War News: resignations in German government, Allies advance, and Bulgaria surrenders

Amsterdam, 3 October 1918 - With the allied forces rapidly advancing, there are signs of disarray in the German government.

A telegram from Berlin, communicated through Reuter’s Amsterdam Correspondent, states that all of the secretaries of the German state have relinquished their portfolios, including Admiral Von Hintze, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Count Von Hertling, the Imperial Chancellor.

Just a few weeks ago Von Hertling delivered a speech in the Reichstag in which he recognised the ‘century-old sorrows and justified grievances of Ireland’, which, he claimed, were nowhere receiving a hearing, ‘not even in America’, which was sympathetic to the cause of Irish nationalism due to the many Irish emigrants who have settled there.

Bulgaria
The allied advance is being pressed on all fronts; Bulgaria, recently invaded by British and Greek troops, has applied for an armistice.

Telegraphing the French Government, the Commander-in-Chief of the allied armies in Macedonia, General D’Esperey, has conveyed an unwillingness to contemplate an armistice at this point, fearing it might be a ruse to allow the Bulgarians time to regroup: ‘I am unable to grant either an armistice or suspension of hostilities which might interfere with the operations now in progress.’

This military view has been endorsed by political leaders. The Allies are considering the Bulgarian request but, for now, there is to be no cessation of hostilities until such time as Bulgaria completely sets herself against the central powers and either demobilises her army or turns it against her former allies.

Amid this welter of developments, with allied successes in the west and east, the path to a peace is becoming increasingly clear.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]