International Peace Conference

In the context of President Jimmy Carter’s work negotiating a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, William C. Sexton reviews President Theodore Roosevelt’s mediation of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and argues that Roosevelt’s actions set the table for future presidents to act as peacemakers. He looks at Roosevelt’s actions during the negotiations, reviews some of his administration’s other accomplishments, and says that advances in technology like those pioneered by the Wright brothers added to America’s power and prestige.

A listing of the Officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association is found on the second page of this article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Emperor William II assures President Roosevelt that everything Andrew Carnegie heard in London was “foul and filthy lies” to harm relations between Germany and the United States. He says that King Edward VII disapproves of the Hague Peace Conference, and fears that it will increase “friction.” Emperor William also disapproves of it, but insists that Germany is not building its naval strength with “aggressive tendencies.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907

List of unknown origin titled “American Members of the League for International Conciliation,” enclosed with a letter created by Nobel Prize winner Nicholas Murray Butler. Andrew Carnegie and Andrew D. White are listed as “Honorary Presidents,” 12 people are listed under “Council of Direction,” and 46 people are listed as “Members.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-05

The author offers commentary on portions of President Roosevelt’s recent message to Congress, especially those pertaining to war. The author criticizes Roosevelt’s prioritization of military strength and his desire to spend more on the military, especially when he could have led a push for armament limitation in the Hague Conference. A handwritten note to Roosevelt from Secretary of State Root reads, “Your name which it is mud. I am an angel.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01

The London Times criticizes the recent peace conference in the Hague, finding that the delegates have avoided most of the hard questions at hand. While the aims of the conference for the equality of nations and the limitations of arms are laudable, most aims of the conference cannot reasonably be enforced and rely upon the goodwill of more powerful nations such as Great Britain, Germany, and the United States.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-19

Representatives from many foreign nations converge on the figure of Peace, who is returning weapons to each ruler. Edward VII, King of Great Britain; Emile Loubet; and William II, Emperor of Germany are walking away with their arms full. Andrew Carnegie stands off to the left handing out sheets of paper labeled “Words & Music of the Conference.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Puck magazine’s reliably cynical cartoonist Carl Hassmann addressed the Second International Peace Conference at The Hague, Netherlands, as he had when it was first called, idealistically, by United States Secretary of State John Hay shortly before his death; and as the mutually suspicious latent antagonists convened; and during the posturing of poseurs — monarchs who had no intention to limit arms or agree to land-war treaties they had no intentions of obeying.

A sickly looking dove is caught in a birdcage fashioned from rifles and swords, with “Powder” kegs at the ends of a perch labeled “Peace Conference,” and topped with the flags of “England, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Japan, Russia, Spain, [and] U.S.” Caption: “Caged.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The second Hague Peace Conference — formally, the International Tribunal on Regulations Concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land — was generally regarded as a bust before it began a few months subsequent to Puck‘s cover cartoon.

A visitors’ gallery at the 2nd Peace Conference at the Hague shows tyrants, invaders, and conquerors seated, including: Frederik II, Oliver Cromwell, Ramses, William I, Hannibal, Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, Richard the Lion Hearted, Caesar, Saladin, Napoleon I, Charlemagne, and Theodorick. They are all laughing.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The Second International Peace Congress at the Hague — considered the last and most idealistic act of United States Secretary of State John Hay before he died in 1905 —  might have died stillborn because most nations of the civilized world were arming and re-arming at alarming rates at the time. Even the world’s most prominent peace advocate, Andrew Carnegie, who financed many of the conference’s expenses, had sold massive quantities of armor-plate and steel that was clearly to be used for battleships and weapons.

Secretary of State Hay encloses two conventions and one resolution from the Hague Peace Conferences that have received the consent of the Senate. The acts were previously ratified by President William McKinley but their proclamation had been delayed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-01