File No. 763.72119/1073
The Chargé in Denmark ( Grant-Smith) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 6, 6 a.m.]
1777. The Teutonic peace offensive is making itself felt on every hand. A telegram from Berne via Budapest alleges negotiations [Page 4] for an armistice on the western front; the Danish public entertains high hopes of an early peace. On the 2d instant the German Minister, I am reliably informed, stated to a Pole whom he sees frequently that [1] Germany was prepared to cede Lorraine to France and to allow Alsace to take a plebiscite to decide to whom she would belong; (2) Germany wanted her colonies back; (3) Germany wanted a free hand economically in Russia; (4) if these were agreed to it would be easy to arrange terms of peace; (5) he added that “France had better accept this time as those who ask too much risk all.”1
- In a memorandum of Jan. 6, the British Embassy communicated practically the same report concerning German conditions of peace, as transmitted by the British Legation in Denmark (File No. 763.72119/1082).↩