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Stephen,

my dear friend. I am sorry to foist upon you the terrible choice I myself had to make not long ago. As I am sure you are aware of, the German Empire and the French Republic recently signed a treaty.

I am convinced that had President Dupont and I not signed that treaty, there would have been a war that would have destroyed both Germany and France. The times have changed when either of us could safely go to war without risking invasion - and especially for Germany that situation has changed with the Austro-Hungarian collapse. We now have to defend our borders both in the east, the south, the north and the west. We all know how strong the lure of conquest is for nations and I do not expect others to be more altruistic than Bismarck was when he forged the German Nation.

I am therefore convinced that any Anglo-French alliance or any alliance with France would have spelt certain doom for Germany. Thanks to the penchant of our Kaiser, may God keep him safe, for the Navy the German Army is no longer the invincible giant it once was. We allowed other nations to get far too powerful without checking their progress. We did nothing to prevent the formation of a Nordic Union. We did nothing to help Austria until she collapsed. We did nothing to prevent France from getting powerful enough to challenge us.

The problem is that the French knew this and that there was no way to get French Agreement if I did not promise them something. That promise, which will hunt my soul for the rest of my days, was the settlement of the Alsace-Lorraine question and a recovery of Dutch territories. These details were not made public, but were part of a secret addendum to the treaty.

In a way, President Dupont and I both found ourselves prisoner of our internal politics. We both had to give a lot to the nationalistic elements and the military in order to prevent a war, especially when we gave up certain portions of Alsace-Lorraine. But we had to make those concessions, for a war between France and Germany would have killed millions of people for no gain. I am not proud of what I did - dividing a nation as if it were cheese - but I am sure that had I not done so, Germany would have suffered immense loss and might even have ceased to exist.

I am not sure how I, as a historian, would characterize my thought process. I am not sure if I would regard them as nothing but flimsy excuses and if I would not see myself as the powerless puppet of a military junta and the Kaiser, a puppet that could find no other way but to accede to their wishes. But that would not do justice to my own power. I am nobody's puppet and I am certainly not controlled by the military. The responsibility is mine and mine alone. I could have resigned, but I did not due to the fear of what would happen to Germany if I did.

I have witnessed firsthand the devestation a war can cause. I lost many dear friends at the Vienna Massacre, including the live of a girl I had planned to propose to in the future. Maybe I shall tell you about her in the future. If I had ultimate power, I would erect a giant wall around Germany so that none of her children would ever have to face the harsh world outside. But I do not. For the sake of future German generations, I have to do what I am going to do in a weak. I pray to the almighty God that there be will be a peaceful solution to this war, but I fear there is not.

I realize that this will cost you several months of hard work. I would like to say that Cascadia has no obligation to join Germany in her actions and that neither I nor the Kaiser expect you to join in our endeavour. Should Germany prove victorious, she will however sign all disputed territories over to you. I cannot ask you to sacrifice the lives of your countrymen for my plans.

At the end of this week I shall make an ultimatum to the Dutch. Should they refuse to accept our demands, the German Empire and the French Republic will invade the Union of the Low counties.

As for my political future, I am not sure if I have any. The nationalists will try to hang me without a resounding success in the Union business. The Kaiser is ready to drop me at a moment's notice for Hindenburg or another lackey that cannot check him as often as I do. And the socialists will try to kill me as soon as I announce the ultimatum.

May God have mercy on my soul.

Johannes