Washington and the Riddle of Peace

Herbert George Wells

• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Year: 2019
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9782322171521
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Science Fiction
• Index: Literature

This fate is not threatening civilization; it is happening to civilization before our eyes. The ship of civilization is not going to sink in five years' time or in fifty years' time. It is sinking now. -from "The Immensity of the Issue and the Triviality of Man" In the wake of World War I, the victor nations came together to shape the postwar era... and in doing so, laid the ground for the next great war. That was already obvious in 1921, when H. G. Wells gathered in one volume his essays for the New York World, the Chicago Tribune, and other American and European newspapers written in reaction to what he saw and heard at the Washington Conference to organize the peace. Though known, along with Jules Verne, as one of the 19th-century fathers of science fiction, here Wells explores more down-to-earth issues, from the "problem" of Russia and Japan-and how little could hope to be accomplished at this conference without their participation-to the "economic decadence" of the world and how to arrest it. Wells' intriguing foresight shines through, making this a fascinating document of the international disaster of the World Wars. British author HERBERT GEORGE WELLS (1866-1946) is best known for his groundbreaking science fiction novels The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). ALSO FROM COSIMO: Wells's God the Invisible King, A Short History of the World, and The Soul of a Bishop

Table of contents

• Pages de titre
• INTRODUCTION
• I THE IMMENSITY OF THE ISSUE AND THE TRIVIALITY OF MEN
• II ARMAMENTS THE FUTILITY OF MERE LIMITATION
• III THE TRAIL OF VERSAILLES
• IV THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR
• V THE PRESIDENT AT ARLINGTON
• VI THE FIRST MEETING
• VII WHAT IS JAPAN?
• VIII CHINA IN THE BACKGROUND
• IX THE FUTURE OF JAPAN
• X “SECURITY”—THE NEW AND BEAUTIFUL CATCHWORD
• XI FRANCE IN THE LIMELIGHT
• XII THUS FAR
• XIII THE LARGER QUESTION BEHIND THE CONFERENCE
• XIV THE REAL THREAT TO CIVILIZATION
• XV THE POSSIBLE BREAKDOWN OF CIVILIZATION
• XVI WHAT OF AMERICA?
• XVII EBB TIDE AT WASHINGTON
• XVIII AMERICA AND ENTANGLING ALLIANCES
• XIX AN ASSOCIATION OF NATIONS
• XX FRANCE AND ENGLAND—THE PLAIN FACTS OF THE CASE
• XXI A REMINDER ABOUT WAR
• XXII SOME STIFLED VOICES
• XXIII INDIA, THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND THE ASSOCIATION OF NATIONS
• XXIV THE OTHER END OF PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE—THE SIEVE FOR GOOD INTENTIONS
• XXV AFRICA AND THE ASSOCIATION OF NATIONS
• XXVI THE FOURTH PLENARY SESSION
• XXVII ABOUT THE WAR DEBTS
• XXVIII THE FOUNDATION STONE AND THE BUILDING
• XXIX WHAT A STABLY ORGANIZED WORLD PEACE MEANS FOR MANKIND
• Copyright