2 PARIS, 1937: COLONIAL QUESTIONS AND PEACE 113right-had side the words Rassemblement Universal pour la Paix.^100 In the
interior of the building there were four rooms. The first of these rooms
was dedicated to the phenomenon of war, its ever-extending geographi-
cal reach and ever-intensifying destructiveness.^101 In the same room, vis-
itors were informed of the dreadful impact of the current war in Spain:
‘On the18 July 1936, Spain was in. peace; on the 18 July 1937, Spain is
devastated, bloodied by the fact of rebellion and foreign intervention.’^102
The next room was entitled ‘The Forces of Peace Act,’ and therein visi-
tors witnessed scenes of individuals engaged in various tasks in the home,
in the fields, in offices, and in studios. Thus, the IPC/RUP called upon
visitors to choose between the forces of war and the forces of peace,
shouting the word choose in different languages from the walls of the
pavilion.^103 The third room showcased the work of the LON, highlight-
ing in this context the essential idea which animated the campaign of the
IPC/RUP:
[T]he League of Nations is formed of 58 members, 58 nations represent-
ing 1471 million human beings. The states that are not members of the
League of Nations represent...301 million human beings. If we extract
the United States which has not joined the League of Nations but which
clearly expresses its neutrality, they [the non-members] represent 200 mil-
lion human beings. ‘What government would dare to unleash war if it had
to face humanity, risen in its pacific and powerful sovereignty.’^104The last of the four rooms detailed the work of the. ICP/RUP and
the extent of its membership.^105 As to the messages conveyed at the exte-
rior of the structure, inscribed along the length of the upper reaches of
the pavilion’s curved central wall was a quotation in French drawn from a
(^100) Challet-Bailhache, ed., Paris et ses expositions universelles: architecture 1855– 1937 , 74.
(^101) Rivoirard, ‘Le pacifism et la Tour de la Paix,’ 312, and ‘The Star of Peace Shines over
Paris,’ in Mee, ed., The Children’s Newspaper, no. 966 (1937), 1.
(^102) Pavilion de la Paix, Paris Éditions du RUP (s. d. [n. d.]), quoted in Rivoirard, ‘Le
pacifism et la Tour de la Paix,’ 312. See also Mee, ed., The Children’s Newspaper, no. 966
(1937), 1. The report entitled ‘The Star of Peace Shines over Paris’ notes that the impact
of the Italian aggression in Ethiopia was depicted inside the pavilion.
(^103) ‘The Star of Peace Shines over Paris,’ in Mee, ed., The Children’s Newspaper, no. 966
(1937), 1. See also Rivoirard, ‘Le pacifism et la Tour de la Paix,’ 312.
(^104) Rivoirard, ‘Le pacifism et la Tour de la Paix,’ 312–13.
(^105) Ibid., 313.