The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of the World War

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Title: History of the World War

An authentic narrative of the world's greatest war

Author: Jr. Francis A. March

Richard J. Beamish

Release date: August 6, 2006 [eBook #18993]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Don Kostuch

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ***

Produced by Don Kostuch

[Transcriber's Notes]

My father's part in WWI attracted me to this book. I recall him talking briefly about fighting the Bolsheviki in Archangel. "The machine gun bullets trimmed the leaves off the trees, as if it were fall." Like most veterans, he had little else to say.

This book mentions his campaign on page 736; "August 3, 1918.—President
Wilson announces new policy regarding Russia and agrees to cooperate
with Great Britain, France and Japan in sending forces to Murmansk,
Archangel and Vladivostok."

My father's experience seems to be described in the following excerpt
from the University of Michigan "The University Record", April 5, 1999.
"Bentley showcases items from World War I 'Polar Bears'"; by Joanne
Nesbit.

"During the summer of 1918, the U.S. Army's 85th Division, made up primarily of men from Michigan and Wisconsin, completed training at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Mich., and proceeded to England. The 5,000 troops of the division's 339th Infantry and support units realized that they were not being sent to France to join the great battles on the Western Front when they were issued Russian weapons and equipment and lectured on life in the Arctic regions.

"When they reached their destination in early September, 600 miles north of Moscow, the men of the 339th joined an international force commanded by the British that had been sent to northern Russia for purposes that were never made clear. The Americans were soon spread in small fighting units across hundreds of miles of the Russian forest fighting the Bolsheviks who had taken power in Petrograd and Moscow.

"The day of the Armistice (Nov. 11) when fighting ceased for other American armies, the allied soldiers were fighting the Bolsheviks said to be led by Trotsky himself. After three days, the allies finally were able to drive off the Bolsheviks. While this fight was a victory for the Americans, the battle led to the realization that the war was not over for these men. As the weeks and months passed and more battles were fought, the men began to wonder if they would ever get home.

"The men of the 339th generally were well equipped with winter clothing during the winter of 1918-19 while stationed near the Arctic Circle, where temperatures reached minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

"There was little daylight for months at a time. Knowing that the war was over for other American soldiers, the morale of the troops declined throughout the winter.

"Families and friends of the men began to clamor for their return. Politicians unwilling to support an undeclared war against the Russian government joined in their demand. A petition to Congress was circulated. Several of the British and French units mutinied and refused to continue fighting. In early April, the American troops learned that they would be withdrawn as soon as the harbor at Archangel was cleared of ice.

"It was not until June of 1919 that the men of the 339th sailed from Russia and adopted the polar bear as their regimental symbol. After a stop in New York, the troops went on to Detroit where they took part in a gala July 4 homecoming parade at Belle Isle."

The converted text for several chapters is copied from Project Gutenberg's eBook 16282, History of the World War, Vol. 3, prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Jennifer Zickerman, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This edition has minor differences, mostly additional passages and images.

When considering monetary values listed in the text, one United States dollar in 1918 is equivalent to about thirteen dollars in 2006. One United States dollar in 1918 is equivalent to about 5.6 French Francs in 1918; one Franc in 1918 is equivalent to about 2.3 dollars in 2006.

For additional insight into the pilots and air battles of the war read
"The Red Knight of Germany; The Story of Baron von Richthofen, Germany's
Great War Bird" by Floyd Gibbons. This book is copyright 1927 and will
not be freely available online until 2022.

In the PDf and Doc versions, the following pages contain additional maps that may assist in understanding some of the references to locations in the text. The first shows Western France. The second map contains many of the locations of the European battles. They are adapted from Putnam's Handy Volume Atlas of the World, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London, 1921.

The next two maps from the USMA, West Point, map collection, compare
Europe before and after World War I.

Finally, a full map of the European theater has much detail. It should be scaled up to about 500% for detail viewing. It is derived from a larger map from Rand, McNally & Company's Indexed Atlas of the World, Copyright 1898.

[Illustration: Western France; Southern England]

[Illustration: Western Front Battle Zone—Eastern France; Southern
Belgium; Western Germany]

[Illustration: WWI Locales; Lens; Cinde; Mons; Douai; Valenciennes;
Cambri Landrecies; St. Quentin; Sedan; Argonne Forest; Noyon; Chauny;
Soissons; Rheims; Verdun; Metz; Chateau-Thierry; St. Mihiel; Paris;
Sezanne]

[Illustration: Europe Before World War I]

[Illustration: Europe After World War I]

[Illustration: Europe, 1898]

This is a glossary of unfamiliar (to me) terms and places.

Boche
  Disparaging term for a German.

camion
  Truck or bus. [French]

charnel
  Repository for the dead.

colliers
  Coal miner

congerie
  Accumulation, aggregation, collection, gathering

consanguinities
  Relationship by blood or common ancestor. Close affinity.

deadweight
  Displacement of a ship at any loaded condition minus the lightship
  weight (weight of the ship with no fuel, passengers, cargo). It
  includes the crew, passengers, cargo, fuel, water, and stores.

debouch
  March from a confined area into the open; to emerge

Gross Tonnage
  Volume of all ship's enclosed spaces (from keel to funnel) measured to
  the outside of the hull framing (1 ton / 100 cu.ft.).

inst.
  The current month: your letter of the 15th instant.

invest
  Surround with troops or ships; besiege.

irredenta
  Region culturally or historically related to one nation, but subject
  to a foreign government.

