The Wisconsin Plan (also known as the Wales Plan and Canada Plan; originally Continuous Mediation Without Armistice) was a proposal created by

Julia Grace Wales Julia Grace Wales (14 July 1881 – 15 July 1957) was a Canadian academic known for authoring the Wisconsin Plan, a proposal to set up a conference of intellectuals from neutral nations who would work to find a solution for the First World War. ...

to end the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Origin and purpose

Julia Grace Wales was a Canadian-born Wisconsin university professor who was deeply troubled by reports of the war. She spent the autumn of 1914 considering possible methods for finding a peace solution. The United States was neutral at the time, and

President Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...

asked his compatriots to remain "impartial in thought". In December, Wales prepared a plan. She proposed that the United States organize a conference (a "world thinking organ") composed of delegations from

neutral countries A neutral country is a state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, CSTO or the SCO). As a type of ...

, who would mediate between the warring powers and disseminate peace proposals, with the goal of eventually reaching a fair settlement. The conference was to last for as long as the war continued.Wisconsin Historical Society. Teachers' Lessons
"Teacher Background—Julia Grace Wales and the Peace Movement"
/ref> Two main principles were meant to guide the mediators: no nation could be humiliated by the peace, and there could be no compromises that could later lead to another war. The plan was carefully revised many times.

Reactions

The newly formed Wisconsin Peace Party and the National Peace Party, led by

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...

, both endorsed Wales' plan. The former party started printing and distributing the Wisconsin Plan as

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

s in early 1915. The National Peace Party sent a delegation to present the idea to President Wilson and to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, to which it was recommended by Wisconsin's Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr.

Rosika Schwimmer Rosika Schwimmer ( hu, Schwimmer Rózsa; 11 September 1877 – 3 August 1948) was a Hungarian-born pacifist, feminist, world federalist, and women's suffragist. A co-founder of the Campaign for World Government with Lola Maverick Lloyd, her ra ...

, who had independently devised a similar idea, proposed the plan at the

International Congress of Women The International Congress of Women was created so that groups of existing women's suffrage movements could come together with other women's groups around the world. It served as a way for women organizations across the nation to establish formal m ...

, and Wales seconded it. The ICW received several proposals but unanimously agreed that the Wisconsin Plan was the most plausible method. Thousands of pamphlets, printed in four languages, were distributed in Europe and North America. Wilson appeared to be interested in the proposal, but the

sinking of the RMS Lusitania The was a UK-registered ocean liner that was torpedoed by an Imperial German Navy U-boat during the First World War on 7 May 1915, about off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. The attack took place in the declared maritime war-zone around th ...

by the Germans in March 1915 and the resulting deaths of 1,198 people (128 of whom were U.S. citizens) brought about an uncertainty about the neutrality policy, leading government officials to back away from mediation. The industrialist

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

started advocating the Wisconsin Plan and accompanied Wales to Europe, but the movement began declining. The United States entered the war in April 1917, rendering the plan a dead letter.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Full text of the Continuous Mediation Without Armistice
Opposition to World War I World War I publications Peace conferences