"I view it as a thoroughly bad peace – impolitic and impracticable in the case of Germany, absolutely ludicrous in the case of German Austria. Indeed I have not been able to read the comments of the Austrian delegates on our draft terms without deep emotion. I have fought this Peace from the inside with all my power, and have no doubt been able in the end to secure some small openings of hope for the future."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Systems scientistsMilitary leaders from South AfricaPrime Ministers of South AfricaAcademics from South AfricaPhilosophers from South Africa
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Smuts to C. P. Scott on the Treaty of Versailles, 26 June 1919, as cited in Antony Lentin, 2010, Jan Smuts – Man of courage and vision, p. xvi.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jan_Smuts
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Jan Smuts
Jan Christiaan Smuts (24 May 1870 – 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, general, and intellectual. Amongst the offices that he held, he was Prime Minister of South Africa and Field Marshal in the British Army.
58 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Jan Smuts →
Related Quotes
"The groans of the dying and the blanched set faces of the dead ... were enough to drive away all unwholesome feelings…"
"History writes the word 'Reconciliation' over all her quarrels."
"The war was fought throughout and ultimately won, not only by the usual military weapons in the narrower sense, but b…"
"The grand success of the British Empire depends not on its having followed any constitutional precedent of the past b…"
"At the vital moment there seems to be a failure of leadership, and also a failure of the general human spirit among t…"
"It was the human spirit itself that failed at Paris. It is no use passing judgments and making scapegoats of this or …"
"If there was to be equal manhood suffrage the whites would be swamped all over South Africa by the blacks and the who…"
"The Mountain is not merely something eternally sublime. It has a great historical and spiritual meaning for us ... Fr…"
"You cannot defeat Russia. Napoleon learned this to his cost and so will the rest of the world. I do not know whether …"
"... the Jameson Raid was the real declaration of war."