A controversial neutrality and thwarted peace efforts : the Month and Pope Benedict XV’s Great War record

Abstract

Throughout the Great War of 1914-1918 and the “six months that changed the world” which followed in 1919, the Jesuit British Province’s journal, The Month, highlighted Pope Benedict XV’s role and activity in the face of the ensuing conflict. The Pope’s political stance of an “impartial neutrality,” and diplomatic effrts in favour of humanitarian aid, were the special object of a “running commentary” of articles and news briefs by the said journal, written in an informative and analytical style. They attempted to correct misinterpretations of Pope Benedict’s policies, by the two sides of the conflict, the Entente and Central Powers and, especially, his vilification by their respective press. This article will therefore follow e Month as it sought out the reasons and consequences of this Pontiff’s neutral/impartial position and the reactions to it, his appeals for peace, and the difficult road leading to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and its purportedly re-established peace signed in the multiple treaties which followed, especially in the notorious Treaty of Versailles!