History Society

Date: Thursday 6 December 2007

The History Society held its first meeting of the term on the evening of Wednesday December 5th, when Dr George Conyne of the University of Kent accepted an invitation to give a talk on the relationship between the USA and Great Britain in the era of the First World War, comparing the 'Old' and the 'New' Diplomacy, particularly in the relationship between David Lloyd George and Woodrow Wilson.

Dr Conyne's assumption that the pupil members of the society are well versed in the diplomatic history of that period may have been misplaced, but his thoroughly entertaining talk, interspersed with almost unbelievable anecdotes, gave rise to a whole range of questions on issues as diverse as the relationship between ambassador Spring-Rice and Republican opposition leader Teddy Roosevelt, to the mutual respect and understanding which developed between the 'Professor in Politics' and the 'Man Who Won the War'.

One long-standing myth was thoroughly removed from GCSE History. Text books stress that the British disliked Wilson's 'Fourteen Points' because they threatened Britain's traditional mastery of the seas, and they questioned the legitimacy of Britain's Empire. A newly discovered document, from January 1918, makes it clear that Wilson's thinking was in sympathy with the British position, not a challenge to it. After all, Lloyd George was the ONLY British politician of the era with whom Wilson had any real empathy.

Those Sixth Form historians present - clashes with the play and Oxford interviews - must have enjoyed the intellectual challenge of the whole evening!