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He said roughly the following: It was his duty to tell us that our military condition was terribly serious. Any day now, our Western Front could be breached. He had had to report this to His Majesty the Kaiser recently....It was thus foreseeable, he went on to say, that the enemy in the near future, with the help of American troops anxious to fight, would succeed in a great victory, a breakthrough in grand fashion. As a result, the West Army would lose its last hold and retreat in full disbandment across the Rhein and carry the revolution back to Germany....This catastrophe, he said, must be avoided by all means. For the cited reasons we could no longer allow ourselves to be beaten. Therefore, the Supreme Army Command demanded of His Majesty the Kaiser and of the Chancellor that a proposal for the bringing about of peace be made to President Wilson of America without delay, for bringing about an armistice on the basis of his 14 Points. He said he had never shied away from demanding the utmost from his troops. However, after clearly realizing that the continuation of the war was useless, he was of the opinion that an end needed to be found as quickly as possible in order not to unnecessarily sacrifice the most valiant people who were still loyal and able to fight....It had been a terrible moment for him and for the Field Marshall to have to report this to the His Majesty the Kaiser and the Chancellor. The latter, Count Hertling, then informed His Majesty the Kaiser in a noble manner that he would then have to resign his office. After so many honorable years, as an old man, he could not and would not close out his life by tendering a petition for ceasefire. The Kaiser had accepted his petition for resignation.

This passage which is out of a diary is about the Germans no longer being able to keep the enemy off of them. A German hero comes to give them a message explaining how the military conditions were terribly serious, and that they would have to ceasefire. The Americans according to this German hero are a real threat to them, and a devastating defeat awaits them. Of course they have to tell the Kaiser what is going on, and he unwillingly accepts to stop their attack.

This situation must have been very difficult for Germany in one big way, and that is that they didn't want to look bad. They were very nationalist, and refused for a while to give up so easily. “ he could not and would not close out his life by tendering a petition for ceasefire.” This shows how much the Kaiser cared about his image, he didn't want to seem like a weak person. If he was seen as weak by another nation, his whole country would also be seen as weak.