An aristocratic native of Genoa, Italy, who had served as a cardinal since the previous May, Pope Benedict XV succeeded Pius X, who died on August 20, 1914. He was elected by a constituency made up of cardinals from countries on both sides of the battle lines, because he professed strict neutrality in the conflict. Calling the Great War "the suicide of Europe," Benedict became an insistent voice for peace from the beginning of his reign, though his calls were roundly ignored by the belligerent powers.