Bryan kept busy in 1913-1915, negotiating 28 treaties that promised arbitration of disputes before war broke out between the signatory countries and the United States. He made several attempts to negotiate a treaty with Germany, but ultimately was never able to succeed. The agreements, known officially as "Treaties for the Advancement of Peace," set up procedures for conciliation rather than for arbitration.
[36] In September 1914 he wrote President Wilson urging mediation in the World War that had just begun in Europe, with the U.S. as the largest neutral:
It is not likely that either side will win so complete a victory as to be able to dictate terms, and if either side does win such a victory it will probably mean preparation for another war. It would seem better to look for a more rational basis for peace.[37]
Bryan tried to yoke the American credit to the Entente, saying "money is the worst of all contrabands because it commands everything else" but eventually yielded. He also pointed out that by traveling on British vessels "an American citizen can, by putting his own business above his regard for this country, assume for his own advantage unnecessary risks and thus involve his country in international complications"
[38] Wilson's demands for "strict accountability for any infringement of [American] rights, intentional or incidental" after the sinking of the
Lusitania troubled Bryan, who counseled an “evenhanded policy.”
[39] Bryan resigned in June 1915, protesting “…
why be so shocked by the drowning of a few people, if there is to be no objection to starving a nation.”
[40]
Despite their differences, Bryan campaigned as a private citizen for Wilson's reelection in 1916. When war was declared in April 1917, Bryan wrote Wilson, "Believing it to be the duty of the citizen to bear his part of the burden of war and his share of the peril, I hereby tender my services to the Government. Please enroll me as a private whenever I am needed and assign me to any work that I can do."
[41] Wilson, however, did not allow the 57-year-old Bryan to rejoin the military, and did not offer him any wartime role.