File No. 763.72119/292
The Ambassador in France ( Sharp ) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 30, 8.55 a. m.]
1770. I have received from the Foreign Office in strictest confidence copy of reply from Allied Governments to proposal of Central powers transmitted in your circular of December 16.1 The answer will be handed to me officially to-morrow afternoon at 5 p. m. by Mr. Briand at the Foreign Office. The text is given me now in order that it may be known to the President at the earliest possible moment and before it appears in the newspapers, it being the intention of the French Government to publish it on Sunday morning, the 31st. Following is translation of the note: [Page 124]
The Allied Governments of Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Montenegro, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, and Serbia, unitedly in the defense of the liberty of nations and faithful to the engagement they have taken not to lay down arms separately, have, resolved to answer collectively the so-called proposals of peace which have been addressed them on behalf of the enemy governments, through the intermediary of the United States, of Spain, of Switzerland, and of the Netherlands.
The Allied powers are constrained to preface their answer by protesting strongly against the two essential assertions in the note of the enemy powers, which attempts to throw upon the Allies the responsibility of the war and which proclaims the victory of the Central powers.
The Allies can not admit an assertion which is doubly inexact and which is sufficient to render barren any attempt at negotiation.
For 30 months the Allied powers have suffered a war which they had tried by every means to avoid. They have demonstrated their attachment to peace by their acts. This attachment is as strong to-day as it was in 1914; after the violation of her engagements, it is not upon the word of Germany that peace, broken by her, can be based.
A suggestion without any conditions for initiating negotiations is not an offer of peace. The so-called proposal, devoid of substance and of precision, circulated abroad by the Imperial Government, appears less as an offer of peace than as a maneuver of war.
It is based upon a systematic disregard of the nature of the struggle of the past, present, and future.
As to the past, the German note ignoring [ignores] all the facts, dates, and figures which prove that the war was desired, incited, and declared by Germany and Austria-Hungary. At The Hague it was the German delegate who rejected all suggestion of disarmament. In July 1914, it was Austria-Hungary who, after having addressed to Serbia an ultimatum, of which there exists no precedent, declared war on her despite the satisfaction immediately obtained. The Central Empires thereafter repulsed every attempt made by the Entente to bring about a pacific solution to what was a local conflict. England’s offer of a conference, the French proposal of an international commission, the request for arbitration addressed by the Emperor of Russia to the Emperor of Germany, the understanding reached between Russia and Austria-Hungary on the eve of hostilities; all these endeavors were left by Germany without answer and without issue. Belgium was invaded by an empire which had guaranteed her neutrality and which itself unhesitatingly proclaimed that treaties are “mere scraps of paper” and that “necessity knows no law.”
As regards the present, the so-styled offers of Germany are based upon a “war map” which covers Europe alone; which expresses only the exterior and transitory aspect of the situation, but not the real strength of the adversaries. To conclude a peace based on the above would be to the sole advantage of the aggressors, who, having believed they could attain their object in two months perceive after two years that it will never be attained.
For the future, the ruins caused by the Germans’ declaration of war, the innumerable aggressions committed by Germany and her allies against the belligerents and against neutrals demand penalties, reparations, and guarantees; Germany eludes one and all.
In reality, the overture made by the Central powers is but an attempt calculated to work upon the evolution of the war and of finally imposing a German peace.
It has for its object the troubling of opinion in the Allied countries; this opinion, in spite of all the sacrifices endured, has already replied with an admirable firmness and has denounced the hollowness of the enemy declaration.
It desires to strengthen public opinion in Germany and amongst her allies already so gravely shaken by their losses, fatigued by the economic encirclement, and crushed by the supreme effort which is exacted from their peoples.
It seeks to deceive, to intimidate public opinion of neutral countries long ago satisfied as to the original responsibilities, enlightened as to the present responsibilities, and too farseeing to favor the designs of Germany by abandoning the defense of human liberties.
It strives finally to justify new crimes in advance before the eyes of the world: submarine warfare, deportations, forced labor and enlistment of nationals against their own country, violation of neutrality.
It is with a full realization of the gravity, but also of the necessities of this hour, that the Allied Governments closely united and in perfect communion [Page 125] with their peoples refuse to entertain a proposal without sincerity and without import.
They affirm, once again, that no peace is possible as long as the reparation of violated rights and liberties, the acknowledgment of the principle of nationalities and of the free existence of small states shall not be assured; as long as there is no assurance of a settlement to suppress definitely the causes which for so long a time have menaced nations and to give the only efficacious guarantees for the security of the world.
The Allied powers, in termination, are constrained to expose the following considerations which bring Into relief the particular situation in which Belgium finds herself after two and a half years of war. By virtue of international treaties signed by five of the great powers of Europe, amongst Which figured Germany, Belgium profited by a special statute which rendered her territory inviolate, and placed the country itself under the guarantee of these powers, sheltered from European conflicts. Nevertheless Belgium, despite these treaties, was the first to suffer the aggression of Germany. It is why the Belgian Government deems it necessary to specify the purpose which Belgium has never ceased to pursue in fighting, beside the powers of the Entente for the cause of right and justice.
Belgium has always scrupulously observed the duties imposed upon her by neutrality. She took arms to defend her independence and her neutrality violated by Germany and to remain faithful to her international obligations. On the 4th of August at the Reichstag the Chancellor acknowledged that this aggression constituted an injustice contrary to the right of nations and agreed in the name of Germany to repair it.
After two and a half years this injustice has been cruelly aggravated by the practice of war and occupation which have exhausted the resources of the country, ruined its industries, devastated its cities and villages, multiplied the massacres, the executions, and imprisonments. And at the moment that Germany speaks to the world of peace and humanity she deports and reduces to servitude. Belgium before the war had no other wish than to live in concord with all her neighbors. Her King and her Government have only one purpose: the reestablishment of peace and of right. But they will only consider a peace which Belgian citizens by the thousand [demand and which?] assures to their country legitimate reparation, guarantees, and security for the future.