Spa Conference (13–15 August 1918)

The Spa conference of 13–15 August 1918 was the last official meeting between the German and Austro-Hungarian monarchs during World War I. The civil officials participating in it became aware of the impossibility for the central powers to achieve victory. Indeed, the German Empire and its allies were exhausted and their latest offensives ended in failures on the Marne as well as on the Piave in Italy. For the first time, the political and military leaders of the German Empire and the dual monarchy considered a compromise peace with the Entente forces reinforced by the massive arrival of American soldiers and a scenario for exiting the conflict.

This was the third conference that took place in Spa, headquarters of the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL) since the beginning of 1918. It followed the Spa Conference (12 May 1918) and a second conference (the first according to Fischer) on 2 July.

Participants


The conference consisted of two separate meetings. The first, held on 13 and 14 August 1918, brought together a council of the German crown, around the main political and military leaders of the German Empire, under the presidency of Emperor Wilhelm; the second, a German-Austro-Hungarian conference, met the next day, on 15 August 1918.

Crown Council: 13 and 14 August
Summoned following the defeat of 8 August 1918, it convened on 13 August, under the presidency of Wilhelm II, dejected by the defeats of his armies, the military Paul von Hindenburg, Erich Ludendorff, then first quartermaster general, Chancellor Georg von Hertling, State Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Reich Paul von Hintze, as well as Imperial Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia.

German-Austro-Hungarian Conference: 15 August
The second meeting took place on 15 August 1918, after the arrival in Spa of Emperor-King Charles, accompanied by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stephan Burián von Rajecz, and the Chief of Staff of the Joint Army, Arthur Arz von Straußenburg; upon the arrival of the Austro-Hungarian monarch and his retinue, Wilhelm II wore an Austro-Hungarian uniform, while Charles wore a German uniform. This was the first meeting between the two monarchs since the earlier conference in May, and was also their final meeting: despite the hugs and familiarity, the atmosphere remained cold between the German representatives on the one hand, and the Austro-Hungarian delegation on the other.

The participants in the imperial council the day before took part in the exchanges between the two main actors of the Quadruplice.

Military failures of the Central Powers
During this phase of the war, in the spring and early summer of 1918, the Central Powers experienced numerous failures, in Italy in June, in France in July, while the other fronts weakened over the months.

Furthermore, on the French front, the German units engaged against the victorious Allied troops no longer showed the bite necessary for prolonged resistance, while the number of soldiers not joining their unit increased significantly. Finally, the hungry army easily disbanded to plunder the food stocks discovered during the spring offensive, while the soldiers were dressed in threadbare military effects or taken from Allied prisoners.

In addition, the German and Austro-Hungarian troops were devastated by losses, the call to the 1920 class and to the suspended workers not succeeding in making up for the losses of the imperial army, which were increasingly numerous: in fact, between March and July 1918, the German army recorded the loss of 226,000 dead and nearly 750,000 wounded, these losses being made up by men too young or too old to be sent to the front. Every month, since the spring, the German Imperial Army has deplored the definitive loss of 80,000 soldiers, once the number of wounded, killed and sick has been subtracted from those of the newly mobilized.

Faced with the Allied offensives which shook the entire front, the German command made a strategic change in the conduct of operations, wishing to reconnect with the defensive strategy which had prevailed until the beginning of 1918.

Discrepancy between politics and military
Following the day of 8 August 1918, the military leaders of the German Empire, Erich Ludendorff first, admitted that the Central Powers failed to win the decision against the Allies, considerably reinforced by the massive addition of American units. However, Hindenburg concealed this failure from Emperor. However, Wilhelm II was not fooled by the seriousness of the situation, even if he was unaware of its extent before the conference with the Dioscuri on August 10: from that moment on, he continued to demand an end to hostilities and the opening of negotiations with the Allies.

Presenting this failure in such a way as not to alarm civilians about the reality of the German Empire's military situation, Ludendorff evokes a simple change in strategy, the move to the defensive, intended to "gradually paralyze the enemy's will to fight". This failure is also materialized by his change of attitude towards the members of the government, whom the first quartermaster general previously considered with haughtiness, pride and disdain.

Despite the declarations of the military, some proactive, others pessimistic, civilian officials, notably Vice-Chancellor Hintze, lucid about the reality of the internal situation of the German Empire in mid-summer 1918, could only admit the state of disrepair of the German Empire's allies, as well as the progressive exhaustion of the German Empire and its economy, while Hintze's colleagues in the government are dismayed by the seriousness of the military situation.

