But again and again I relinquished this idea, being firmly convinced that separate peace was a sheer impossibility.

The Monarchy lay like a great block between Germany and the Balkans.

Germany had great masses of troops there from which it could not be cut off, it was procuring oil and grain from the Balkans; if we were to interpose between it and the Balkans we should be striking at its most sensitive vital nerve.

Moreover, the Entente would naturally have demanded first of all that we joined in the blockade, and finally our secession would automatically have involved also that of Bulgaria and Turkey.

Had we withdrawn, Germany would have been unable to carry on the war.