| Show GERMANY SEEKS TO END WORLD WAR CENTRAL POWERS OFFERS PEACE TO ENTENTE ALLIES IN NOTE ISSUED FROM BERLIN un ted states spain and sw tz erland asked to transi t the proposal to the entente powers and vatican asked to help make peace berlin germany offered peace to the allies on tuesday december 12 the imperial chancellor dr von bethmann hollweg speaking fir for the german empire and its allies austria hungary Bulga bulgaria iria and turkey an announced in the reichstag that he had given to the diplomatic representatives of t spain the united states and switz erland a joint note addressed to ger many a enemies proposing to them to enter into peace negotiations the chancellor did not announce the terms upon which germany and her allies will make peace nor are they contained in the note he handed to the three neutral diplomatists for trans mission to the entente powers the only reference he made to them was that they had the object 0 guarantee ing the existence ni stence honor and liberty ot of evolution for the nations extending the offer and are according to their firm belief an appropriate basis for the establishment of 0 lasting peace this reference Is contained in the note addressed to the allies the representatives of spain the united states and switzerland were selected for its transmission because these countries represented the entente in crests in Geir germany many and the boutries cou tries of her allies simultaneously with the issuance of the note to the allies germany sent a communication to pope benedict through the german minister to the vatican dr otto von no tidying the pontiff of 0 germany s peace move eulogizing the holy father for his efforts in behalf of peace during the last two years and expressing the confidence that germany a e initiative will find a friendly welcome on the part park of h his is holiness and that the work of peace can count upon the precious support of the holy sea practically all members of the reichstag answered the summons to the capital A cro ded house thronged the galleries and listened in respectful silence when the chancellor arose to begin his speech first he outlined the extraordinary political situation and then touching upon the achievements of the central powers made the announcement which possibly pod bibly may act as the turning point in the war which for more than two years has held the world under its spell text of note following Is the text of the note ad dressed by germany and her allies to the hostile governments the most terrific war ever esperi expert encee la in history has been raging for the last two years and a half over a large part of the world a catastrophe which thousands of years ot of common civilization was unable to prevent and which injures the most precious achievements of humanity our alms aims are not to shatter nor annihilate our adversaries in spite of our consciousness ot of our military and economic strength and our readiness to continue the war which has been forced upon us until the bitter end if necessary necess axy at the same time prompted by the desire to avoid further bloodshed and make an end to the atrocities of war the four allied powers propose to en ter forthwith into peace negotiations the propositions which they bring forward far such negotiations and which have for their object a guaran tee of the existence of the honor ard liberty of evolution tor for their nations are axe according to their firm belief an appropriate basis tor for the establish ment of a lasting peace the four tour allied powers have been obliged to take up arms to defend jus tice and the liberty of national evalu tion the glorious deeds of our armies have in no way altered their purpose we always maintained the firm belief that our own rights and justified claims in no way control the rights of these nations the spiritual and material progress which was the pride of europe at the beginning of the twentieth century is threatened with ruin germany and her allies austria hungary bulgaria and turkey gave proof of their ancon qu erable strength in this struggle they gained gigantic advantages over adversaries superior in number and war material our lines stand un shaken against ever repeated attempts made by armies the last attack in the balkans has been rapidly and victoriously over come the mot recent events have demonstrated that further continuance continua wt of the war will not result in breaking the resistance of our forces and the whole situation with regard to nima troops justifies pur expectation 0 kofl o further successes aes it 11 in spite of this offer ot of and reconciliation the struggle should go on the tour four allied powers are resolved to continue to a victorious end but they disclaim responsibility for this before humanity and history the imperial government through the good offices of your excellency ash ask the government of here is inserted the name of the neutral power adi ad dressed in each instance to bring this communication to the knowledge of the government of here are inserted the names of the belligerents probable peace terms probable peace terms to be proposed by germany are A restoration of the status quo existing before the war this includes include 11 the evacuation of belgium and the restoration st of the occupied portions of northern france with the exception of alsace and lorraine it Is understood that the german idea Is to make provision tor for the future f ture neutrality ot of belgium and probably propose de fortification particularly of the city ot of antwerp all germanys lost colonies col she ex pacts to be returned her possessions posses sione in the pacific however are axe not a subject of great concern and the berlin government is understood to be ready to relinquish the claim of Kiau Klau chau the security of turkey la in possession of cons anti nople and the restoration of albania the establishment ol 01 independent kingdoms in lithuania and poland domination ol 01 mesopotamia by germany and austria to ghe give them a path to the persian gulf and break eng land lands s gateway to india and egypt to award to bulgaria all ot of serbia as tar far south as nish which would take from serbia as much territory as she gained in the balkan wars bulgaria probably will expect to get macedonia and which tor for merly belonged to her making the danube the boundary between bulgaria and rumania and shutting the latter from the black sea during the course of bis his speech before the reichstag chancellor voa von bethmann hollweg said the empire Is not a besieged fortress aa as our adversaries imagined but one gigantic and firmly disciplined camp with inexhaustible resources resource a that la is the german empire which Is 1 4 firmly and finally united with its S brothers in arms who have been tested in battle under the austro hungarian turkish and Bulga bulgarian xian flags our enemies now ascribed to us a plan plau to conquer the whole world and then des cries of anguish tor for peace but not confused by these asseverations we progressed with firm decision and we thus continue our progress always ready to defend ourselves and fight tor for our nations existence for its free fu future end always to stretch out our hand for peace |
