Nicholson Baker’s Human Smoke
Early in the book, Baker highlights Winston Churchill’s public statements on the blockade of Germany. He makes some of the same mistakes made by Patrick J. Buchanan in Churchill, Hitler, and the “Unnecessary War”.
- Baker picks out 3 sentences from a larger statement and reorders them to give the appearance that Churchill supported the blockade. Baker gives the impression that Churchill saw Germany’s current desperation as something to be taken advantage of while the Allies forced a treaty. The truth is that Churchill wanted to end the blockade out of concern that Germany would permanently fall a part.
- Baker gives a little more information than Buchanan on Churchill’s role at this point in history by stating he was the Secretary of State for War and Air (not the First Lord of Admiralty). However, Baker quotes a secondary source that gives the full text of everything Churchill said on the blockade in this particular speech. Yet, he chooses to hack out quotes and reorder them to make Churchill appear the most sinister.
Churchill: They’re in collapse! Now let’s sign the treaty!
In the early pages of Nicholson Baker’s Human Smoke, he paints the picture of Winston Churchill in parliament in March of 1919 addressing the naval blockade of Germany.
Winston Churchill, now England’s secretary of state for war and air, rose in Parliament to talk about the success of the naval blockade. It was March 3, 1919, four months after the signing of the armistice that ended the Great War.
“We are enforcing the blockade with rigour,” Churchill said. “It is repugnant to the British nation to use this weapon of starvation, which falls mainly on the women and children, upon the old and the weak and the poor, after all the fighting has stopped, one moment longer than is necessary to secure the just terms for which we have fought.” Hunger and malnutrition, the secretary of war and air observed, had brought German national life to a state of near collapse. “Now is therefore the time to settle,” he said. (Baker, pp. 5-6)
This is the complete context provided in Human Smoke. As I stated earlier, the book only gives little snippets of information.
Correcting Baker’s Analysis
Baker is correct that Churchill did address the House of Commons on March 3, 1919. And part of that address did contain the statements listed above. However, Churchill’s purpose was not to address the “success” of the blockade as Baker puts it; Churchill’s purpose was to call for an end to the blockade.
Churchill’s statement was at the end of a one of many reports about army estimates and the progress of demobilization (James, pp. 2674-2692). The lengthy report was followed-up by a Q&A session containing several references to the unknowns in the current situation. While there had been an armistice in place since November 11, 1918, it was nearly 4 months later and there was still no official treaty signed. Germany had no foreign troops on her soil; the armies had simply cease-fired.
At one point in the report, Churchill argued for never reaching the “slender scale of 1914” in terms of military power.
We do not know what other Powers are going to do, or what will be the military system in force in France, the United States, Italy, or Japan. Nobody knows what is going to happen to Germany, Austria, or Russia, or how long the world will be kept in a state of great disorder and anxiety. On every ground, therefore, it will be better to defer the final decision upon our Army system until after the War – until some, at least, of the cardinal facts on which everything turns are more clearly apparent than they are just now. (James, p. 2681)
This line of thinking is common throughout this report and others given by Churchill at the time. At this point in history with nothing more than a cease-fire in place and with Lenin rising to power in Russia, there was great concern expressed by Churchill about making sure that Great Britain’s military power was not downsized too quickly.
The three sentences that Baker claims were delivered to talk about the “success of the naval blockade” are near the end of the report before the Q&A session. After a lengthy presentation on the current status of demobilization, Churchill took a moment to address the blockade.
There is another matter which calls for very prompt settlement. It is the last to which I shall refer before I sit down. I mean the speedy enforcing of the Peace Terms upon Germany. At the present moment we are bringing everything to a head with Germany. We are holding all our means of coercion in full operation, or in immediate readiness for use. We are enforcing the blockade with rigour. We have strong Armies ready to advance at the shortest notice. Germany is very near starvation. The evidence I have received from officers sent by the War Office all over Germany shows, first of all, the great privations which the German people are suffering, and secondly, the danger of collapse of the entire structure of German social and national life under the pressure of hunger and malnutrition.
Now is, therefore, the moment to settle. To delay indefinitely would be to run a grave risk of having nobody with whom to settle, and of having another great area of the world sink into Boshevik anarchy. That would be a very grave event. I dare say Honorable Members recall the sinking of the “Titanic.” The state of Europe seems to me to have many points of sinister comparison with that event. That great vessel had compartment after compartment invaded by the sea. She remained almost motionless upon the water as each new bulkhead filled, or as each new compartment was flooded. She gradually took a more pronounced list.
Finally, when the decisive compartments which regulated the flotation in the ocean, leaving all those on board, friend or foe, rich or poor, passengers or stokers, people of both sexes and of every age, swimming in the icy waters of the sea, with no help in sight, and no prospect of succour.
We must never forget that the ship of Europe carries with it all the glories and advantages which we have gained by the prodigies achieved by our soldiers in this war, and it is, therefore, very important to us to bring it safely to land, so that its previous injuries may be repaired.
Now is the time for action. Once Germany has accepted the terms to be imposed upon her – and until that moment all our forces must be held in the strongest condition of readiness – the revictualling of that country and the supplying of it with the necessary raw material can be begun and pushed forward with energy.
It is repugnant to the British nation to use this weapon of starvation – which falls mainly upon the women and children, upon the old, the weak, and the poor, after all the fighting has stopped – one moment longer than is necessary to secure the just terms for which we have fought. A good army is a far better weapon at the present time to exert pressure than any other that could be in your hands. (James, p. 2684)
Baker left out Churchill’s direct concern for the people and Germany itself and painted Churchill as an opportunist wanting to use the starvation as playing card to sign a treaty. In reality, Churchill wanted the treaty signed immediately in order to end the starvation and prevent Germany from falling a part.
Baker’s Source
Baker’s source is the 1942 book, The Blockade of Germany After the Armistice, 1918-1919. The book is series of documents, articles, and speeches published by various councils, political leaders, and newspapers discussing the blockade during that time period.
The portion referenced by Baker from the book is under the heading SPEEDY ENFORCEMENT OF PEACE (Bane and Lutz, pp. 720). While the 1942 book does not state the full purpose of Churchill’s address to the House of Commons, it does provide all the text concerning the blockade listed above.
Bibliography
Bane, Suda Lorena, ed. and Lutz, Ralph Haswell, ed. The Blockade of Germany After the Armistice, 1918-1919. California: Stanford University Press, 1942.
Baker, Nicholson. Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization
James, Robert Rhodes, ed. Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897-1963. Vol. 3, 1914-1922. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1974.