unattainable without Russian aid would be a defeat for Western European
Liberalism; Germany would be beaten not by us, but by a Militarist
autocracy worse than her own. By sacrificing Prussian Poland and the
Slav portions of the Austrian Empire Germany and Austria could satisfy
Russia, and merge Austria and Germany into a single German State, which
would then dominate France and England, having ascertained that they
could not conquer her without Russia's aid. We may fairly allow Russia
to conquer Austria if she can; that is her natural part of the job. But
if we two cannot without Russian help beat Potsdam, or at least hold her
up in such a stalemate as will make it clear that it is impossible for
her to subjugate us, then we shall simply have to "give Germany best"
and depend on an alliance with America for our place in the sun.

2. We cannot smash or disable Germany, however completely we may defeat
her, because we can do that only by killing her women; and it is
trifling to pretend that we are capable of any such villainy. Even to
embarrass her financially by looting her would recoil on ourselves, as
she is one of our commercial customers and one of our most frequently
visited neighbors. We must, if we can, drive her from Belgium without
compromise. France may drive her from Alsace and Lorraine. Russia may
drive her from Poland. She knew when she opened fire that these were the
stakes in the game; and we are bound to support France and Russia until
they are won or lost, unless a stalemate reduces the whole method of
warfare to absurdity. Austria, too, knew that the Slav part of her
empire was at stake. By winning these stakes the Allies will wake the
Kaiser from his dream of a Holy Teuton Empire with Prussia as the Head
of its Church, and teach him to respect us; but that once done, we must
not allow our camp followers to undo it all again by spiteful
humiliations and exactions which could not seriously cripple Germany,
and would make bad blood between us for a whole generation, to our own