Book Description

"To commemorate the First World War Centenary, U.S. Embassy France and the Office of the Historian investigated the role of the U.S. diplomatic community in France from 1914 until 1918. Much is known about the United States' actions and contributions following its April 1917 entry into the conflict as a belligerent power associated with the Allies. Yet, the stories of France-based U.S. diplomats, consuls, and their family members prior to April 1917 have long been overshadowed by subsequent events of the twentieth century. 'Views From the Embassy' sheds light on often unknown or overlooked aspects of diplomatic work, such as the everyday tasks involved in the execution of policy. It illustrates the challenges U.S. diplomats confronted in their dueling obligations to maintain, and even strengthen, the bilateral relationship while representing the United States as a formally neutral nation. 'Views From the Embassy' also sketches out how U.S. diplomats, consuls, and their family members responded to a myriad of crises. At times they improvised and adapted to rapidly changing on-the-ground conditions. While the story occurred one hundred years ago, it exemplifies certain perennial tensions, such as difficulties between politically appointed Chiefs of Mission and their career-diplomat colleagues as well as commonalities, including the varied ways in which people react to situations of extreme stress. Our research revives a fascinating account of how actions spearheaded by U.S. diplomats and U.S. citizens in France during 1914, when the German Army threatened Paris, significantly strengthened U.S.-France relations in unique, unprecedented ways. This is an important consideration, given that until the late nineteenth century, despite a long history of diplomatic relations, the French and U.S. publics had relatively little direct, personal interaction with each other (when compared, for example, with the extensive contacts with Irish or Italian expatriate communities). As Yves-Henri Nouailhat noted, French public opinion often stereotyped 'Americans' as caring too much for money, and felt that U.S. citizens knew and cared little about France, its people, or culture. At the same time, U.S. public opinion tended to associate the Third Republic and the French with the decadence and laicité typified in popular memory of the Belle Époque. An influx of U.S. businessmen, heiresses, and students to France at the turn of the twentieth century began to foster greater cultural, commercial, and personal ties between the two countries. While impressions about the United States began to change, by 1914 many older, preconceived notions remained. The response of the U.S. diplomatic and expatriate communities in France, particularly during 1914, did much to change French views towards the United States. From the first days of war, U.S. diplomats and consuls provided food, shelter, and funds to in-need U.S. citizens waiting to be evacuated safely to the United States. They also took care of German and Austro-Hungarian interests and subjects in France, obligations handed over to the Swiss Government upon U.S. entry into the conflict in 1917. These actions mirrored those undertaken by U.S. diplomats and consuls in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Russia during the fall of 1914. Thus, 'Views From the Embassy' also imparts how, prior to 1917, the United States served as the preferred neutral power representative for war-torn Europe. In addition to these 'official duties,' the responsibilities of U.S. Ambassador to France Myron T. Herrick and his staff grew once the Government of France departed Paris for Bordeaux on September 2, 1914. Herrick, with the blessing of French President Raymond Poincaré, remained in Paris to protect U.S. interests and citizens. Accounts differ whether Herrick also pledged to protect Parisian monuments and museums or whether it was merely the Government of France's hope that the U.S. Ambassador's presence in the capital as a neutral government representative would deter any possible German Army destruction of the city's treasures. Thus throughout autumn 1914, while other Embassies and Legations were dark, the U.S. Embassy was a beehive of activity on multiple fronts. In addition to diplomatic duties, the unofficial roles of U.S. diplomats expanded exponentially as the war continued. The Embassy became a nucleus of partnerships that provided financial relief and medical aid to those in France impacted by the war. Those measures caused some, including the German and French Governments, to question the degrees of neutrality maintained by the U.S. Embassy in Paris. Yet, such actions were undertaken with the approval of the Department of State. Assisted by a corps of U.S. citizens who volunteered their time, energy, and funds, U.S. diplomats and consuls developed new relationships with each other, the Government of France, and the French public. Their actions shaped public memory of the U.S.-France partnership in 1914, and laid a firm foundation of friendship that weathered the tests of subsequent decades."--Executive summary, pages 3-5.