The voluntary declarations fail to mention the resignation of the first quartermaster general. Thus, August 13, having lost his splendor, Ludendorff, commander of an army defeated by the Allies, officially announced to the political leaders of the Germany, including Wilhelm II, that the German Empire no longer had the military capabilities to enable it to achieve victory over the allied armies.

However, faced with civilians shocked by the news, the military softened the seriousness of the situation, while recognizing the need to reach an agreement with the Allies.

Internal situation
Within the central powers, the internal situation is becoming more and more worrying every day. However, it remains contrasting: catastrophic among the Germany's allies, the political and economic situation only allows the effects of the defeat for the German population to be limited.

In Germany civilian populations suffered from increasingly severe rationing: food rations were reduced to a minimum. The ration of "war bread" was reduced to 160 grams per day in June 1918, while ersatz, of mediocre quality at best, reigned supreme, both in food and in the national economy.

The dual monarchy is in a contrasting situation. Many food products are subject to rationing, but good society is spared, mainly thanks to the existence of a flourishing black market; at the same time, the war economy was heavily affected by shortages of raw materials. The army is undermined by hunger and desertions, while the Austrian imperial government only exercised its authority in the German regions, Bohemia and Galicia rejecting the alliance between Germany and the dynasty a little more every day of the Habsburgs, symbols of this alliance.

Negotiations in progress
At the beginning of the month August 1918, the German Empire is an actor in negotiations, both with its allies, but also with Bolshevik Russia.

Thus, in accordance with the Spa agreements of the previous May, Austro-German negotiations have been taking place since 9 July 1918, in Salzburg, in order to clarify the modalities of implementation of the political and economic agreements of spring. Quickly, the Austro-Hungarians managed to empty the economic provisions of the May agreements of their content, while the financial administrations of the German Empire showed reservations about the economic implications of these provisions.

In addition, since March, negotiations have been held between representatives of Russian power and representatives of the central powers, mainly German, in order to clarify the economic provisions of the German-Russian peace treaty. At the beginning of August, the negotiations entered their final phase, with the additional treaties being signed on 27 August 1918.

If the Central Powers did not remain inactive, the Allies led, during the Austro-German exchanges, an active policy towards the Slavs of the dual monarchy. Indeed, it was during this conference that the Allies made public their recognition of the national committees, notably the Czechoslovak committee.

The last major Austro-German conference
On 14 August 1918, Emperor-King Charles I of Austria arrives in Spa, accompanied by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stephan Burián von Rajecz.

This second moment in the conference was prepared by the exchanges which took place the same day during the crown council, bringing together the main German and Prussian ministers, under the presidency of Wilhelm II.

Austro-Hungarian positions
From the outset, the Emperor-King of Austria and Hungary, supported by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced the impossibility for the dual monarchy, exhausted by four years of conflict, to face a fifth winter of war.

Due to this exhaustion, and faced with the blindness of those responsible for the German Empire, Charles I wanted peace negotiations to open as soon as possible, at the first opportunity, thus announcing his wish to get his empire out of the conflict.

War aims during the summer of 1918
During the crown council of August 13 and 14, the war aims were reaffirmed by the participants, Paul von Hindenburg even asserting that he could continue to occupy large portions of French territory.

Thus, the Chancellor and his State Secretaries intend to negotiate with the Allies a white peace in the West and the maintenance of the status quo in the East, negotiated from a victorious position and defined by the peace treaties at the beginning of the year. 1918, with Russia, Ukraine and Romania. During the crown council, the Polish question was studied again.

The fate of the territories under the control of the Quadruple troops was also studied on August 14: Paul von Hintze wished to maintain German troops in Belgium, in order to constitute a pledge, evacuated in exchange for the restitution of its colonies to the German Empire upon the signing of the peace treaty. In this context, war damages would also be paid to the Kingdom of Belgium. The fate of Poland was also mentioned in the German-Austro-Hungarian talks: the devolution of the Polish crown and the sharing of the kingdom's industries constituted the sticking points between the two allies.

Negotiations
In a context of economic exhaustion of the central powers, the German Empire and the dual monarchy consulted together and attempt to plan their mutual, common or separate initiatives that they intended to implement in the following weeks, both their military projects and their vision of ending the conflict.

