Sarah Wambaugh and the Plebiscite

Andrew Thomas Park is a historian of international relations working in the University of Hong Kong.

• Introduction; 1. A career in plebiscites begins: suffrage, peace, and the Paris peace conference of 1919; 2. The plebiscites of the post-war settlement, 1920–1923; 3. Locating Sarah Wambaugh's political thought: science, neutrality, and public opinion; 4. Tacna-Arica and the perfection of the plebiscite, 1925–1933; 5. 'The highest point yet attained': the Saar plebiscite of 1935; 6. Low point: the plebiscite and the second world war; 7. An era ends: election monitoring and the plebiscite after the war; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

'It is so exciting to finally have a study of Sarah Wambaugh, and of the plebiscite era in international history. Both deserve close historical analysis, and to be reintegrated into our broader understanding of the interwar period. This study delivers the goods with its attention to a range of actors – including women – and the breadth of postwar international ambitions, their success as well as their failure. I hope it makes its way on to course readings as a vital resource for renovating the study of war and peace in the long 20th century.' Glenda Sluga, Professor of International History, European University Institute