I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 977: Armistice Negotiations

Germany established a Socialist Party coalition government within a few days, with the Social Democratic Party leader Eitzberger taking over power and becoming Chancellor.

(The image above shows Friedrich Ebert, who became Chancellor of the coalition government after the German Revolution succeeded, later being elected as the first President of the Weimar Republic. Note: The Weimar Republic was not established immediately after Germany’s defeat but was formed in Weimar after a constitution was drafted over nine months later, managed by a provisional government until then.)

After Ebert became Chancellor, he considered that the most important task at present was to reach an armistice agreement with the Allies, and therefore immediately established the "Armistice Committee," with Eitzberger as the chairman to negotiate with the Allies on behalf of Germany.

(Note: Historically, Eitzberger was regarded as a "traitor" by the German right-wing forces because he signed an armistice agreement with extremely harsh terms, and was assassinated a few years later.)

...

Outside the grounds of Pondisai Castle, Liege, Belgium.

French Army guards looked sarcastically at the German negotiators who had come from afar, seemingly disbelieving that these trembling individuals were the politicians who initiated the war.

Eitzberger and his assistants were too busy preparing to care about the guards’ odd looks.

Eitzberger nervously adjusted his tie and went over the details with his secretary Kurt one last time.

"Is the telephone line connected?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Kurt replied.

The negotiations were conducted in two groups simultaneously, one led personally by Armistice Committee Chairman Eitzberger, targeting France.

The other led by Committee Member Fisher, targeting England and the United States at Freeman.

Eitzberger hoped that both sides could share real-time negotiation information to better assess the bottom lines of both sides, aiming to achieve an armistice at the smallest cost.

"Are the documents related to Lorraine and Alsace ready?" Eitzberger asked again.

"They are ready, sir," Kurt responded.

"What about the transportation maps and mine distribution maps?"

"Also prepared!"

...

The guard who went in to inform came out from the fortress gate: "The Vice Admiral invites you in, Mr. Chairman."

"Alright," Eitzberger nodded to the guard, "thank you very much!"

As he approached the fortress door, he straightened his suit again and cleared his throat quietly, before entering with his secretary.

After walking through a passageway over ten meters long, with machine guns and cannons pointing at loopholes on both sides, there were fully armed French soldiers staring menacingly at this group of "unexpected guests."

Under their gaze, Eitzberger’s palms involuntarily started to sweat.

To relax himself, he asked the leading guard in French, "Has the Vice Admiral been staying here?"

"Yes," the guard replied calmly, "He plans to attack Berlin and thinks this is a convenient place to command from."

Eitzberger stumbled and almost fell; his secretary hurried to support him.

The guard did not turn back, a mocking smile on the corner of his mouth.

Got you, he thought, hoping this would help in the negotiation!

...

Shire sat at the round table in the operations meeting room, sipping coffee, with nothing else on the table in front of him.

Eitzberger knocked on the door, and upon receiving permission, walked in with his head down. Seeing Shire, he immediately removed his hat and bowed:

"Nice to meet you, Vice Admiral."

"I am the German Armistice Committee Chairman Eitzberger, representing Germany to discuss the armistice with you."

Shire politely stood up and shook hands with Eitzberger, "Please have a seat, Mr. Eitzberger, welcome to you. I believe we will have a pleasant negotiation."

Eitzberger smiled bitterly, "Yes, of course."

Although he said so, he thought it impossible in his heart.

The French Army held Germany’s fate, and Germany had previously broken into Paris and crowned themselves in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, deeply humiliating the French.

Now, of course, the French Army would seize this opportunity for revenge.

But these thoughts were only in his mind; Eitzberger dared not speak them out loud, as he had no reason to anger Shire, or he would become the culprit in Germany’s crisis.

He carefully sat down in front of Shire, and his secretary immediately opened the briefcase, spreading out the documents on the table.

The setup resembled preparing for war, although it was a war destined to be lost!

...

At Freeman, Germany’s representative Fisher, negotiating with England and the US in the Joint Command meeting room, was much more composed.

He didn’t bring any documents; the secretary just had a notebook ready for taking notes.

Opposite him sat General Winter and Pershing, representing England and the United States respectively in discussing the armistice issue.

"Your objective has been achieved," Fisher gently tapped his fingers on the table, saying,

"I remember Shire saying that his enemy was not the German military and civilians, but the German Emperor William II, the dictator, the German system."

"Now, William II has abdicated, we have formed a coalition government and established a parliament."

"So, I don’t think there’s any need for the war to continue, don’t you agree?"

General Winter answered coldly, "I think you misunderstood one thing, Mr. Committee Member. That was Shire’s objective, not ours!"

Fisher spread his hands, "Does it matter?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The implication was: What does your objective have to do with Germany?

General Winter was momentarily speechless and turned his gaze towards Pershing, now was the moment for him to step up.

Pershing hadn’t originally wanted to partake in this negotiation, believing that the United States had no position at the negotiation table.

But the order from the White House was for him to strive to maximize America’s interests.

"The issue now is that you are the ones requesting an armistice, Mr. Committee Member," said Pershing,

"If you don’t need to consider our will, then there’s no point in negotiating, and certainly no peace."

"You wouldn’t want the United States to re-enter the battlefield and continue this meaningless war, would you?"

Fisher paid considerable attention to the US Army.

The Americans had money, resources, and productivity, and more importantly, they were eagerly learning Shire’s tactics and using Shire’s equipment, unlike the stubborn British.

"You are right, General," Fisher nodded in reply, "So, what are your terms?"

...

"What are your terms, Vice Admiral?" Eitzberger looked at Shire, his tone earnest: "I mean, what will it take for France to stop this war?"

Before Shire could respond, Eitzberger began to self-reflect proactively:

"I know Germany was the initiator of this war, which caused great loss to France."

"We are willing to make reparations for it."

"And regarding Lorraine and Alsace regions, we agree to return them; here is their information."

Eitzberger handed over the documents with both hands to Shire.

He believed that if something was inevitable, like being unable to hold onto the Lorraine and Alsace regions, suggesting it first would seem more sincere.

This is also a negotiation tactic!