The East African government's large-scale lobbying campaign received different responses in different countries. Aside from France, which was relatively easy to persuade, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and many of Europe's smaller nations also responded positively.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire's stance was easy enough to understand. If the war continued to expand and drag on, it would no longer be able to generate gains. In fact, after dealing Russia a crushing blow, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had essentially achieved its overall objectives.
Before the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had not possessed particularly grand ambitions. Its political demands had essentially been to annex Serbia, expand its influence in the Balkan Peninsula, and squeeze Russia out of the Balkan Peninsula.
After Tsarist Russia collapsed on its own, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's strategic objectives had effectively been achieved, even exceeded. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had never expected its old rival Russia to cripple itself.
Beyond the fulfillment of its political aims, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's system also meant it could not expand without limit. How to absorb newly acquired territory was a major problem for it. After all, it could not even resolve its own ethnic issues; newly annexed lands would only intensify its national divisions in the future.
Therefore, Emperor Franz, Crown Prince Rudolf, and Vienna's senior leadership now believed that ending the war at this time would instead be the optimal solution for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Beyond France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire lay Europe's many small countries. Aside from the belligerents, most smaller European nations naturally hoped for the war to end. At this point, they could not squeeze any profit from either the Central Powers or the Entente Powers, and might even be caught in the crossfire. Thus, East Africa's peace initiative won the support of this cluster of small nations.
Rhine