Peace Ship

Last updated
Oscar II Peace Ship leaving New York Dec. 4, 1915 Oscar II 1915.jpg
Oscar II Peace Ship leaving New York Dec. 4, 1915

The Peace Ship was the common name for the ocean liner Oscar II, on which American industrialist Henry Ford organized and launched his 1915 amateur peace mission to Europe; [1] Ford chartered the Oscar II and invited prominent peace activists to join him. [2] He hoped to create enough publicity to prompt the belligerent nations to convene a peace conference and mediate an end to World War I, [1] but the mission was widely mocked by the press, which referred to the Oscar II as the "Ship of Fools" as well as the "Peace Ship". [3] Infighting between the activists, mockery by the press contingent aboard, and an outbreak of influenza marred the voyage. [4] Five days after Oscar II arrived in Norway, a beleaguered and physically ill Ford abandoned the mission and returned to the United States. [5] The peace mission was unsuccessful, which reinforced Ford's reputation as a supporter of unusual causes. [6] The ship was named after the former Swedish Monarch H.M. King Oscar II of Sweden (until 1905 also King of Norway) who, according to Ford, was a peaceloving monarch.

Contents

Background

In early 1915, Ford began to express pacifist sentiments publicly and to denounce the ongoing war in Europe. [7] Later that year, American peace activist Louis P. Lochner and Hungarian journalist Rosika Schwimmer approached Ford, now commonly recognized as a pacifist, with a proposal to launch an amateur diplomatic mission to Europe to broker an end to World War I. [7] Schwimmer claimed to possess diplomatic correspondence that proved that the European powers were willing to negotiate, which was an outright fabrication. [7] Nevertheless, Ford agreed to finance a peace campaign. [7]

Rosika Schwimmer Rosika Schwimmer.jpg
Rosika Schwimmer

Ford initially sought President Woodrow Wilson's endorsement of his diplomatic undertaking. [2] Ford and Lochner secured a meeting with Wilson at the White House and proposed for Wilson to commission Ford's mission to Europe officially. [2] Although Wilson was sympathetic to Ford's aims, he declined the offer on the ground that the venture was most unlikely to succeed. [2]

Disappointed by Wilson's response, Ford told Lochner that Wilson was a "small man." [8]

Ford was undeterred by Wilson's refusal to endorse the expedition and planned it as a private delegation to Europe. [2] On 24 November 1915, he announced to a New York City press conference that he had chartered the ocean liner Oscar II for a diplomatic mission to Europe, and he invited the most prominent pacifists of the age to join him. [2] Among those invited were Jane Addams, William Jennings Bryan, Thomas Edison, and John Wanamaker. [3]

Addams, Bryan, Edison, and Wanamaker all declined. [3] However, a number of noted peace activists joined the voyage, such as suffragette Inez Milholland and publisher S. S. McClure. Also aboard the ship were more than 40 reporters and Ford's friend, Rev. Samuel Marquis. [9]

Mission to Europe

Oscar II Peace Ship with Capt. G. W. Hempel and Henry Ford Ford Peace Ship 1915.jpg
Oscar II Peace Ship with Capt. G. W. Hempel and Henry Ford

The Oscar II set sail from Hoboken, New Jersey, on 4 December 1915, amid an atmosphere that the press later derided as circus-like. [10] A crowd of about 15,000 watched the Oscar II depart from the harbor while a band played "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier." [11]

Just before the ship's departure, a prankster placed a cage containing two squirrels and a sign reading "To the Good Ship Nutty" on the ship's gangplank. [11] When the ship departed, a fully dressed man jumped off the pier and attempted to swim after it. [11] The harbor police rescued the man, who identified himself as Mr. Zero, explaining that he was "swimming to reach public opinion." [9]

Infighting among the delegates plagued Oscar II for much of its journey across the Atlantic. [6] In particular, they quarrelled over the proper response to send to the media after they received news of Wilson's 7 December address to Congress, which called for considerable increases to the US Army and Navy. [9] The majority of delegates signed a resolution that denounced Wilson's policy of military preparedness, but a substantial minority refused to sign the resolution, on the ground that the resolution was unpatriotic. [12]

