"As our good name has been stolen from us and made despicable throughout the world, one of our peace demands must be that our enemies publicly and officially confess that they have circulated nothing but lies and slanders. * * * The greatest need of the moment is a campaign of enlightenment, organized by all the competent authorities, to hammer into German heads that, if further sacrifices and efforts are required of us, it is not the caprice of a few dozen people in Germany nor German obstinacy, but the enemy's impulse to destroy, that imposes them on people at home and at the front." CHAPTER VII. Germany Requests an Armistice. Dr. Michaelis, unequal to his task, laid down the Imperial Chancellorship. His successor was Count Hertling, Minister-President of Bavaria. The decision to appoint this man Imperial Chancellor may have been influenced largely by a desire to strengthen the bonds between Prussia and the next largest German state. It is possible also that Hertling's intimate relations with the Papal Court were taken into consideration, but the choice was a striking commentary on the dearth of good chancellorship material in Germany. Count Hertling's age alone unfitted him to bear the terrible burdens of this post, for he was well along in the seventies, and not strong physically. He had distinguished himself as an educator and as a writer on certain topics, especially Roman Catholic Church history, and had a record of honorable and faithful service as a member of the Bavarian Government. In his role as statesman he had exhibited perhaps a little more than average ability, but never those qualities which the responsible head of a great state should possess. A monarchist by birth and conviction, Count Hertling was particularly unfitted for the chancellorship at a time when the nation-wide demand for democratic reforms of government was increasing in strength every moment. In assuming his post he declared that he was fully cognizant of the strength and justice of the demand for an increased share of participation by the people in the government, and he pledged himself to use his best efforts to see that this demand was met. There is no reason to doubt the honesty of his intentions, but it was too much to expect that an aged Conservative of the old school should so easily shake off old notions or even realize adequately what the great mass of the people meant when they cried out for a change of system. Probably no man could have carried out the task confronting the Chancellor; that Count Hertling would fail was inevitable.