Pius XII and the March to War

Elected on 2 March 1939, Pope Pius XII — the former Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, a keen connoisseur of Germany where he had been nuncio — inherits a Europe on the brink of the abyss. The annexation of Czechoslovakia in March, the invasion of Albania by Italy in April, the denunciation of the pacts by Hitler at the end of April: the signs of war multiply.

The Holy See possesses a unique moral authority but no material force. Pius XII weighs the idea of a mediation: convening a conference of the 5 powers directly concerned — Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Poland — to defuse the disputes over Danzig and the corridor.

The initiative is risky. A public failure would weaken pontifical prestige; a step judged too favourable to one of the parties would impair the neutrality of the Holy See; and nothing guarantees that Berlin, which cares nothing for arbitration, would agree to sit at the table.

In early May 1939, the Pope must decide whether or not to launch this appeal publicly through his nuncios. The slightest misstep would compromise the moral authority of a pontificate barely begun, in a Europe where no one seems willing any longer to heed appeals for moderation.