Presidents and Monarchs: Woodrow Wilson and King George V
After the signing of the armistice ending the First World War, President Woodrow Wilson traveled to Europe to lead the American delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, thereby becoming the first incumbent president to travel to Europe. Wilson would remain in Europe for most of six months, except for a two-week return to the United States. His objective was reaching a peace treaty to formally end the war. Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando would make up what became known as the "Big Four", the Allied leaders who would yield the most influence at the Paris Peace Conference.
Wilson arrived in London on Boxing Day (December 26th) of 1918. He was met by cheering crowds, jubilant over the end of a long and bloody conflict and grateful that American entry into the war, albeit at a late stage, seemed to make the difference in bringing the war to a conclusion. Crowds of Londoners who flocked to see Wilson numbered in the the tens of thousands.
Twenty thousand soldiers with bayonets lined the route that Wilson's procession was taking and guards in war khaki rode before the carriage that he and Mrs. Wilson rode in. They had company on their ride: the King and Queen of England and Princess Mary. A cavalry escort emerged from the sanded courtyard at Charing Cross, preceding the carriage in which the President and King George sat side by side, a roar of cheers went up. Its destination was Buckingham Palace.
According to contemporary news accounts, Wilson appeared to be genuinely pleased and moved by the welcome he received. He raised his silk hat and waved it at those cheering for him. As the carriage passed St Martin's Church, the bells rang out to mark the occasion. Planes from the Royal Air Force flew overhead in a clear sky in arrowhead formation. A band played the President into Trafalgar Square. A big shout went up from the mixed crowd of soldiers, and other onlookers and Wilson took it all, as he turned to the King and made some animated remark. He pointed out something in the decorations that had caught his eye.
When the procession reached Marlborough House, the President received the salutation of Queen Alexandra (the Queen Mother), who came out on the pavement in front of Marlborough House with the Queen of Norway and young Prince Olaf. The crowd left a clear space for the Queen Mother and her party. When the carriage was passing, the King drew the President's attention to his mother, and he rose, waved his hat, and bowed. Queen Alexandra responded by waving a small Stars and Stripes flag. Mrs. Wilson waved her bouquet of orchids in greeting to Queen Alexandra.
In Piccadilly the procession was met with more bands. The American Naval and Military Missions had organized a welcoming demonstration at the Berkeley Hotel. American women threw sprigs of laurel and flowers into the carriage. The St James's Club window was crowded with foreign diplomats. All along Piccadilly to Hyde Park Corner the President passed along an avenue of soldiers with fixed bayonets standing in double ranks. At the top of Constitution Hill, the carriage was greeted by hundreds of WAAC's, "Wrens", and WRAF's - the first time women have lined the streets of London at an event of this kind.
At Constitution Hill near Buckingham Palace, soldiers in khaki proclaimed themselves on a signboard to be "Americans in British uniforms." There was also a group of sailors with a ragtime band. An American airman appeared overhead and did various stunts.
British bluejackets stood on guard at the Palace gates. An Australian soldier was seated on the head of one of the calm white statues. The crowd began a rhythmic shout of "We want Wilson." A scarlet cloth was spread over the balcony, and soon after arriving inside, Wilson gratified the crowd by coming out, with his wife and the King and Queen. Queen Mary handed him a Union Jack, which he waved. He addressed a few words expressing his gratitude and pleasure. When he was finished, the crowd dispersed.
The following day, Wilson spoke at Buckingham Palace. He said:
I am deeply complimented by the gracious words which you have uttered. The welcome which you have given me and Mrs. Wilson has been so warm, so natural, so evidently from the heart that we have been more than pleased; we have been touched by it, and I believe that I correctly interpret that welcome as embodying not only your own generous spirit toward us personally, but also as expressing for yourself and the great nation over which you preside that same feeling for my people, for the people of the United States. For you and I, sir—I temporarily—embody the spirit of two great nations; and whatever strength I have, and whatever authority, I possess only so long and so far as I express the spirit and purpose of the American people.
Any influence that the American people have over the affairs of the world is measured by their sympathy with the aspirations of free men everywhere. America does love freedom, and I believe that she loves freedom unselfishly. But if she does not, she will not and can not help the influence to which she justly aspires. I have had the privilege, sir, of conferring with the leaders of your own Government and with the spokesmen of the Governments of France and of Italy, and I am glad to say that I have the same conceptions that they have of the significance and scope of the duty upon which we have met. We have used great words, all of us, we have used the great words "right" and "justice," and now we are to prove whether or not we understand those words and how they are to be applied to the particular settlements which must conclude this war. And we must not only understand them, but we must have the courage to act upon our understanding.
Yet, after I have uttered the word "courage," it comes into my mind that it would take more courage to resist the great moral tide now running in the world than to yield to it, than to obey it. There is a great tide running in the hearts of men. The hearts of men have never beaten so singularly in unison before. Men have never before been so conscious of their brotherhood. Men have never before realized how little difference there was between right and justice in one latitude and in another, under one sovereignty and under another; and it will be our high privilege, I believe, sir, not only to apply the moral judgments of the world to the particular settlements which we shall attempt, but also to organize the moral force of the world to preserve those settlements, to steady the forces of mankind and to make the right and the justice to which great nations like our own have devoted themselves the predominant and controlling force of the world.
There is something inspiriting in knowing that this is the errand that we have come on. Nothing less than this would have justified me in leaving the important tasks which fall upon me upon the other side of the sea, nothing but the consciousness that nothing else compares with this in dignity and importance. Therefore it is the more delightful to find myself in the company of a body of men united in ideal and in purpose, to feel that I am privileged to unite my thought with yours in carrying forward those standards which we are so proud to hold high and to defend.
