October 29, 1918

A very momentous meeting chez House this morning. Everybody was there, but Foch, the Generalissimo, had the floor and did not seem inclined to share time with any of the civilian chiefs. Lloyd George remarked in a petulant aside, “I think we are wasting precious hours. The Germans are beaten but not down on their knees as yet. They are not thinking of surrender.”

If Foch heard this, he paid no attention to it. He described at considerable length the operations that he was planning, that were indeed under way. “In view of the information I have from many quarters and all in agreement as to the morale and the physical condition of the German armies, these operations will undoubtedly prove successful. Your military advisers, I am happy to say, are in complete agreement as to the armistice terms we are prepared to offer, should the Germans ask for them. They do not differ in any way from the terms we would impose upon the Germans after the success of the operations we are about to undertake. [The march to Berlin.] So, it is clear that if the Germans accept the terms we are willing to grant them today, when they ask formally for the armistice, il est inutile de continuer la Bataille—nothing would be gained by continuing the fighting.”

House made now an inquiry—not on his own behalf, he stated, but voicing the views of others who were not present and yet wanted to be heard and informed:

“M. le Field-Marshal, would our victory not be more complete if terms were only granted after the Germans had been expelled from the territory they invaded and driven back across the Rhine?”

“I think not,” answered Foch. “The terms which I have drawn up, with the advice and approval of all the Allied commanders, are identical with the terms that I think we should impose if our armies had reached Berlin. The march to the Prussian capital in the present state of affairs would not be difficult, but we would lose men. Why lose them if we secure all we desire without undertaking the march?”