The Geneva Protocol, by David Hunter Miller

CHAPTER I. 5
CHAPTER I.
THE PROTOCOL OF GENEVA.
The Covenant of the League of Nations[1] lays down the principle that national armaments should be reduced
to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of international
obligations.
Thus, in the Covenant, the problem of disarmament[2] and the problem of security are viewed as correlative
problems. Their study has gone on in the League of Nations since its organization. During this same period
there has been widespread and increasing public interest in the matter.
The theory of the Treaties of Peace was that the disarmament of Germany and her allies was preliminary to a
general reduction of armaments the world over.[3] Except as the result of the Washington Conference, and by
that to only a very limited extent, there has been almost no reduction or limitation of armaments by {2}
international agreement since the war.[4] Such lessening of armaments as has taken place has been by
voluntary national action.
The study of these questions during the last few years has brought about a much clearer understanding of
them, both in the minds of statesmen and generally; and the various proposals that have been made have been
the subject of detailed and elaborate criticism from all sides.
The latest of these proposals is the paper which is called The Protocol of Geneva.[5] The Protocol of Geneva
is, however, much more than a proposal. It has the active support of a considerable number of
Governments.[6] It was unanimously recommended for acceptance by the Fifth Assembly of the League of
Nations. It deserves the serious attention of all thoughtful minds.
The object of the Protocol of Geneva cannot be better stated than in the words of its authors:[7]
"to facilitate the reduction and limitation of armaments provided for in Article 8 of the Covenant of the
League of Nations by guaranteeing the security of States through the development of methods for the pacific
settlement of all international disputes and the effective condemnation of aggressive war."
While this Protocol is, and doubtless always will be, called "The Protocol of Geneva," its official name is
"Protocol for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes."[8]
[1] Article 8. The text of the Covenant is Annex A, p. 117.
[2] Those who criticize the use of the word "disarmament" as meaning a reduction or limitation of armaments,
should consult the dictionaries. The Standard Dictionary gives the following definition:
"The act of disarming; especially, the reduction of a military or naval establishment to a peace footing."
The Century Dictionary gives this:
"The act of disarming; the reduction of military and naval forces from a war to a peace footing; as 'a general
disarmament is much to be desired.'"
The Century Dictionary also gives the following quotation as an instance from Lowe's Life of Bismarck:
"He (Napoleon) in a fit of irresolution broached in Berlin the question of mutual disarmament."