File No. 763.72/13369
The Diplomatic Liaison Officer with the Supreme War Council ( Frazier) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 31, 1.40 a.m.]
129. For the Secretary of State and Colonel House:
At the request of General Pershing, I called upon him yesterday at his headquarters to discuss an idea which he has been turning over in his mind for several days.
He believes that the successful advance of the Allies on the western front will continue and while he does not consider that the Germans are yet beaten, he is satisfied that the morale of their troops is bad. Under these circumstances, he thinks that united action should be taken to bring about the end of the [war] if possible before next year. He believes that if the President were now to urge the Allies to attack simultaneously on the Italian front, at Saloniki, and in Mesopotamia if possible, if he were to address words of encouragement to that section of the Russian public which is pro-Ally; if an intimation from the same source were conveyed to Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey that the time has come for them to yield, and if pressure were brought to bear upon the neutrals, especially Spain, to join the Allies, the defeat of Germany, which he now considers certain, would be hastened. General Pershing informs me that according to his Intelligence Service, the Germans are already moving supplies to the right bank of the Rhine and that an attack by the American Army is now imminent.