Chapter Summaries

Oscar rejected Crown Prince Karl’s demands for German support in taking Libya and other Italian territory, exposing a clash between Germany’s and the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s interests. He ordered Germany to protect its own gains while limiting both Italy’s defeat and the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s rewards, leaving the alliance strained.

• Oscar refused to give Libya to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, offering Italian East Africa instead.
• Crown Prince Karl left the meeting furious and ordered the Austro-Hungarian delegation back to its embassy.
• Oscar told Prime Minister Bülow and Foreign Minister Wachth that the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s demands for reparations, territory, and colonies were excessive.
• Oscar directed Wachth to secure Germany’s interests while giving the Austro-Hungarian Empire only limited support in pressuring Italy.
• Bülow warned that the dispute could damage the alliance, and Oscar said nations had only eternal interests, not eternal allies.

Crown Prince Karl demanded enormous reparations and territorial concessions from Italy, rejecting Baron von Berchtold’s warnings and Germany’s refusal to support his claims. At peace negotiations, Karl and German Foreign Minister Wachth threatened Italy with invasion if it could not meet their demands.

• Crown Prince Karl told Baron von Berchtold he had demanded fifty billion Krone, Venice and the territory east of it, and all of Italy’s colonies.
• Baron von Berchtold urged Karl to reduce his demands, but Karl insisted they would bring greater benefits to the Empire.
• Paul Borselli humbly asked Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to forgive Italy’s betrayal and spare it excessively harsh terms.
• Karl and Wachth said Italy had to pay for betraying the alliance, and Karl threatened to have their armies flatten Rome if Italy could not meet their demands.

Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire demanded enormous reparations, territory, colonies, and military restrictions from Italy, but Paul Borselli refused terms he considered equivalent to national ruin. The negotiations stalled, and Crown Prince Karl asked whether Italy would at least accept Germany’s demands.

• Wachth presented Germany’s demands, including twenty billion Mark in reparations, Sicily and Sardinia, Libya, military limits, and a temporary German occupation.
• Paul Borselli protested that Germany’s terms were too harsh, while Crown Prince Karl bristled at the Germans for speaking first.
• Crown Prince Karl demanded fifty billion Krone, Venice and the lands east of it, and Italy’s colonies for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, along with the same military restrictions Germany had imposed.
• Paul Borselli rejected the Austro-Hungarian terms and said Italy would rather fight than accept national ruin, bringing the negotiations to a deadlock.
• Crown Prince Karl urged Wachth to take action against Italy and asked Paul Borselli whether Italy would accept Germany’s terms.

At the peace talks, Germany and Austria-Hungary made competing harsh demands of Italy, and the negotiations ended without agreement. Vittorio Emanuele III and Antonio Salandra decided Italy would have to accept Germany’s terms while seeking to exploit disagreements between the two powers to reduce the cost.

• Paul Borselli told von Kiderlen-Wachth that Italy could not bear Germany’s terms unless they were lowered, but Wachth refused to change them.
• Crown Prince Karl accused Germany of betraying the alliance, while Wachth said Germany would not remain stalled indefinitely by Austria-Hungary’s inability to reach a deal with Italy.
• The talks ended without agreement, and Borselli reported both countries’ demands to Rome.
• Vittorio Emanuele III and Antonio Salandra agreed that Italy could not refuse Germany’s terms, though accepting all of Austria-Hungary’s demands would be disastrous.
• Salandra pointed to conflicting demands over Italy’s colonies as evidence of a rift between Germany and Austria-Hungary, and Vittorio Emanuele III resolved to use it to minimize Italy’s losses.

Paul Borselli secretly met German Foreign Minister Wachth to negotiate Italy’s peace terms and seek Germany’s help against Austro-Hungary. Wachth agreed to compromise over Sardinia and hinted at covert military support, but did not promise to pressure Austro-Hungary.

• Paul Borselli received a telegram from Rome and decided to meet Wachth late at night.
• Paul Borselli offered Italy’s acceptance of most German terms, ten billion Mark in reparations, and Sicily, while asking to retain Sardinia.
• Wachth agreed that Germany would not demand Sardinia but insisted that Italy pay twenty billion Mark, possibly over several years and with royal treasures as collateral.
• Paul Borselli asked what Italy should do about Austro-Hungary’s harsh terms and threat of force, and Wachth advised resisting rather than accepting them.
• Wachth offered to secretly provide Italy with weapons and equipment, and Paul Borselli asked Germany to pressure Austro-Hungary to ease its demands.

