The War Must Be Ended, Part II
Defeated in the field, Germany sought peace. But, writes John Terraine, her proposals for a negotiated peace were rejected by the Allies.
There were two notable arrivals at the German Supreme Headquarters at Spa on October 30th, 1918. The first was General Wilhelm Groener, who had succeeded Ludendorff as First Quartermaster-General; it was to be Groener’s melancholy duty to make the arrangements for the early demise of the Imperial German Army. The second arrival was the Kaiser, Wilhelm II.
The atmosphere in Berlin had now become intolerable to him; even a sycophantic court could not blot out the vociferous calls for his abdication; the extreme Left wanted to end the Empire in the Russian manner of October 1917 (only one year previously); the majority Socialists would have preserved the Empire, but not under Wilhelm II nor his eldest son, the Crown Prince Wilhelm. So the Kaiser left his capital for the last time and came to Spa, to place himself among his loyal generals.
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