Junker
  Member of the Prussian landed aristocracy, formerly associated with
  political reaction and militarism.

Kiao-chau
  German protectorate from 1898 to 1915, on the Yellow Sea coast of
  China. It was on 200 square miles of the Shantung Peninsula around the
  city of Tsingtao, leased to Germany for one hundred years by the
  imperial Chinese government. In 1898 Tsingtao was an obscure fishing
  village of 83,000 inhabitants. When Germany withdrew in 1915, Tsingtao
  was an important trading port with a population of 275,000.

kine
  Plural of cow.

kultur
  German culture and civilization as idealized by the exponents of
  German imperialism during the Hohenzollern and Nazi regimes.

lighterage
  Transportation of goods on a lighter (large flatbottom barge used to
  deliver or unload goods to or from a cargo ship or transport goods
  over short distances.)

lyddite
  An explosive consisting chiefly of picric acid, a poisonous, explosive
  yellow crystalline solid, C6H2(NO2)3OH.

mitrailleuse
  Machine gun.

morganatic
  Marriage between a person of royal birth and a partner of lower rank,
  where no titles or estates of the royal partner are to be shared by
  the partner of inferior rank nor by any of the offspring.

nugatory
  Of little or no importance; trifling; invalid.

pastils
  Small medicated or flavored tablet; tablet containing aromatic
  substances burned to fumigate or deodorize the air; pastel paste or
  crayon.

poilus
  French soldier, especially in World War I.

pourparler
  Discussion preliminary to negotiation.

prorogue
  Discontinue a session of parliament; postpone; defer.

punctilio
  Fine point of etiquette; precise observance of formalities.

rinderpest
  Contagious viral disease, chiefly of cattle, causing ulceration of the
  alimentary tract and diarrhea.

Sublime Porte
  [French. Porte: a gate] Ottoman court; government of the Turkish
  empire; from the gate of the sultan's palace.

Tsing-tao (Qing-dao)
  City in eastern China on the Yellow Sea, north-northwest of Shanghai.
  The city was leased in 1898 to the Germans, who established a famous
  brewery.

Uhlans
  Horse cavalry of the Polish, German, Austrian, and Russian armies.

ukase
  Order or decree; an edict; proclamation of a czar having the force of
  law in imperial Russia.

verbund
  [German] Interconnection.

Wipers
  British soldiers' pronunciation of "Ypres".

Zemstvos
  An elective council for the administration of a provincial district in
  czarist Russia.

[End Transcriber's notes]

[Illustration: THE VICTORIOUS GENERALS; photographs]
  General Foch, Commander-in-Chief of all Allied forces. General
  Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the American armies. Field Marshal
  Haig, head of the British armies. General d'Esperey (French) to whom
  Bulgaria surrendered. General Diaz, Commander-in-Chief of the Italian
  armies. General Marshall (British), head of the Mesopotamian
  expedition. General Allenby (British), who redeemed Palestine from the
  Turks.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR

An Authentic Narrative of The World's Greatest War

By FRANCIS A. MARCH, Ph.D.
In Collaboration with
RICHARD J. BEAMISH
Special War Correspondent
and Military Analyst

With an Introduction
By GENERAL PEYTON C. MARCH
Chief of Staff of the United States Army

Illustrated with Reproductions from the Official Photographs of the United States, British and French Governments

PUBLISHED FOR THE UNITED PUBLISHERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO 1919

COPYRIGHT, 1918

FRANCIS A. MARCH

This history is an original work and is fully protected by the copyright laws, including the right of translation. All persons are warned against reproducing the text in whole or in part without the permission of the publishers.

WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF. WASHINGTON,

NOVEMBER 14, 1918. With the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the World War has been practically brought to an end. The events of the past four years have been of such magnitude that the various steps, the numberless battles, and the growth of Allied power which led up to the final victory are not clearly defined even in the minds of many military men. A history of this great period which will state in an orderly fashion this series of events will be of the greatest value to the future students of the war, and to everyone of the present day who desires to refer in exact terms to matters which led up to the final conclusion.

