File No. 763.72119/81
The Ambassador in France (Sharp) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 19.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that the appeal made by the Pope to the belligerent nations and to their chiefs on the anniversary of [Page 53] the beginning of the war has been coldly received by the French newspapers. While they do not question the sincerity of the Supreme Pontiff in his desire to bring about a termination of the sanguinary conflict, they maintain that he should distinguish between the aggressors and those nations who only took up arms to defend themselves. They remind the Pope that the war was not the outcome of the elementary forces of nature, but was the result of premeditation and that consequently it is unjust to treat all the belligerents as if they were fighting under equal terms inspired by the same motives. Recalling the invasion of Belgium and the violation of the neutrality of Luxemburg, they ask why those who are contending for the independence of nations and for the respect for international agreements should be confused with those who have shown a contempt for right and principle.
It is interesting to note in this connection that the Pope’s appeal was closely followed by a request addressed by the French cardinals to the French bishops to set apart a day of prayer in order “to obtain with the triumph of French arms an enduring peace.”
Apropos of this subject, the message of President Poincaré yesterday to the French Chamber is worthy of mention; the last paragraph of that message is significant. It is as follows:
The only peace which the Republic can accept is that which will guarantee the security of Europe, which will allow us to breathe, to live and to work; which will reconstitute our dismembered country; which will repair our runs and will efficaciously protect us against all offensive recurrence of Germanic ambitions.
Inasmuch as only that kind of peace for which President Poincaré stands is advocated by rational peace advocates, it would seem as though a better understanding all round is needed.
I have [etc.]