Pasha, arrived
during the night, and has just been to call on me. He seems
emphatically in favour of making peace; but I fancy he would like, in
case of any conflict arising with Germany, to push me into the
foreground and keep out of the way himself. Talaat Pasha is one of the
cleverest heads among the Turks, and perhaps the most energetic man of
them all.

"Before the Revolution he was a minor official in the telegraph
service, and was on the revolutionary committee. In his official
capacity, he got hold of a telegram from the Government which showed
him that the revolutionary movement would be discovered and the game
be lost unless immediate action were taken. He suppressed the message,
warned the revolutionary committee, and persuaded them to start their
work at once. The coup succeeded, the Sultan was deposed, and Talaat
was made Minister of the Interior. With iron energy he then turned his
attention to the suppression of the opposing movement. Later, he
became Grand Vizier, and impersonated, together with Enver Pasha, the
will and power of Turkey.

"This afternoon, first a meeting of the five heads of the allied
delegations and the Russian. Afterwards, plenary sitting.

"The sitting postponed again, as the Ukrainians are still not ready
with their preparations. Late in the evening I had a conversation with
Kuehlmann and Hoffmann, in which we agreed fairly well as to tactics. I
said again that I was ready to stand by them and hold to their demands
as far as ever possible, but in the event of Germany's breaking off
the negotiations with Russia I must reserve the right to act with a
free hand. Both appeared to understand my point of view, especially
Kuehlmann, who, if he alone should decide, would certainly not allow
the negotiations to prove fruitless. As to details, we agreed to
demand continuation of the negotiations at Brest-Litovsk in the form
of an ultimatum.

"_January 9, 1918._--Acting on the principle that attack is the best
defence, we had determined not to let the Russian Foreign Minister
speak at all, but to go at him at once with our ultimatum.

"Trotski had prepared a long speech, and the effect of our attack was
such that he at once appealed for adjournment, urging that the altered
state of affairs called for new resolutions. The removal of the
conference to Stockholm would have meant the end of matters for us,
for it would have been utterly impossible to keep the Bolsheviks of
all countries fro