May I not, sir, with a feeling of profound sincerity and friendship and sympathy propose your own health and the health of the Queen, and the prosperity of Great Britain?
A thirty-minute video containing archival video footage of Wilson's visit can be found here.
Wilson arrived in London on Boxing Day (December 26th) of 1918. He was met by cheering crowds, jubilant over the end of a long and bloody conflict and grateful that American entry into the war, albeit at a late stage, seemed to make the difference in bringing the war to a conclusion. Crowds of Londoners who flocked to see Wilson numbered in the the tens of thousands.
Twenty thousand soldiers with bayonets lined the route that Wilson's procession was taking and guards in war khaki rode before the carriage that he and Mrs. Wilson rode in. They had company on their ride: the King and Queen of England and Princess Mary. A cavalry escort emerged from the sanded courtyard at Charing Cross, preceding the carriage in which the President and King George sat side by side, a roar of cheers went up. Its destination was Buckingham Palace.
According to contemporary news accounts, Wilson appeared to be genuinely pleased and moved by the welcome he received. He raised his silk hat and waved it at those cheering for him. As the carriage passed St Martin's Church, the bells rang out to mark the occasion. Planes from the Royal Air Force flew overhead in a clear sky in arrowhead formation. A band played the President into Trafalgar Square. A big shout went up from the mixed crowd of soldiers, and other onlookers and Wilson took it all, as he turned to the King and made some animated remark. He pointed out something in the decorations that had caught his eye.
When the procession reached Marlborough House, the President received the salutation of Queen Alexandra (the Queen Mother), who came out on the pavement in front of Marlborough House with the Queen of Norway and young Prince Olaf. The crowd left a clear space for the Queen Mother and her party. When the carriage was passing, the King drew the President's attention to his mother, and he rose, waved his hat, and bowed. Queen Alexandra responded by waving a small Stars and Stripes flag. Mrs. Wilson waved her bouquet of orchids in greeting to Queen Alexandra.
In Piccadilly the procession was met with more bands. The American Naval and Military Missions had organized a welcoming demonstration at the Berkeley Hotel. American women threw sprigs of laurel and flowers into the carriage. The St James's Club window was crowded with foreign diplomats. All along Piccadilly to Hyde Park Corner the President passed along an avenue of soldiers with fixed bayonets standing in double ranks. At the top of Constitution Hill, the carriage was greeted by hundreds of WAAC's, "Wrens", and WRAF's - the first time women have lined the streets of London at an event of this kind.
At Constitution Hill near Buckingham Palace, soldiers in khaki proclaimed themselves on a signboard to be "Americans in British uniforms." There was also a group of sailors with a ragtime band. An American airman appeared overhead and did various stunts.
British bluejackets stood on guard at the Palace gates. An Australian soldier was seated on the head of one of the calm white statues. The crowd began a rhythmic shout of "We want Wilson." A scarlet cloth was spread over the balcony, and soon after arriving inside, Wilson gratified the crowd by coming out, with his wife and the King and Queen. Queen Mary handed him a Union Jack, which he waved. He addressed a few words expressing his gratitude and pleasure. When he was finished, the crowd dispersed.
The following day, Wilson spoke at Buckingham Palace. He said:
I am deeply complimented by the gracious words which you have uttered. The welcome which you have given me and Mrs. Wilson has been so warm, so natural, so evidently from the heart that we have been more than pleased; we have been touched by it, and I believe that I correctly interpret that welcome as embodying not only your own generous spirit toward us personally, but also as expressing for yourself and the great nation over which you preside that same feeling for my people, for the people of the United States. For you and I, sir—I temporarily—embody the spirit of two great nations; and whatever strength I have, and whatever authority, I possess only so long and so far as I express the spirit and purpose of the American people.
Any influence that the American people have over the affairs of the world is measured by their sympathy with the aspirations of free men everywhere. America does love freedom, and I believe that she loves freedom unselfishly. But if she does not, she will not and can not help the influence to which she justly aspires. I have had the privilege, sir, of conferring with the leaders of your own Government and with the spokesmen of the Governments of France and of Italy, and I am glad to say that I have the same conceptions that they have of the significance and scope of the duty upon which we have met. We have used great words, all of us, we have used the great words "right" and "justice," and now we are to prove whether or not we understand those words and how they are to be applied to the particular settlements which must conclude this war. And we must not only understand them, but we must have the courage to act upon our understanding.
Yet, after I have uttered the word "courage," it comes into my mind that it would take more courage to resist the great moral tide now running in the world than to yield to it, than to obey it. There is a great tide running in the hearts of men. The hearts of men have never beaten so singularly in unison before. Men have never before been so conscious of their brotherhood. Men have never before realized how little difference there was between right and justice in one latitude and in another, under one sovereignty and under another; and it will be our high privilege, I believe, sir, not only to apply the moral judgments of the world to the particular settlements which we shall attempt, but also to organize the moral force of the world to preserve those settlements, to steady the forces of mankind and to make the right and the justice to which great nations like our own have devoted themselves the predominant and controlling force of the world.
There is something inspiriting in knowing that this is the errand that we have come on. Nothing less than this would have justified me in leaving the important tasks which fall upon me upon the other side of the sea, nothing but the consciousness that nothing else compares with this in dignity and importance. Therefore it is the more delightful to find myself in the company of a body of men united in ideal and in purpose, to feel that I am privileged to unite my thought with yours in carrying forward those standards which we are so proud to hold high and to defend.
May I not, sir, with a feeling of profound sincerity and friendship and sympathy propose your own health and the health of the Queen, and the prosperity of Great Britain?
A thirty-minute video containing archival video footage of Wilson's visit can be found here.