America's entry into the First World War

Before entering the war, President Woodrow Wilson had to be sure he could mobilise the vast resources, both financial and economic. that would be required and there, ready to do the job, was Bernard Mannes Baruch.

In December 1917, the US Government moved with determination to establish complete control over every important aspect of economic life. In the "land of the free", opposition to the war was sternly suppressed first by the Espionage Act of 1917 then by an even more severe Sedition Act of 1918 .

On the Western front the main impact of the infusion of American ground forces of up to 1,200,000 men in September 1918 was a psychological one.

End of the First World War

On the 11th November 1918 the ceasefire was announced and the Paris peace talks in January 1919 were attended by the allied leaders, including President Wilson (with his minder Col. House ) plus Paul Warburg partner of the firm Kuhn, Loeb and Co., and Bernard Mannes Baruch.

In 1918 a newspaper story (it should be remembered that even then the Press was under Jewish control) claimed that President Wilson had expressed his personal approval of Zionism's claim that the Jews of the world had historic title to Palestine and furthermore the President had been persuaded that the allied nations with the fullest concurrence of the American government should lay the foundation of a Jewish commonwealth in Palestine.

On the 16th April, 1918 President Wilson issued the following statement to the Peace Commissioners. A document which was not made public for fifty-five years:

"Of course I did not use any of the words quoted in the enclosed and they do not purport indeed to be my words, but I did in substance say what is quoted, though the expression "foundation of a Jewish Commonwealth" goes a little further than my idea at that time. All that I meant was to corroborate our expressed acquiescence in the position of the British Government in regard to the future of Palestine."

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th June 1919 but peace was not finally declared with the Turks until the 24th July 1923.

The way the spoils of the Ottoman Empire were to be shared was made public on the 19th May 1920. Britain was to have the Mandate to rule Palestine and to the Mandate was to be attached a rider that would require Britain to apply the Balfour Declaration.

The truth was that the people of Palestine, the overwhelming Arab majority, had been ignored.