Part 8 (1/2)

”The military authorities replied that it was impossible to await the result of such a declaration. The situation at the front required that a request for an armistice be made within twenty-four hours. If I refused to make it, the old government would make it. I thereupon decided to form a new government and to support the unavoidable request for an armistice with the authority of a cabinet of uncompromised men. A week later the military authorities informed me that they had erred in their estimate of the situation at the front on October 1st.”

Dr. Solf, formerly head of the German Colonial Office, became Foreign Minister, and Philip Scheidemann, the Socialist leader, and Deputy Groeber, a Clerical leader, also entered the new ministry. It was the first German ministry to contain a Social-Democrat, and the first which could be said to have strong democratic leanings. Opinion in Was.h.i.+ngton, according to a cablegram reaching Copenhagen early on October 4th, was that the makeup of the cabinet was regarded in America ”as a desperate attempt of German militarists to hoodwink the Entente and the German people into the belief that Germany is being democratized.” This opinion was inspired more by the pa.s.sions of war than by clear thinking. Germany was being democratized. That the democratic concessions attempted by various state rulers were inspired by fear is true, but their motives are of no importance. It is fruits that count, and the time had come when the German people could not longer be hoodwinked themselves by the militarists, nor be used as tools in hoodwinking anybody else. That time, however, had come too late.

On October 6th, Prince Max, addressing the Reichstag, announced that a request for an armistice had been made. This request, which was addressed to President Wilson, said:

”The German Government requests the President of the United States to take in hand the restoring of peace, to acquaint all the belligerent states with this request, and to invite them to send plenipotentiaries for the purpose of opening negotiations.

”It accepts the program set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress on January 8th, and in his later p.r.o.nouncements, particularly his speech of September 27th, as a basis for peace negotiations.

”With a view to avoiding further bloodshed, the German Government requests the immediate conclusion of an armistice on land and water and in the air.”

Secretary of State Lansing sent the following reply on October 8th:

”Before replying to the request of the Imperial[20] German Government, and in order that that reply shall be as candid and straightforward as the momentous interests involved require, the President of the United States deems it necessary to a.s.sure himself of the exact meaning of the note of the Imperial Chancellor. Does the Imperial Chancellor mean that the Imperial German Government accepts the terms laid down by the President in his address to the Congress of the United States on the 8th of January last and in subsequent addresses, and that its object in entering into discussions would be only to agree upon the practical details of their application?

[20] It will be noticed that Prince Max did not use the designation ”Imperial” in connection with the government.

The omission was undoubtedly deliberate and intended to emphasize the democratic nature of the new cabinet.

”The President feels bound to say with regard to the suggestion of an armistice that he would not feel at liberty to propose a cessation of arms to the governments with which the Government of the United States is a.s.sociated against the Central Powers so long as the armies of those powers are upon their soil. The good faith of any discussion would manifestly depend upon the consent of the Central Powers immediately to withdraw their forces everywhere from invaded territory. The President also feels that he is justified in asking whether the Imperial Chancellor is speaking merely for the const.i.tuted authorities of the Empire who have so far conducted the war. He deems the answer to these questions vital from every point of view.”

Foreign Secretary Solf replied four days later with a note accepting President Wilson's peace terms as laid down in the ”fourteen points” and the supplementary five points later enunciated. He declared that the German Government was prepared to evacuate occupied territory, and suggested the appointment of a mixed commission to arrange the details.

He a.s.serted that the Chancellor, in making his request, was supported by the vast majority of the Reichstag and spoke in the name of the German Government and the German people.

The effect of the request for an armistice was, so far as the enemy countries were concerned, precisely what Prince Max had foreseen: it was everywhere taken as an admission of the hopelessness of the German cause. But its first effect within the Empire was not unfavorable.

Indeed, there is reason to declare that it was favorable. The ma.s.s of the people reposed much confidence in the new cabinet, and the prospect of an early peace buoyed up both the civil population and the soldiers.

The front, still being forced slowly back, nevertheless held on to every available position with grim tenacity and in the face of heavy losses.

On October 8th, they repulsed a determined a.s.sault at the center of their long front and even counter-attacked in quite the old style.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Last Days of Imperial Germany.

Prince Max, although inspired by the best intentions and filled with modern and liberal ideas, failed to realize that what was needed was not a change of men, but a change of methods. Radical, fearless and immediate action was necessary, but the government did not perceive that every pa.s.sing day lessened its chances and possibilities. It relied upon the slow progress of ordinary business routine. It accomplished much, it is true, but it accomplished it too slowly and too late.

Too late the Conservatives in the Prussian Diet abandoned their opposition to a reform of the franchise system. On October 10th, they adopted this resolution:

”In the hour of the Fatherland's greatest distress and with a realization that we must be equipped for hard battles for the integrity of the Fatherland's soil, the Conservative Party in the Diet considers it its duty to lay aside all internal conflicts. It is also ready to make heavy sacrifices for the ends in view. It believes now, as ever, that a far-reaching radicalization of the Prussian Const.i.tution will not further the welfare of the Prussian people. It is nevertheless prepared to abandon its opposition to the introduction of equal franchise in Prussia in accordance with the latest decisions of its friends in the House of Lords in order to a.s.sure the formation of a harmonious front against the outside world.”

This resolution removed the last obstacle to a real reform of the Prussian franchise.

Too late the Federal Council adopted radical amendments to the Imperial Const.i.tution. On October 13th and 16th, it accepted measures repealing Article 21, paragraph 2, which provided that Reichstag members should forfeit their seats if they accepted salaried state or imperial offices, and providing that cabinet members should no longer be required to be members of the Federal Council, but should at all times have the right to demand a hearing before the Reichstag. It also amended Article 2 to read: ”The consent of the Federal Council and the Reichstag is required for a declaration of war in the Empire's name, except in a case where imperial territory has already been invaded or its coasts attacked.”

Section 3 of the same article was amended to read: ”Treaties of peace and treaties with foreign states which deal with affairs coming under the competence of the Imperial law-giving bodies require the consent of the Federal Council and the Reichstag.”

Too late the rulers of different states promised democratic reforms. The crown council of Saxony on October 10th summoned the Landtag (Diet) for October 26th, and directed the minister of the interior to draft a measure ”which shall subst.i.tute for the franchise now obtaining for the Landtag's second chamber a franchise based on a broader foundation.”

Saxony then had a four-cla.s.s system. The crown council also considered requesting the Socialists to join the government.

The King of Bavaria caused it to be announced that the crown had decided to introduce reforms enabling Bavaria's popularly elected representatives to partic.i.p.ate directly in governing the kingdom.