leaders of the Entente Powers would like to exalt this distortion
of history into a dogma, in order that their various peoples may not
bring any unpleasant charges against them. And yet the historical
truth is already pretty clear to all who look for it honestly and
without prejudice. The German Government believed that the Serbian
propaganda would annihilate Austria-Hungary, and hoped, moreover,
that her last faithful ally would experience a political renaissance
as the result of her chastisement of Serbia. That is why they gave
Count Berchtold a free hand, in the belief that Count Buelow's success
over the Bosnian crisis could be repeated. Meanwhile, however, the
situation had changed. Russia and France, relying upon England's
help, wanted to risk a war. When the German Government saw this
they tried, like a driver of a car about to collide with another
vehicle, to jam on all breaks, and to drive backwards. But it was
then too late. The mistake our Government made was to consent to
Austria-Hungary's making so daring an experiment, at a moment of
such critical tension.

It is not true either that we were thoroughly equipped and prepared
for war. We had neither sufficient supplies of munitions, foodstuffs
and raw materials, nor any plan of campaign for a war with England.
Be this as it may, we should not have been defeated if we had abided
firmly by our defensive policy. The heroic spirit displayed by
the German people surpassed all bounds, and they believed quite
honestly that they were fighting a war of defence. If our policy
had been conducted with corresponding consistency we should have
saved our position in the world. We ought always to have borne in
mind the analogy of the Seven Years War, in order to have been
ready at any moment to extricate ourselves from the hopeless business
with the least possible amount of loss.

After the first battle of the Marne, President Wilson consistently
maintained that a decision was no longer possible by force of arms.
This view, which I also shared, gave us some common ground, upon
which, despite our other differences, we were able to some extent
to work together.

Regarding Dr. Wilson's personality certain doubts have been and
are still entertained by many people. He is the most brilliant
and most eloquent exponent of the American point of view. But he
does not devote the same energy and consistency to the execution
of his various programmes as he does to their formation.