The war will be discussed and re-discussed from every angle and the sooner such a compilation of facts is available, the more valuable it will be. I understand that this History of the World War intends to put at the disposal of all who are interested, such a compendium of facts of the past period of over four years; and that the system employed in safeguarding the accuracy of statements contained in it will produce a document of great historical value without entering upon any speculative conclusions as to cause and effect of the various phases of the war or attempting to project into an historical document individual opinions. With these ends in view, this History will be of the greatest value. Signature [Payton C. March] General, Chief of Staff. United States Army.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM A Conflict that was Inevitable—The Flower of Manhood on the Fields of France—Germany's Defiance to the World—Heroic Belgium—Four Autocratic Nations against Twenty-four Committed to the Principles of Liberty—America's Titanic Effort—Four Million Men Under Arms, Two Million Overseas—France the Martyr Nation—The British Empire's Tremendous Share in the Victory—A River of Blood Watering the Desert of Autocracy

CHAPTER II. THE WORLD SUDDENLY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN The War Storm Breaks—Trade and Commerce Paralyzed—Homeward Rush of Travelers—Harrowing Scenes as Ships Sail for America—Stock Markets Closed—The Tide of Desolation Following in the Wake of War

CHAPTER III. WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR The Balkan Ferment—Russia, the Dying Giant Among Autocracies—Turkey the "Sick Man" of Europe—Scars Left by the Balkan War—Germany's Determination to Seize a Place in the Sun.

CHAPTER IV. THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES The Assassination at Sarajevo—The Slavic Ferment—Austria's Domineering Note—The Plotters of Potsdam—The Mailed Fist of Militarism Beneath the Velvet Glove of Diplomacy—Mobilization and Declarations of War

CHAPTER V. THE GREAT WAR BEGINS Germany Invades Belgium and Luxemburg—French Invade Alsace—England's "Contemptible Little Army" Lands in France and Belgium—The Murderous Gray-Green Tide—Heroic Retreat of the British from Mons—Belgium Overrun—Northern France Invaded—Marshal Joffre Makes Ready to Strike

CHAPTER VI. THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM Barbarities that Shocked Humanity—Planned as Part of the Teutonic Policy of Schrecklichkeit—How the German and the Hun Became Synonymous Terms—The Unmatchable Crimes of a War-Mad Army—A Record of Infamy Written in Blood and Tears—Official Reports

CHAPTER VII. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE Joffre's Masterly Plan—The Enemy Trapped Between Verdun and Paris—Gallieni's "Army in Taxicabs"—Foch, the "Savior of Civilization," Appears—His Mighty Thrust Routs the Army of Hausen—Joffre Salutes Foch as "First Strategist in Europe"—Battle that Won the Baton of a Marshal

CHAPTER VIII. JAPAN IN THE WAR Tsing Tau Seized by the Mikado—German "Gibraltar" of the Far East Surrendered After Short Siege—Japan's Aid to the Allies in Money, Ships, Men and Nurses—German Propaganda in the Far East Fails

CHAPTER IX. CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST Invasion of East Prussia—Von Hindenburg and Masurian Lakes—Battle of Tannenberg—Augustovo—Russians Capture Lemberg—The Offer to Poland

CHAPTER X. STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY ON THE SEA The British Blockade—German Raiders and Their Fate—Story of the Emden's Remarkable Voyage—Appearance of the Submarine—British Naval Victory off Helgoland—U-9 Sinks Three British Cruisers

CHAPTER XI. THE SUBLIME PORTE Turkish Intrigues—The Holy War—Mesopotamia and Transcaucasia—The Suez Canal—Turkey the Catspaw of Germany

CHAPTER XII. RESCUE OF THE STARVING Famine in Belgium—Belgium Relief Commission Organized in London—Herbert C. Hoover—American Aid—The Great Cardinal's Famous Challenge

CHAPTER XIII. BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES German and British Squadrons Grapple off the Chilean Coast—Germany Wins the First Round—England Comes Back with Terrific Force—Graphic Picture of the Destruction of the German Squadron off Falkland Islands—English Coast Towns Bombarded for the First Time in Many Years.

CHAPTER XIV. NEW METHODS AND HORRORS OF WARFARE Tanks—Poison Gas—Flame Projectors—Airplane Bombs—Trench Mortars—Machine Guns—Modern Uses of Airplanes for Liaison and Attacks on Infantry—Radio—Rifle and Hand Grenades—A War of Intensive Artillery Preparation—A Debacle of Insanities, Terrible Wounds and Horrible Deaths.

CHAPTER XV. GERMAN PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA IN AMERICA Trailing the German Plotters—Destruction of Ships—Pressure on Congress—Attacks in Canada—Zimmerman's Foolish Effort to Embroil America with Mexico and Japan—Lies of the Propagandists After America Entered the War—Dumba, Von Bernstorff, Van Papen and Boy-Ed, a quartet of Unscrupulous Destructionists

CHAPTER XVI. SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA The Submarine Murderers at Work—Germany's Blackband Warning—No Chance for Life—The Ship Unarmed and Without Munitions—The President's Note—Germany's Lying Denials—Coroner's Inquest Charges Kaiser with Wilful Murder—"Remember the Lusitania" One of America's Big Reasons for Declaring War

CHAPTER XVII. NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR IN BLOOD-SOAKED TRENCHES War Amid Barbed-Wire Entanglements and the Desolation of No Man's Land—Subterranean Tactics Continuing Over Four Years—Attacks that Cost Thousands of Lives for Every Foot of Gain

CHAPTER XVIII. STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA Botha and Smuts, Rocks of Loyalty Amid a Sea of Treachery—Civil War that Ended with the Drowning of General Beyers and the Arrest of General De Wet—Conquest of German Colonies—Trail of the Hun in the Jungle

