The King of the Belgians did not send his official reply until January 23, 1918, or six months after the Pope’s note had been issued. This was because the Belgian Government was anxious to ascertain exactly what views the Allies would take, how the Central Powers would reply, and in general what effect would be produced by the action of the Vatican. Moreover, Belgium was in rather a difficult situation in this respect, owing to the Belgian Catholics who at that time constituted the decisive element in Parliament. The Belgian reply was courteous in tone, stating that due note had been taken of the Vatican point of view, which was identical with that of the Belgian Government, as far as Belgium was concerned. It referred also to the Pope’s communication to the Belgian Government, in which he had stated that when speaking on January 22, 1915, about acts of injustice, he had had Belgium in mind as the victim of those acts. On all other questions the Belgian Government announced that it must first arrive at an agreement with its Allies before expressing its point of view. In conclusion, it emphasized the fact that it was not responsible for the infringement of neutrality, and pointed out in a very unambiguous manner that it would not accept any peace which did not offer it full restitution for the injustice which it had sustained, and an assurance that such acts would not be repeated in the future.
The most interesting diplomatic document, however, connected with the Papal note was President Wilson’s reply, which was signed by State Secretary Lansing, and without any undue delay was dispatched on August 27, 1917. It emphasizes the fact that every honourable person must share the desire of the Vatican for an early peace, but that the peace programme formulated in Benedict’s note represents a mere return to the pre-war state of affairs. President Wilson took the view that no just and lasting peace could be attained by this process, the aim of the war then being to remove the regime in Germany which was responsible for the whole disaster. Any negotiations with the autocratic German regime on the basis of the Papal note would mean giving it an opportunity of continuing its former policy. The new peace must be based upon the rights of nations and not upon the rights of Governments. The United States, the reply continued, had no special war aim, but merely desired the peace to be founded upon principles of justice and mutual trust. In conclusion, President Wilson again declared that he was unable to place any confidence in the word of the present