Wachth and Paul Borselli negotiated Germany’s support for Italy’s peace terms with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, agreeing to reparations and territorial and colonial concessions. The meeting ended with Germany securing its own gains while preparing to press its ally to accept the proposal.

• Wachth refused to use Germany’s strength to pressure the Austro-Hungarian Empire directly, but asked how much Italy could pay in reparations.
• Paul Borselli offered 5 billion Kronen, and Wachth raised the proposal to 5 billion Marks.
• Wachth told Paul Borselli that Italy should cede Venice and the lands eastward to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Paul agreed.
• Wachth arranged for Libya to go to Germany and Italian East Africa to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Paul accepted the terms.
• Paul Borselli left Wachth’s residence pleased with Germany’s support, while Wachth celebrated Germany’s reparations, territories, and access to Libyan oil.

German Emperor Oscar’s government finalized peace terms with Italy and used them as a proposed settlement between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany left the Austro-Hungarian delegation stunned by signing its own treaty with Italy, while Oscar considered how a future conflict might weaken the dual monarchy.

• Foreign Minister von Kiderlen-Wachth told Oscar that he and Italian Foreign Minister Paul Borselli had agreed on terms, and Oscar approved the treaty’s expected gains for Germany.
• Wachth outlined Italy’s proposed reparations and territorial concessions to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while Oscar instructed his ministers to use the terms as a blueprint and support Italy if Austria-Hungary refused.
• Oscar privately anticipated that Crown Prince Karl’s rule could give Germany an opportunity to break apart the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• At the afternoon talks, Wachth announced that Germany and Italy had reached an agreement, surprising Crown Prince Karl and the Austro-Hungarian delegation.
• Wachth and Paul Borselli signed the German-Italian Peace Treaty, which required Italy to pay Germany twenty billion Marks, cede Sicily and Libya, limit its armed forces, and host German troops until the treaty was fulfilled.

Crown Prince Karl confronted Wachth after Germany signed a separate peace treaty with Italy, then tried to force Paul Borselli to accept Austro-Hungarian terms. The Italians refused, leaving the Austro-Hungarian delegation unable to secure its demands or credibly threaten war.

• Crown Prince Karl accused Wachth of violating the alliance treaty by signing peace with Italy separately, and Wachth defended Germany's decision.
• Baron von Berchtold protested Germany's betrayal, but Wachth insisted the separate agreement had not harmed Austro-Hungarian interests.
• Crown Prince Karl threatened to complain to the German Emperor, but Wachth said the Emperor had already left Berlin for France.
• Crown Prince Karl demanded that Paul Borselli accept Austro-Hungarian terms, but Borselli refused and said Italy would rather fight than accept them.
• Crown Prince Karl and Baron von Berchtold recognized that threatening war was risky, and Karl blamed Germany for emboldening Italy.

Wachth mediated negotiations between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, pressing both sides toward a settlement to prevent another war. Italy agreed to pay fifty billion Mark and cede Venice, while the remaining terms awaited approval by the governments.

• Wachth urged the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy to settle their dispute peacefully, and Paul Borselli said Italy would pay reparations but rejected the harsh terms.
• Paul Borselli raised Italy’s offer from one billion Mark to twenty billion Mark, but Crown Prince Karl refused both amounts.
• Wachth proposed fifty billion Mark in reparations, which Paul Borselli accepted; Baron von Berchtold said he would submit the offer to his government.
• Paul Borselli agreed that Italy would cede Venice and the territory east of it to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Crown Prince Karl proposed trading Libya for Italian East Africa, but Wachth refused to give up Libya; Baron von Berchtold said his government would decide whether to accept Italian East Africa.

Crown Prince Karl and Baron von Berchtold learned that Germany was backing Italy in the peace negotiations, leaving the Austro-Hungarian Empire unable to force better terms. They referred the decision to Emperor Franz Joseph I, who summoned his ministers in Vienna to decide how the Empire should respond.

• Crown Prince Karl denounced Germany for siding with Italy and blocking the Austro-Hungarian Empire from gaining more from the negotiations.
• Baron von Berchtold warned that Germany no longer considered the Empire a useful ally and that the Empire could not risk using force against Italy.
• Crown Prince Karl rejected the proposed peace terms, but Baron von Berchtold said they had to refer the matter to Emperor Franz Joseph I.
• Crown Prince Karl agreed to report the negotiations to Vienna and inwardly vowed to make Germany pay when he became emperor.
• Emperor Franz Joseph I summoned Prime Minister Mario Weber, Duke Kaspar, Duke Andrassy, Count István von Tisza, Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf, and other ministers to discuss Germany's support for Italy.