CHAPTER XIX. ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA Her Great Decision—D'Annunzio, Poet and Patriot—Italia Irredenta—German Indignation—The Campaigns on the Isonzo and in the Tyrol

CHAPTER XX. GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI A Titanic Enterprise—Its Objects—Disasters and Deeds of Deathless Glory—The Heroic Anzacs—Bloody Dashes up Impregnable Slopes—Silently they Stole Away—A Successful Failure

CHAPTER XXI. THE GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY The Battle of Jutland—Every Factor on Sea and in Sky Favorable to the Germans—Low Visibility a Great Factor—A Modern Sea Battle—Light Cruisers Screening Battleship Squadron—Germans Run Away when British Fleet Marshals Its Full Strength—Death of Lord Kitchener

CHAPTER XXII. THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN The Advance on Cracow—Van Hindenburg Strikes at Warsaw—German Barbarism—The War in Galicia—The Fall of Przemysl—Russia's Ammunition Fails—The Russian Retreat—The Fall of Warsaw—Czernowitz

CHAPTER XXIII. HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED Ferdinand of Bulgaria Insists Upon Joining Germany—Dramatic Scene in the King's Palace—The Die is Cast—Bulgaria Succumbs to Seductions of Potsdam Gang—Greece Mobilizes—French and British Troops at Saloniki—Serbia Over-run—Roumania's Disastrous Venture in the Arena of Mars

CHAPTER XXIV. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA British Army Threatening Bagdad Besieged in Kut-el-Amara—After Heroic Defense General Townshend Surrenders After 143 Days of Siege—New British Expedition Recaptures Kut—Troops Push on up the Tigris—Fall of Bagdad, the Magnificent

CHAPTER XXV. CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR By COL. GEORGE G. NASMITH, C. M. G. Enthusiastic Response to the Call to Action—Valcartier Camp a Splendid Example of the Driving Power of Sir Sam Hughes—Thirty-three Liners Cross the Atlantic with First Contingent of Men and Equipment—Largest Convoy Ever Gathered Together—At the Front with the Princess Pat's—Red Cross—Financial Aid—Half a Million Soldiers Overseas—Mons, the Last Stronghold of the Enemy, Won by the Men from Canada—A Record of Glory

CHAPTER XXVI. IMMORTAL VERDUN Grave of the Military Reputations of Von Falkenhayn and the Crown Prince—Hindenburg's Warning—Why the Germans Made the Disastrous Attempt to Capture the Great Fortress—Heroic France Reveals Itself to the World—"They Shall Not Pass"—Nivelle's Glorious Stand on Dead Man Hill—Lord Northcliffe's Description—A Defense Unsurpassed in the History of France

CHAPTER XXVII. MURDERS AND MARTYRS The Case of Edith Cavell—Nurse Who Befriended the Helpless, Dies at the Hands of the Germans—Captain Fryatt's Martyrdom—How Germany Sowed the Seeds of Disaster

CHAPTER XXVIII. THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES The Canadians in Action—Undismayed by the New Weapon of the Enemy—Holding the Line Against Terrific Odds—Men from the Dominion Fight Like Veterans

CHAPTER XXIX. ZEPPELIN RAIDS ON FRANCE AND ENGLAND First Zeppelin Attack Kills Twenty-eight and Injures Forty-four—Part of Germany's Policy of Frightfulness—Raids by German Airplanes on Unfortified Towns—Killing of Non-Combatants—The British Lion Awakes—Anti-Aircraft Precautions and Protections—Policy of Terrorism Fails

CHAPTER XXX. RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA Rasputin, the Mystic—The Cry for Bread—Rise of the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates—Rioting in Petrograd—The Threatening Cloud of Disaster—Moderate Policy of the Duma Fails—The Fatal Easter Week of 1917—Abdication of the Czar—Last Tragic Moments of the Autocrat of All the Russias—Grand Duke Issues Declaration Ending Power of Romanovs in Russia—Release of Siberian Revolutionists—Free Russia

CHAPTER XXXI. THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM Russia Intoxicated with Freedom—Elihu Root and His Mission—Last Brilliant Offensive in Galicia—The Great Mutiny in the Army—The Battalion of Death—Kerensky's Skyrocket Career—Kornilov's Revolt—Loss of Riga—Lenine, the Dictator—The Impossible "Peace" of Brest-Litovsk

CHAPTER XXXII. GERMANY'S OBJECT LESSON TO THE UNITED STATES Two Voyages of the Deutschland—U-53 German Submarine Reaches Newport and Sinks Five British and Neutral Steamers off Nantucket—Rescue of Survivors by United States Warships—Anti-German Feeling in America Reaching a Climax

CHAPTER XXXIII. AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR The United States Enters the Conflict—The Efficiency of Democracy— Six Months in an American Training Camp Equal to Six Years of German Compulsory Service—American Soldiers and Their Resourcefulness on the Battlefield—Methods of Training and Their Results— The S. A. T. C.

