The Diplomats: 1919-1939

I'm concluding my study of the interwar period with this illuminating book, edited by Gordon A. Craig and Felix Gilbert.  Each chapter of the book is written by a different author/historian, each detailing the interwar career of a different diplomat.

I wanted to read the book to uncover the causes of WWII with an understanding of how the lessons of WWI didn't prevent it from happening.  There were many causes, of course, but here are some examples of what I've learned:

• Following WWI the business of diplomacy had an extraordinarily poor reputation because many thought it was the root cause of that war.  Many leaders throughout Europe didn't believe that foreign offices should be respected or put in positions of authority.  As a result, a lot of leaders undertook postwar negotiations themselves without the requisite knowledge or experience to broker long term peace.  Many of the real diplomats who could have possibly sidestepped WWII were left in the wings.
• The League of Nations lacked teeth.  It was envisioned as a forum to negotiate differences before they came to war.  But without a mechanism to enforce agreements it had no ability to curb the behavior of bad actors.  When Germany annexed Austria then Czechoslovakia, none of the Powers did anything to stop it.  They effectively demonstrated to Hitler that it was okay to overrun his neighbors.
• The financial crisis of the great depression brought about significant disruption that gave rise to unsteady leaders and political parties.  Hitler and his party were elected into power because of severe depression in Germany in the early 1930s.

Of course Hitler's demonic behavior was the true cause of World War II.  But the failure of the League of Nations and its member countries to penalize him early on was the necessary condition that empowered and enabled him to continue.

The book's only weakness was an almost complete focus on European diplomats, with just two chapters (out of a total of 21) on American diplomats and barely a nod to the Pacific theater with only one chapter on a Japanese diplomat.

And now I'm diving into World War II in its entirety, beginning with a biography of Hitler.