Balfour, Viviani and Joffre by Francis W. Halsey (1851-1919) is an important record of those significant visits. The book also describes the arrival of the first American soldiers in Europe, including the commander of the American Expeditionary Force, General John J. Pershing.
Most of the book is made up of newspaper accounts of visits by the three men mentioned in the title, along with transcripts of their speeches.
- Arthur Balfour was prime minister of England from 1902 to 1905. He was the British Foreign Secretary at the time of this visit.
- René Viviani was prime minister of France when the war broke out in 1914 and served in that position until 1915. He was the French Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time of this visit.
- Joseph Joffre was the commander-in-chief of the French army when British and French troops successfully repelled the German army during the Battle of the Marne in September 1914. He served in that position until late 1916 and held the honorary title of Marshal of France at the time of the U.S. visit.
Towards the end of the book, Halsey summarized the goals and accomplishments of these five missions to America:
As to the purpose of the Missions and what they had accomplished, it could be said that their objects had been threefold—to reach a complete understanding as to the prosecution of the war by the United States; to arrange for military and naval cooperation between the United States and her allies; to discuss the financial assistance America would give, and to adjust questions of trade and shipping. On all points a satisfactory agreement had been reached.The visits were also a very emotional experience for both the diplomats and their American and Canadian audiences. The book describes many parades in which the European visitors often seemed overwhelmed by the enthusiastic support of the crowds. These parades seem to both honor the visitors and help the parade goers to feel more a part of the war effort.
The speeches by the diplomats covered a wide range of topics. These speeches give the reader a deeper sense of how the war started and what was at stake in the war. Overall, the book is a good general overview of the allied effort since the beginning of the war.
A major theme of these speeches was the goal of the allies to not only repel Germany and its allies from land that it had taken by force. It was also to help democracy triumph over the autocracies of Germany and Austria.
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| Arthur Balfour |
Often there are mentions of the "Old World" of Europe and the "New World" of the United States and Canada. Many connections were made between the European visitors and parts of their culture that had taken root in the U.S. and Canada.
The French visitors often referred to a French soldier who fought alongside the U.S. colonies in the Revolutionary War—Lafayette (Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette). In New York City, large crowds of Italian-born Americans listened to speeches given in their native language by the Italian Prince of Udine (Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa).
Balfour's speeches in Canada were significantly different than those in the U.S. Canadian troops had been fighting in the war since it began in 1914, as part of what was still called the British Empire. Canada had been independent from England for about 50 years, and Balfour's visit helped to reinforce the ties between the countries.
The visit by Russian Ambassador Boris Bakhmetieff had more to do with recent political changes in Russia than with the war effort. The diplomat's visit turned out to be part of Russia's failed attempt at democracy between the overthrow of the Tsar Nicholas II in early 1917 and the Bolshevik Revolution in late 1917. In a speech in Washington, D.C. on June 21, he said:
I hope that the result of our stay and work in America will bring about a clear understanding on the part of your public of what has happened in Russia, and also of the present situation and the end for which our people are most earnestly striving. There have been many and various narratives of what has been and is taking place in Russia, but there seems to be a lack of exact and true comprehension.This visit by Bakhmetieff was the first diplomatic visit of this new government to the U.S. The diplomat strongly tried to establish a place for Russia among the democratic countries of the world, after the overthrow of the kind of autocratic government that the allies were fighting in Germany and Austria. Bakhmetieff also talked about Russia's role in the war effort.
The book ends with a ceremony in Paris on July 4, 1917 to honor the American Independence Day holiday. The ceremony was attended by many of the recently arrived American soldiers. By then, the reader has learned more about some of the big steps that were taken to bring America into the allied war effort.
Francis W. Halsey later wrote most of the 10-volume The Literary Digest History of the World War before he died in 1919.
Balfour, Viviani and Joffre was published in August 1917, according to its copyright page. It was reviewed in the September 9, 1917 edition of the Nashville Tennessean. Front page headlines in that day's Tennessean included:
- FIRST INFANTRY GOES TO GREENVILLE / CROWDS WEEP AND CHEER AS MEN DEPART / Men Break Camp Early and Entrain at Harding Station.
- RUSSIANS FORM NEW LINE FIFTY MILES FROM RIGA / Retreat of Slav Forces Before Germans Apparently at End. / ITALIANS MEET WITH SEVERE RESISTANCE / French Repulsed in Attack Near Verdun is German Claim.
- GERMANY FACING SHORTAGE IN COAL
Online versions:
Newspaper information from Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/).
Photograph of Arthur Balfour from Wikimedia Commons (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ggbain.02758/).
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