After the pro-Wilson minority threatened to abandon the mission upon landing in Europe, the two factions denounced each other. [12]

An outbreak of influenza spread through the ship about halfway across the Atlantic, resulting in one person dying of pneumonia and many others being afflicted. [4] Ford himself fell ill and withdrew to his cabin, [9] avoiding reporters. [4] Nevertheless, a group of them barged into his cabin to check on a rumor that he had died. [9]

The Peace Ship arrived at its first destination, Oslo, Norway, on 18 December, [4] receiving a cool reception from the Norwegians, many of whom supported military preparedness and were skeptical towards the ship and its delegates. [4] Ford, still sick with flu, retreated to his room at the Grand Hotel for four days. [5] He met the press in his suite in the evening on 21 December, but he spoke little about the Peace Ship and its mission. [5]

His statement to the press was reported in Aftenposten, an Oslo newspaper, and Dagens Nyheter, a Stockholm morning newspaper, on 22 December. (Aftenposten has a digital version and Dagens Nyheter is on record on microfilm at the Swedish National Library in Stockholm.)

About then, Sanuel Marquis convinced Ford to abandon the Peace Ship, on account of Ford's illness and Schwimmer's failure to produce the documents that supposedly proved that the belligerent nations were ready to mediate. [13]

On 23 December. Ford and Marquis slipped out of their hotel, took the train to Bergen and sailed on the steamer Bergensfjord back to the United States on 24 December, arriving in New York 2 January 1916. [4]

Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation

Despite Ford's abandonment of the endeavor, the Peace Ship continued its journey around Europe. [6]

The Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation began in Stockholm on February 10, 1916, gathering representatives from the United States, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Lochner was the general secretary of the Conference. The two US delegates were Charles A. Aked and Emily Greene Balch. There was a "Committee of Seven" overseeing the resulting Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation, including Lola Maverick Lloyd. [14] [15] Envoys were sent to England, Germany, and Russia, all ultimately unsuccessful. In autumn of 1916 Schwimmer traveled back to the United States to gather support.

Ford continued to pay for the ship's expenses and the Conference until early 1917, when it became clear the US was edging closer to entering the war. [5] In total, the Peace Ship expedition ultimately cost Ford approximately half a million dollars (US$ 10,580,000 in 2023). [6]

Response

The Tug of Peace by Raven Hill, Punch 15 Dec. 1915 Punch 1915c.jpg
The Tug of Peace by Raven Hill, Punch 15 Dec. 1915

Initially, the press response to the Peace Ship was respectful. [8] The New York Times warned that an immediate peace would entail German possession of Belgium and part of France, but concluded that Ford's plan would do "as little harm as good". [8] Some newspapers applauded Ford's efforts. The New York Herald asserted that, "We need more Fords, more peace talks, and less indifference to the greatest crime in the world's history". [16]

After all Ford's most prominent invitees declined his offer of sailing to Europe, the press reaction turned negative. [16] The Baltimore Sun noted that "All the amateur efforts of altruistic and notoriety-seeking millionaires only make matters worse" while the New York World stated that "Henry Ford says he would give all his fortune to end the war. So would many another man. But this is something that money will not do". [17] Other papers openly mocked Ford's amateur peace campaign. The Philadelphia Record claimed that "Henry Ford's millions have gone to his head". The Louisville Courier was even more severe, suggesting that Henry Ford carried "cold cream in his head". [17]

Also critical of Ford's endeavor were former United States Senator Chauncey M. Depew and one- time presidential candidate Alton B. Parker. Depew famously commented of the Peace Ship, "In uselessness and absurdity it will stand without an equal". [17] Parker also publicly criticized the peace ship, stating "chances are that his antics will be taken seriously and they will tend to bring us into contempt if not hatred". [17]

Although the press mocked Ford's peace mission, it viewed Ford as a victim of manipulation by the other pacifists aboard the ship. [9] The reporters on the Oscar II took a liking to Ford and decided that he should be afforded more respect than the rest of his entourage. [4] The correspondent for The New York Times stated that the reporters on the ship earned "an immense respect and liking for the character and abilities of Henry Ford". [4]

