WAR MEMOIRS OF DAVID LLOYD GEORGE 1917

288 WAR MEMOIRS OF DAVID LLOYD GEORGE
by the ex-Chancellor, Dr. Michaelis, and by General Ludendorff.
Our Ambassador to the Papal See seems to have talked
to Cardinal Gasparri as to the importance of securing a
definite declaration from the German Government as to its
intentions with regard to the complete independence of
Belgium, and the compensation to be made to her for the
damage done by the War. The French Government associated
themselves with this communication, which was passed
on to Chancellor Michaelis by the Papal Nuncio at Munich.
On the strength of this message, the Chancellor seems to
have arranged a Crown Council with the Kaiser and the
Chiefs of the Army and Navy on the 11th of September.
After a good deal of discussion, in which the Army Chiefs
put forward extreme demands, the result of the conference
was summarised in the following form, written and signed
by the Kaiser in his own hand:
The annexation of Belgium would be a mistake. Belgium
can be restored. The Flemish coast is certainly very important
and Zeebrugge cannot be allowed to fall into English hands.
But the Belgium coast by itself cannot be kept. There must be
a close economic association of Belgium with Germany. Belgium
herself has the greatest interest in that. 1
As there was considerable ambiguity in this short note,
General Ludendorff three days later sent a memorandum to
the Chancellor setting forth at considerable length his views
on the peace terms which ought to be insisted upon. He
summarises his demands in the following memorandum. He
indicates in a footnote that the terms he sets out here were
adopted. The memorandum has special importance because
the Army Headquarters exercised much greater influence
and authority on the general policy of their Government in
Germany than in any other belligerent country. When the
British Imperial War Cabinet discussed the terms of peace,
1 "The General Staff and Its Problems", General Ludendorff, Vol. II, p. 489.