"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 pronouncements, 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 assure 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 associated 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 constituted 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 asserted 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 mass 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 assault at the center of their long front and even counter-attacked in quite the old style.