“I advised the Crown Prince to speak to his father on the question of abdication, in which he fully agreed.  I then invited him to come to Vienna on behalf of the Emperor, which he promised to do as soon as he could get leave.”

On my return the Emperor wrote him a letter, drawn up by me, which contained the following passage: 

My Minister for Foreign Affairs has informed me of the interesting conversation he had the honour to have with you, and it has been a great pleasure to me to hear all your statements, which so exactly reflect my own views of the situation.  Notwithstanding the superhuman exertions of our troops, the situation throughout the country demands that a stop be put to the war before winter, in Germany as well as here.  Turkey will not be with us much longer, and with her we shall also lose Bulgaria; we two will then be alone, and next spring will bring America and a still stronger Entente.  From other sources there are distinct signs that we could win over France if Germany could make up her mind to certain territorial sacrifices in Alsace-Lorraine.  With France secured to us we are the conquerors, and Germany will obtain elsewhere ample compensation.  But I cannot allow Germany to be the only one to make a sacrifice.  I too will take the lion’s share of sacrifice, and have informed His Majesty your father that under the above conditions I am prepared not only to dispense with the whole of Poland, but to cede Galicia to her and to assist in combining that state with Germany, who would thus acquire a state in the East while yielding up a portion of her soil in the West.  In 1915, at the request of Germany and in the interests of our Alliance, we offered the Trentino to faithless Italy without asking for compensation in order to avert war.  Germany is now in a similar situation, though with far better prospects.  You, as heir to the German Imperial crown, are privileged to have a say in the matter, and I know that His Majesty your father entirely shares this view respecting your co-operation.  I beg of you, therefore, in this decisive hour for Germany and Austria-Hungary, to consider the whole situation and to unite your efforts with mine to bring the war to a rapid and honourable end.  If Germany persists in her standpoint of refusal and thus wrecks the hope of a possible peace the situation in Austria-Hungary will become extremely critical.

  I should be very glad to have a talk with you as soon as possible,
  and your promise conveyed through Count Czernin soon to pay us a
  visit gives me the greatest pleasure.

The Crown Prince’s answer was very friendly and full of anxiety to help, though it was also obvious that the German military leaders had succeeded in nipping his efforts in the bud.  When I met Ludendorff some time afterwards in Berlin this was fully confirmed by the words he flung at me:  “What have you been doing to our Crown Prince?  He had turned very slack, but we have stiffened him up again.”