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SUITORS AND SUPPLIANTS |
Stephen Bonsal [b. Baltimore March 29, 1865 - d. June 8, 1950] was a newspaperman, diplomat, linguist, soldier, and author. Of his several books, Unfinished Business, his unvarnished original diary describing his experiences during the Paris Peace Treaty negotiations, - a precursor of this volume, - earned him a Pulitzer Price.
He was an international correspondent of the New York Herald between 1885 and 1907, and the New York Times, 1910 - 1911. For a long time before and after the turn of the century, Bonsal was probably America's most distinguished foreign correspondent. He traveled extensively following the armies of many wars. As an American diplomat he served in the Seul Legation in 1895, at the U. S. Embassy in Tokyo between 1896 and 1898. He lived through the siege of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. During his career he has visited all the countries of Europe, Asia (with the exception of Persia), and all the republics of South America.
Many of the important figures as Clemenceau, Lloyd George, Balfour, Smuts, and Masaryk were more than mere names to Bonsal, they were acquaintances or warm personal friends. He was a trusted associate of Wilson and Colonel House. He had a genius for self-effacement, or, using Colonel House's term: "low visibility". His diary, written up day by day, include not only actual notes taken during meetings, but also the personal and human side of the interchanges. To preserve their integrity, Bonsal made no attempts to cover up mistaken judgements or even to improve the records literary style. They are original source documents of genuine historical importance.
During World War I, Bonsal served in the American Expeditionary Forces, in charge of the forerunner of "psychological warfare", directing propaganda efforts to weaken the resolve of the soldiers of the Central Powers. He knew Edward House from before the war, and at the beginning of the Armistice negotiations, the Colonel had asked that he be assigned to him. Serving initially as an expert on the Balkans, he was assigned to maintain liaison with the representative delegations of all but the major nations.
After World War I, Colonel Bonsal was urged to publish his diaries.Countering his objection that this might be indiscreet on the part of a professional writer who had been given access to confidential information, President Wilson told him, "You can't be too indiscreet for me. I give you full absolution in advance." He held out against their friends pleas to publish his notes until it became clear to his informed mind that the world is about to repeat the same mistakes that led to the tragedy of Versailles.
These biographical notes were pieced together from biographical references, small remarks interspersed in his notes, and from the introduction to his Unfinished Business written by Ambassador Hugh Gibson.
His important literary contributions to the analysis of international affairs include:
The Real Condition of Cuba (1897)
The American Mediterranean (1912)
Unfinished Business, Paris Versailles 1919 - for this he received the
Pulitzer Price in 1944
Suitors and Suppliants - the Little Nations at Versailles (1946)
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SUITORS AND SUPPLIANTS |