On Friday week Lord Robert Cecil talked to the American
correspondents about Germany's coming "peace offensive," the expected sequel to the failure of "the Kaiser's battle." The peace move might begin in full strength within two weeks, and would be directed chiefly towards Great Britain. The Lichnowsky dis- closures, With their proof that Great Britain had no share in making the war, might be used by Germany, for her own purposes, accom- panied by tempting offers. Lord Robert Cecil thought that the chief purpose of Germany would be to hearten her people with the hope of a speedy German peace, if the frustration of the latest military offensive became too palpable for concealment ; and the failure to receive food supplies from the Ukraine has gravely in- creased the strain upon German civilians. The German Under. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has replied, in an interview, that Lord Robert's remarks were made to stimulate the war ardour of the Entente nations, whose belief in the justice of their own cause, he said, was vanishing.
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