Robert Lansing (politician)

Robert Lansing

Robert Lansing (* 17th October 1864 in Watertown , New York ; † 30th October 1928 ) was an in international issues experienced lawyer and from 1915 to 1920 Secretary of State (Secretary of State) of the United States of America .

Life

Lansing already gained experience as a constitutional lawyer before the First World War and was involved in several international conferences. In 1914 he became a "Counselor" in the US State Department - a kind of deputy foreign minister. When a German submarine sank the passenger ship RMS Lusitania on May 7, 1915, during the First World War , killing 1200 people including 128 Americans, there were differences in the US government . Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan was more willing to accept the fact that the sea routes to Northern Europe were closed and wanted to warn Americans against traveling to Europe. President Wilson and Lansing insisted on the freedom of the seas and that Americans could travel to Europe without restrictions. Bryan resigned and Lansing was appointed Secretary of State. The American government first threatened the Germans with breaking off relations. Germany then promised to spare the American ships. On August 19, 1915, the sinking of the steamer “ Arabic ” by a German submarine resulted in the deaths of two US citizens. This led the American government to rethink. Lansing explained to Wilson that Germany was striving for world domination, a view that he agreed with. At that time, however, the President did not yet share Lansing's conclusion that war should be taken against Germany. Lansing insisted on the observance of the freedom of sea routes vis-à-vis Germany and, in addition to breaking off relations, threatened war. It was only when Germany promised to observe the rights of civilian shipping in waging war and to limit its submarine attacks to military targets that the USA maintained its neutrality. Lansing also criticized the British naval blockade of Germany, as the American government wanted to remain neutral and insist on sticking to the principle of unrestricted shipping. The doctrine of free seafaring ( Freedom of the Seas ) later became part of President Woodrow Wilson's 14-point program and was indispensable for the then neutral status of the USA. When Germany declared unconditional submarine warfare on February 1, 1917, the United States gave up its neutrality. At the same time, Lansing had endeavored to resolve conflicts with Mexico that were linked to an attack by the Revolutionary General Pancho Villa on US territory. At the same time Germany tried to fuel this conflict. In mid-January 1917, for example, in a telegram from German State Secretary Arthur Zimmermann to the Ambassador in Mexico, intercepted by the British secret service, the Germans announced their intention to induce Mexico to wage war against the USA. Germany wanted to propose to Mexico to make up for its large territorial losses from the lost Mexican-American war with German help. The Zimmermann dispatch was the second reason that the American public decided to go to war against Germany.

Under Lansing's leadership, the Lansing Ishii Agreement with the Japanese Empire was passed on November 2, 1917 . With this agreement, the two powers agreed on their interests in China .

Lansing later became head of the American delegation at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. However , he did not support Wilson's idea of ​​the League of Nations , which is why he fell out of favor with the president and resigned at his request in February 1920. Another reason for Wilson's dissatisfaction was the fact that, after Wilson's stroke, Lansing had formally unauthorized calling cabinet meetings without Wilson's presence. Overall, Lansing was able to initiate few initiatives of his own, as Wilson largely determined foreign policy himself with the help of his advisor Edward M. House .

Fonts

• The peace negotiations: a personal narrative . Boston 1921 (digitized from: gutenberg.org )
  • German: The Versailles Peace Negotiations: Personal memories . Reimar Hobbing, Berlin 1921.
• The Big Four and others of the Peace Conference. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston / New York 1921. (This is about Georges Clemenceau , Woodrow Wilson , David Lloyd George , Vittorio Emanuele Orlando ). (Digitized at: worldcat.org )

literature

• Eugene P. Trani: Robert Lansing. In: Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell . Greenwood Publishing 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 314-324.
• Alexander Sedlmaier: Images of Germany and Germany Policy - Studies on the Wilson Administration (1913–1921). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-515-08124-0 .

Web links

Commons : Robert Lansing  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Robert Lansing in the catalog of the German National Library
• Newspaper article about Robert Lansing in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
• Office of the Historian, US Department of State, Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Robert Lansing, viewed January 25, 2012
• Robert Lansing in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alexander Sedlmaier: Images of Germany and Germany Politics - Studies on the Wilson Administration (1913-1921). Franz Steiner Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-515-08124-0 , p. 54.
2. ↑ Alexander Sedlmaier: Images of Germany and Germany Politics - Studies on the Wilson Administration (1913-1921). Franz Steiner Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-515-08124-0 , p. 56.
3. ↑ Alexander Sedlmaier: Images of Germany and Germany Politics - Studies on the Wilson Administration (1913-1921). Franz Steiner Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-515-08124-0 , p. 57.
4. ↑ Gerd Krumeich: Encyclopedia First World War. P. 594. ( online at Google Book Search )