Meanwhile reports of gathering pes simism and dissension among the Cen tral Powers and their allies began to find credence. Germany was held to be dis satisfied with the part played by Austria-Hungary. The latter was said to resent the domineering methods of her more northerly neighbor, the old hostility between Bulgaria and Turkey was said to be reviving, and the tend ency for each of them to take their own part more independently seemed to be showing itself. These signs were taken as evidence of growing demoral ization, and of a general sense among the Powers concerned that defeat loomed not far ahead of them. The accessory causes that lay at the bottom of the mutual dissatisfaction were also in some cases clear. The treaty of Bucharest had presented to Bulgaria the northern part of the Dobrudja. Bulgarian am bitions had, however, aimed at getting the whole of that territory, and in the negotiations to that end had met with opposition from Turkey. Added to this the Turkish Government put forward de mands to the effect that Bulgaria should return the station of Adrianople on the right bank of the river Maritza, which they had ceded to Bulgaria in 1915. This was objected to by Bulgaria. The German Government left the question in abeyance to which both as a result took offense. On the other hand questions as to extension of German or Austrian authority over Poland aroused antag onistic feelings both in Germany and in Austria. The Government of Austria Hungary held that Poland should be made a province of the empire, while the German view was that German interests had a primary claim and that the vital concerns of Germany were inconsistent with the establishment of a new state so near her borders. The solidarity be tween the German-speaking populations of Austria and those of Germany, and the mutual antagonisms among the va rious other nationalities held together in the Austro-Hungarian empire added complications that made rather for dis trust and disintegration than for a strengthening unity of aim.
In the meantime events in Russia had attracted the attention of the whole world. The empire of the Czar had gone, the mere pretense of carrying on a war with the Central Powers had been surrendered by those into whose hands the government of Russia had fallen, provisional governments had succeeded each other with power continually strengthening in the hands of the Bol sheviki who represented the strong pop ular view, the contest between the old order and the new had grown contin ually in bitterness and in the area over which it was waged with the continued weakening of the old authorities and the continued recruitment of new men into places of authority, and an im mense Communist republic, putting into action principles that had hitherto been only preached in other countries, had begun to arouse the curiosity of the whole world. Many of the governments, however, angered at Russia's desertion of the Allied Powers, took a more hos tile view of Russian events. In August Japan and the United States made an agreement with respect to joint interven tion in Russia and, in course of time, a force of Americans was sent to Siberia, along with some regiments of Japanese.
As events progressed, a still more de cided stand was taken by the United States Government in respect to the new Government of Russia. In the course of September a number of documents were made public the purport of which was to show that the Bolshevist leaders in Russia had been in the pay of Germany. On September 21 President Wilson gave out a statement in which he called on the neutral nations to take a stand against the Bolshevist regime of terror ism. In September the question of peace began to move into the region of actu ality and the initiative in each case was taken by 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 L‘er 2'7 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.