The Supreme Economic Council was established at the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

in February 1919 to advise the conference on economic measures to be taken pending the negotiation of peace. Specialized commissions were appointed to study particular problems: the organization of a

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by ...

and the drafting of its Covenant; and the determination of responsibility for the war and guarantees.

Allied Supreme Council of Supply and Relief

The

Allied Maritime Transport Council 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 (based in London) was formed at ...

(AMTC) had been established in 1917 to co-ordinate the tight control of all shipping of the

Allies of World War I The Allies of World War I, Entente Powers, or Allied Powers were a coalition of countries led by France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman E ...

. Even prior to the

armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

the

had been making preparations for changes to introduce in the event of fighting ceasing. In particular they had sent a proposal that German and Austrian ships should be placed under their control as part of the armistice agreement – however they did not succeed in this. By 13 November, two days after the armistice, the British government proposed to their counterparts in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

that the AMTC be transformed into a "General Economic Council". However the American government wanted the previous organisation to be discontinued, with a new organisation being set up to deal with such economic problems as arose. After discussion amongst the parties involved an agreement to set up the Allied Supreme Council of Supply and Relief was reached on 12 December 1918, with the organisation holding its first meeting on 11 January 1919, a week before the actual Paris Peace Conference opened. By the beginning of February the Supreme Economic Council had been established by merging the Allied Maritime Transport Council with the barely established Allied Supreme Council of Supply and Relief and the Inter-Allied Food Council and the Superior Blockade Council.

References

{{reflist http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/574865/Supreme-Economic-Council Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) Aftermath of World War I