TLS signed “Wm. H. Taft,” one page, 7 x 9.25, personal letterhead, November 30, 1914. Taft regretfully declines a speaking engagement on behalf of the Belgians. In part, “I have yours without date, in which you ask me to take part…under the suspices [sic] of the Civic Forum, at a meeting to be held at Carnegie Hall early in January, to focus the sympathy of the city and the whole country with the Belgian people and their terrible plight. I greatly regret that my engagements during January are so pressing and numerous that I can not be present at the meeting.” In September of 1914, the German Army quickly overwhelmed Belgian defences and King Albert was forced to move his government to Le Havre in France. However, the Belgian Army resisted more than the Germans expected and this helped to frustrate the Schlieffen Plan. By the end of September 1914, Germans ruled most of Belgium and over the next few years were accused of carrying out atrocities against the civilian population. A touch of light soiling, expected fold, small pencil notation and a couple creases, otherwise fine condition. R&R COA.
