Editing John Maynard Keynes (section)

===First World War===

The British Government called on Keynes's expertise during the [[First World War]]. While he did not formally rejoin the civil service in 1914, Keynes travelled to London at the government's request a few days before hostilities started. Bankers had been pushing for the suspension of [[Hard money (policy)|specie]] payments{{snd}}the gold equivalent of [[banknotes]]{{snd}}but with Keynes's help, the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] (then [[Lloyd George]]) was persuaded that this would be a bad idea, as it would hurt the future reputation of the city if payments were suspended before it was necessary.

In January 1915 Keynes took up an official government position at the [[HM Treasury|Treasury]]. Among his responsibilities were the design of terms of credit between Britain and its continental allies during the war and the acquisition of scarce currencies. According to economist [[Robert Lekachman]], Keynes's "nerve and mastery became legendary" because of his performance of these duties, as in the case where he managed to assemble a supply of [[Spanish peseta]]s.

The secretary of the Treasury was delighted to hear Keynes had amassed enough to provide a temporary solution for the British Government. But Keynes did not hand the pesetas over, choosing instead to sell them all to break the market: his boldness paid off, as pesetas then became much less scarce and expensive.<ref>
{{cite book
| last= Spiegel
| first= Henry William
| title= The Growth of Economic Thought
| year= 1991
| page= 602
| isbn= 0-8223-0973-4
| publisher=Duke University Press
| location= Durham, UK
}}
</ref>

On the introduction of [[military conscription]] in 1916, he applied for exemption as a [[conscientious objector]], which was effectively granted conditional upon continuing his government work.

In the 1917 King's [[Birthday Honours]], Keynes was appointed Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] for his wartime work,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30111 |supp=y|page=5456|date=1 June 1917}}</ref> and his success led to the appointment that had a huge effect on Keynes's life and career; Keynes was appointed financial representative for the Treasury to the 1919 [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Versailles peace conference]]. He was also appointed Officer of the Belgian [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31928 |supp=y|page=6175|date=1 June 1920}}</ref>