fatal error. He explained to me that the submarine warfare could not bring about a military decision, but rather, that it could only press America into the war, in which case we were bound to lose, because, under the given circumstances, we were not capable of coping with the enormous military power of America.
The leaders of the Conservative party, on the other hand, expected everything from the U-boat war. I was astonished when I saw and heard with what prejudice and determination they clung to the hope that by this means they would force their chief enemy, England, upon her knees.
I do not know what can have persuaded Bethmann-Hollweg to alter his point of view with regard to this question. It is possible that in the meantime he had come to the conclusion that America would come into the war anyhow, and it is possible that he gave way to the pressure of public opinion. It is also possible that he did not dare to advise the Kaiser to renounce this weapon on account of the pressure of public opinion. He may have asked himself the question whether the Kaiser would not be made responsible and condemned if, in spite of the pressure brought to bear by the experts and public opinion, he was afraid for political reasons to use this weapon of which so much was expected? Unless I am much mistaken, similar reasons led the Kaiser to order the Zeppelins not to bombard London. I have been told that even such attacks on the British capital were naturally opposed to the inclinations of the Kaiser. The Chancellor also
