Paris. Confidence in victory had been shaken. It must be admitted that the French demanded Alsace-Lorraine, but in the exchange they promised to return the German colonies, and they even promised to extend them. Furthermore, they were prepared to give Germany a free hand against Russia in the Eastern section. They also demanded from us those regions which were inhabited by Italians.
Czernin considered these conditions favourable, and if one considers the final result there can be no difference of opinion to-day that such a peace would have been more desirable. The Germans, however, would not hear of such a treaty. They counted upon victory, and conducted the negotiations in such a forcible manner that Czernin gained the impression that, if Austria-Hungary wanted to enforce peace, the German Army would immediately occupy Bohemia. Consequently, Czernin gave way and peace was not achieved. The fearful struggle and the butchery of mankind continued, Clemenceau became the head of the French Government, and we reached the final act of the tragedy.
Czernin was undoubtedly in a very difficult position. If he had entertained any hope that we should be victorious, or that we would, at any rate, be able to resist long enough for him to hope for better conditions of peace, I could understand that he gave way to German influence. But Czernin regarded the future as sinister. While he was still Ambassador in Bukarest, he urged peace because, in his opinion, victory was out of the question. As Minister, he handed a memorandum in April, 1917, to the Kaiser, in which he explained