CHAPTER XXXIV. HOW FOOD WON THE WAR The American Farmer a Potent Factor in Civilization's Victory—Scientific Studies of Food Production, Distribution and Consumption—Hoover Lays Down the Law Regulating Wholesalers and Grocers—Getting the Food Across—Feeding Armies in the Field

CHAPTER XXXV. THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR Increase from 58,000 Men to Approximately 500,000—Destroyer Fleet Arrives in British Waters—"We Are Ready Now"—The Hunt of the U-Boats—Gunnery that is Unrivalled—Depth Charges and Other New Inventions—The U-Boat Menace Removed—Surrender of German Under-Sea Navy

CHAPTER XXXVI. CHINA JOINS THE FIGHTING DEMOCRACIES How the Germans Behaved in China Seventeen Years Before—The Whirligig of Time Brings Its Own Revenge—The Far Eastern Republic Joins Hands with the Allies—German Propaganda at Work—Futile Attempt to Restore the Monarchy—Fear of Japan—War—Thousands of Chinese Toil Behind the Battle Lines in France—Siam with Its Eight Millions Defies the Germans—End of Teuton Influence in the Orient

CHAPTER XXXVII. THE DEFEAT AND RECOVERY OF ITALY Subtle Socialist Gospel Preached by Enemy Plays Havoc with Guileless Italians—Sudden Onslaught of Germans Drives Cadorna's Men from Heights—The Spectacular Retreat that Dismayed the World—Glorious Stand of the Italians on the Piave—Rise of Diaz

CHAPTER XXXVIII. REDEMPTION OF THE HOLY LAND A Long Campaign Progressing Through Hardships to Glory—General Allenby Enters Jerusalem on Foot—Turkish Army Crushed in Palestine— Battle of Armageddon

CHAPTER XXXIX. AMERICA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS Government Ownership of Railroads, Telegraphs, Telephones—Getting the Men from Training Camps to the Battle Fronts—From Texas to Toul—A Gigantic System Working Without a Hitch

CHAPTER XL. SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM The Emergency Fleet Corporation—Charles M. Schwab as Master Shipbuilder—Hog Island the Wonder Shipyard of the World—An Unbeatable Record—Concrete Ships—Wooden Ships—Standardizing the Steel Ship—Attitude of Labor in the War—Samuel Gompers an Unofficial Member of the Cabinet—Great Task of the United States Employment Service

CHAPTER XLI. GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT The High Tide of German Success—An Army of Six Million Men Flung Recklessly on the Allies—Most Terrific Battles in all History—The Red Ruin of War from Arras to St. Quentin—Amiens Within Arms' Reach of the Invaders—Paris Bombarded by Long-Range Guns from Distance of Seventy-six Miles—A Generalissimo at Last—Marshal Foch in Supreme Command

CHAPTER XLII. CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY German Wave Stops with the Americans—Prussian Guard Flung Back—The Beginning of Autocracy's End—America's Record of Valor and Victory— Cantigny—Belleau Wood—Thierry—St. Mihiel—Shock Troops of the Enemy Annihilated—Soldier's Remarkable Letter.

CHAPTER XLIII. ENGLAND AND FRANCE STRIKE IN THE NORTH Second Terrific Blow of General Foch—Lens, the Storehouse of Minerals, Captured—Bapaume Retaken—British Snap the Famous Hindenburg Line—The Great Thrust Through Cambrai—Tanks to the Front—Cavalry in Action

CHAPTER XLIV. BELGIUM'S GALLANT EFFORT The Little Army Under King Albert Thrusts Savagely at the Germans—Ostend and Zeebrugge Freed from the Submarine Pirates—Pathetic Scenes as Belgians are Restored to Their Homes

CHAPTER XLV. ITALY'S TERRIFIC DRIVE Enemy Offensive Opens on Front of Ninety-Seven Miles—Repulse of the Austrians—Italy Turns the Tables—Terrific Counter-Thrusts from the Piave to Trente—Forcing the Alpine Passages—Battles High in the Air—English, French and Americans Back up the Italians in Humbling the Might of Austria—D'Annunzio's Romantic Bombardment of Vienna—Diaz Leads his Men to Victory

CHAPTER XLVI. BULGARIA DESERTS GERMANY Greece in the Throes of Revolution—Fall of Constantine—Serbians Begin Advance on Bulgars—Thousands of Prisoners Taken—Surrender of Bulgaria—Panic in Berlin—Passage Through the Country Granted for Armies of the Allies—Ferdinand Abdicates—Germany's Imagined Mittel-Europa Dream Forever Destroyed

CHAPTER XLVII. THE CENTRAL EMPIRES WHINE FOR PEACE Austria-Hungary Makes the First Plea—President Wilson's Abrupt Answer—Prince Max, Camouflaged as an Apostle of Peace, made Chancellor and Opens Germany's Pathetic Plea for a Peace by Negotiation—The President Replies on Behalf of all the Allied Powers—Foch Pushes on Regardless of Peace Notes

