CHAPTER XI
THE INTERNAL COLLAPSE OF GERMANY
In spite of the decisive and continuous defeats which the Allies administered to the German armies on the western front in midsummer 1918, the German Government maintained in its public utterances its usual confidence in a victorious outcome of the war. Apropos of the fourth anniversary of the war the German emperor issued one of his typical, high-sounding addresses to the army and navy in which he said:
"Serious years of war lie behind you. The German people, convinced of its just cause, resting on its hard sword, and trusting in God's gracious help, has, with its faithful allies, confronted a world of enemies. Your vigorous fighting spirit carried war in the first year into the enemy's country and preserved the homeland from the horrors and devastations of war. In the second and third years of war you, by destructive blows, broke the strength of the enemy in the east. Meanwhile your comrades in the west offered a brave and victorious front to enormously superior forces.
"As the fruit of these victories the fourth year of war brought us peace in the east. In the west the enemy was heavily hit by the force of your assault. The battles won in recent months count among the highest deeds of fame of German history. You are in the midst of the hardest struggle. Desperate efforts of the enemy will, as hitherto, be foiled by your bravery. Of that I am certain, and with me the entire Fatherland.
"American armies and numerical superiority do not frighten us. It is spirit which brings a decision. Prussian and German history teaches that, as well as the course which the campaign has hitherto taken.
"In comradeship with the army stands my navy. In the unshakable will to victory, in the struggle with opponents who are often superior, and despite the united efforts of the greatest naval powers of the world, my submarines, sure of success, are tenaciously attacking and fighting the vital forces which are streaming across the sea to the enemy. Ever ready for battle, the high-sea forces in untiring work guard the road for the submarines to the open sea and, in union with the defenders of the coast, safeguard for them the sources of their strength.
"Far from home, a small heroic band of our colonial troops is offering a brave resistance to a crushingly superior force.
"We remember with reverence all who have given their lives for the Fatherland. Filled with care for its brothers in the field, the people at home is in its self-sacrificing devotion placing its entire strength at the service of our great cause. We must and we shall continue the fight until the enemy's will to destruction is broken. We will make every sacrifice and put forth every effort to that end. In this spirit the army and the homeland are inseparably bound together. Their united stand and their unbending will will bring victory in the struggle for Germany's right and Germany's freedom. God grant it!"
It was not long, however, before signs appeared that this spirit of confidence was gradually, but surely waning. During the latter part of August and the early part of September, 1918, no opportunity was permitted to pass by the leading men of the German Government that they did not use to indicate to the Allies that German demands had been extensively pared down. The emperor, the crown prince, Von Hindenburg, the chancellor (Von Hertling), Dr. Solf, the foreign minister, and a large number of minor lights continuously expressed in their speeches at every possible occasion how eager they were for peace and how willing they were to come to an understanding.