My War Memories, 1914-1918
the military position as so secure that I had no objection to the publication of the Peace Note. The proposal for compulsory auxiliary service, which had meanwhile been passed into law, gave the appearance of a determination to continue fighting if our offer were rejected.
His Majesty took a most earnest interest in the peace offer, displaying clearly his high sense of his responsibility to bring peace to the world at the earliest possible moment. On the I2th December, the peace offer of the Quadruple Alliance was made. There followed an exchange of views as to the peace terms which we should be prepared to offer which was destined to culminate in the despatch to Count Bernstorff of the 2gth January, 1917.
The reception of our offer by the Entente Press was wholly unfavourable. It soon became clear that it would be impossible to come to an understanding. The Entente had their hands tied by arrangements and secret agreements that could only be carried out if we were completely defeated. The answer of the Entente, given on the 30th December, was such as to leave no doubt of their intention to annihilate us. Their objection, that the tone of our offer had from the first made any acceptance impossible, will not hold water. Our whole position compelled us to adopt a tone of confidence. I advocated this from the military point of view also. Our troops had done marvels; what would they do if we adopted any other tone ? It was essential that the peace offer should not impair the fighting capacity of the army ; and it did rxot do so, for it was only an episode, and the moral of the troops was still good. If the Entente honestly desired a peace of justice and reconciliation, they could and should have entered into negotiations and brought forward their demands. Had negotiations broken down before any demand for annexations on the part of the German representatives, it would have been easy for the Entente, in view of such an attitude, to rouse their peoples to renew the war* We, on the other hand, in such a position would have been quite unable to reconcile the German people, already longing for peace, to any further fighting. Still less would our weary allies have
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