CHAPTER XLVIII. BATTLES IN THE AIR Conquering the Fear of Death—From Individual Fights to Battles Between Squadrons—Heroes of the Warring Nations—America's Wonderful Record—From Nowhere to First Place in Eighteen Months—The Liberty Motor

CHAPTER XLIX. HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OF THE AMERICAN FORCES Record of the Red Cross on all Fronts—A Gigantic Work Well Executed—Y. M. C. A.—Y. W. C. A.—Knights of Columbus—Jewish Welfare Association—Salvation Army—American Library Association—Other Organizations—Surgery and Sanitation

CHAPTER L. THE PIRATES OF THE UNDER-SEAS Germany's Ruthless Submarine Policy—A Boomerang Destroying the Hand that Cast It—Terrorism that Failed—One Hundred and Fifty U-Boats Sunk or Captured—Shameless Surrender of the German Submarines and of the Fleet They Protected

CHAPTER LI. APPROACHING THE FINAL STAGE Cutting the Railroads to Cambrai—Americans Co-operate with British in Furious Attack—Douai and St. Quentin Taken—The Battle Line Straightened for the Last Mighty Assault—All Hope Abandoned by the Kaiser

CHAPTER LII. LAST DAYS OF THE WAR American Troops Join with the Allies in Colossal Drive on 71-mile Front—Historic Sedan Taken by the Yanks—Stenay, the Last Battle of the War—How the Opposing Forces Greeted the News of the Armistice

CHAPTER LIII. THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER Handcuffs for Four Nations—Bulgaria First to Fly the White Flag— Allenby's Great Victory Forces Turkey Out—Austria Signs Quickly— Germany's Capitulation Complete and Humiliating

CHAPTER LIV. PEACE AT LAST An Unfounded Rumor Starts Enormous Jubilation—Armistice Signed Four Days Later—Kaiser Abdicates and Flees to Holland—Cowardly Ruler Seeks Protection of Small Neutral Nation—Looking Into the Future—Cost of War to the Nations—Liberty Loans—Reconstruction Problems—McAdoo Resigns—American Ideals in the Old World

CHAPTER LV. AMERICA'S POSITION IN PEACE AND WAR President Wilson's Stirring Speech in Congress Which Brought the United States into the War—His Great Speech Before Congress Ending the War—The Fourteen Points Outlining America's Demands Before Peace Could be Concluded—Later Peace Principles Enunciated by the President

CHAPTER LVI. THE WAR BY YEARS Condensed Word-Picture of the Happenings of the Most Momentous Fifty-two Months in All History—Leading Up to the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month of 1918

CHAPTER LVII. BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE General March's Story of the Work of the Military Intelligence Division—Of the War Plans Division—Of the Purchase and Traffic Divisions—How Men, Munitions and Supplies Reached the Western Front

CHAPTER LVIII. GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY The Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces Tells the Story of the Magnificent Combat Operations of his Troops that Defeated Prussia's Legions—Official Account Discloses Full Details of the Fighting.

CHAPTER LIX. PRESIDENT WILSON'S REVIEW OF THE WAR A Year in the Life of the United States Crowded with Great Events—Tribute to the Soldiers and Sailors, the Workers at Home Who Supplied the Sinews of the Great Undertaking, the Women of the Land Who Contributed to the Great Result—The Future Safe in the Hands of American Businessmen

SUMMARIZED CHRONOLOGY OF THE WAR

FOREWORD

This is a popular narrative history of the world's greatest war. Written frankly from the viewpoint of the United States and the Allies, it visualizes the bloodiest and most destructive conflict of all the ages from its remote causes to its glorious conclusion and beneficent results. The world-shaking rise of new democracies is set forth, and the enormous national and individual sacrifices producing that resurrection of human equality are detailed.

Two ideals have been before us in the preparation of this necessary work. These are simplicity and thoroughness. It is of no avail to describe the greatest of human events if the description is so confused that the reader loses interest. Thoroughness is an historical essential beyond price. So it is that official documents prepared in many instances upon the field of battle, and others taken from the files of the governments at war, are the basis of this work. Maps and photographs of unusual clearness and high authenticity illuminate the text. All that has gone into war making, into the regeneration of the world, are herein set forth with historical particularity. The stark horrors of Belgium, the blighting terrors of chemical warfare, the governmental restrictions placed upon hundreds of millions of civilians, the war sacrifices falling upon all the civilized peoples of earth, are in these pages.

It is a book that mankind can well read and treasure.

CHAPTER I

A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM

"My FELLOW COUNTRYMEN: The armistice was signed this morning. Everything for which America fought has been accomplished. The war thus comes to an end."

Speaking to the Congress and the people of the United States, President Wilson made this declaration on November 11, 1918. A few hours before he made this statement, Germany, the empire of blood and iron, had agreed to an armistice, terms of which were the hardest and most humiliating ever imposed upon a nation of the first class. It was the end of a war for which Germany had prepared for generations, a war bred of a philosophy that Might can take its toll of earth's possessions, of human lives and liberties, when and where it will. That philosophy involved the cession to imperial Germany of the best years of young German manhood, the training of German youths to be killers of men. It involved the creation of a military caste, arrogant beyond all precedent, a caste that set its strength and pride against the righteousness of democracy, against the possession of wealth and bodily comforts, a caste that visualized itself as part of a power-mad Kaiser's assumption that he and God were to shape the destinies of earth.

