In a speech given to the German people, by Anton Drexler, with the hopes of assuaging public fear of the true German war aims.
"......it is with this intention that I very publicly announce the 14 Goals of the German military action taking place within the Confederation.
1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings between the previous powers of "the Pact", or any nations within the sphere of the Pact and German interest of any kind.
2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by public declaration of one nation, or a group of nations. These declarations shall be for the sake of preventing arms and other weaponry of being supplied to another belligerent state, and should not in any means effect the ability of one nation to amply supply it's people with food and basic supplies. This comes with the understanding that the concept of blockade, "prize rules", and other forms of submarine or surface warfare against commerce, with the goal of preventing the flare up of current conflict, is a basic principle of warfare, when not abused by the nation in question.
3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of equality of trade conditions among all the nations within the sphere of "the Pact", or German interest, consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.
4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be maintained with the goal of protecting the safety, territorial sovereignty and interests of a nation, and not used for illegal offensive purposes, detrimental the peace of Western Europe.
5. The idea that colonies of the nations in question mean little more than areas of a specific nations governance; all associated powers within the confines of Western Europe or other recognized nations will be afforded the rights to trade and invest in these colonies equally; the goal of German annexation of islands in the Indian Ocean is for the sake of spreading German law, culture and governance; merchants and general trade from the nations of the Netherlands, the Confederation and Spain will of course be given the rights to trade there the same as German traders. The Imperial German Union also takes these lands on the understanding that they are not to be viewed as "colonies" in the old vein, but lands and peoples under the territorial administration of the German government. German rule shall last only as long as it takes for proper German civilization to be brought to these locations, and past that, as long as the people of these administrated territories want us to remain there. The Imperial German Union is hoping to leave these "colonial" holdings at some point within the next few decades.
6. The evacuation of all French territories at the end of the war, when fears of a public extremist reaction is assauged, for the sake of future peace and cooperation in Western Europe. This is recognized to take as long 5 years, though should it be necessitated, a time period shorter or longer, so long as the future governments of the Confederation are elected by fair and democratic means, the Imperial German Union will have a sincere national policy of welcoming them to the larger concert of nations; and of course hope to bridge the gap between our people's that the war causes and establish a Western European community that is both in the interests of the Confederation, but it's allies, and Germany, along with Germany's allies.
7. The Netherlands will be evacuated and restored at wars end, without any attempts to limit it's sovereignty, or basic rights as a nation. We did not go into the war with the Netherlands with the goal of taking any land, economic rights, or political sway, but with a heavy heart, and we hope the evacuation, and substantial compensation that both the government of the Netherlands receives, and the people of the Netherland's receive will restore confidence among nations of the world that the Imperial German Union's primary goal is healing the relationship between the Netherlands and herself. And it is with this action, that the Imperial German Union sets a goal and precedent; that we do not wish to proverbially drag our enemies through the coals, but restructure them and our agreements with them to a point that may be beneficial to both parties involved. It will be encouraged that the Netherlands rebuild it's navy, long the pride of the nation, to be the most modern and vast navy in the world, and with the help of German technology and investment that is possible.
8. The Spanish nation, long in decline, will be given a reprieve as German capital will be given to the Spanish government in the hopes that our past relationship of friendliness, and unity will be rekindled again.
9. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy and the Imperial German Union should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality, with the Imperial German Union receiving all land East of the Rhine river, and the German industrial area of the Ruhr, and Italy receiving the Piedmont, the original source of the Rhine War. The wrong done to the German people by the Confederate government, in the manner of the Rhine and Ruhr territories, shall be righted, in order that peace may once more be made in the interest of all parties in Western Europe.
10. The peoples of the Confederation, repressed by the Confederation's policy of subverting ethnic nationalism, will be given the freedom to express their autonomous development in the same manner that the Imperial German Union has and Italy has. They shall be given the security of life, and democracy, the same as the average German citizen. They shall be given the rights to forge independent states supported and safeguarded by the German economy and military, in the same vein that the Imperial German Union willingly and happily ceded it's lands to both the Czech and Swiss people. All peoples, both large and small in number will be given this opportunity to come about their own nation destiny, should they wish, otherwise, basic governance from Paris will remain, though the extent of which will entirely be decided by the will of the people within the Confederation.
11. The states created by this self-determination of the various peoples of the Confederations (the Normans, the Burgundians, as an example) will be given the ability to economically and militarily work with one another, for the sake of peace, industry and goodwill. All post-Confederate states forged by the willingness of the people within them, will be given access to the sea through one means or another, and while they will receive the support of German industry and the German military will have absolute political and economic independence, the same as any other nation. This idea of self-determination along lines of ethnic nationalism should hold true across the civilized world; be it, for example, the vast numbers of Japanese settlers in Aisuyochi, or the Negros transplanted to the American south. It is through the unification of various peoples to their mother nations, that ultimate world peace may come.
12. All ethnic groups oppressed by the Confederation are not necessarily stateless; Bretons, Dutch, Germans, Swiss, Italians, Occitanians and Spaniards shall be afforded the right to return to their mother country, and by extension their rightful place in the grand scheme of world politics. Languages, cultures and relgions make it so that these are not a people separate from those of their homelands by anything aside from the Confederation's refusal to acknowledge their existence, or at the very least marginalize their ability to effect Confederation politics and determine their future as a people.
13. A general association of European Nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. This association will succeed where the League of Continental Nations failed; while the blame for the failures of the LCN shall not entirely fall on the shoulders of the Confederation, the bureaucracy and lack of a sense of urgency or importance that persisted when under the direction of the Confederation and it's allies will be forgone, and this new association will be created with the understanding that proactivity and mutual understandings of national goals will create a better Continental Europe, one free of both American and other influences.
14. In the sake of detente between the Imperial German Union and it's neighbor Russia, unlike the prior LCN, the Russian state will be more than encouraged to provide representation, and it's thoughts to the forum of the new association, should it chose. With that, the association is not only restricted to Western Europe, and all nations allied with the Imperial German Union, or another involved power may be encouraged to send representatives, so long as they send representatives with the goal of a brighter and more successful post-war Europe in mind.
Let me make this clear to both you, the German people, and all nations of the world that watch. Our intentions are not to create a German dominated Europe, our intention is to create a Europe dominated by the goodwill and and industry of the Imperial German Union. We have provided the nations of the Confederation, the Netherlands and Spain reasonable routes of peace prior to the declaration of war, which they refused. And after our grand capture of the capitol of the Netherlands, and our advancement to near the capitol of the Confederation, we have once again given both fair and reasonable opportunities for the sake of peace in Europe. The Netherlands has taken this opportunity to take advantage of German goodwill. The Confederation has refused, and Spain has been silent. Our offers remain to them, for this year, but once action again occurs, we will act in accordance to the points we highlighted above. We can only hope that Spain will remove itself from the sway of the Confederation and sign........... "