1929

A Plan for World Peace

The US Secretary of State Frank Kellogg was awarded the Peace Prize for having been one of the initiators of the Briand-Kellogg Pact of 1928. Almost all the world's states signed this pact, which prohibited wars of aggression. The original initiative came from the French Foreign Minister and Peace Prize Laureate Aristide Briand. He had sought a Franco-American agreement which would keep France secure from German revanchism after Germany's defeat in World War I. The United States was not interested, so Kellogg proposed a more extensive but looser pact. In addition, he demanded exceptions, to prevent harm to US interests on the American continent. This led to disagreement in the Nobel Committee, until a majority decided to award Kellogg the Peace Prize. Beginning in modest circumstances, Frank Kellogg achieved wealth as a star lawyer. In 1917 he was elected to the Senate for the Republicans. After World War I he was US Ambassador to Great Britain until he was appointed Secretary of State.