I

THE SEVERING OF RELATIONS WITH GERMANY, THE ZIMMERMANN NOTE, AND THE

SENATORIAL FILIBUSTER

December 12, 1916-March 26, 1917

N the presence of all members of the Reichstag, even those

Diplomatic Corps, a declaration of historic importance having to do with peace was made by the German Government on December 12, 1916-an event which, as it eventually came to be understood from the German point of view, brought about a severing of diplomatic relations between the United States and Germany, followed within a few weeks by a declaration from the United States of a "state of war." The announcement as made by Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg was that he had that day dispatched to the Entente Allies, and to neutral countries, a proposal for opening peace negotiations. Preliminary to this statement he reviewed the recent progress made by German armies, including the entrance of Roumania into the war against Germany, which, designed by the Entente Allies as a fatal blow, had instead led to German victories and provided grain, oil, and other goods sufficient to relieve Germany's needs. Attacks made in other fields at the same time by British, French, Italians and Russians he represented as having been successfully resisted, and concluded his address in words accepted by the Entente Allies as a continuance of his intolerable arrogance:

"Our strength has not made our ears deaf to our responsibility before God, before our own nation, and before humanity. The declarations formerly made by us concerning our readiness for peace were evaded by our adversaries. Now we have advanced one step further in this direction. On August 1, 1914, the Emperor had personally to take the gravest decision which ever fell to the lot of a

German-the order for mobilization—which he was compelled to give as a result of the Russian mobilization. During these long and earnest years of the war, the Emperor had been moved by a single thought: How peace could be restored to safeguard Germany after. the struggle in which she has fought victoriously. In a deep moral and religious sense of duty toward his nation and, beyond it, toward humanity, the Emperor now considers that the moment has come for official action toward peace."

It was understood that underneath this arrogance lay a desire by Germany that representatives of the belligerent powers should meet in conference at The Hague in January for a full discussion of all questions at issue. What terms Germany was willing to concede was left as a matter only for surmise. No authorized statement of German terms was made public then or afterward, but, from what was allowed to come out from semi-official sources, it was inferred that the basis was substantially the status quo ante bellum, or a return to conditions that existed before the war, except as to the Balkans and the Russian frontier. Germany was thought willing to evacuate all territory occupied by her armies in Belgium and France. Belgium would be reestablished as before, altho Germany might insist on the defortification of Antwerp and other Belgian cities.

By an unexpected coincidence President Wilson on December 18-six days later-sent a formal diplomatic communication to all the nations engaged in the war, inviting them to an exchange of views as to terms of peace. The note was said to have been prepared several weeks before it was sent; in fact before the German Chancellor had made his announcement, the American Government stating this fact in order to dispel any suspicion on the part of the Allies that it was "backing" Germany. President Wilson's communication was made in diplomatic terms and was not a proposal of intervention, or even of mediation, but simply a tender of good offices. It met with a prompt response from Germany and her allies, who, in substance repeated the proposal contained in the German declaration of December 12, but a little more explicitly, since they now proposed "an immediate meeting of delegates of the belligerent states at a neutral place." As to the prevention of future wars to which

the President's address had made particular reference, Germany declared that so great a work could be begun

will of their populations; the liberations of Italians, of Slavs, of Roumanians, and of Czecho-Slovaks from foreign domination; the enfranchisement of populations subject to the bloody tyranny of the Turks; the expulsion from Europe of the Ottoman Empire, decidedly alien to Western civilization. The intentions of his Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, regarding Poland have been clearly indicated in the proclamation which he has just addrest to his armies.

"It goes without saying that if the Allies wish to liberate Europe from the brutal coveteousness of Prussian militarism, it never has been their design, as has been, alleged, to encompass the extermination of the German peoples and their political disappearance. That which they desire above all is to insure a peace upon the principles of liberty and justice, upon the inviolable fidelity to international obligations with which the Government of the United States has never ceased to be inspired. United in the pursuit of this supreme object, the Allies are determined, individually and collectively, to act with all their power and to consent to all sacrifices, to bring to a victorious close a conflict upon which they are convinced not only their own safety and prosperity depend, but also the future of civilization itself."

The reply of the Entente Allies was dated January 10. Twelve days later President Wilson delivered before the United States Senate an impressive address in behalf of peace. The keynote of the speech was that, while the United States would willingly join in any international movement to secure the future peace of the world, the basis of peace must be just and lasting and such as the United States could approve. Such a peace could only be brought about by general consent, and should not be imposed by force of arms upon vanquished nations. It should rec

ognize the principle of nationality and the right of every people to political and economic freedom. To illustrate these general principles, the President specified as desirable the creation of a "united, independent, and autonomous Poland" and a general recognition that "the paths of the sea must alike in law and in fact be free." If a satisfactory readjustment of international relations could be secured as a result of the war, the President was sure that America would not be backward in guaranteeing its permanence, since that would not be abandoning the principle of the Monroe Doctrine, but applying it to the whole world.

This address profoundly stirred the nation. Many even of President Wilson's political opponents found much to praise in it. Pacifists of all parties welcomed it as a most important diplomatic step and one much to the credit of the administration. This was not the famous "Fourteen-points" speech which played so large a part in the final settlement of the issues of the war at the Peace Conference in Paris in the winter and spring of 1919. The, "Fourteen-points' speech was not made until January 8 of the following year, and was Wilson's answer to Germany's so-called peace offensive at Brest-Litovsk.

A week later came from Germany a note by the side of which all events in the trenches, and all discussion of peace possibilities in various parliaments. paled into insignificance. The world now had from Germany a new ultimatum in the form of a reply to the address of President Wilson in the Asserting that the main tendencies of the President's address as to peace corresponded largely with the desires and principles profest by Germany, and declaring that Germany's opponents had declined to accept these principles, the ultimatum proceeded to state that the German Government was now compelled to continue its fight for existence, again forced upon it, with the full employment of all weapons that were at its disposal. Germany therefore announced that, on and after February 1, she would pursue what was popularly known as the von Tirpitz system of ruthless submarine warfare. Sea traffic was to be stopt "with every available weapon and without further notice," in what she defined as "blockade zones" about Great Britain, France, Italy and the eastern Mediterranean. Germany went so far in this extraordinary document as to issue instructions to the United States as to how American vessels should be marked by flags and painted with signs in order to avoid being torpedoed, and further, announced that the United States would be permitted to dispatch only one steamer a week in each direction to England, and only then when the point of destination was Falmouth, England. Moreover, this single weekly steamer would have to arrive "at Falmouth on Sunday and depart from Falmouth on Wednesday, taking a lane that Germany prescribed."