View source for President Wilson's Peace Note, December 18, 1916

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'''President Wilson's Peace Note, December 18, 1916<sup>1</sup>'''<br>

The Secretary of State to Ambassador W. H. Page<sup>2</sup><br>

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[TELEGRAM]<br>

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;DEPARTMENT OF STATE, <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Washington, December 18, 1916. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The President directs me to send you the following communication <br>
to be presented immediately to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the <br>
Government to which you are accredited: <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The President of the United States has instructed me to suggest <br>
to His Majesty's Government a course of action with regard to the <br>
present war which he hopes that the British Government will take <br>
under consideration as suggested in the most friendly spirit and as <br>
coming not only from a friend but also as coming from the representa- <br>
tive of a neutral nation whose interests have been most seriously <br>
affected by the war and whose concern for its early conclusion arises <br>
out of a manifest necessity to determine how best to safeguard those <br>
interests if the war is to continue. <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The suggestion which I am instructed to make the President has <br>
long had it in mind to offer. He is somewhat embarrassed to offer it <br>
at this particular time because it may now seem to have been prompted <br>
by the recent overtures of the Central Powers. It is in fact in no way <br>
associated with them in its origin and the President would have de- <br>
layed offering it until those overtures had been answered but for the <br>
fact that it also concerns the question of peace and may best be <br>
considered in connection with other proposals which have the same <br>
end in view. The President can only beg that his suggestion be con- <br>
sidered entirely on its own merits and as if it had been made in other <br>
circumstances.<sup>3</sup><br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The President suggests that an early occasion be sought to call<br> 
out from all the nations now at war such an avowal of their respective <br>
views as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded and the <br>
arrangements which would be deemed satisfactory as a guaranty <br>
against its renewal or the kindling of any similar conflict in the future <br>
as would make it possible frankly to compare them. He is indifferent <br>
as to the means taken to accomplish this. He would be happy himself <br>
to serve or even to take the initiative in its accomplishment in any way <br>
that might prove acceptable, but he has no desire to determine the <br>
method or the instrumentality. One way will be as acceptable to him <br>
as another if only the great object he has in mind be attained. <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"He takes the liberty of calling attention to the fact that the objects <br>
which the statesmen of the belligerents on both sides have in mind in <br>
this war are virtually the same, as stated in general terms to their <br>
own people and to the world. Each side desires to make the rights <br>
and privileges of weak peoples and small States as secure against <br>
aggression or denial in the future as the rights and privileges of the <br>
great and powerful States now at war. Each wishes itself to be made <br>
secure in the future, along with all other nations and peoples, against <br>
the recurrence of wars like this and against aggression of selfish in- <br>
terference of any kind. Each would be jealous of the formation of <br>
any more rival leagues to preserve an uncertain balance of power <br>
amidst multiplying suspicions ; but each is ready to consider the forma- <br>
tion of a league of nations to insure peace and justice throughout the <br>
world. Before that final step can be taken, however, each deems it <br>
necessary first to settle the issues of the present war upon terms which <br>
will certainly safeguard the independence, the territorial integrity, <br>
and the political and commercial freedom of the nations involved. <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"In the measures to be taken to secure the future peace of the <br>
world the people and Government of the United States are as vitally <br>
and as directly interested as the Governments now at war. Their <br>
interest, moreover, in the means to be adopted to relieve the smaller <br>
and weaker peoples of the world of the peril of wrong and violence is <br>
as quick and ardent as that of any other people or Government. They <br>
stand ready, and even eager, to cooperate in the accomplishment of <br>
these ends, when the war is over, with every influence and resource <br>
at their command. But the war must first be concluded. The terms <br>
upon which it is to be concluded they are not at liberty to suggest: <br>
but the President does feel that it is his right and his duty to point <br>
out their intimate interest in its conclusion, lest it should presently be <br>
too late to accomplish the greater things which lie beyond its con-<br>
elusion, lest the situation of neutral nations, now exceedingly hard to <br>
endure, be rendered altogether intolerable, and lest, more than all, an <br>
injury be done civilization itself which can never be atoned for or <br>
repaired. <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The President therefore feels altogether justified in suggesting an <br>
immediate opportunity for a comparison of views as to the terms <br>
which must precede those ultimate arrangements for the peace of the <br>
world, which all desire and in which the neutral nations as well as <br>
those at war are ready to play their full responsible part. If the con- <br>
test must continue to proceed towards undefined ends by slow attrition <br>
until the one group of belligerents or the other is exhausted, if million <br>
after million of human lives must continue to be offered up until on <br>
the one side or the other there are no more to offer, if resentments <br>
must be kindled that can never cool and despairs engendered from <br>
which there can be no recovery, hopes of peace and of the willing <br>
concert of free peoples will be rendered vain and idle.<br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The life of the entire world has been profoundly affected. Every <br>
part of the great family of mankind has felt the burden and terror of <br>
this unprecedented contest of arms. No nation in the civilized world<br>
can be said in truth to stand outside its influence or to be safe against <br>
its disturbing effects. And yet the concrete objects for which it is <br>
being waged have never been definitively stated. <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The leaders of the several belligerents have, as has been said, <br>
stated those objects in general terms. But, stated in general terms, <br>
they seem the same on both sides. Never yet have the authoritative <br>
spokesmen of either side avowed the precise objects which would, if <br>
attained, satisfy them and their people that the war had been fought <br>
out. The world has been left to conjecture what definitive results, <br>
what actual exchange of guarantees, what political or territorial changes <br>
or readjustments, what stage of military success even, would bring the <br>
war to an end. <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"It may be that peace is nearer than we know; that the terms which <br>
the belligerents on the one side and on the other would deem it neces- <br>
sary to insist upon are not so irreconcilable as some have feared ; that <br>
an interchange of views would clear the way at least for conference <br>
and make the permanent concord of the nations a hope of the imme- <br>
diate future, a concert of nations immediately practicable. <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The President is not proposing peace; he is not even offering <br>
mediation. He is merely proposing that soundings be taken in order <br>
that we may learn, the neutral nations with the belligerent, how near<br>
the haven of peace may be for which all mankind longs with an <br>
intense and increasing longing. He believes that the spirit in which <br>
he speaks and the objects which he seeks will be understood by all <br>
concerned, and he confidently hopes for a response which will bring <br>
a new light into the affairs of the world." <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;LANSING.<br>

<hr>
<sup>1</sup>Official prints of the Department of State.<br>

<sup>2</sup> Same mutatis mutandis to the American Diplomatic Representatives accredited <br>
to all the belligerent Governments and to all neutral Governments for their in- <br>
formation.<br>

<sup>3</sup>In the note addressed to the Representatives of the Central Powers, this <br>
paragraph reads as follows: <br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The suggestion which I am instructed to make the President has long had it <br>
in mind to offer. He is somewhat embarrassed to offer it at this particular time <br>
because it may now seem to have been prompted by a desire to play a part in <br>
connection with the recent overtures of the Central Powers. It has in fact been <br>
in no way suggested by them in its origin and the President would have delayed <br>
offering it until those overtures had been independently answered but for the <br>
fact that it also concerns the question of peace and may best be considered in <br>
connection with other proposals which have the same end in view. The Presi- <br>
dent can only beg that his suggestion be considered entirely on its own merits <br>
and as if it had been made in other circumstances."