Omaha daily bee., 1919-12-11
What Germang Wanted
From the New York Timer.

Some days ago the Times commented on thu
memorandum of German peace terms presented
by Count Won Bernstorff to Colonel House fo
the personal information of the president" or
January so, 1917, one day before the declaration
of intensified submarine war. The German gov
eminent at that time asserted that these were
the terms which it HAD in mind when making
the peace proposal of December IL previous. In
| that proposal no terms were mentioned; the bel
ligerents were to get together and engage in a
trial of wits around table. Naturally the allies
| refused. The German terms as given to Colonel
House fully justified this refusal, although them
selves SO vaguely phrased as to admit some lati-
| tude OF Interpretation.
| Now, however. it appears that the Germans
themselves would have read into these hazy
| phrases far more than the most suspicious allied
statesmen might have feared. German news
papers arriving with further details of the parlia-
mentary inquiry at which these. facts were dis
closed give us the real terms The memorandum
Of January so was not made public, Count Won
Bernstorff explained, "for fear of giving an i'm
preston of weakness" The real reason, it
seems now, was that it was deliberately falsi-
fed document intended to deceive President
Wilson
For when Bethmann- Hollweg came up for
cross-examination Deputy Sinzheimer, mem
Der of the committee, read apparently from gov
eminent archives a schedule of peace terms
which Bethnann admitted was the one which
Germany would actually. have demanded had
the allies agreed to parley in December, 1916.
What appeared in the Bernstorff memorandum
as strategic and economic notifications" on
the French frontier meant really the acquisi,' II
of the Longwy and Briey districts-together
with the outright absorption of Luxembourg
and France was to pay indenlnties besides "The
restoration of Belgium with definite guarantees
for the security of Germany" as presented in
the Bernstorff memorandum, meant probable an
nexation up through Liege, with still further
guarantees" of nature not described. On the
e. frop ,ir;ou + = az
give strategic and economic protection" to Ger
many and the puppet kingdom of Poland set up
by the central powers really meant the annexa-
ton of Courland and much of Lithuania, to-
gether with the compulsion of Russo German
commercial treaty, in which all the advantage
was to be on one side Tie Germans wer. will
ing to give up the colonies occupied by Japan
no doubt hoping in this way to effect an al
lance; but by way Of counterpoise they wanted
to annex the Congo State.
Hindenburg besides would have demanded
an indemnity from England as compensation for
the evacuation Of Belgium; but Bethmann- Holt
veg held out against this, and apologized for
the terms as compromise between civilian and
military ideas. The Austrians also presented
their terms, which included strategic rectihca-
tons of frontier" on the Russian, Rumanian and
Italian borders, an Austrian protectorate over
Albania and economic union of much reduced
Serbia with the dual monarchy. Very naturally,
the Germans regarded these demands as little
100 much. since tne Russians neld much AUS,
trian territory and the Italians little, and
Austria had been saved from disaster only by
German arms.
It was characteristic of the German govern
menr, of course to present false terms in the
hope Of influencing the United States govern
ment; equally so to fear that these false terms,
providing as even they did for a substantial
German victory, would seem weak to the Ger
man people; but most of all to suppose that
the program presented to Colonel House must
impress non Germans by its magnanimity. 1t
was piece Of statecraft worthy of the men who
conducted the affairs of the German govern
, ment during the war.