Memoranda for the President

Title

Memoranda for the President

Creator

United States. Department of State

Identifier

WWP25165

Date

[1918 September 3]

Description

America's successes have brought around neutral countries the US version of peace.

Source

Library of Congress, Woodrow Wilson Papers

Publisher

Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum

Subject

World War, 1914-1918--United States
Neutrality

Contributor

Danna Faulds

Relation

WWP25164

Language

English

Provenance

Document scan was taken from Library of Congress microfilm reel of the Wilson Papers. WWPL volunteers transcribed the text.

Text

Memoranda for the President:

  1. Neutral sentiment, especially in Sweden where the feeling was perceptibly pro-German, has been steadily changing in favor of America and the Allies. This has been due to three causes, knowledge of which may be helpful in pointing the way to further progress. One cause is the signing recently of a commercial agreement between the Allies and Sweden to better the economic conditions in Sweden. Another cause is the excellent work done in Sweden and adjoining countries by the Committee on Public Information headed by Mr. George Creel. This work has been characterized by intelligence and an understanding of the people who were to be influenced. Still another cause for the change in sentiment is the recent victories of the American and Allied armies. The neutrals swing naturally towards the victors. They are thinking mainly of their own future.
  1. Any statements that may be made, especially by the President, indicating continued friendliness on the part of America towards the neutrals will be helpful, especially if they contain the suggestion that this country is anxious to aid the neutrals, once its own war necessities, and the necessities of the Allies, are satisfied. Such assurances, it is true, already have been given, but the neutrals, flooded constantly by German propaganda, would welcome a repetition of them.
  1. On the way to America I heard that the Swiss Minister to the United States was on his way to London to suggest that the Allies engage in a conference with representatives of the German Government to see whether some satisfactory basis for peace negotiations could not be arranged. Lord Robert Cecil advised me, while in London, that he understood that the Swiss Minister had undertaken such a mission, but remarked that he could not understand why, if it were true, the proposal were not made to the President of the United States. It is likely that this is merely one of the several efforts that have been made to lure America and the Allies, or perhaps the latter alone, into a conference.
  1. The various efforts that have been made towards bringing about a conference invariably have been informal and suspicious. One of these informal proposals, made through a Liberal member of the Reichstag, was transmitted by me, with a report of the circumstances, from Stockholm to the State Department, some time ago.
  1. As indicating the feeling of one of the colonies of Great Britain, Sir Robert Borden, Premier of Canada, with whom I crossed the water on my way from London to the United States, told me that he had advised the British authorities that the Canadians could not keep their heart in the war if they were left to understand that its result would be the addition of more colonies to the British Empire. His idea, which is that America should annex what were the German colonies, may be somewhat fantastic, or it may be merely flattery, but the fact that the Canadians are very strongly in favor of America’s war aims, as they have been stated by the President, is worthy of notice.
  1. The suggestion is made that, whenever possible, the victories of the American army be stressed in neutral countries. The influence of such victories on the neutral mind cannot be exaggerated.

Original Format

Letter

To

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924

Files

http://resources.presidentwilson.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/WWI1164A.pdf

Collection

Citation

United States. Department of State, “Memoranda for the President,” [1918 September 3], WWP25165, World War I Letters, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.