Woodrow Wilson and the Secret Pact of London 1915 Cover Image

Вудро Вилсон и Лондонски пакт 1915. године
Woodrow Wilson and the Secret Pact of London 1915

Author(s): Dragoljub Živojinović
Subject(s): History
Published by: Istorijski institut, Beograd
Keywords: USA; Great Britain; Italy; Wilson; Balfour; Lansing; Paige; Sonino; Dalmatia; irredenta

Summary/Abstract: The author re-examins one of the thorniest problems of the First World War diplomacy – the secret pacts concluded between various states. One of the greatest debates was over the secret pact of London concluded between G. Britain, France and Russia on one and Italy on the other side. The pact secured Italy’s entry into the war in May of 1915. Woodrow Wilson, the president of the USA, was the most formidable opponent of the secret afreements and diplomacy. The entry of the USA in the war in the spring of 1917 initiated sharp polemics within the Allied block, especially between the USA and Italy. Wilson was a protagonist of the principle of national self-determination, while the European Allies defended the applicatin, when necessary, of the strategic reasons. The problem came to surface during the Paris Peace conference 1919, when Wilson contested the Italian teritorial gains in the Adriatic and the Tyroll. Wilson claimed that he did not know that the pact of London existed. The careful analysis of the exsiting documentation, official and private, had confirmed that Wilson was familiar with the existence of the pact. However, he neglected it believing that the Allies will accept his arguments as instrumental for future peace and stability, and disregard the secret arrangements and strategic arguments. The European Allies refused his reasoning and insisted upon the realiyation of the mutual obligations entered into during the war.

  • Issue Year: 2009
  • Issue No: 58
  • Page Range: 275-299
  • Page Count: 25
  • Language: Serbian