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After the events which I have just described, our cause made rapid progress in Paris, London, and Rome towards its final success. Foch’s counter-offensive in July produced the first military results which pointed to a definite turn of the tide in a military respect. Nevertheless, not having any detailed knowledge of the situation in Germany, and being aware of our own difficulties, we felt sure that the war would continue until the spring of 1919 at the least. We supposed that by that time all the promised American troops would be in France at the front, and that only then would it be possible to carry out successfully the last decisive onslaught against Germany and Austria-Hungary. We therefore distributed the rest of our work in France, England, and Italy accordingly.
Our main concern was to be recognized as an independent State among the Allied nations before the war was over, and this had been achieved to an adequate degree as a result of the last negotiations in England. France, Italy, and America had raised no objections to this decision, and I therefore devoted all my endeavours to induce the French and Italian Governments to confirm this state of affairs by new diplomatic documents and by a mutual agreement with us direct.
Having returned from London to Paris in the middle of August, I at once started to try to bring about the signature of a political agreement analogous to the one with England. For this purpose I negotiated with Degrand, Laroche, and
