CHANCERIESTHE DIPLOMATIC ATLAS

Sweden Carries Austria-Hungary's Armistice Appeals to Washington

7 October 1918 to 29 October 1918

Wilson's Fourteen Points, announced in January 1918, combined territorial proposals with broader principles for peace and a future association of nations. [4] [2]

Sweden's minister in Washington, W. A. F. Ekengren, transmitted Austria-Hungary's request for an armistice to the U.S. government on 7 October 1918. Acting on instructions from Stockholm, he delivered a note offering negotiations based on President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and subsequent speeches. Vienna proposed stopping the fighting on land, at sea, and in the air, using the Swedish mission to carry its appeal to Washington. [1]

Secretary of State Robert Lansing sent Wilson's answer back through Ekengren on 19 October. The American position had changed since January: the United States had recognized the Czechoslovak National Council as a belligerent government and endorsed South Slav national aspirations. Wilson therefore refused to accept autonomy within the empire as a sufficient basis for peace. The peoples concerned, he insisted, would have to judge the terms offered to them. [2]

On 29 October, Ekengren transmitted Vienna's acceptance of Wilson's conditions and a request for immediate negotiations and an armistice on all Austro-Hungarian fronts, without waiting for other peace talks. [3] [2]

Related Diplomats

  1. August Ekengren [1] [2] [3]

Sources

  1. The Swedish Minister (Ekengren) to the Secretary of State, 7 October 1918

    FRUS 1918, Supplement 1, Volume I, document 282; File 763.72119/2536, note 4978, opening and enclosed Austrian communication

  2. The Secretary of State to the Swedish Minister (Ekengren), 19 October 1918

    FRUS 1918, Supplement 1, Volume I, document 314; File 763.72119/2540, note 466, Wilson's reply

  3. The Swedish Minister (Ekengren) to the Secretary of State, 29 October 1918

    FRUS 1918, Supplement 1, Volume I, document 339, pp. 404-405; File 763.72119/2392, note 5328

  4. Wilson's Fourteen Points, 1918

    January 8, 1918 address; territorial questions, open covenants, and proposed League of Nations

Related Reading

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Sweden Carries Austria-Hungary's Armistice Appeals to Washington. Chanceries Diplopedia. Record 4a33ed4675746d030b1d. https://chanceries.org/research/history/sweden-armistice-channel-1918/

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