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I feel that an understanding could be reached with Germany which would result in a lasting peace with Europe and believe that a German victory is preferable to a British and Soviet victory.

With hindsight, we see that the Soviet Union never had a chance of world domination, but we didn't know that then.

The Soviet Union has indeed been our greatest menace, not so much because of what it has done, but because of the excuses it has provided us for our failures.

If you look back at the history of the twentieth century, Germany alone had practically destroyed Russia several times.

This fact lays on us - so long as the maintenance of good relations with Russia seems to us worth an effort - the duty of satisfying Russia that she has no need to fear any invasion of her sphere of interests on Germany's part.

The one great exception to the apathy on reunification is, naturally enough, Berlin. Encircled by the hostile Soviet Zone for ten years, at times blockaded and constantly at the Russians' mercy, Berliners are committed to this one goal with a unique urgency.

German militarism and Nazism have devastated twice in our generation the lands of German neighbors.

I think it has been a tremendous feat on the part of East Germans since 1990 to adapt to everything changing.

The United States is our most important ally. They helped us many times. Without the United States, the unification or German democratisation after the Nazi period would have been much more complicated, or almost impossible.

I think this could be our best victory over Germany since the war.