ABSTRACT
While the presidential election campaign became something of an obsession among Americans during the fall of 1916, it was also capturing the attention of Europeans. It was widely assumed in Europe that Wilson's re-election would improve the chances of a U.S. offer of mediation of the conflict, but the continued large-scale bloodletting on the stalemated battlefields fueled speculation about possible peace talks even without him. The military struggle in the Verdun sector continued throughout almost all of 1916 until German forces withdrew toward the end of the year. Meanwhile, the Allied offensive at the Somme, beginning in July, would also fail to achieve a military advantage after nearly five months of fighting. The casualties on both sides during the extended fierce struggle of these two campaigns would number more than 800,000 men on each side. 1 As the drawn-out trench warfare continued unabated, many more citizens in belligerent countries began to yearn openly for peace initiatives that might somehow lead to a partial or complete end of the fighting. Talk was rife, for example, about the possibility of Russia concluding a separate peace with Germany.
