seeking help with "es sei gewesen" in a sentence

[edmont]

In the following sentence, is it possible to translate "es sei...gewesen" as "it would...have been" ? Or must it be translated as "it had...been" ? 
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Es wäre Thema einer eigenen Untersuchung, sich ideologiekritisch mit Moltkes geschichtsphilosophischen und völkerpsychologischen Reflexionen, mit seiner Analyse der Weltpolitik und seiner Ansicht auseinanderzusetzen, es sei besser für Deutschland gewesen, dem Krieg, "der unverkennbar vor der Türe stand", fest ins Auge zu blicken und sich diplomatisch auf ihn vorzubereiten ...
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If we were to turn "es sei besser für Deutschland gewesen" into a direct statement by Moltke himself, would it have to be:

1."Es ist besser für Deutschland gewesen ..."
It has been better for Germany

Or might Moltke have said:

2. "Es wäre besser für Deutschland gewesen ..."
It would have been better for Germany .

Thank you for any assistance.

[Duckduck]

Hi edmont!

In the following sentence, is it possible to translate "es sei...gewesen" as "it would...have been" ? Or must it be translated as "it had...been" ? 
It would have to be your second suggestion.


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Es wäre Thema einer eigenen Untersuchung, sich ideologiekritisch mit Moltkes geschichtsphilosophischen und völkerpsychologischen Reflexionen, mit seiner Analyse der Weltpolitik und seiner Ansicht auseinanderzusetzen, es sei besser für Deutschland gewesen, dem Krieg, "der unverkennbar vor der Türe stand", fest ins Auge zu blicken und sich diplomatisch auf ihn vorzubereiten ...
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If we were to turn "es sei besser für Deutschland gewesen" into a direct statement by Moltke himself, would it have to be:

1."Es ist besser für Deutschland gewesen ..." Exactly, and the indirect speech has to be in the Konjunktiv I: es sei besser für Deutschland gewesen... This is what you have in the text. It means that - in retrospect - Germany did exactly that and did right - in Moltke's opinion.


It has been better for Germany

Or might Moltke have said:

2. "Es wäre besser für Deutschland gewesen ..."The Konjunktiv 2 would be es wäre besser... gewesen... and it means that Germany did something else and made a mistake. This is not said in the text.
It would have been better for Germany .

Thank you for any assistance.

Cheers,
Duckduck

[edmont]

Duckduck, thank you. That makes sense to me now. And thank you for the link!

Though Moltke did not use konjunktiv 2, suppose contrafactually for a moment that he had done so. In other words, suppose that instead of what he actually said, he instead said, "It would have been better for Germany..."

Then suppose that one wanted to report that he said that?  How would indirect speech report a konjunktiv 2 statement?

Thanks!

[Duckduck]

Hi edmont,

Konjunktiv 2 und Plusquamperfekt stehen "am Ende der Fresskette". Das heißt, sie werden in der indirekten Rede nicht mehr verändert, einfach, weil "nach" ihnen nichts mehr kommt...

Grüße
Duckduck

[edmont]

Hi Duckduck,
I confess that surprises me! But it's great to know there's an end and it's not "turtles all the way down" -- if you know that story. Thanks!