An Unknown Page in the History of International Law

a Frustrated Mediation by the Holy See between Chile and Peru in 1918 according to Vatican Sources

Abstract

In November 1918, the Chilean minister at the Holy See began negotiations to agree that the Holy See interposed its friendly trades between Chile and Peru in the conflict over the provinces of Tacna and Arica, negotiations that were well received by the See of Pedro. These actions, little known until now, took place immediately after the end of the first world conflict, but the Chilean claim was frustrated by the refusal of the Peruvian authorities to accept an intervention by the Holy See, confident that the Allied victory and the peace conference that was being prepared would put an end to the conflict in favourable terms to them; refusal to which the intervention of the North American government in the conflict also contributed. Based on sources from the Vatican archives, the development and completion of these negotiations is analyzed, which culminated in the impossibility, assumed by the Vatican, of carrying out such mediation due to the refusal of the Peruvian authorities.