House, Edward Mandell

Edward Mandell House

From Germany's Aims in the First World War by Fritz Fischer, 1967
. . . The Chancellorï¿½s aims relating to Belgium played an especially important part in Bethmann Hollwegï¿½s general scheme, as was apparent when Colonel House, President Wilsonï¿½s friend and special emissary, visited him in Berlin at the end of January, 1916. this renewed offer of mediation, coming from the greatest neutral power, obviously offered unique opportunities for skilful diplomacy. Bethmann Hollweg began by saying that a condition for lasting peace was that Germany must in future be safe from threat, either from Poland or from Belgium ; he was also asking for compensation for northern France, which France would have to pay. Houseï¿½s primary interest was naturally in a settlement between Germany and Britain. To this Bethmann Hollweg answered, as he had often done on other occasions, that from the day he became Chancellor he had dreamed of an understanding with Britain adhered to by America,, a triple alliance which would have guaranteed the peace of the world ; this has been a long-term objective compared with which he had thought the breach of Belgian neutrality a small thing. House assured him that Britain trusted him, Jagow, Zimmermann and Solf, but mistrusted the military party. Bethmann Hollweg replied ï¿½with the greatest decision, that no one and nothing stands between me and the Emperorï¿½. . . .
( pages 213-14 )

Contrary to the view usually taken by German historians that the German government was prepared to accept American mediation in the spring of 1915, the documents show that the Wilhelmstrasse did indeed agree to the Presidentï¿½s request to allow his confidant, Colonel House, to make an informative tour of the European capitals, but laid down such conditions in practice that House's mission was, so far as Germany was concerned, foredoomed to failure. House had said that a meeting of the ambassadors of the Entente powers in Washington had agree with him that the evacuation and compensation of Belgium by Germany and a plan for general disarmament would constitute a suitable basis for peace negotiations. The German government at once rejected this basis decisively. Form the first, therefore, the question of Belgium was the point on which Germany refused to retract from the position achieved by her in September, 1914, and that which proved the decisive obstacle to a settlement with Britain and, later, with America.
The sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, and the death of a number of American citizens (118 of the 1,198 victims were Americans) a few weeks after the opening of unrestricted submarine warfare produced such excitement in America that public opinion forced the White House to threaten Germany with a breach of diplomatic relations and possibly even with war. In Germany, on the other hand, Wilsonï¿½s demands produced violent differences within the government on how the American note should be answered, until finally, unwilling to face was with America, Germany retreated and abandoned unrestricted submarine warfare.
( pages 283-84 )

. . . Bethmann had once again put out peace feelers towards Britain in the spring of 1916. Reports had reached him that Grey and Lloyd George were not entirely averse to peace, and they were confirmed by the Chancellorï¿½s conversations with Colonel House in February, 1916. House had just arrived from England, and reported that Britain was out of humour with America. Grey and Lloyd George were not al all so disinclined towards peace as he had expected. Britainï¿½s peace conditions, according to House, were the evacuation by Germany of Belgium, northern France and Poland, but no war indemnity. He said that Lloyd George had expressly assured Germany all her colonial possession and a free hand against Russia.¹ The British offer raised what was for Germany the decisive question, the recognition of the status quo in the west, i.e., renunciation of Belgium. For this, however, the German government was not prepared. The Chancellor told House that the restoration of Belgium and Poland would have been possible earlier, but now Germany could not consider it. His Reichstag speech of April, 5, 1916, in which for the first time he said publicly that Germany could not accept a return to the Status quo, was inevitably taken both by the British statesmen and by House and Wilson as a further decided rejection by Germany of their proposals.
¹ See Müller, op. cit. [Regierte der Kaiser ?, Göttingen, 1959], p. 152. House seems to have regarded his mission less as an attempt to bring about an early peace in Europe, than as a move to prevent Wilsonï¿½s attempted mediation from resulting in an estrangement between the two Anglo-Saxon powers. This is made clear by the Grey-House memorandum of February 22, 1916, which contains, besides a description of the bases of a possible peace, the promise that America was prepared to enter the war on the side of the Allies if Germany rejected mediation on this basis. The bases of peace given in this document are the same as those communicated by House to Berlin, except that Alsace-Lorraine is to be restored to France . . .
( page 286 )

( Griff nach der Weltmacht, Düsseldorf : Droste, 1961. )
Translation copyright 1967 by Norton and Chatto & Windus.
New York : W. W. Norton & Company, 1967.

