CaliGuy
Banned
Germany would not dream of offering such a peace unless her situation were truly desperate--in which case of course the French would not dream of accepting.
So, if Germany would have avoided resuming USW and thus avoided causing the U.S. to enter WWI, you don't think that even a more rational German leadership would have been willing to offer France a plebiscite in Alsace-Lorraine?
Interestingly, there did at one point appear to be the chance of reconciliation between Alsace-Lorraine's inhabitants and the German government. The increasing anticlericalism of the French government after the Dreyfus affair alienated many Alsace-Lorrainers. This made post-Kulturkampf German policy toward the church look more attractive (indeed, even during the days of the Kulturkampf the 1801 concordat had not been disturbed in A-L). After 1900, therefore, the clerical party in A-L looked forward to an autonomous A-L within the German empire. The ituation of the pro-French "irreconcilables" seemed desperate. "By 1911 a new constitution was granted which opened the way for the Reichsland, as it was called, to become an equal among the members of the empire. Provision was made for a bicameral Landtag and a vote in the imperial federal council. There was still plenty of dissatisfaction but the first election seemed to indicate that the government party had the majority." (1957 Encyclopedia Britannica article "Alsace-Lorraine")
Question--would it have been possible for a more rational German leadership to make such changes (autonomy for Alsace-Lorraine, et cetera) much earlier?
This opportunity for reconciliation, however, did not last long; as an exposed part of the Empire, A-L was heavily garrisoned, clashes between civilians and the military authorities were inevitable, and the most notorious, the Saverne incident of 1913, did much to destroy any good will toward the German regime. So offering a genuinely fair plebiscite after 1914 would be the same thing as giving A-L to France--while the French would be very suspicious that the Germans would rig the plebiscite, and in any event would fear that a German state that had crushed Russia and made itself master of all Europe east of the Rhine could always take back A-L anyway.
What about if Germany would have offered to have a neutral country such as Switzerland administer this plebiscite?
Also, Yes, I get your point that Germany--even a democratic Germany--could backstab France later on in regards to this. However, if the U.S. remains neutral in WWI (due to no USW), would France and Britain really insist on fighting to the bitter end as opposed to seeking a compromise peace with Germany?