"No, we must not wait for the Germans to occupy all of France before suing for peace. In that case, it won't be useful at all. At that time, the Germans will not need us to sue for peace at all, they will be able to do whatever they want. President Poincaré said.

"Yes, when that time comes, we will probably not call for peace, but surrender. There is a huge difference between the two. "René? Prime Minister Viviani also said.

If you want to make a peace, you will certainly have a low attitude. But I can still bargain a little. If it is surrendered, it will become meat on the board, to be slaughtered by others.

"In that case, let's prepare and contact the Germans as soon as possible!" President Poincaré said.

After such a decision, President Poincaré appeared helpless. In the Franco-Prussian War more than forty years ago, the Second French Empire was defeated and the emperor was captured, which directly led to the collapse of the empire. This time, the French Third Republic was equally defeated. I'm afraid that the Third Republic will soon cease to exist.

"Yes, Your Excellency. However, if we were to surrender to the Germans, they would certainly offer a lot of harsh conditions. When the time comes, how are we going to reply to them? "Theophel? Minister Delcasse asked.

After all, in this war, France is the losing side, and if it wants to end the war and make peace, it will have to pay the price. Judging by Germany's appetites, very harsh conditions are bound to be prescribed.

"Your Excellency, the Germans have a very great appetite. Russia wanted to withdraw from the war, but they extorted a large amount of war reparations, and at the same time ceded a large amount of territory. We want to ask for peace, and the Germans will certainly slaughter us as well. "Finance Minister Alexander? Ribert said.

"It's inevitable, who made it impossible for us to defeat the Germans, and now we have to sue for peace with them? The only thing we can do is to pay as little as possible and reduce our losses! "René? Viviani said.

Being slaughtered by the Germans is not very pleasant for everyone. However, there is no way to do it! After the army is defeated, if you want to not lose the country, you can only pay the price in other aspects.

"What kind of conditions will the Germans probably?" President Poinkale asked.

"Your Excellency the President, after the defeat of this war, I am afraid that our overseas colonies will not be able to be saved. The Germans have always coveted our overseas colonies. The root cause of this war, in fact, was the dissatisfaction of the Germans with our occupation of a large number of overseas colonies. So, if we were to make peace with the Germans, they would have asked us to transfer our overseas colonies to them. "Theophel? Delcasse said.

President Poincaré and René? Prime Minister Viviani's brow furrowed. France's overseas colonies, however, are second only to those of the British. Although not as rich as Britain's overseas colonies, it was able to bring a lot of benefits to France every year. If those overseas colonies were lost, it would be a heavy blow to France.

Of course, if the Germans had forced France to hand over all its overseas colonies to Germany, they would have no choice. The situation was stronger than the people, and in order to suffer less losses for the homeland, they had no choice but to agree to the demands of the Germans.

"Overseas colonies, although it is a pity to lose them. However, the native territory of the French Republic is our roots. The Germans wanted those colonies, so give them to them. As long as we can keep the mainland of the republic, then our losses will not be too great. "René? Prime Minister Viviani said.

President Poincaré nodded, indeed, the importance of the French mainland was far greater than that of the overseas colonies. Although, the overseas colonies were twenty times the size of mainland France, and the population was much larger than that of mainland France. However, if they were given a choice, they would still prefer their own homeland to overseas colonies.

"Your Excellency the President, Your Excellency the Prime Minister. In addition to the overseas colonies, the mainland may also have to cede some land to the Germans. It's just that I don't know how big the appetite of the Germans is. "Theophel? Delcasse continued.

"The territory of France is no better than that of Russia. They ceded large territories to the Germans, but they were just as vast as they were. If the Germans annex our territory again, then there will be nothing left of France. President Poincaré said.

"Your Excellency, no one wants to cede territory to the Germans. But if the Germans force us to cede territory, we probably can't do anything about it. "Theophel? Delcasse said.

"Try to get it. We can make some concessions in other areas, but we must keep our territory as much as possible. President Poincaré said.

"Yes, Your Excellency." Theophile? Delcasse nodded. However, he thinks that it will be very difficult to do this. How could the appetite of the Germans be so easily satisfied?

"Another point is the war reparations. The Germans extorted the Russians with two billion marks. If we make peace, they will surely extort a large sum of war reparations from us. "Theophel? Delcasse continued.

"It would be nothing if the Germans demanded only two billion marks in war reparations. With our investment overseas, it will be enough to pay. "Finance Minister Alexander? Ribert said.

France is also known as the usury empire, and they have a lot of investment all over the world. This makes them very rich. It is precisely because of this that the industrial development of France has fallen into a bottleneck. After all, everyone has gone to loan sharks, and there are still people who honestly develop industry?

During this period, French investment abroad exceeded 50 billion francs. When converted into marks, it is equivalent to 40 billion marks. Therefore, if Germany only asks France for war reparations of 20 billion marks, this is only a small matter for them.

"The appetite of the Germans, I'm afraid, will be even greater. After all, we are much richer than the Russians. "René? Prime Minister Viviani said.

"In any case, in the negotiations, we also want to reduce the war reparations as much as possible." President Poincaré said.

After deliberations, the French government appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Théofil? Viviani was the Special Envoy Plenipotentiary and represented France in the peace negotiations with Germany.