Quickly, during exchanges between soldiers, the German and Austro-Hungarian generals presented their respective operational projects, these being fiercely negotiated, the Austro-Hungarians wishing to launch a new offensive of which Genoa would constitute the final objective. Faced with these unrealistic offensive plans at this stage of the war, the German soldiers announced to their Austro-Hungarian colleagues that their priority objective was to support the French front.

In addition, to these operational projects are added diplomatic initiatives intended to put an end to the conflict. In this area, the differences between the German Empire and the dual monarchy become gaping as the days go by. Thus, the Germans were in favor of waiting for the opportune moment, materialized by a victory, or, failing that, a halt imposed on the Allied advance, while the Austro-Hungarians, whose country was then completely exhausted, aspire to the rapid opening of negotiations with a view to putting an end to hostilities. The two partners being not equal, the policy implemented in the days that followed consisted of waiting for a defensive success before proposing the opening of these peace negotiations.

German optimism, Austro-Hungarian pessimism
German political leaders demonstrate, both after the crown council of August 13 and 14, and after the conference, the August 15th, a largely unjustified optimism; this feeling, prevalent among the Germans participating in the conference, was not shared by the Austro-Hungarian officials, thus materializing the distance between the two delegations, and the gap which then existed between the aspirations of the leaders of the two empires.

To instill this optimism in the German population, the imperial government considered, to influence the course of events, a large-scale propaganda action along two lines, one aimed at the German population, the other aimed at neutral and allied public opinion. These propaganda actions were to be coordinated by a "propaganda committee", made up of recognized personalities. The speech broadcast by this committee must highlight the will of the German Empire to fight until victory, in a context marked by a disintegration of the morale of the population, undermined by deprivations and worked on by Allied propaganda. One of the first events of this committee took place on 21 August 1918: Paul von Hintze then tried to calm the apprehensions of the leaders of the political parties represented in the Reichstag regarding the military and economic situation of the Empire. However, the efforts of the imperial ministers were not supported by the action of Wilhelm II, whose nervous exhaustion encouraged him to surrender, as soon as August 16 at Wilhelmshöhe Palace, near Kassel to rest.

Parallel to this propaganda campaign, German statesmen did not take into account the Austro-Hungarian declarations: “for us, it is absolutely finished”, declared the Austro-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs to his German colleagues on August 15th; Burián indeed wants a rapid initiative, “sofort und direkt” with a view to facilitating the restoration of peace. This Austro-Hungarian pessimism was attenuated by the results of the conference, but these were called into question by Austro-Hungarian diplomats: Burián returned to Vienna aware of German policy, which then aimed to gain time both in the face of to the Allies and to the members of the Quadruple.

Sending a request for negotiations
Despite this gap between the German Empire and its ally, German representatives tried to influence Austro-Hungarian policy, without success. Since August 15th, the vice-chancellor and state secretary, Paul von Hintze, prepares and then sends, in accordance with the instructions received at the crown council the day before, separate peace offers to the United States. However, according to Hintze these separate peace offers must be made at the "opportune time", after the stabilization of the front; this stabilization is perceived by German officials as the consequence of an important future defensive success won on the Western Front.

Additionally, the 21st of August, supported by Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, Burián sent to Berlin the text of the note he intended to send to the Allies; the German leaders then tried to stop this approach, but could not respond precisely to the questions formulated by Charles I in person. Thus, on September 14, at the end of a month of exchanges between the two main partners of the Quadruple, Burián published a note calling for the opening of negotiations, without interruption of the fighting; the Allies refused the terms, thus signifying their desire to defeat the central powers on the battlefield, then deprived of any effective offensive capacity. At the same time, the Austro-Hungarian steps did not prevent the Allies from continuing their operations, increasing offensives on all fronts, irremediably calling into question the military and political position of the central powers at this stage of the conflict.

German diplomacy tried, for its part, to set up indirect circuits to exchange with the Allies on the subject of the cessation of hostilities, but the Netherlands quickly shied away from Allied pressure, forcing Germany to open direct negotiations with the Allies with a view to the cessation of hostilities. Alongside these demands, the German government attempted to prevent Austro-Hungarian officials, distraught by the foreseeable defeat and dissolution of the dual monarchy, from sending the Allies a request for negotiations.

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