Chamberlain was a British politician

Who had studied in France and worked in India.

He returned in time to be involved in Versailles,

Where he worked on Germany’s reparations load.

He was a League of Nations sceptic who

Believed that individual nations could and should

Resolve their own differences, and not hew

To the orders of the League – perhaps they would.

As foreign minister for Britain, he collaborated

On the “Dawes Pact” at Locarno, which precipitated

German economic repairs and French withdrawals,

Supervision and loans, avoiding border brawls.

Later, for supporting an Irish free state he ‘paid,’

And warned of Hitler’s rise before those plans seemed laid.

Dawes, an American, began as a fledgling lawyer

Out West, defending farmers against the railroads

But this career ended. Into banking he would go,

And from Chicago banker, eventually to U.S. Comptroller.

When the War began, he asked for a related position:

By war’s end, in France, he was general of Allied supplies.

When Germany balked at paying steep reparations,

France had responded by occupying lands. Surprised,

Germans self-imploded their economy,

And the U.S. was asked to set up a Commission

On Allied Reparations. The “Dawes Plan” would be,

To modify, reorganize, monitor and see the fruition

Of terms – to improve, in particular, foreign relations

Between France and Germany that “the Locarno Pact” envisioned.

In Nineteen-hundred and twenty-three and four,

The Nobel Peace Prize was not given as an award.

The prize money went to a Special fund, allocated,

To further Peace research, to perpetuate it.

Meanwhile, Nansen continued refugee-processing,

Shocked by the disinterest of the majority.

“I see the suffering people of Europe bleeding

To death on deserted battlefields after conflicts

Which to a great extent were not their own,” saying,

“This is the outcome of the lust for power,

The imperialism, the militarism that have run amok

Across the Earth. . . Where is the remedy to be sought?”

The efforts of diplomats and politicians he felt were for nought,

But men’s salvation might be found in hard work’s hours.

Everyone knew him, his travels and accomplishments.

He pressed this to exceptional uses. To Denmark he went

To seek a King for Norway, finally free. In Britain, he chose

To speak to the Royal Geographic Society. He opposed

War with Sweden, and in World War I was sent

To negotiate food for Norway, a neutral, cut off by war’s ‘tent.’

His travels continued – to head the exchange of prisoners

Of war, still un-repatriated – for years, trapped and poor,

Held in Russia, Siberia, Germany, Austria and Hungary.

With an office in Berlin, he secured each their freedom to see

Their families and countries again. And their needs then –

Were food, clothes and medicine: with Lenin and Britain, he secured them.

His ‘Nansen passport’ allowed ‘stateless’ refugees to cross borders freely.

And he became the League’s first High Commissioner for Refugees.

Where to begin with this man of the century,

Whose love of skiing as a Norwegian boy, he embraced,

Whose talents included the sciences and zoology,

Whose studies and travels, both, proved him an Ace.

He skied across Norway to participate in ski ‘tricks,’

He skied across Greenland, the first to explore it so,

He built the Fram, a ship that could freeze in the Arctic

And move towards the Pole with prevailing ice flows.

His Fram missions solidified his unique position,

And into political life, he, as a hero, was lauded.

But he declined political offices;  his decision

Was to work as an Ambassador – for various causes.

Six hundred kilometres and Greenland’s interior mapped,

Six thousand to the North Pole, his the nearest lap.

One couldn’t be closer to the Peace prize itself, see,

Than to work for the Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway.

As advisor and secretary, he built its research library,

And embraced Peace work enthusiastically.

This led to his selection as Secretary-General

Of the Inter-Parliamentary Bureau in Brussels, Belgium.

There, he successfully built this international “Union”

To 24 countries, 4,000 members, and all

Of that work set on press when Germany invaded them.

To Oslo he fled with his family, forced to run.

From there, with funds from Norway and from Carnegie,

He helped to keep this Union afloat, its main trustee.

He later lectured on peace negotiations,

And disarmament – for the new League of Nations.

Karl Branting of Sweden shared the Nobel prize

With Norway’s Lange, a fitting compromise.

He embraced socialist ideals and strengthened Sweden’s role

In suffrage, work hours and education goals.

As an editor, statesman and first Socialist prime minister,

He worked always to embrace Peace and reason.

In 1905 when Norway left Sweden, he deterred

Those who considered aggression to prevent secession.

Branting supported Norway’s right to independence,

Encouraging workers to strike if force were used against it,

And this contributed to the issue’s resolution.

Later, as a League of Nations member, his participation

And willingness to accept adjudications of the League

Set the example for resolving disputes:  by agreeing.

Wilson’s prize was awarded in ’20, with Bourgeois,’

The League of Nation’s President, an equipoise.

Bourgeois had stopped a coup d’etat in France

As Paris’ Chief of Police. He later advanced

To Secretary of State. He brought about social reforms

From within, embracing human rights norms:

A minimum wage, education, unemployment,

Sick, accident and retirement benefits implemented.

At the Hague, he argued compulsory arbitration

Be used in disputes posing threats to Peace, and went

To Versailles. He watched Wilson propose the League,

But thought the concept needed power, was too weak to succeed.

He embraced France’s Freedom, Equality, Fraternity,

And felt France had upheld these values, but not Germany.

“It would be the irony of fate if my

Administration had to do chiefly with foreign affairs,”

Said Wilson before he became President. Why,

Then Fate struck. He was first abroad, aware

Of the war’s desperate pull, and the need to act influentially.

Yet his efforts to remain neutral were given the sting

When the public swayed to enforce rights, balanced and free.

This meant wading into the war, “a fearful thing . . .

But the right is more precious than peace.” His clarion call?

Democracy, the right to a voice, to participate

In one’s government, nations separated as states, all

Free in peace and safety, each for all.

He suffered a stroke after weeks of a non-stop campaign

For a League of Nations, and then, its Father he became.

Even before the war broke out, the Red Cross

Was busy developing new ways to aid those in need

During wartime, and had, as well, set up an office

To deal with prisoners of war, by particular deeds:

To identify who they were, where, and what

Their requirements were for support of all kinds,

To share these details with their families, to cut

Through all levels of bureaucracy. Then funds

Would be distributed to benefit prisoners of war,

While demanding all nations observe the rules for

Protection of medical staff, for example, on ships,

And possible prisoner exchanges for family kinship.

For their aid to prisoners of war and their next of kin,

And the alleviation of suffering as goals, the prize they won.