Prussians say that they "regret not having burned Paris methodically." 1

In 1918, then, the Prussians were preparing to begin again the bombardment of Paris, interrupted by the capitulation of 1871 and the miscarried plan of 1914. In the same spirit, the imperial Kronprinz confided to a distinguished American lady, who has since told of it, that if his father had not begun the war, he would have declared it himself on coming to the throne for the drollery of the thing." The destruction of Paris, the world-war, become the pastime of princes! The second victory of the Marne caused to vanish these monstrous dreams of German cultur.

1 Benjamin Constant, correspondence with Mme. Récamier (p. 269, November, 1815).

CHAPTER XI

PEACE OFFENSIVES

The

The German war map. For a long time German power had been a mere façade, pompous, it is true, but without solid base. Those who were governing Germany knew well that they would be beaten, but they continued to deceive the people. They had not been able to realize in France their ambitious dreams. battle of the Marne stopped their brutal rush, while Nancy and Paris, Dunkirk and Calais escaped them. They had not been able to snatch from noble King Albert the shred of his Belgium to which he clung desperately, at Nieuport, Dixmude and Ypres. The Kaiser talked a great deal of the war map and the pledges which he held, and boasted about occupying the fertile plains of northern France, the rich coal mines of the Pas-de-Calais and the basins of iron ore at Longwy and Briey. He was master of Poland, Courland, Lithuania. He intended establishing German dynasties in Livonia and Esthonia. In Finland, Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse, a vassal of William, was to be made king. In the Ukraine, the hetman Skoropdsik was nothing but a German lieutenant. Thanks to Russian anarchy, Germany hoped to make

new progress in Slavic countries. Her allies, the Bulgarians and Austrians, had despoiled Serbia, Rumania and a part of Greece. The establishment of MittelEuropa seemed therefore in a fair way to succeed.

The war map of the Allies.-But the Allies could oppose to the war map of the Central Empires their own, which was not less suggestive. The Japanese had seized the powerful arsenal of Kiao-chau, all Shantung and the German islands of the Pacific. The French and the English had conquered Togoland and the Camerun, and the English, French and Portuguese had driven the Germans from German South-West and East Africa. The Boers, the fires of whose resentment the Germans had tried to kindle, remained faithful to the English, while Morocco, where they tried to foment a rebellion, was pacified by General Lyautey. The English flag floated at Bagdad, Jerusalem and Damascus. Thus all the German colonies had passed into the hands of the Allies, and the Turks had lost two of their richest territories. The Germans were everywhere execrated, and the entire world had risen against them and their accomplices.

Suffering in Germany. From what has just been said, one can understand the repeated efforts for peace made by Germany, which was dying of famine. As early as the summer of 1917, the weekly ration of a German was 1500 grammes of black bread, 400 grammes of potatoes, 125 grammes of meat, 40

grammes of fats, half a litre of skimmed milk and one egg a fortnight. No more meat pies, no more rice, dried vegetables, preserves or wine! In Saxony, children up to sixteen years of age went barefoot to the school or gymnasium, and the suffering was still greater in Bulgaria and Turkey. In Austria, the weekly ration of bread was reduced to 630 grammes. The Germans still talked boastfully and had lost nothing of their pride. They were still unwilling to abate any part of their conquests or to accord any reparation for the devastations they had committed. But, with their accustomed perfidy, they endeavored to divide their enemies, in order to get the better of them separately by imposing on each one of them their German peace. Such attempts were called peace offensives.

The Hindenburg peace. The first of these offensives was tried on December 12, 1916. The Germans had been beaten at Verdun and on the Somme, but they talked very loud about the crushing of Rumania, which had been brought about by the Russian betrayal. Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg declared to the Reichstag that he had transmitted to all the hostile powers a note tending to organize negotiations for peace. The Allies knew the duplicity of the Germans, and knew that the pangermanists wanted nothing but the Hindenburg peace peace by German victory. They also knew what must be the conditions of this peace, the result of crushing victories. At the

moment when the Germans thought themselves sure of triumph, Bernstorff had made known these conditions under the following ten headings:

1. Cession of all the French colonies;

2. Cession of parts of northeastern France; 3. Granting of an indemnity of 10 billion francs; 4. Suppression for twenty-five years of all duties on German merchandise entering France, Germany reserving to herself the right to impose duties eventually on French products entering Germany;

5. France to renounce obligatory military service for a period of twenty-five years;

6. Destruction of all French fortresses;

7. Surrender by France to Germany of 3 million rifles, 2000 cannon and 40,000 horses;

8. Special privileges accorded in France to all German patents;

9. France to renounce all alliance with Russia and England;

10. France to make an alliance for twenty-five years with Germany.

The 20th of December, Briand replied in strong language that the only possible and durable peace would be one that would give the Allies the necessary restitutions, reparations and guarantees, and the note sent the 31st of December, 1916, in the name of the ten powers of the Entente confirmed the declarations of the French minister.