Allied Maritime Transport Council

The Allied Maritime Transport Council (AMTC, German Allied Maritime Transport Committee ) formed a supranational coordination unit for the distribution of the Allied seagoing ships (transport pool) and for the supplementary military and civilian supply of the Allies during the final phase of the First World War, after it had been found that the supply could no longer be adequately guaranteed by national authorities and the market with regard to the capacities of seagoing vessels and the purchasing of national authorities and agents.

This was particularly the case after the German Reich had again proclaimed unlimited submarine warfare on January 31, 1917 and had also started and subsequently more than 500,000 GRT were destroyed by the German submarines every month .

Foundation and members

The AMTC was founded on the occasion of a conference in London (November 3, 1917). Étienne Clémentel and Louis Loucheur participated as leading negotiators for France, Giovanni Villa and Silvio Crespi for Italy , Raymond B. Stevens and George Rublee for the USA and Robert Cecil and James Maclay for the United Kingdom .

The US only formally joined the AMTC on October 1, 1918.

Institution, body and decision-making

The AMTC was an international institution with equal representation. The AMTC already had seven existing allied " executives " as a model , with which the war economic supply of the European allies has been ensured so far.

The AMTC consisted of four “ Executives ”: for transport, purchasing, tonnage and statistics. The Allied Maritime Transport Executive (AMTE), which was constituted in March 1918, formed the most important department.

The main representatives were Jean Monnet for France , Bernardo Attolico for Italy , George Rublee for the USA and James Arthur Salter for the United Kingdom .

resolution

The AMTC went into the " Supreme Economic Council " in March 1919 . The AMTC " executives " have been dissolved.

literature

James Arthur Salter, Allied Shipping Control , Oxford 1921.
Jean Monnet, " Memories of a European ", Carl Hansens Verlag, 1978, ISBN 3-446-12421-7

Sources and References

↑ Jean Monnet , “ Memories of a European ”, p. 76 f.
↑ For wheat, oil, grain, fat, sugar, meat and nitrates. Through this executive, among other things, an attempt was made to ensure that the allies did not appear as competitors in procurement on the world market. This coordination was also seen as an allied "cartel" and accordingly criticized, as it partially switched off or circumvented market forces.
^ The Supreme Economic Council was founded on the occasion of the Paris peace negotiations in February 1919.

[1] Jean Monnet , “ Memories of a European ”, p. 76 f.

[2] For wheat, oil, grain, fat, sugar, meat and nitrates. Through this executive, among other things, an attempt was made to ensure that the allies did not appear as competitors in procurement on the world market. This coordination was also seen as an allied "cartel" and accordingly criticized, as it partially switched off or circumvented market forces.

[3] The Supreme Economic Council was founded on the occasion of the Paris peace negotiations in February 1919.