Friday, July 04, 2014

SIR ERIC DRUMMOND

Sir Eric Drummond, the first President of The League of Nations, was private secretary of Asquith (1912 - 1915), Grey (1915 - 1916) and Balfour (1916 - 1918), as well as Grey's protege. Drummond was proposed by Lord Robert Cecil. Drummond was also British Ambassador to Italy when Mussolini was implementing fascism there. Mussolini had written pro-war propaganda for the British Foreign Office during WW1, and was given a huge loan from J P Morgan.

So at the outbreak of WW1, Drummond was private secretary of the Prime Minister, he was private secretary of Sir Edward Grey when Grey was the first to propose The League of Nations to Colonel House, and he was private secretary of Lord Balfour when Balfour signed The Balfour Declaration. And despite Grey first proposing The League of Nations in 1915, it was Cecil who first wrote a formal plan for The League of Nations, which later became known as The Cecil Plan. Cecil considered The League of Nations to be his child, so to entrust it to Drummond shows just how much Drummond was highly regarded by the Establishment.

So far from being just an ordinary dude, Drummond was an insider. So far I cannot find any memoirs of his, or a collection of his letters, but he'll have a few tales to tell.

George C Marshall and now Sir Eric Drummond. Men who directed the course of history but overlooked.


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