Eric Drummond, 7th Earl of Perth


James Eric Drummond, 7th Earl of Perth was a British politician and diplomat as well as the first Secretary-General of the League of Nations . After his time with the League of Nations he became British ambassador to Rome and later, chief adviser on foreign publicity in the Ministry of Information. In 1946 he became deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. Drummond died of cancer on 15 December 1951 at his home in Sussex.

Background

Early life

Drummond was born into a Scottish family of aristocratic origin, the Clan Drummond. His father was James David Drummond, 10th Viscount Strathallan. Strathallan, an army officer of Machany in Perthshire, had three children with his second wife Margaret Smythe, the daughter of William Smythe of Methven Castle in Perthshire. Of these three children James Eric Drummond was the eldest and the only son. Furthermore, Drummond had two half-sisters and one half-brother, William Huntley Drummond, from his father's first marriage to Ellen Thornhill. Drummond's brother William succeeded their father as Viscount Strathallan in 1893, and in 1902 succeeded their distant cousin to become 6th Earl of Perth
On 20 August 1937, Drummond's half brother died and he thereby became 7th Earl of Perth. Furthermore, he inherited the following titles: Lord Drummond of Cargill and Stobhall, Lord Maderty, Twelfth Viscount Strathallan, Lord Drummond of Cromlix, Hereditary thegn of Lennox, Hereditary Steward of Menteith and Strathearn and Chief of Clan Drummond.
Even though he was raised in a Protestant family, Drummond converted to Roman Catholicism in 1903. This conversion allegedly became a hindrance during his career; for instance when prime minister Ramsay MacDonald vetoed Drummond's candidacy to be ambassador at Washington around 1933. The reason behind his conversion is most likely that he wished to marry the Roman Catholic, the Hon. Angela Mary Constable-Maxwell, daughter of Marmaduke Francis Constable-Maxwell, 11th Lord Herries of Terregles and Hon. Angela Mary Charlotte Fitzalan-Howard. He married her on 20 April 1904 and together they had four children:
Drummond was educated at Eton College where he graduated in 1895. At his time at Eton College he learned French, which later would become an important tool in his international diplomatic career. His upbringing in the British establishment helped to pave the way into the diplomatic world as a civil servant.
Throughout his career, Drummond is mostly known for his tenure of 13 years as the Secretary-General in the League of Nations. Before accepting this prestigious position however, he had served mainly as a private secretary for various British politicians and diplomats, including the former prime minister H. H. Asquith.
On 20 April 1900 Sir Eric Drummond entered the British Foreign Office as a clerk.
From 1906 to 1908 he was the private secretary of the under-secretary to Lord Fitzmaurice. Between 1908 and 1910 he occupied two functions: he was the précis writer of the foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey and the private secretary of the parliamentary under-secretary, Thomas McKinnon Wood. From 1912 to 1918 he worked as the private secretary of respectively: the prime minister, H. H. Asquith, the foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey and the foreign secretary, Arthur James Balfour. In April–May 1917 he was a member of the Balfour Mission, intended to promote cooperation between the US and UK during World War I.
Between 1918 and 1919 he was a member of the British Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, where he was engaged in the drafting of the covenant of the League of Nations. In 1919 he accepted the position of the Secretary General of the League of Nations, per recommendation of Robert Cecil.

