f the great Powers of Europe at the
beginning of the war, and brought to an end a career which in successful
playing of both ends against the middle was almost without parallel in
recent history.

Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg, an aristocrat and personal friend of
the Emperor, stood out strongly against democratic agitation before the
war, and at times was sharply outspoken in his defiance of socialism and
his rejection of any move toward making the Chancellor and his
subordinates, the other Ministers, responsible to the Reichstag. Yet in
the early stages of the war he became known as a moderate, and it has
been generally accepted that his influence was usually employed against
the breaking of relations with America and ruthless submarine warfare.

PRESERVES A JUDICIOUS BALANCE.

When the opposition of the parties favoring the most desperate measures
became too strong for him, he conceded a little ground, taking up a
middle position in which he balanced himself for a long time against
both the Conservative Junkers and the National Liberal trust magnates on
the one side and the radical Socialists on the other. Neither side could
claim him; neither could interpret his ambiguous utterances as support
of its policies, and between the antagonisms of the two he maintained
his position until at last he was overthrown by the attack of Erzberger,
leader of the more liberal wing of the Catholic party, the traditional
holders of the middle ground.

Bethmann-Hollweg's agility was demonstrated by the fact that he survived
Asquith and Grey, Viviani, Sazonoff, Berchtold, Salandra, Jagow, and all
the rest of the statesmen who were in power in Europe in August, 1914.

In personality the Chancellor was studious, scholarly and pleasant,
lacking the brilliance of his predecessor, Von Buelow, but generally
regarded as one who was if anything too mild rather than too severe.

Dr. Georg Michaelis, the successor to Hollweg, was the first commoner to
be appointed to that high office, without even a "von" before his name.

The son of a Prussian official, he was born on September 8, 1857, in
Haynan, Silesia. He received a university education, making the law his
profession. In 1879 he became a court referee in Berlin, and in 1884 was
attached to the District Attorney's office in that city. Several years
later he went as professor of law and political economy to the
University of Tokio.

Returning to Germany in 1889, he was chosen Dist