The Story of the Great War, Volume 7: American Food and Ships; Palestine; Italy invaded; Great German Offensive; Americans in Picardy; Americans on the Marne; Foch's Counteroffensive.
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 7: American Food and Ships; Palestine; Italy invaded; Great German Offensive; Americans in Picardy; Americans on the Marne; Foch's Counteroffensive.
World War, 1914-1918
Germany--Dr. Richard von Kühlmann, Foreign Minister; Herr von Rosenberg,
Baron von Hock, General Hoffmann, and Major Brinckmann.
Austria-Hungary--Count Czernin, Foreign Minister; Herr von Merey,
Freiherr von Wisser, Count Colleredo, Count Osaky, Field Marshal von
Chisceries, Lieutenant Polarny, and Major von Gluise. Bulgaria--Minister
Popov, Former Secretary Kossev, Postmaster General Stoyanovitch, Colonel
Gantchev, and Dr. Anastasov. Turkey--Former Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Nessimy Bey, Ambassador Hakki, Under Foreign Secretary Hekmit Bey, and
General Zekki Pasha. Russia--Citizens Jaffe, Kaminev, Bisenko, Pokrosky,
Karaghan, Lubinski, Weltman Pawlowitch, Admiral Altvater, General
Tumorri, Colonel Rokki, Colonel Zelpett, and Captain Lipsky.
Prince Leopold of Bavaria, as commander in chief of the German forces in
the east, welcomed the delegates and invited Hakki Pasha, as the senior
delegate, to open the conference. Hakki Pasha, after a speech, declared
the conference formally open and proposed Dr. von Kühlmann as president.
The German Foreign Minister was thereupon elected to the chair
unanimously. In his opening speech he said:
"The purpose of this memorable meeting is to end the war between the
Central Powers and Russia and reestablish a state of peace and
friendship. In view of the situation it will be impossible in the course
of these deliberations to prepare an instrument of peace elaborated in
its smallest details. What I have in mind is to fix the most important
principles and conditions on which peaceful and neighborly intercourse,
especially in the cultural and economic sense, can be speedily resumed,
and also to decide upon the best means to healing the wounds caused by
the war.
"Our negotiations will be guided by the spirit of peaceable humanity and
mutual esteem. They must take into account, on the one hand, what has
become historical, in order that we may not lose our footing on the firm
ground of facts, but, on the other hand, they must be inspired by the
new and great leading motive which has brought us here together.
"It is an auspicious circumstance that the negotiations open within the
sight of that festival which, for centuries past, has promised peace on
earth and good will to men. I enter upon the negotiations with the
desire that our work may make speedy and prosperous progress."
Having concluded his address, Dr. von Kühlmann proposed the following
rules, which were adopted:
Questions of precedence will be decided according to the alphabetical
list of the represented powers.
Plenary sittings will be presided over by the chief representative of
each of the five powers in rotation.
The following languages may be used in debate: German, Bulgarian,
Turkish, and Russian.
Questions interesting only part of the represented powers may be
discussed separately.
Official reports of the proceedings will be drafted jointly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account