46 J.-A. PEMBERTON
work. As the federation needed a government subvention in order to
stage the conference everything depended, according to Gascón y Marín,
on whether Martinez de Velasco was reappointed foreign minister or on
Gascón y Marín’s relations with his replacement. As in late 1935, the
prospect of holding the conference in 1936 was shrouded in such uncer-
tainty, the Spanish group suggested that they should instead stage the
conference in 1937.^145
This proposition did not appeal to the IIIC as this body greatly pre-
ferred that the 1937 meeting be held in Paris. In 1937, Paris was to host
the Exposition internationale des arts et techniques dans la vie moderne
and in the IIIC’s view this would render that city the more attractive
location for the conference. In addition, as the ‘smooth working’ of the
1937 conference was seen as so important to the ISC’s future, it was
considered desirable from an administrative perspective that the meeting
be held in Paris where the proximity of the IIIC would help ensure its
‘sound conduct’.^146
Gross was instructed not to mention these considerations to the
Spanish group when visiting Spain in late 1935 for the purpose of assess-
ing the Spanish situation. Rather, he was told to simply stress that Spain
was ‘now..the only country,’ apart from those countries in which the
conference had already been convened, which possessed an institution ‘of
sufficient standing’ and which was ‘sufficiently penetrated with the spirit
of the Conference to ensure that the critical 1936 meeting’ would be
conducted under the ‘most suitable auspices.’^147
(^145) See the December 1935 report prepared by Leo Gross on the Spanish situation.
Conférence permanente des hautes études internationales: Liaison avec les Institutions,
jusqu’au 1er janvier 1938, AG 1-IICI-I-17.a, UA. The Federacion de asociaciones españo-
las de estudios internacionales was founded on October 28, 1932. For details of the
Federación de Asociaciones Españolas de Estudios Internacionales, see International
Institute of Intellectual Co-operation, The International Studies Conference: Origins
Functions Organisation (Paris: International Institute of Intellectual Co-operation, 1937).
This booklet was compiled by Fergus Chalmers Wright in his capacity as secretary of the
ISC.
(^146) Jiri F. Vranek to Leo Gross, 5 December 1935. Conférence permanente des hautes
études internationales: Liaison avec les institutions, jusqu’au 1er janvier 1938, AG 1-IICI-
I-17.a, UA.
(^147) Ibid.