However, the press portrayed the majority of Ford's entourage aboard the ship as buffoons, and ridiculed the delegates for the infighting. [4] The press was exceptionally critical of Rosika Schwimmer, who insisted she had diplomatic correspondence that proved the European powers were open to negotiation, but refused to show these documents to the press. [12] Schwimmer responded to her negative treatment by the press by locking them out of the wireless room. [12]

Legacy

The Peace Ship's mission was ultimately a failure, producing only inconsequential meetings with "quasi-official representatives" from several European governments. [6] Nevertheless, Ford asserted that the Peace Ship's expedition was successful on the grounds that it stimulated discussions about peace. [5] Ford told the press that the Peace Ship "got people thinking, and when you get them to think they will think right". [5] Despite roundly criticizing the Peace Ship, the press generally treated Ford favorably upon his return from Europe. [18] Even papers that derided the Peace Ship, such as the New York American, often voiced support for Ford's calls for peace. [18] In the following years, Ford continued his antiwar activism and paid for anti-preparedness advertisements to appear in newspapers across the United States. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Ford</span> American business magnate (1863–1947)

Henry Ford was an American industrialist and business magnate. He was the founder of Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. Ford created the first automobile that middle-class Americans could afford, and his conversion of the automobile from an expensive luxury into an accessible conveyance profoundly impacted the landscape of the 20th century.

The 1180s was a decade of the Julian Calendar which began on January 1, 1180, and ended on December 31, 1189.

Fordism is a manufacturing technology that serves as the basis of modern economic and social systems in industrialized, standardized mass production and mass consumption. The concept is named after Henry Ford. It is used in social, economic, and management theory about production, working conditions, consumption, and related phenomena, especially regarding the 20th century. It describes an ideology of advanced capitalism centered around the American socioeconomic systems in place in the post-war economic boom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Rhodes</span> American author and historian

Richard Lee Rhodes is an American historian, journalist, and author of both fiction and non-fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1986), and most recently, Energy: A Human History (2018).

Paul Underwood Kellogg was an American journalist and social reformer. He died at 79 in New York on November 1, 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Morgenthau Sr.</span> American diplomat

Henry Morgenthau was a German-born American lawyer and businessman, best known for his role as the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Morgenthau was one of the most prominent Americans who spoke about the Greek genocide and the Armenian genocide of which he stated, "I am firmly convinced that this is the greatest crime of the ages".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosika Schwimmer</span> Hungarian-born activist

Rosika Schwimmer 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 radical vision of world peace led to the creation of the World Federalist Movement, the first such federalist organization of the 20th century. Sixty years after she first envisaged it, the movement she helped to create indeed took a leading role in the creation of the International Criminal Court, the first permanent international tribunal tasked with charging individuals with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred A. Knopf</span> American publishing house

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in addition to leading American literary trends. It was acquired by Random House in 1960, and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group division of Penguin Random House which is owned by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann. The Knopf publishing house is associated with its borzoi colophon, which was designed by co-founder Blanche Knopf in 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis P. Lochner</span>

Ludwig "Louis" Paul Lochner was an American political activist, journalist, and author. During World War I, Lochner was a leading figure in the American and the international anti-war movement. Later, he served for many years as head of the Berlin bureau of Associated Press and was best remembered for his work there as a foreign correspondent. Lochner was awarded the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for correspondence for his wartime reporting from Nazi Germany. In December 1941, Lochner was interned by the Nazis but was later released in a prisoner exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opposition to World War I</span> Part of the anti-war movement

Opposition to World War I included socialist, anarchist, syndicalist, and Marxist groups on the left, as well as Christian pacifists, Canadian and Irish nationalists, women's groups, intellectuals, and rural folk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman Bernstein</span> American journalist, poet, novelist, playwright, translator, Jewish activist and diplomat

Herman Bernstein was an American journalist, poet, novelist, playwright, translator, Jewish activist, and diplomat. He was the United States Ambassador to Albania and was the founder of Der Tog, the Jewish daily newspaper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace movement</span> Social movement against a particular war or wars

