The Truth About the Secret Treaties #249425

British Government adhered to those principles in their negotiations with Germany in 1913. But we must not overlook the fact that the Allies cannot abolish secret diplomacy by merely publishing their own treaties. To abolish secret diplomacy effectively, Europe must first get rid of autocratic rulers. We can never prevent the German Emperor from making private arrangements with the Emperor Karl or with any other autocratic monarch, and no one has ever suggested that we should try. So long as the democracies are troubled with militarist and autocratic neighbours it may not always be desirable, even in times of peace, to let those neighbours know everything that passes between London and Paris or between London and Washington, and most people will agree that in times of war some secrecy among friends may certainly be excused We cannot be expected to tell our enemies the terms of agreements made for the purposes of the war, or to publish all our intimate discussions with our Allies.