Lansdowne Letter

The "Lansdowne Letter" was named after a letter published by Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne which called for Britain to negotiate a peace with Imperial Germany during the Great War.

Background

In November 1916 Lansdowne circulated a paper to the Cabinet, in which he argued that the war would destroy civilization and that therefore peace should be negotiated on the basis of the "status quo ante bellum". [A. J. P. Taylor, "English History 1914 - 1945" (Oxford, 1990), p. 65.] Lansdowne's proposal received a hostile response from other Unionists in the Cabinet like Arthur Balfour and Robert Cecil. [Taylor, p. 65.]

Lansdowne invited the editor of "The Times", Geoffrey Dawson, to his house and showed him the letter he wanted to publish. Dawson was "appalled" and decided that publication would not be in the national interest. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_westminster_hour/4591977.stm Anthony Howard on "The Westminster Hour"] ] Lansdowne also showed the text to the Foreign Office who did not veto it. He then offered the letter to "The Daily Telegraph", which accepted it.

Publication

On the 29 November 1917 Lansdowne's letter was published in "The Daily Telegraph". It again called for a negotiated peace with Germany:

"We are not going to lose this war, but its prolongation will spell ruin for the civilised world, and an infinite addition to the load of human suffering which already weighs upon it...We do not desire the annihilation of Germany as a great power ... We do not seek to impose upon her people any form of government other than that of their own choice... We have no desire to deny Germany her place among the great commercial communities of the world" [http://www.norton-knatchbull.kent.sch.uk/history/20thbritain/page14.htm] ."

The letter also called for a guarantee of the 'freedom of the seas'.

Reaction

Lansdowne became a pariah and his letter "a deed of shame". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_westminster_hour/4591977.stm Anthony Howard on "The Westminster Hour"] ] Andrew Bonar Law publicly criticised Lansdowne's letter although President Wilson was said to be "impressed" by the letter's arguments. H. G. Wells said Lansdowne's letter "was the letter of a Peer who fears revolution more than national dishonour". [ [http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/0/2/9/10291/10291.htm H. G. Wells, "In the Fourth Year Anticipations of a World Peace" (1918)] ]

Military leaders dismissed Lansdowne's proposals. Douglas Haig said that the prospects for 1917 were "excellent". Sir William Robertson, when asked whether the war could be won, replied:

"Quite frankly, and at the same time quite respectfully, I can only say I am surprised that the question should be asked. The idea had not before entered my head that any member of His Majesty's Government had a doubt on the matter." [Taylor, p. 66.]

Most of the British press were critical of Lansdowne's proposals. "The Times" attacked it as did "The Morning Post" and "The Daily Mail". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_westminster_hour/4591977.stm Anthony Howard on "The Westminster Hour"] ] The "Manchester Guardian" and the "Daily News" welcomed the letter, as did the German press.

However, as post-war research has discovered, the German government under Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg would have rejected any "status quo ante bellum" peace offer but preferred a "vae victis" approach to the war. Bethmann Hollweg's own miniumum peace terms were Belgium and Poland under German control, German acquisition of the Belgian Congo, part of Persia, and the cession by France of her rich industrial area of Longwy-Briey to Germany. [Correlli Barnett, "The Great War" (BBC Worldwide Limited, 2003), p. 114.] [Taylor, p. 65.]

In February 1918 Lansdowne promoted his ideas by founding the Lansdowne Committee and by using his platform in the House of Lords.

Notes

Further reading

*Harold Kurtz, 'The Lansdowne Letter', "History Today", 18 (1968), pp. 84-92.

External links

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=980DE3DF1E3AE433A25753C3A9679D946696D6CF Text of the letter as republished in "The New York Times"]