League of Nations career

Election as Secretary-General of the League of Nations

Prior to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, a lot of work had been put into finding a suitable candidate for the Secretary-General of the newly established League of Nations.
Lord Robert Cecil, who played an important role in drafting the Covenant and organizing the League initially wanted a political character as Secretary-General; however despite several candidates, none accepted Cecil's proposal. Cecil believed only somebody of the highest ability would be sufficient for this role. However, after the office would not be given as many powers as initially thought, he reconsidered and sought to find somebody who was a well-trained civil servant and less known as a big political figure. He first approached Maurice Hankey, who for some time showed interest in the position, but in the end he too rejected the offer, only ten days prior to the Paris plenary session.
In the event that Hankey would turn down the offer, Cecil together with American Edward M. House had developed a contingency plan that substituted Hankey with Sir Eric Drummond.
As early as 1915 he expressed himself favorably towards the establishment of an international organization. As such, Drummond was involved in negotiations regarding the establishment of the League of Nations. In addition to this he was also a British national which Cecil valued very highly. Together with the fact that he was an experienced diplomat and had earned a high reputation during his 19 years at the Foreign Office, he was found to be the best choice available.
After some initial doubt where Drummond expressed anxiety about organizing the League, he finally accepted the proposal. At the Paris Peace Conference's plenary session on 28 April 1919, the conference accepted the appointment of Drummond as first Secretary-General of the League of Nations.

Establishment of a permanent secretariat (1919–1920)

One of the Secretary-General's major deeds was the establishment of a permanent and strictly international secretariat. No such thing had ever been attempted before and pre-war secretariats had largely been confined to the national sphere both in the context of who supplied them and the civil servants who worked there.
The creation of an international civil service was not without problems and administrative leaders thought it unthinkable that such a body would ever be united, loyal or efficient. By August 1920 the secretariat was fully established.
The personnel staffing the secretariat derived from over thirty countries that differed in language, religion and training all of whom were appointed by the League and not national governments. This once again underscored the difference between this new international body and previous national secretariats.
In total the secretariat came to consist of seven sections: A Mandate Section; an Economic and Financial Section; a Section for Transit and Communication; a Social Section; a Political Section; a Legal Section and an International Bureau Section.

Leadership style

Drummond approached the role in a conservative manner. His a somewhat subdued role in the British Foreign Office easily transferred over to the position of Secretary-General. He was not a major political figure and so did not seek to turn the office into a reflection of his personality. Drummond therefore set about creating the administrative divisions for the League of Nations. Drummond took no risk in his appointments to senior positions in the League of Nations and chose only to appoint members who supported their nation's government and gave those positions only to members of leading states.
Drummond was regarded as somebody who took great care with issues and was believed to be somebody who took his position very seriously. He would read everything that came to his desk and would often call meetings regularly to discuss various issues. The meetings would often take place with various members of governments, who managed to established contact with through his appointments to the League of Nations. Drummond thus became aware of sensitive information from various governments as well as from nongovernmental organisations but became a figure who could be trusted by various politicians the world over.
He was widely regarded as somebody who shied away from the public and political spotlight, despite the high-profile nature of his position. He, however, was believed to be highly political behind the scenes but was often forced to do so as a way to appease various nations and because he often lacked support from many governments. One example was his 1920s dealings with Benito Mussolini's policies towards the Balkans, Africa and Europe. Drummond was unable to condemn any of Mussolini's policies publicly, as he did not have the backing of Britain and France. He wanted to maintain good relations with Italy, which was one reason that rendered him somewhat impotent.
Drummond thus had to perform his function behind the scenes of the League of Nations. He took great care to maintain world peace, as was hoped during the creation of the League of Nations, but he also appeased rather than keeping nations in check against international law. Despite the limitations coming from outside the League of Nations, the leader largely decided how he would run the office since he was very seldom under any kind of supervision. He became regarded as a central hub within the League of Nations for most issues, and he would often pick the ones which interested him the most or would delegate the lesser issues to his staff. He can therefore be regarded as a leader who used the office for his own political interests.

Alleged neutrality of the League

The ideal underpinning the secretariat and those working there was one much resembling a Weberian understanding of bureaucracy also seen in Protestant-secular rationalism; The idea of a non-political, neutral, effective and efficient bureaucrat. As put by Eric Drummond "It is not always those who secure public praise to whom thanks are mainly due, and the work unknown to the public which is done behind the scenes is often a large factor in the success which has been obtained.".
The fact remains that the ideal was not always upheld and the national preferences never really abandoned. When new Under Secretary-Generals were to be appointed more often than not people of the same nationality were chosen and candidates of smaller powers were excluded. Drummond was thereby not practicing what he preached and this created small national islands from where the appointed officials conducted national politics rather than international.
In 1929 the Assembly decided to make a thorough investigation of the secretariats, the International Labour Organization and the Permanent Court of International Justice. The minority report showed that the political influence in substantive issues, by the Secretariat and its principal officers, was in fact, enormous and could not be overlooked. However, this was not recognized by Drummond before the 1950s and up until did he readily defend the notion of the non-political character of international secretariats.
Despite the political character of the international civil service, the Secretariat of the League of Nations still came to be widely recognized as an instrument of the highest efficiency and the structural framework became a model for future international civil services as seen i.e. in the United Nations.

