When assessing the responsibility for this war—we have to confess honestly that we bear a share of the guilt. If I said this thought oppresses me, I … - Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg

We will create real guarantees to ensure that Belgium shall not become a Franco-British vassal and shall not be used as a military and economic high road against Germany. Germany cannot abandon the so long enslaved Flemish people to Latinisation. We will, on the contrary, ensure for it a sound development corresponding to its resources and based on the Flemish language and character.

It is improbable that England will immediately enter the fray.

This war torments me. Again and again I ask if it could have been avoided and what I should have done differently. ... [A]ll nations are guilty; Germany, too, bears a large part of the blame.