january 12, 1917
The reply to the Wilson note
Courteous and friendly in tone, clear and positive in statement, closely reasoned, and animated by the lofty ideals of politics and of morals to which the people of the United States have always paid homage, the Reply of the Allies to Mr Wilson’s Note must command the approbation of the great nation across the Atlantic.
The German Government curtly refused the information for which the President asked. They made no “avowal of their views as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded”, and they told him, in substance, that he had mistaken the road to peace. The Allies do not pretend to be at present in a position to state all their war aims in detail. These cannot be set out in full until the moment for negotiation has been reached. But they declare their general objects with more amplitude and more precision than in any statement yet made. First among them, it need hardly be said, ranks the restoration of the small nations whom Germany has trodden under her heel. Belgium, Serbia, and Montenegro must be set free, with the compensations owed them. The liberation of the occupied portions of France, Russia, and Rumania, with reparation for the damage done them, is equally imperative.
The peace which they desire must be based on the right of “all peoples, small and great”, to full security and to liberty of economic development. It must ensure the liberation of the Italians, Slavs, Rumanes, and Czecho-Slovaks and the risorgimento of Poland; it must free the populations under Turkish tyranny and end for ever the rule of the Ottoman in Europe.
The Allies appreciate the lofty sentiments which make the United States eager to cooperate, as Mr Wilson declares, in considering the formation of a league of nations to ensure peace and justice throughout the world. They heartily associate themselves with the plan, but point out that discussion of it presupposes a satisfactory settlement of the war. Anxious as they are for peace, they sadly acknowledge that they are at present unable to see any prospect of bringing about the only kind of peace they can accept. These things cannot be safeguarded without securing the reparation, the restitution, and the guarantees which they claim.
The reply to the Wilson note
Courteous and friendly in tone, clear and positive in statement, closely reasoned, and animated by the lofty ideals of politics and of morals to which the people of the United States have always paid homage, the Reply of the Allies to Mr Wilson’s Note must command the approbation of the great nation across the Atlantic.
The German Government curtly refused the information for which the President asked. They made no “avowal of their views as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded”, and they told him, in substance, that he had mistaken the road to peace. The Allies do not pretend to be at present in a position to state all their war aims in detail. These cannot be set out in full until the moment for negotiation has been reached. But they declare their general objects with more amplitude and more precision than in any statement yet made. First among them, it need hardly be said, ranks the restoration of the small nations whom Germany has trodden under her heel. Belgium, Serbia, and Montenegro must be set free, with the compensations owed them. The liberation of the occupied portions of France, Russia, and Rumania, with reparation for the damage done them, is equally imperative.
The peace which they desire must be based on the right of “all peoples, small and great”, to full security and to liberty of economic development. It must ensure the liberation of the Italians, Slavs, Rumanes, and Czecho-Slovaks and the risorgimento of Poland; it must free the populations under Turkish tyranny and end for ever the rule of the Ottoman in Europe.
The Allies appreciate the lofty sentiments which make the United States eager to cooperate, as Mr Wilson declares, in considering the formation of a league of nations to ensure peace and justice throughout the world. They heartily associate themselves with the plan, but point out that discussion of it presupposes a satisfactory settlement of the war. Anxious as they are for peace, they sadly acknowledge that they are at present unable to see any prospect of bringing about the only kind of peace they can accept. These things cannot be safeguarded without securing the reparation, the restitution, and the guarantees which they claim.
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