necessary, and that I did everything in my power to bring about the absolute control of Hindenburg. Our main advantage lay in our internal line of operations, which we could only exploit provided a concentration was carried out according to a common plan. The prestige of Hindenburg was also very great among us. Public opinion recognized him to be the great Field-Marshal of the war. The thought of success was associated with his name, and trust in the leader is already half the victory. The necessity of common leadership was recognized later on by the Entente, and events have proved that the Entente was only able to achieve a military victory after she had secured unity of command.
At an early time I recognized the necessity of agreeing upon the conditions upon which we were ready to make peace.
We had to take three possibilities into consideration.
The first possibility was victory. The second was the victory of the Entente, which became probable in the measure in which the war was prolonged. The third possibility was an agreement before a final decision, which I regarded as the most advantageous for us since Italy had entered into the war. It was not necessary to provide for the possibility of the second case, because, in the circumstances, we would not have had anything to say in fixing the conditions of peace. We had, therefore, only to find a common programme, which we must carry through in case of victory, or which must serve as a basis in case of negotiations.
