In 1920 a Welsh MP named David Davies (1880-1944) published A Suggestion Concerning the First Meeting of the Assembly of the League of Nations, a pamphlet making the case for Constantinople as the proper location for the League’s headquarters, rather than Brussels or Geneva. In this conversation, recorded on 26 March 2025, Can talks to Enno about his research exploring the proposal. Davies’ vision of a “Headquarters of Peace” on the Bosphorus leaned into familar cliches of the city as the crossroads of East and West. But it also formed part of a much less hackneyed vision of a League that transcended nationalism and imperialism. A League based in Constantinople, Davies argued, would reassure Muslims that the Wilsonian ideals ostensibly behind the League were not mere window dressing. Although Davies does not appear to have consulted any Ottomans and his plan would be firmly resisted by Turkish Nationalists in later years, for a short period in 1919-1920 the proposal was seriously considered.

This was a missed opportunity for a more inclusive international system. The story of Constantinople’s rejection is more than just an interesting footnote in diplomatic history for me: it reveals the fundamental tensions between Davies’ liberal idealism and the power politics that shaped the the modern international order.

Episode 67 – Freehold of the World

Podcasts are published by TLP for the purpose of encouraging informed debate on the legacies of the events surrounding the Lausanne Conference. The views expressed by participants do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of TLP, its partners, convenors or members.