Abstract
Australia’s Participation and Performance at the Evian Conference: Integrity or Shame
Highlights
This article outlines and assesses the contribution made by the Commonwealth of Australia to the Evian Conference of July 1938
Sent initially to the British Foreign Office and dated March 24, 1938, the invitation asked whether «the British Government [would] be willing to cooperate with the Government of the United States in setting up a Special Committee composed of representatives of a number of Governments2»
Considering America’s long postwar tradition of isolationism, Makins minuted that «it is on general grounds desirable to encourage and support any United States proposal involving American interest in European affairs and any inclination to co-operate with foreign governments, ‘half-baked’ a particular proposal may in its inception appear4»
Summary
This article outlines and assesses the contribution made by the Commonwealth of Australia to the Evian Conference of July 1938. Upon elected to the chairmanship of one of the two subcommittees set up at the conference, White employed his position to treat the Jewish delegates with utter contempt. His record at the conference, lauded by many of the officials who were present, was one of the least humanitarian of any that can be attributed to Australian statesmen—hardly a ringing endorsement of Australia’s record at this crucial gathering in which the Commonwealth sought, at an early stage, to express itself as an autonomous nation on the international stage.
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