Role during the crises of the League of Nations

During the time of Drummond's Secretary-Generalship there were several crises that called for his attention. The League of Nations' Council relied on the willingness of its members to use own military means in order to apply its collective security mandate to rising crises. Many of these revolved around border disputes as a result of the collapse of empires after the First World War. As the League got involved in these matters throughout the 1920s, with members and non-members alike, Drummond was at the centre of the talks and negotiations as its Secretary-General. The League was involved in disputes in Latin America, the Baltics and later on in China. Peter Yearwood argues that although Drummond was an idealist like most people in his time, he also 'made use' of his connection within British politics. Drummond was widely regarded as somebody who shied away from the public and political limelight, despite the high-profile nature of his position. He managed to achieve this but was believed to be highly political behind the scene. He was often forced to remain behind the scene to appease various nations and because he often lacked support from many governments. One example is how he dealt with Benito Mussolini's policies during the 1920s towards the Balkans, Africa and Europe in general. Drummond was unable to publicly condemn any of Mussolini's policies, as he did not have the backing of the United Kingdom and France, and wanted to maintain good relations with Italy. This was one reason among many that helped to render him a somewhat impotent leader.
Drummond thus had to perform his function behind these scenes of the League of Nations, taking great care to maintain world peace as was hoped during the creation of the League of Nations but also appeasing rather than keeping nations in check against international law. Despite these limitations coming from outside the League of Nations, within it he largely decided how he would run the office. This was due to the fact he was very seldom under any kind of supervision. He became regarded as a central hub within the League of Nations for most issues, and would often pick the ones which interested him the most or would delegate the lesser issues to his staff. He can therefore be regarded as a leader who used the office for his own political interests.
Another issue that partly drove Drummond's ambitions and a way of handling the crises that were presented before him was his religion. Being a devout Catholic had a significant impact in his dealings with the Polish–Lithuanian War early in his career. He strongly urged for a plebiscite, due to the nature of Poland being Catholic. Another trait that Drummond seemed to possess was his pro-activeness. On the crisis between Russia and Finland over the latter's independence gained after WW1, Drummond was one of the first to think about a possible solution.
Another important factor of his time as Secretary-General was his willingness to step beyond the boundaries given to him in that position. During the crisis over the Chaco War, he was praised for being a helpful mediator and doing more than his position allowed.

The Mukden Incident

One of the less successful moments for the Secretariat was one where Drummond's powers as Secretary-General became most pronounced. Such was the case with one of the most prominent crises of Drummond's career. This was the Mukden Incident, where China allegedly blew up part of a railroad, which Japan subsequently used as an excuse to invade Manchuria. The Chinese being members of the League appealed to the organization for measures against Japan. According to Michael E. Chapman, Drummond's initial response was not that of an imperialistic Western leader, but that of a bureaucrat. Limited somewhat in his powers, he looked towards the two most powerful Western nations in the region, Britain and the US. Either of these more or less stated to be 'too busy' to deal with the crisis at hand.
When the crisis reached its boiling point, Stimson advised Drummond to "strengthen and support treaty obligations", since by this point Japanese action has caused British discomfort. He was furthermore advised to try not to arouse nationalistic feelings in Japan. As it seems Drummond wanted to be an active player in the crisis, but was mostly outplayed by Stimson on the one hand and the American Hugh R. Wilson on the other.

