l x x I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 5 Einstein’s tendency to avoid direct political confrontation was also apparent in his reaction in February 1927 to the request of Hein Herbers, editor of the pacifist Das Andere Deutschland, to be deposed in his appeal against his conviction for in- citing Reichswehr soldiers to disobedience. Einstein agreed to be deposed yet ar- gued that “in order to win new friends, one should not repel those not close to one’s own point of view by offending so-called traditional values. One must be content with opening people’s eyes” (Doc. 489). As in previous volumes, European reconciliation, particularly among represen- tatives of the scholarly community, remained an important issue for Einstein. His involvement in the cause of rapprochement played itself out mainly on two fronts: his ongoing participation in the League of Nations’ International Committee on In- tellectual Cooperation (ICIC) and his efforts to end the boycott of German scien- tists by their European counterparts. In the previous two years, Einstein had grown increasingly optimistic about the positive role the League of Nations could play in intra-European rapprochement. However, by June 1925, he was disenchanted by slow progress (Doc. 2). Neverthe- less, in July he participated in the sixth session of the ICIC in Geneva (see Illustra- tion 9), but decried the disproportionate influence of the French on the committee (Docs. 35 and 58). The inauguration of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation was held during the seventh session of the ICIC in Paris in January 1926.[38] The festivities for the opening of the new institute, at which Einstein was a guest of honor, were a significant institutional and symbolic event for European reconciliation. In his official statement Einstein again stressed the importance of the recently signed Locarno Treaties, which demonstrated that the governments of Europe had realized that the “latent struggle of traditional state entities against each other” had to cease in order for Europe to thrive. However, this goal could not be achieved merely by treaties but had to be accompanied by a parallel “preparation of the minds” conducive to a sense of solidarity among people (Doc. 165). In his notes for a toast at the inauguration banquet, Einstein expressed his gratitude to- ward the French nation for its role in the establishment of the institute and pleaded for scholars and artists to be liberated from “the spell of nationalism” (Doc. 167). After his return to Berlin, he reported to Paul Painlevé, with whom he had dis- cussed the boycott of German scientists, that the German government favored the reestablishment of ties between German and Austrian scholars and societies, and international organizations. However, they had to proceed with caution so as not to alarm the more conservative minded among German scholars (Doc. 173) At the eighth session of the ICIC, held in Geneva in July 1926, Einstein was closely in- volved in plans to establish an international bureau of meteorology and in efforts for “world synchronization” (Docs. 331 and 332).