xclusion, except as the
power of economic penalty, by exclusion from the markets of the world,
may be vested in the League of Nations itself as a means of discipline
and control." In conclusion he said that the United States was
prepared "to assume its full share of responsibility for the
maintenance of the common covenants and understandings upon which peace
must henceforth rest."

We now know from the published memoirs of German and Austrian statesmen
that President Wilson's speeches made a profound impression on the
peoples of Central Europe. His utterances in behalf of the oppressed
nationalities, not only Belgium, Serbia, and Poland, but also the
Czecho-Slovaks and the Jugo-Slavs, became stronger and more frequent
during the spring and summer of 1918, and solidified the opposition to
Germany at a critical period of the war. On September 3 he recognized
the Czecho-Slovak National Council as a belligerent government. This
meant the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had not been
contemplated at an earlier period, but, as he stated in his reply to
the Austrian request for an armistice in October, conditions had
changed since the announcement of the Fourteen Points, and these
peoples would no longer be satisfied with mere autonomy.

As a result of the Russian collapse and the negotiations at
Brest-Litovsk, the Germans withdrew their divisions from the eastern
front and staked everything on the great western drive of March, 1918.
When this movement was finally checked and the Allied advance began,
the German military leaders knew that the game was up, but they did not
have the courage to face the facts, for an acknowledgment of defeat
meant the overthrow of the old system of government based on military
success. They waited in vain for some military advantage which would
give them an opportunity to open negotiations without openly
acknowledging defeat. Finally the state of demoralization at
Headquarters became so complete that there was no alternative but to
ask for an immediate armistice. In order to pave the way for this
step, the ministry resigned October 1, and Prince Max of Baden was
called on to form a new government. On the 4th he dispatched a note to
President Wilson through the Swiss Government, requesting him to call a
peace conference and stating that the German Government "accepts the
program set forth by the President of the United States in his message
to Congress of the 8th January,