Franz Joseph I and his ministers debated Germany’s secret peace deals with France and Italy and concluded that the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not risk fighting Germany. He ordered the Crown Prince to accept German mediation and make peace with Italy, leaving the ministers wary of their former ally.

• Mario Weber, Duke Andrassy, and Duke Kaspar condemned Germany for excluding the Empire from peace talks and helping Italy.
• Franz Joseph I asked whether the Empire could defeat Italy, and Duke Kaspar and Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf warned that German intervention could make the war disastrous.
• Franz Joseph I accepted that the Empire had to yield to German pressure, despite its ministers’ anger and hopes for greater reparations.
• Mario Weber argued that five billion Mark in Italian reparations was still a substantial sum.
• Franz Joseph I ordered Mario Weber to tell the Crown Prince to accept German mediation and sign peace with Italy.
• Duke Kaspar warned that the Empire needed to guard against Germany, and Franz Joseph I agreed.

Franz Joseph I and his ministers recognized that Germany’s growing dominance threatened the Austro-Hungarian Empire and widened the rift between the allies. Austria-Hungary accepted Italy’s peace terms, and Crown Prince Karl left Berlin vowing revenge against Germany.

• Franz Joseph I urged the Austro-Hungarian Empire to strengthen its military while maintaining cooperation with Germany, and his ministers discussed Germany’s power and Crown Prince Karl’s shortcomings.
• Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf argued that Emperor Wilhelm III’s leadership made Germany impossible to challenge, and Franz Joseph I agreed.
• Crown Prince Karl and Baron von Berchtold followed orders from home and abandoned their hard-line position in peace negotiations with Italy.
• The Austro-Hungarian delegation accepted Italy’s offer of six billion Mark in war indemnities, and the two countries signed a treaty transferring Venice, nearby eastern territories, and Italian East Africa to Austria-Hungary.
• Crown Prince Karl and the Austro-Hungarian delegation skipped the banquet and departed Berlin by train, as Karl vowed to make Germany pay for its humiliation.

Oscar and the German commanders inspected preparations for an invasion of Britain across the Dover Strait. The Marine Corps and Navy were readying their forces, and supplies for the operation were expected to be prepared within three months.

• Oscar arrived in Calais and declared that Germany would invade Britain and make it a stepping stone to world hegemony.
• Falkenhayn expressed confidence that Germany's elite forces could defeat Britain's newly armed but inexperienced forces.
• Tirpitz reported that the Navy would use pre-dreadnoughts for bombardment, avoid mined waters at the Thames, and commit all five Marine Corps divisions to the landing.
• Oscar authorized the Marine Corps to take part in the campaign after securing the landing sites.
• Waldersee told Oscar that preparations and supplies for the cross-sea operation would be completed within three months.

Oscar and the Imperial commanders reviewed Germany’s plan to invade Britain, including a massive landing aimed at trapping and destroying the British Army in southeastern England. Oscar warned that Britain might keep resisting after London fell and ordered the navy to prevent the royal family and its wealth from escaping as the invasion preparations continued.

• Field Marshal Falkenhayn presented a plan to deploy four army corps, the High Seas Fleet, and the Marine Corps, totaling about 1.5 million men, against Britain.
• Falkenhayn outlined landings at Ramsgate, Folkestone, Eastbourne, and Bournemouth, with the 8th Army Corps attacking the British flank from the south.
• Oscar warned that Churchill and other Britons might continue resisting even after London fell, though Germany could establish a new government and negotiate with it.
• Oscar ordered the army to seize the British Royal Family’s hidden wealth and the navy to blockade escape routes to Canada, sinking ships and killing King George V if necessary.
• Oscar told the commanders to continue preparing for the invasion and said he hoped the fighting would end before Christmas.

Oscar ordered Germany to develop its newly acquired eastern territories while preparing for a possible future war with Russia and the Bolshevik Party. He assigned the newly formed units to suppress guerrilla forces in the east, leaving the large-scale development to begin once they were cleared.

