Wisconsin Plan

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The Wisconsin Plan, also called the Wales Plan or the Canada Plan (originally Continuous Mediation Without Armistice), was a proposal by Julia Grace Wales to end World War I. Wales was a Canadian-born professor in Wisconsin who was worried about the war. In late 1914, while the United States was neutral, she drafted a plan to create a world-wide mediation conference made up of delegations from neutral countries. This conference would mediate between the warring powers and spread peace proposals, with the aim of reaching a fair settlement that would last.

The plan centered on two rules for the mediators: no nation could be humiliated, and there could be no terms that might lead to another war. The idea was revised many times. The Wisconsin Peace Party and the National Peace Party (led by Jane Addams) both supported the plan. Wisconsin began printing and distributing pamphlets about it in early 1915. The National Peace Party sent a delegation to speak with President Wilson and Congress, encouraged by Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Rosika Schwimmer had independently suggested a similar idea and supported Wales; at the International Congress of Women, Wales backed Schwimmer’s idea as well. The ICW agreed that the Wisconsin Plan was the most plausible method, and thousands of pamphlets in four languages were spread in Europe and North America.

Wilson seemed interested, but the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in March 1915, which killed many people including Americans, undermined neutrality and led officials to back away from mediation. Henry Ford promoted the Wisconsin Plan and joined Wales in Europe, but the movement faded. The United States entered the war in April 1917, making the plan unnecessary.