When Marshal Foch, the foremost strategist in the world, representing the governments of the Allies and the United States, delivered to the emissaries of Germany terms upon which they might surrender, he brought to an end the bloodiest, the most destructive and the most beneficent war the world has known. It is worthy of note in this connection that the three great wars in which the United States of America engaged have been wars for freedom. The Revolutionary War was for the liberty of the colonies; the Civil War was waged for the freedom of manhood and for the principle of the indissolubility of the Union; the World War, beginning 1914, was fought for the right of small nations to self-government and for the right of every country to the free use of the high seas.

More than four million American men were under arms when the conflict ended. Of these, more than two million were upon the fields of France and Italy. These were thoroughly trained in the military art. They had proved their right to be considered among the most formidable soldiers the world has known. Against the brown rock of that host in khaki, the flower of German savagery and courage had broken at Chateau-Thierry. There the high tide of Prussian militarism, after what had seemed to be an irresistible dash for the destruction of France, spent itself in the bloody froth and spume of bitter defeat. There the Prussian Guard encountered the Marines, the Iron Division and the other heroic organizations of America's new army. There German soldiers who had been hardened and trained under German conscription before the war, and who had learned new arts in their bloody trade, through their service in the World War, met their masters in young Americans taken from the shop, the field, and the forge, youths who had been sent into battle with a scant six months' intensive training in the art of war. Not only did these American soldiers hold the German onslaught where it was but, in a sudden, fierce, resistless counter-thrust they drove back in defeat and confusion the Prussian Guard, the Pommeranian Reserves, and smashed the morale of that German division beyond hope of resurrection.

The news of that exploit sped from the Alps to the North Sea Coast, through all the camps of the Allies, with incredible rapidity. "The Americans have held the Germans. They can fight," ran the message. New life came into the war-weary ranks of heroic poilus and into the steel-hard armies of Great Britain. "The Americans are as good as the best. There are millions of them, and millions more are coming," was heard on every side. The transfusion of American blood came as magic tonic, and from that glorious day there was never a doubt as to the speedy defeat of Germany. From that day the German retreat dated. The armistice signed on November 11, 1918, was merely the period finishing the death sentence of German militarism, the first word of which was uttered at Chateau-Thierry.

Germany's defiance to the world, her determination to force her will and her "kultur" upon the democracies of earth, produced the conflict. She called to her aid three sister autocracies: Turkey, a land ruled by the whims of a long line of moody misanthropic monarchs; Bulgaria, the traitor nation cast by its Teutonic king into a war in which its people had no choice and little sympathy; Austria-Hungary, a congeries of races in which a Teutonic minority ruled with an iron scepter.

Against this phalanx of autocracy, twenty-four nations arrayed themselves. Populations of these twenty-eight warring nations far exceeded the total population of all the remainder of humanity. The conflagration of war literally belted the earth. It consumed the most civilized of capitals. It raged in the swamps and forests of Africa. To its call came alien peoples speaking words that none but themselves could translate, wearing garments of exotic cut and hue amid the smart garbs and sober hues of modern civilization. A twentieth century Babel came to the fields of France for freedom's sake, and there was born an internationalism making for the future understanding and peace of the world. The list of the twenty-eight nations entering the World War and their populations follow:

Countries. Population. Countries. Population.
United States 110,000,000 Italy 37,000,000
Austria-Hungary 50,000,000 Japan 54,000,000
Belgium 8,000,000 Liberia 2,000,000
Bulgaria 5,000,000 Montenegro 500,000
Brazil 23,000,000 Nicaragua 700,000
China 420,000,000 Panama 400,000
Costa Rica 425,000 Portugal* 15,000,000
Cuba 2,500,000 Roumania 7,500,000
France 90,000,000 Russia 180,000,000
Gautemala 2,000,000 San Marino 10,000
Germany 67,000,000 Serbia 4,500,000
Great Britain 440,000,000 Siam 6,000,000
Greece 5,000,000 Turkey 42,000,000
Haiti 2,000,000 ————————-
Honduras 600,000 Total 1,575,135,000
* Including colonies

The following nations, with their populations, took no part in the World
War:

Countries. Population. Countries. Population.
Abyssinia 8,000,000 Argentina 8,000,000
Afghanistan 6,000,000 Bhutan 250,000
Andorra 6,000 Chile 5,000,000
Colombia 5,000,000 Paraguay 800,000
Denmark 3,000,000 Persia 9,000,000
Ecuador 1,500,000 Salvador 1,250,000
Mexico 15,000,000 Spain 20,000,000
Monaco 20,000 Switzerland 3,750,000
Nepal 4,000,000 Venezuela 2,800,000
Holland* 40,000,000 ————————-
Norway 2,500,000 Total 135,876,000
* Including colonies.