Later career

British ambassador in Rome (1933–1939)

After leaving the League, Drummond was chosen as candidate to the post of British ambassador to Washington, but his candidacy was vetoed by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald allegedly because of Drummond's conversion to Roman Catholicism at the age of 27. Rather, he was appointed British ambassador to Rome in October 1933 and he served there until he left Italy in April 1939. He retired from foreign politics a month later, in May 1939. Throughout his time in Rome, Drummond found it "difficult to get close to Mussolini". He noted that "... had to be treated with great caution when he in 'a highly sensitive condition'"
The foreign minister of Fascist Italy, Galeazzo Ciano, thought that Perth, as he had now become, was convinced that the harsh attitude of France towards Italy was unreasonable. Furthermore, Perth tried to convince the Italians that the British government was "conciliatory..." and even went so far as " Italian policy." Ciano, whose Italian secret service efficiency allowed him to read many of Perth's reports, states in his diary that the British ambassador, although opposed to the Italian regime when he came to Rome, had developed into a "sincere convert" who "understood and even loved Fascism". Caution must always be employed in using Ciano's statements, but Perth's reports suggested that there was a certain amount of truth in the remark.

Second World War and domestic politics (1939–1951)

During the Second World War, Perth worked for the controversial Ministry of Information as a highly-ranked bureaucrat. After the war, he served until his death as a deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. His involvement with party and domestic politics did not prevent its declining electoral and ideological influence.

Assessment

It is useful to make an overall assessment of Drummond's working career within the framework of the institutions he worked with. Such as the limitations and restrictions put by the guiding principles and contradictions of these institutions as well as his liberal ideological background, upbringing and character traits.
For a fair evaluation of his leadership as the First Secretary-General of the League of Nations, his leadership could be judged in two areas: The traditional political issues concerning security and national sovereignty; The ‘'softer'’ technical issues.
First in regards to the security role of the League of Nations Drummond’s role could be assessed as negligible especially in the second half of his tenureship. This was characterized by the systematic undermining competition of the Great Powers, notably Great Britain and France, as well as the 19th century imperialist inspired security structure of the League, namely its Council. Even though his pragmatic and cooperative approach resulted in some successes in the early years of the League, his role is considered inadequate when confronted with issues such as the Manchurian Crisis.
His involvement in setting the organizational infrastructure in areas such as the dealing with refugees, the minority regime, and the mandate system could be seen in a more positive light since during his time especially during the first half of the 1920s there were some successes in resolving and tackling issues. For example during the Greek–Bulgarian Conflict in 1925 and the Colombia–Peru War, 1932–33.
It was the technical issues, though, such as humanitarian aid, and the supervision of a series of "technical organizations and committees" that have had the most enduring positive legacy. Drummond himself was part of an international technocratic elite of experts that favored the initiation of international standards in health and labour issues for example, the gathering and sharing of statistical information and a spirit of internationalism in dealing with problems.
After his post in the League of Nations, Sir Eric Drummond was assigned to the post of ambassador in Mussolini's Italy. A combination of his own restricted ability to see the ‘'big picture'’ and Great Britain’s strategy of appeasement towards fascist regimes which he served could account as a failure and quite possibly darkest period in his career. The non-resolution of the Ethiopian crisis had an effect on both undermining League of Nation’s security role and sent the wrong signals to both Mussolini and Hitler and the British ambassador was one of the actors who failed to anticipate the negative results of the British appeasement policy.
The above assessment of how Drummond’s pragmatic and contemplative character had a positive impact on League's administration, notably the Secretariat, could be contrasted with his own ideas of Liberalism, anti-bolshevism, Internationalism and his flirt with fascist ideas. Drummond's career and life followed a similar trajectory with the broader ideological, imperial, internationalist ideas. World War II signalled the defeat of liberal politicians and their declared vision of peace and the prevailing of fascist and nationalist ideas of the international vision which Drummond tried to materialize with the League.

Archives, publications, literature

Works by Eric Drummond

During his life, Drummond received a variety of titles for his accomplishments. He was awarded by King George V the following: