English Translation

- 13- as well as the fact that Erzberger considered himself disadvantaged by this personality as by the emperor himself not to keep the report secret. Whether my report of 12 April actually gets into the cans of Entente representatives or not, I could not find out perfectly. The "Rheiniach-Westfalische Zeitung" is said to have discussed the contents of the same very openly soon afterwards and the content of the latter jenaeits of the trench should not have been left a secret. If it has been noted by some that the discovery of this secret report in the Entente camp would have had little significance, since the war fatigue of Austria-Hungary had not been as secret as no - it must be pointed out that the hostile statesmen probably also made a difference between war- weary manifestations of individual private or individual sources and official secret reports of responsible miniaters. Apart from everything else, the embarrassing intermediate gall, which was briefly recapitulated in the above, is of importance, because it was the last reason - as illustrated by the spe- ter - for the explosion of the "letter affair" in spring l9l8. Bämtlihe letters quoted here by the Botegharter lohenlohe are in my report z. *A The incidence case of Erzberger, not only the factum of the disclosure of these geheşmen Kexakxß news, but perhaps even more all the previously revealed circumstances, which had followed the discovery of the truth, had greatly shaken Berlin's confidence in unaere Ehrkichkedt and Aufrechtigkeit. The Spree was apparently suspected that this proved case of a non-official secondary policy was not the only one and feared the further disclosure of important military and political issues.