US President Woodrow Wilson ‘politely but firmly’ rejected peace proposals put forward by the Vatican in August 1917, notes US blogger Dennis Cross in his latest WWI post. Here’s his summary.
‘As the World War enters its fourth year, there’s no end in sight. Pope Benedict XV makes a peace proposal, which President Wilson rejects after conferring with the other nations at war with Germany. Former Secretary of State Elihu Root returns from a mission to Russia designed to keep Russia in the war. An attempted coup by the commander-in-chief of the Russian Army fails, but the Provisional Government is weakened and the Bolsheviks are strengthened. Recently arrived American troops parade in London. The Allied offensive on the Western Front, after initial success, bogs down in the mud of Flanders. Italy attacks Austria-Hungary again at the Isonzo River. On the Eastern Front, the German Army advances in Romania to the south and moves against the Baltic port of Riga to the north. In the United States, racial tensions flare as African-American troops are based in segregated southern cities and a deadly race riot breaks out in Houston. The Senate passes a proposed Constitutional Amendment prohibiting the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquor.’
Read the full post here.