Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Belgian-American relations, established primarily but not exlusively for commercial purposes, experienced a critical period in the initial years 1830-1846, when both nations were coping with the beginnings of industrialization. Many reciprocal economic needs and interests did not immediately result in a commercial agreement; commercial negotiations were one major recurring source of conflict. Other basic reasons for the diplomatic difficu l ties which the two nations encountered were the inexperience of Belgian diplomacy, the non-recognition by the United States of the "balance of power" politics of the Old World, and a common inability to comprehend each other's traditions, expectations, and international obligations. Three major disputes led to extreme tensions. Disagreements over a commercial treaty and its provisions, Belgian and American designs in the Republic of Texas, and American claims for indemnification for property lost in the Antwerp bombardment of 1830 were the significant irritants. The basis for accommodation was a mutual acceptance of peaceful diplomatic methods to solve issues, a liberal trade treaty, and Belgian-American interest in establishing a New York to Antwerp steamship line. [TRUNCATED] / 2031-01-01

Ph.D.--Boston University. / In wartime Great Britain, diplomacy's main efforts were directed toward bringing the war to a successful conclusion, The Foreign Office played a role secondary to that of the Admiralty and the War Office; diplomatic success, in many ways, depended on success in battle, The geographical position of the Netherlands made it one of the key countries in western Europe, located between the greatest land power on the continent and the greatest maritime power in the world, the Dutch had to find the correct balance in international diplomacy in order to maintain both their independence and their neutrality. This was a difficult task because the Netherlands depended on commerce for its wealth and even its very existence, The problem for the British Foreign Office was how to carry on the war against Germany and German trade, much of which was transshipped through the Netherlands, without ruining the Dutch economy or pushing the Dutch people into the arms of Germany. In the early days of August 1914, Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, momentarily tried to convince the Dutch that they should enter the war, He made an offer of 'common action' but within a matter of hours withdrew it, probably because he saw that the British armed forces would not be able to protect the Dutch against a German invasion, He and his successor, Arthur J, Balfour, maintained for the rest of the war that Great Britain should not encourage the Dutch to [TRUNCATED]

The scope of this thesis falls under the title, “Woodrow Wilson, World War I and the Rise of Poland”. The author’s intention in selecting this topic is to examine the national and political re-emergence of Poland in the early twentieth century from a predominantly American perspective, as no other Western nation had played as great a hand in this “rebirth”. Covering the better part of a decade and more that begins by tracing Woodrow Wilson’s ascension to the United States presidency, the examination centres upon the extent of and reasoning behind this Wilson-led influence as wielded through the channels of foreign diplomacy with and regarding Poland. Underlining America’s first substantial foray into internal European diplomatic affairs, the study analyses, in turn, American involvement and interest in the Poles’ burgeoning drive towards self-determination and national sovereignty leading into and throughout the First World War; Poland’s weighty part in the American government’s documented preparations for peace in Europe; and Wilson’s significant personal response to the ultimately successful course of the Polish independence movement, among other European developments leading up to the war’s close. Research conducted in this exercise comprises an analysis of primarily American foreign diplomatic and domestic political sources (including considerable emphasis upon the personal papers and documents of Woodrow Wilson himself), as well as of similar Polish sources where they pertain to American interest. Furthermore, scrutiny of the diplomatic records of other nations necessarily involved in this arena of “Great Power” politics, such as Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Western Powers, adds to the inspection. The author believes that such investigation exposes the unlikely dimensions of America’s, and especially Wilson’s, critical involvement within this particular East European historical setting. In this light, Wilson’s triumphant crusading on behalf of the rights of small nations – and equally his ensuing reversal of fortunes over the Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations Charter – can be seen to be embodied within the momentous revival of Poland’s independence and the subsequently rocky path of the “new” nation’s fledgling statehood.