• Oscar discussed the Austro-Hungarian delegation's dissatisfaction and said Crown Prince Karl's hostility could give Germany grounds to act against the empire in the future.
• Chancellor Bülow proposed developing Germany's newly acquired eastern territories, and Oscar agreed the work would not interfere with the coming war against Britain.
• Field Marshal Falkenhayn reported that the Bolshevik Party had nearly defeated the White Army in the Russian Civil War.
• Oscar warned that Russia and the Bolshevik Party could become a major threat and ordered Germany to prepare for a future conflict.
• Chancellor Bülow said guerrilla forces opposed German rule in the eastern territories, and Oscar assigned the newly formed units to suppress them for combat experience.

Oscar ordered the eastern guerrillas backed by the Russian Bolsheviks to be destroyed and reviewed plans to build railways and highways across Germany’s eastern territories. The transportation network would take at least ten years to complete, prompting Oscar to recognize that a future war with Russia would come later than he had expected.

• Falkenhayn told Oscar that four army corps totaling more than 800,000 men were planned for a campaign against the eastern guerrillas, many of whom had Bolshevik support.
• Oscar ordered the guerrillas wiped out and directed that eastern territories be governed by winning over loyal residents while punishing opponents with forced labor.
• The Minister of Transport presented plans for three major railway routes and more than a dozen highways connecting Germany with the Baltic States, Belarus, and Ukraine.
• Oscar asked how long construction would take, and the Minister of Transport estimated at least ten years.
• Bülow explained that the work could not be completed sooner, and Oscar realized that a future war with Russia would likely occur a decade later.

Oscar approved a ten-year eastern railway and highway plan capped at ten billion marks, with annual funding and prisoner-of-war labor. He also agreed to become King of Finland and King of Ukraine so Germany could control their military and foreign policies while supporting their independence.

• The Minister of Transport estimated that eastern railways and highways would cost twelve to fifteen billion marks, but Oscar limited the budget to ten billion and ordered it allocated over ten years.
• Oscar directed that prisoners of war would provide most of the labor for the transportation projects.
• Foreign Minister Wachth warned that Finland and Ukraine could become front lines in a future war with Russia and urged Germany to strengthen its control over them.
• Prime Minister Bülow proposed that Oscar take the crowns of Finland and Ukraine while their domestic affairs remained in local hands and their military and diplomatic policies aligned with Germany.
• Oscar agreed to become King of Finland and King of Ukraine.

With the Bolsheviks nearing victory over the White Army, Ulyanov warned that Germany’s growing power threatened Russia and asked his leaders to consider how to prepare. The chapter left Ulyanov weighing proposals to acquire machinery and weapons abroad and cooperate with the United States.

• Ulyanov told the Bolshevik leaders that the White Army was close to defeat but warned Germany might eventually attack Russia.
• Joseph argued that Germany was unlikely to break the peace treaty, but Ulyanov cautioned that German interests could outweigh the treaty.
• Trotsky said Germany was occupied with Britain for now but would eventually go to war with Russia, and proposed buying German industrial equipment after the civil war.
• Joseph suggested obtaining machinery from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the United States, while Kamenev proposed joining the Americans against Germany.
• Ulyanov said he would consider the proposals before making a decision.

Ulyanov tasked Joseph with negotiating a trade deal with Germany to obtain machinery for Russia’s rebuilding, while refusing Trotsky’s proposal to withdraw guerrillas from German-occupied territory. Joseph left for Berlin, uncertain whether the Germans would agree.

• Joseph warned Ulyanov that the Bolsheviks lacked the hard currency needed to buy German machinery, and the leaders discussed the difficulty of securing loans.
• Ulyanov proposed trading grain, timber, and mineral resources for machinery, and Joseph agreed to negotiate with Germany.
• Trotsky reported that German troops were advancing on the guerrilla units and recommended withdrawing them, but Ulyanov insisted they remain to preserve Russian influence in the territories.
• Joseph departed Moscow for Berlin to hold secret talks with the German government, hoping to win Ulyanov’s favor despite doubting the deal would succeed.

Joseph traveled to Berlin to request German machinery and equipment for Russia, offering grain, timber, and mineral resources in payment. Oscar agreed to the sale but planned to demand a large share of grain, leaving the consequences for Russia unresolved.

• Joseph saw German military transports heading east and believed they were going to suppress guerrillas in territories ceded to Germany.
• Joseph met Foreign Minister von Kiderlen-Wächter in secret and asked Germany to sell Russia machinery and equipment in exchange for grain, timber, and mineral resources.
• Wächter reported Russia’s request to Oscar at the palace.
• Oscar rejected the proposal to simply block Russia’s industrial development, noting that other countries could sell it machinery.
• Oscar agreed to sell the equipment while requiring a greater proportion of grain, aiming to drain Russia’s food supply.