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The Peace Ship was the common name for the ocean liner ''Oscar II'', on which American industrialist Henry Ford organized and launched his 1915 amateur peace mission to Europe; Ford chartered the ''Oscar II'' and invited prominent peace activists to join him. He hoped to create enough publicity to prompt the belligerent nations to convene a peace conference and mediate an end to World War I,〔 but the mission was widely mocked by the press, which referred to the ''Oscar II'' as the “Ship of Fools” as well as the “Peace Ship”. Infighting between the activists, mockery by the press contingent aboard, and an outbreak of influenza marred the voyage. Four days after ''Oscar II'' arrived in Norway, a beleaguered and physically ill Ford abandoned the mission and returned to the United States. The peace mission was unsuccessful, which reinforced Ford’s reputation as a supporter of unusual causes. ==Henry Ford and the Peace Ship== In early 1915, Henry Ford began to publicly express pacifist sentiment and denounce the ongoing war in Europe. Later in the year, American peace activist Louis Lochner and Hungarian journalist Rosika Schwimmer approached Ford, now commonly recognized a pacifist, with a proposal to launch an amateur diplomatic mission to Europe to broker an end to World War I.〔 Schwimmer claimed to possess diplomatic correspondence that proved that the European powers were willing to negotiate, an outright fabrication.〔 Nevertheless, Ford agreed to finance a peace campaign.〔 Henry Ford initially sought President Woodrow Wilson's endorsement of his diplomatic undertaking.〔 Ford and Lochner secured a meeting with Wilson at the White House and proposed that Wilson officially commission Ford’s mission to Europe.〔 Although Wilson was sympathetic to Ford’s aims, he declined the offer on the ground that the venture was most unlikely to succeed.〔 Disappointed by the President’s response, Ford told Lochner that Wilson was a “small man”. Ford was undeterred by Wilson’s refusal to endorse the expedition, and planned it as a private delegation to Europe.〔 On 24 November 1915 he announced to a New York City press conference that he had chartered the ocean liner ''Oscar II'' for a diplomatic mission to Europe, and invited the most prominent pacifists of the age to join him.〔 Among those invited were Jane Addams, William Jennings Bryan, Thomas Edison, and John Wanamaker.〔 Addams, Bryan, Edison and Wanamaker all declined.〔 However, a number of noted peace activists did join the voyage, among them suffragette Inez Milholland Boissevain and publisher S. S. McClure. Also aboard the ship were more than forty reporters and Ford’s friend the Reverend Samuel Marquis. The ''Oscar II'' set sail from Hoboken, New Jersey, on 5 December 1915, amid an atmosphere that the press later derided as circus-like. A crowd of about fifteen thousand watched the ''Oscar II'' depart from the harbor while a band played “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier”.〔 Just before the ship’s departure, a prankster placed a cage containing two squirrels and a sign reading “To the Good Ship Nutty” on the ship’s gangplank.〔 When the ship departed a fully dressed man jumped off the pier and attempted to swim after it.〔 The harbor police rescued the man, who identified himself as Mr. Zero, explaining that he was "swimming to reach public opinion".〔 Infighting among the delegates plagued ''Oscar II'' for much of its journey across the Atlantic.〔 In particular, they quarrelled over the proper response to send to the media after they received news of President Wilson’s 7 December address to Congress, which called for considerable increases to the United States’ army and navy.〔 The majority of delegates signed a resolution that denounced Wilson’s policy of military preparedness, although a substantial minority refused to sign the resolution, on the ground that it was unpatriotic. After the pro-Wilson minority threatened to abandon the mission upon landing in Europe, the two factions mutually denounced each other.〔 An outbreak of influenza spread through the ship about halfway across the Atlantic, resulting in one person dying of pneumonia and many others being afflicted.〔 Ford himself fell ill and withdrew to his cabin,〔 avoiding reporters.〔 Nevertheless, a group of them barged into his cabin to check on a rumor that he had died.〔 The Peace Ship arrived at its first destination, Oslo, Norway, on 18 December,〔 receiving a cool reception from the Norwegians, many of whom supported military preparedness and were skeptical towards the ship and its delegates.〔 Ford, still sick with flu, retreated to his room at the Grand Hotel for four days.〔 He eventually met the press on 22 December, but he spoke little about the Peace Ship and its mission.〔 About this time Sanuel Marquis convinced Ford to abandon the Peace Ship, on account of Ford’s illness and Schwimmer’s failure to produce the documents which supposedly proved that the belligerent nations were ready to mediate. On 23 December Ford and Marquis slipped out of their hotel and boarded a ship back to the United States.〔 Despite Ford’s abandonment of the endeavor, the Peace Ship continued its journey around Europe.〔 Ford continued to pay for the ship’s expenses until early 1917.〔 In total, the Peace Ship expedition ultimately cost Ford approximately half a million dollars.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Peace Ship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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