Comment these are some of the earlier notes made by me : as William James had observed somewhere, the researcher does not always find what he had first wanted to find ; all in all I do not suppose that the above be very relevant to-day ; some other problems of the period may be present. (WPT)

Bibliographic : http://melvyl.cdlib.org
Author Mason, Madeline, 1908- Title Riding for Texas; the true adventures of Captain Bill McDonald of the Texas Rangers, as told by Colonel Edward M. House to Tyler Mason; with a foreword by Colonel House Publisher New York, A. L. Burt [c1936] Description xii p., 1 l., 229 p. 20 cm Language English Note "Portions of this book first appeared serially in Liberty under the title 'Hell in boots.'"
Author House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938. Title The intimate papers of Colonel House arranged as a narrative by Charles Seymour ... Publisher Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin company, 1926-28. Description 4 v. fronts., 1 illus., plates, ports., map, facsims. 25 cm. Language English Contents I. Behind the political curtain, 1912-1915.--II. From neutrality to war, 1915-1917.--III. Into the world war, April 1917-June 1918.--IV. The ending of the war, June, 1918-August, 1919.
Author Macphail, Andrew, Sir, 1864-1938. Title Three persons [by] Sir Andrew Macphail. Publisher New York, Montreal, L. Carrier and Co.; London, J. Murray, 1929. Description 346 p. 3 port. 23 cm. Note "Third edition (First North American printing)" Contents Sir Henry Wilson.--Colonel House.--Colonel Lawrence. Language English Subject House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938. Wilson, Henry Hughes, Sir, 1864-1922. Lawrence, T. E. (Thomas Edward), 1888-1935.
Author House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938. Title The League of Nations interpreted as a present reality, by Colonel E.M. House, Sir Robert Borden, Lord Robert Cecil, Frederick Dixon; being letters, editorials and articles reprinted from the International interpreter. Publisher New York : Interpreter Publishing Corporation, [c1923] Description 32 p. illus. (ports.) 19 cm. Series [The International interpreter. Reprints: no. 1]
Title The World Court, by Warren G. Harding, Charles Evans Hughes, Elihu Root, John Hessin Clarke, Herbert Hoover [and] Edward Mandell House. Publisher Boston, World Peace Foundation [1923?] Description 76 p. 20 cm. Series League of Nations,vol. 6, no. 1
Author House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938, Title What really happened at Paris; the story of the Peace Conference, 1918-1919, by American delegates, ed. by Edward Mandell House ... and Charles Seymour ... Publisher New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1921. Description xiii p., 1 ., 528 p. illus. (maps) 22 cm. Language English Note A series of talks given at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, 1920-21. --Appendix: Stenographic notes of questions asked and answers given after the lectures in Philadelphia. Contents Preparations for peace, by S. E. Mezes.--The atmosphere and organization of the Peace conference, by C. Day.--The new boundaries of Germany, by C. H. Haskins.--Poland, by R. H. Lord.--The end of an empire: remnants of Austria-Hungary, by C. Seymour.--Flume and the Adriatic problem, by D. W. Johnson.--Constantinople and the Balkans, by I. Bowman.--The Armenian problem and the disruption of Turkey, by W. L. Westermann.--The protection of minorities and natives in transferred territories, by M. O. Hudson.--The trial of the Kaiser, by J. B. Scott.--Reparations, by T. W. Lamont.--The economic settlement, by A. A. Young. The labor clauses of the treaty, by S. Gompers.--The economic adminstration during the armistice, by H. Hoover.--The Atlantic fleet in the great war, by H. T. Mayo.--The problem of disarmament, by T. H. Bliss.--The making of the League of Nations, by D. H. Miller.--The Versailles peace in restrospect, by E. M. House. Subject House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938, ed. Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) Treaty of Versailles (1919)
Author House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938. Title Philip Dru, administrator : a story of tomorrow, 1920-1935. Publisher New York : B.W. Huebsch, 1920, c1912. Description 312 p. ; 20 cm. Language English Note Attributed to: Edward Mandell House.
Author House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938. Title Philip Dru: administrator; a story of tomorrow, 1920-1935 ... Publisher New York : B. W. Huebsch, 1912. Description 4 p. L., 312 p. 20 cm.

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