(1) That I wished to accept Mr. Wilson's offer of mediation.
(2) That the Imperial Government—that is to say, G. H. Q. or whoever was responsible for taking the final decision—did not wish to accept Mr. Wilson's offer of mediation, in order to declare the unrestricted U-boat war instead.
(3) That the Naval Authorities had declared themselves in a position to bring about a desire for peace in England in five months from the 1st of February.
My notes about the interview I had with General Ludendorff ran as follows:
General Ludendorff received me with the following words:
"In America you wanted to make peace. You evidently thought we were at the end of our tether."
I replied:
"No, I did not think that; but I wanted to make peace before we came to the end of our tether."
Whereupon the General said:
"We, however, did not want to. Besides, it would not have been surprising if you had thought that we had come to the end of our resources. The communications you received, which I read from time to time, certainly led to that conclusion."