ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two seemingly contrasting characters, Lord Cecil, advocate of peace, and Winston Churchill, believer in force. It traces the path leading up to Cecil's resignation after the breakdown of the Geneva Naval Conference of 1927, with a view to examining how Cecil perceived Churchill's conduct at the Conference. Historical studies of the Conference have agreed that Churchill was the main opponent of the British Government conceding to the United States over cruisers, and that this ultimately led to the breakdown of the Conference. The chapter describes the role played by Churchill during the Conference in his capacity as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It shows that what McKercher calls two paradoxical policies' actually constituted a reasonable position given the international situation of naval building at the time.
