Washington and the Riddle of Peace

H. G. Wells (1866 - 1946)

As an observer at the WASHINGTON CONFERENCE FOR THE LIMITATION OF ARMAMENTS held in 1921 and attended by the victorious nations of The Great War, the acclaimed author H. G. Wells wrote 29 short essays that were serialized in the New York World and other newspapers. This book is a collection of those essays. They are not a record or description of the Conference, but the impressions of one visitor. Wells noted that the failed League of Nations was the first American initiative toward an organized world peace, and in its absence “the American mind has produced this second experiment, which has been tried with the loosest of constitutions and the most severely defined and limited of aims. Instead of a world constitution we have had a world conversation.”
The essays relate “one observer’s conviction of how things can be done, and of how they need to be done, if our civilization is indeed to be rescued from the dangers that encompass it and set again upon the path of progress.” While history would not bear out all of Wells’ various expressions of optimism and pessimism, his vision of world peace nevertheless remains relevant today. ( Lee Smalley)

Genre(s): Political Science

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Introduction, and The Immensity of the Issue and the Triviality of Men Lee Smalley
00:24:03
Play 02 Armaments the Futility of Mere Limitation Lee Smalley
00:17:14
Play 03 The Trail of Versailles Two Great Powers Are Silent and Absent Lee Smalley
00:19:18
Play 04 The Unknown Soldier of the Great War Lee Smalley
00:09:49
Play 05 The President at Arlington Lee Smalley
00:10:21
Play 06 The First Meeting Lee Smalley
00:09:55
Play 07 What Is Japan? Lee Smalley
00:15:09
Play 08 China in the Background Lee Smalley
00:12:17
Play 09 The Future of Japan Lee Smalley
00:13:41
Play 10 'Security'—the New and Beautiful Catchword Lee Smalley
00:08:06
Play 11 France in the Limelight Lee Smalley
00:13:13
Play 12 Thus Far Lee Smalley
00:09:35
Play 13 The Larger Question behind the Conference Lee Smalley
00:08:26
Play 14 The Real Threat to Civilization Lee Smalley
00:11:10
Play 15 The Possible Breakdown of Civilization Lee Smalley
00:09:18
Play 16 What of America? Lee Smalley
00:12:08
Play 17 Ebb Tide at Washington Lee Smalley
00:12:23
Play 18 America and Entangling Alliances Lee Smalley
00:11:05
Play 19 An Association of Nations Lee Smalley
00:11:30
Play 20 France and England—the Plain Facts of the Case Lee Smalley
00:10:18
Play 21 A Reminder about War Lee Smalley
00:13:14
Play 22 Some Stifled Voices Lee Smalley
00:10:20
Play 23 India, the British Empire and the Association of Nations Lee Smalley
00:11:33
Play 24 The Other End of Pennsylvania Avenue—the Sieve for Good Intentions Lee Smalley
00:12:18
Play 25 Africa and the Association of Nations Lee Smalley
00:09:41
Play 26 The Fourth Plenary Session Lee Smalley
00:10:08
Play 27 About the War Debts Lee Smalley
00:10:31
Play 28 The Foundation Stone and the Building Lee Smalley
00:13:02
Play 29 What a Stably Organized World Peace Means For Mankind Lee Smalley
00:23:15