A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peace. Some of the methods used to achieve these goals include advocacy of pacifism, nonviolent resistance, diplomacy, boycotts, peace camps, ethical consumerism, supporting anti-war political candidates, supporting legislation to remove profits from government contracts to the military–industrial complex, banning guns, creating tools for open government and transparency, direct democracy, supporting whistleblowers who expose war crimes or conspiracies to create wars, demonstrations, and political lobbying. The political cooperative is an example of an organization which seeks to merge all peace-movement and green organizations; they may have diverse goals, but have the common ideal of peace and humane sustainability. A concern of some peace activists is the challenge of attaining peace when those against peace often use violence as their means of communication and empowerment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American entry into World War I</span>

The United States entered into World War I in April 1917, more than two and a half years after the war began in Europe.

The People's Council of America for Democracy and the Terms of Peace, commonly known as the "People's Council," was an American pacifist political organization established in New York City in May 1917. Organized in opposition to the decision of the Woodrow Wilson administration's decision to enter World War I, the People's Council attempted to mobilize American workers and intellectuals against the war effort through publication of literature and the conduct of mass meetings and public demonstrations. The organization's dissident views made it a target of federal, state, and local authorities, who disrupted its meetings and arrested a number of its leading participants under provisions of the Espionage Act. The People's Council was succeeded in 1919 by a new group based in the same New York City headquarters, the People's Freedom Union.

Frederick Ridley Dennison (1876–1960) was an Oamaru mechanical engineer who designed and built New Zealand's first indigenous motor car in 1900 and first bus in 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light's Golden Jubilee</span>

Light's Golden Jubilee was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb, held on October 21, 1929, just days before the stock market crash of 1929 that swept the United States headlong into the Great Depression. The Jubilee also served as the dedication of Henry Ford's Greenfield Village, originally known as the Thomas Edison Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lola Maverick Lloyd</span>

Lola Maverick Lloyd was an American pacifist, suffragist, world federalist and feminist. Born in Texas to the wealthy Maverick family, Lola Maverick married William Bross Lloyd, the son of muckraking journalist Henry Demarest Lloyd. Together, they leveraged their family's influence and wealth to support Progressive Era causes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Leckie</span>

Katherine Leckie was a Canadian-American journalist, editor, and active suffragist. She served as publicist for Rosika Schwimmer, was press agent for the Ford peace expedition of 1915–16, and worked for the United States Food Administration during World War I as a news editor.

Ernest G. Liebold was the business representative and personal secretary of Henry Ford. A fervent antisemite, he took an active part in the antisemitic campaign conducted by the industrialist's weekly newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, from 1920 to 1927. He was also put under investigation by the United States Department of War for being a suspected German spy during the First World War.

Edward Arthur Wilson was an American illustrator, printmaker and commercial artist best known for his book and magazine illustrations.

References

  1. 1 2 Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.  228.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.  229.
  3. 1 2 3 Traxel, David (2006). Crusader Nation: The United States in Peace and the Great War 1898-1920 . New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp.  206.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.  234.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.  235.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Henry, Jim (June 15, 2003). "Noble cause becomes a farce ; Peace Ship cements Henry Ford's image as a well-meaning but naive do-gooder". Automotive News. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Traxel, David (2006). Crusader Nation: The United States in Peace and the Great War 1898-1920 . New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp.  204.
  8. 1 2 3 Traxel, David (2006). Crusader Nation: The United States in Peace and the Great War 1898-1920 . New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp.  205.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Traxel, David (2006). Crusader Nation: The United States in Peace and the Great War 1898-1920 . New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp.  209.
  10. "PEACE ARK STARTS; FORD IS BUOYANT: Cheers, with 3,000 Others". The New York Times. December 5, 1915. pp. 1, 3.
  11. 1 2 3 Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.  232.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.  233.
  13. Traxel, David (2006). Crusader Nation: The United States in Peace and the Great War 1898-1920 . New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp.  209–210.
  14. "Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation (1916) · Jane Addams Digital Edition".
  15. Ruttum, Laura (October 2005). Lola Maverick Lloyd Papers: 1856-1949 (PDF). New York Public Library.
  16. 1 2 Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.  230.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.  231.
  18. 1 2 Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.  240.