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WORLD WAR 448 WORLD WAR taken hy the Central Powers, who thus gave evidence to the world of their be- lief that the tide had set in against them. The Austro-Hungarian Govern- ment set the ball rolling by an appeal for a conference to debate the ending of hostilities which would not be binding in its decisions, but which might show the way in the direction of a return to peace. Similarly a more amenable at- titude began to be shown by Germany, which made an offer of peace to Bel- gium, while the same Power offered to enter into negotiations with Finland whereby attacks were to be discontinued on eastern Karelia on condition that the Allies should withdraw their troops from that and the Murman regions. A note of irreconcilability was, however, sounded by President Wilson on Septem- ber 27 in a restatement of war aims, in which he laid down again the principles on which the proposed League of Na- tions should be established. The days that followed showed a dis- position among the Central Powers to amend considerably the demands that had formerly been put forward by them. This was particularly shown in the ap- peal of Prince Max of Baden, the new German Chancellor, in which he invited the President of the United States to take steps which would bring about a cessation of hostilities. The appeal was followed by news to the effect that a rev- olutionary movement had made great headway in Germany. An exchange of notes took place between the German and American Governments and the pro- posal for an armistice was accepted on November 4. The pourparlers were accompanied by despatches which an- nounced the overthrow of one govern- ment after another among the various states making up the Central Powers and the establishment of republics. The culminating point was the abdication of the Kaiser and the establishment of a provisional government in Berlin with the majority Socialists in control. In Austria-Hungary also the emperor ab- dicated and the various movements for Slav independence began to issue in pro- visional governments for the several states of what had been the dual mon- archy. Preparations then began to be made for the Peace Conference and on November 29 the names of the American delegates were made known. They in- cluded that of President Wilson himself, the others being Robert Lansing, Secre- tary of State; Colonel Edward M. House; Henry White, ex- Ambassador to France; and General Tasker H. Bliss. The presidential party sailed on De- cember 4 for the Conference, arriving at Brest on December 13, and at Paris on December 14. Military Operations. — The beginning of 1918 opened with numerous opti- mistic predictions from Germany, heart- ened by the collapse of Russia, to the effect that the spring would witness on the western front a series of blows that would scatter the armies of France and Britain before the full strength of the United States could be summoned to their aid. There was no question what- ever that the defection of Russia had relieved a tremendous burden from the Central Powers and had made the task of the Allies immeasurably more diffi- cult. It was realized that vast quan- tities of material due for expenditure on the eastern front, could now be trans- ferred to the western front, and the railways of Germany henceforth groaned under the weight of men and ma- terial being transferred from one end of the country to the other. Meanwhile victories were not all on the side of the Central Powers and their allies. British forces in the Near East had re- covered some of their prestige, but re- turning to the Turkish front with new men and new material, were making some notable advances. The United States also had succeeded in rushing help to France with greater speed than was anticipated. Careful preparation had been made by the government of the Central Pow- ers for the blow that was to be delivered on the western front. Among men and materials careful selection was made of what Russia had left at their disposal, and men in the prime of physical life, none of them over 35, were chosen to form the core of the regiments that were to take part in the culminating » advance. The older men and the very young were left to hold the occupied parts of Russia under the Brest-Litovsk treaty, but it was calculated that out of the eastern material it would be possible to build up almost 60 divisions number- ing 12,000 men each, thus adding to the strength of the western front to the extent of about 700,000 men. Already in the several months of the new year it was estimated that the German front in the west was being held by 2,100,000 men and that the increase that had yet to come would swell the figure to a total of 2,340,000, which would approximate the figures on the Franco-British side. It was, however, realized that with the coming of the Americans the forces of the Allies would augment continually so that at the end of a few months the numerical superiority would be very considerable. On the other hand the