Re-elect President Woodrow Wilson! An October 18, 1916 cartoon from the British magazine Punch. The German sinking of ships that killed American citizens and sabotage such as the July 30, 1916 attack that destroyed the Black Tom munitions plant in Jersey City, New Jersey, were not enough to make Wilson call for a declaration of war on Germany, much to the distress of Great Britain and the other Entente allies. The date on Wilson's desk calendar is October 8, 1916, a day on which German submarine U-53 sank five vessels — three British, one Dutch, and one Norwegian — off Nantucket, Massachusetts. One of the British ships was a passenger liner traveling between New York and Newfoundland.

Re-elect President Woodrow Wilson! An October 18, 1916 cartoon from the British magazine Punch. The German sinking of ships that killed American citizens and sabotage such as the July 30, 1916 attack that destroyed the Black Tom munitions plant in Jersey City, New Jersey, were not enough to make Wilson call for a declaration of war on Germany, much to the distress of Great Britain and the other Entente allies.

Text:

Bringing it home.

President Wilson. 'What's that? U-boat blockading New York? Tut! Tut! Very inopportune!'

Vote for Wilson who kept you out of the War!

[Calendar date:] October 8, 1916

Other views: Larger

Monday, December 18, 1916

"On 18 December 1916 [Woodrow Wilson] sent identical notes to the Allies and Central Powers, inviting each to state its war aims fully and frankly as a step towards negotiations.

In his note Wilson observed that publicly stated objectives of both sides were 'virtually the same' in that both claimed to seek security for weaker states and for themselves and a stable order that would eliminate future wars. There was a double purpose behind this statement. One was to undercut secret agreements among the Allies for a division of the spoils if the Central Powers were defeated. The other was to force both sides to state goals in such a way as to maximize the chance of agreement."

Quotation Context

President Woodrow Wilson's claim that publicly stated objectives of both the Entente Allies and the Central Powers were 'virtually the same' infuriated the French and British, and brought King George of the United Kingdom to weep publicly.

Source

Woodrow Wilson: World Statesman by Kendrick A. Clements, page 164, copyright © 1987 by G. K. Hall & Co.; 1999 by Kendrick A. Clements, publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, publication date: 1987

Tags

1916-12-18, 1916, December, Woodrow Wilson, Wilson, peace, peace proposal