Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2017
The First Conference of 1899 was an experiment for which there were precedents, although there was perhaps no single precedent like it in all respects. Congresses or conferences have been familiar since the Congress of Westphalia, which may be said to mark the conscious beginning of modern international relations, and at various times conferences or congresses have been called, usually at the end of war, to settle the terms of peace.
1 “A delegate also informed me that in talking with M. de Staal the latter declared that in his opinion the present conference is only the first of a series, and that it is quite likely that another will be held next winter or next spring.” Autobiography of Andrew D. White, II, 272.
2 For the various projects of federation, see Kamarowsky’s “ Tribunal International,” French translation, by Westman (Paris, 1887), pp. 233–263.