Allied Maritime Transport Council
Encyclopedia
The Allied Maritime Transport Council (AMTC) was an international agency created during World War I
to coordinate shipping between the allied powers of France, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. The council was formed at a conference in Paris in November 1917, with each nation appointing its respective ministers (or delegates) in charge of shipping to the council. The representatives were:
The AMTC had four executive committees for charging, imports, tonnage and statistics. In the functionally leading Charging Committee James Arthur Salter and Jean Monnet
- civil servants for their respective countries Great Britain and France - were working together.
The Transport Council existed until March 1919, when it was merged with the Supreme Economic Council
. Its executive committees were disbanded.
Salter and Monnet called their business in the AMTC ‘international administration’. In more critical terms the Transport Council worked like a cartel
, just run by states, trying to eliminate the economic and logistic competition between the partners. So the organization tried to hold prices down, pooled the allied tonnage and coordinated the allied logistics with substantial rationalization effects.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
to coordinate shipping between the allied powers of France, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. The council was formed at a conference in Paris in November 1917, with each nation appointing its respective ministers (or delegates) in charge of shipping to the council. The representatives were:
- Robert CecilRobert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of ChelwoodEdgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood CH, PC, QC , known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923, was a lawyer, politician and diplomat in the United Kingdom...
and James MaclayJames Maclay, 1st Baron MaclayJoseph Paton Maclay, 1st Baron Maclay PC , known as Sir Joseph Maclay, 1st Baronet, from 1914 to 1922, was a Scottish businessman and public servant....
for Great Britain; - Étienne Clémentel and Louis LoucheurLouis LoucheurLouis Loucheur was a French politician in the Third Republic, at first a member of the conservative Republican Federation, then of the Democratic Republican Alliance and of the Independent Radicals.-Life:Coming from a background in the arms industry, Loucheur became Minister of Munitions in...
for France; - Giovanni Villa and Silvio Crespi for Italy; and
- Raymond B. StevensRaymond Bartlett StevensRaymond Bartlett Stevens was a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire.Born in Binghamton, New York, Stevens moved with his parents to Lisbon, New Hampshire, in 1876. He attended the public schools, Boston Latin School, Harvard University, and Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1899...
and George Rublee for the United States
The AMTC had four executive committees for charging, imports, tonnage and statistics. In the functionally leading Charging Committee James Arthur Salter and Jean Monnet
Jean Monnet
Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet was a French political economist and diplomat. He is regarded by many as a chief architect of European Unity and is regarded as one of its founding fathers...
- civil servants for their respective countries Great Britain and France - were working together.
The Transport Council existed until March 1919, when it was merged with the Supreme Economic Council
Supreme Economic Council
The Supreme Economic Council was established at the Paris Peace Conference in February 1919 to advise the conference on economic measures to be taken pending the negotiation of peace...
. Its executive committees were disbanded.
Salter and Monnet called their business in the AMTC ‘international administration’. In more critical terms the Transport Council worked like a cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
, just run by states, trying to eliminate the economic and logistic competition between the partners. So the organization tried to hold prices down, pooled the allied tonnage and coordinated the allied logistics with substantial rationalization effects.