's Kindergarten" (1901-1910) and as "the Round Table Group" (1910-
1920). Since 1920 it has been called by various names, depending on which phase of its
activities was being examined. It has been called " The Times crowd," "the Rhodes
crowd," the "Chatham House crowd," the "All Souls group," and the "Cliveden set." All of these terms were more or less inadequate, because they focused attention on only part
of the society or on only one of its activities. The Milner Kindergarten and the Round
Table Group, for example, were two different names for The Association of Helpers and
were thus only part of the society, since the real center of the organization, The Society of
the Elect, continued to exist and recruited new members from the outer circle as seemed
necessary. Since 1920, this Group has been increasingly dominated by the associates of
Viscount Astor. In the 1930s, the misnamed "Cliveden set" was close to the center of the
society, but it would be entirely unfair to believe that the connotations of superficiality
and conspiracy popularly associated with the expression "Cliveden set" are a just
description of the Milner Group as a whole. In fact, Viscount Astor was, relatively
speaking, a late addition to the society, and the society should rather be pictured as
utilizing the Astor money to further their own ideals rather than as being used for any
purpose by the master of Cliveden.
Even the expression "Rhodes secret society," which would be perfectly accurate in
reference to the period 1891-1899, would hardly be accurate for the period after 1899.
The organization was so modified and so expanded by Milner after the eclipse of Stead in
1899, and especially after the death of Rhodes in 1902, that it took on quite a different
organization and character, although it continued to pursue the same goals. To avoid this
difficulty, we shall generally call the organization the"Rhodes secret society" before 1901
and "the Milner Group" after this date, but it must be understood that both terms refer to
the same organization.
This organization has been able to conceal its existence quite successfully, and many
of its most influential members, satisfied to possess the reality rather than the appearance
of power, are unknown even to close students of British history. This is the more
surprising when we learn that one of the chief methods by which this Group works has
been through propaganda. It plotted the Jameson Raid of 1895; it caused the Boer War of
1899-1902; it set up and controls the Rhodes Trust; it created the Union of South Africa
in 1906-1910; it established the South African periodical The State in 1908; it founded
the British Empire periodical The Round Table in 1910, and this remains the mouthpiece
of the Group; it has been the most powerful single influence in All Souls, Balliol, and
New Colleges at Oxford for more than a generation; it has controlled The Times for more
than fifty years, with the exception of the three years 1919-1922, it publicized the idea of
and the name "British Commonwealth of Nations" in the period 1908-1918, it was the
chief influence in Lloyd George's war administration in 1917-1919 and dominated the
British delegation to the Peace Conference of 1919; it had a great deal to do with the
formation and management of the League of Nations and of the system of mandates; it
founded the Royal Institute of International Affairs in 1919 and still controls it; it was
one of the chief influences on British policy toward Ireland, Palestine, and India in the
period 1917-1945; it was a very important influence on the policy of appeasement of
Germany during the years 1920-1940; and it controlled and still controls, to a very