Never before in the history of the world were so many races and peoples mingled in a military effort as those that came together under the command of Marshal Foch. If we divide the human races into white, yellow, red and black, all four were largely represented. Among the white races there were Frenchmen, Italians, Portuguese, English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Canadians, Australians, South Africans (of both British and Dutch descent) New Zealanders; in the American army, probably every other European nation was represented, with additional contingents from those already named, so that every branch of the white race figured in the ethnological total.

There were representatives of many Asiatic races, including not only the volunteers from the native states of India, but elements from the French colony in Cochin China, with Annam, Cambodia, Tonkin, Laos, and Kwang Chau Wan. England and France both contributed many African tribes, including Arabs from Algeria and Tunis, Senegalese, Saharans, and many of the South African races. The red races of North America were represented in the armies of both Canada and the United States, while the Maoris, Samoans, and other Polynesian races were likewise represented. And as, in the American Army, there were men of German, Austrian, and Hungarian descent, and, in all probability, contingents also of Bulgarian and Turkish blood, it may be said that Foch commanded an army representing the whole human race, united in defense of the ideals of the Allies.

It will be seen that more than ten times the number of neutral persons were engulfed in the maelstrom of war. Millions of these suffered from it during the entire period of the conflict, four years three months and fifteen days, a total of 1,567 days. For almost four years Germany rolled up a record of victories on land and of piracies on and under the seas.

[Illustration: TERRITORY OCCUPIED BY THE ALLIES UNDER THE ARMISTICE OF
NOVEMBER 11, 1918 (East/West: Brussels to Berlin; North South: Keil to
Bern)]
  Dotted area, invaded territory of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and
  Alsace-Lorraine to be evacuated in fourteen days; area in small
  squares, part of Germany west of the Rhine to be evacuated in
  twenty-five days and occupied by Allied and U. S. troops; lightly
  shaded area to east of Rhine, neutral zone; black semi-circles
  bridge-heads of thirty kilometers radius in the neutral zone to be
  occupied by Allied armies.

Little by little, day after day, piracies dwindled as the murderous submarine was mastered and its menace strangled. On the land, the Allies, under the matchless leadership of Marshal Ferdinand Foch and the generous co-operation of Americans, British, French and Italians, under the great Generals Pershing, Haig, Petain and Diaz, wrested the initiative from von Hindenburg and Ludendorf, late in July, 1918. Then, in one hundred and fifteen days of wonderful strategy and the fiercest fighting the world has ever witnessed, Foch and the Allies closed upon the Germanic armies the jaws of a steel trap. A series of brilliant maneuvers dating from the battle of Chateau-Thierry in which the Americans checked the Teutonic rush, resulted in the defeat and rout on all the fronts of the Teutonic commands.

In that titanic effort, America's share was that of the final deciding factor. A nation unjustly titled the "Dollar Nation," believed by Germany and by other countries to be soft, selfish and wasteful, became over night hard as tempered steel, self-sacrificing with an altruism that inspired the world and thrifty beyond all precedent in order that not only its own armies but the armies of the Allies might be fed and munitioned.

Leading American thought and American action, President Wilson stood out as the prophet of the democracies of the world. Not only did he inspire America and the Allies to a military and naval effort beyond precedent, but he inspired the civilian populations of the world to extraordinary effort, efforts that eventually won the war. For the decision was gained quite as certainly on the wheat fields of Western America, in the shops and the mines and the homes of America as it was upon the battle-field.

This effort came in response to the following appeal by the President:

These, then, are the things we must do, and do well, besides fighting—the things without which mere fighting would be fruitless:

We must supply abundant food for ourselves and for our armies and our seamen not only, but also for a large part of the nations with whom we have now made common cause, in whose support and by whose sides we shall be fighting;

We must supply ships by the hundreds out of our shipyards to carry to the other side of the sea, submarines or no submarines, what will every day be needed there; and—

Abundant materials out of our fields and our mines and our factories with which not only to clothe and equip our own forces on land and sea but also to clothe and support our people for whom the gallant fellows under arms can no longer work, to help clothe and equip the armies with which we are co-operating in Europe, and to keep the looms and manufactories there in raw material;

Coal to keep the fires going in ships at sea and in the furnaces of hundreds of factories across the sea;

Steel out of which to make arms and ammunition both here and there;

Rails for worn-out railways back of the fighting fronts;

Locomotives and rolling stock to take the place of those every day going to pieces;

Everything with which the people of England and France and Italy and Russia have usually supplied themselves, but cannot now afford the men, the materials, or the machinery to make.

I particularly appeal to the farmers of the South to plant abundant foodstuffs as well as cotton. They can show their patriotism in no better or more convincing way than by resisting the great temptation of the present price of cotton and helping, helping upon a large scale, to feed the nation and the peoples everywhere who are fighting for their liberties and for our own. The variety of their crops will be the visible measure of their comprehension of their national duty.

The response was amazing in its enthusiastic and general compliance. No autocracy issuing a ukase could have been obeyed so explicitly. Not only did the various classes of workers and individuals observe the President's suggestions to the letter, but they yielded up individual right after right in order that the war work of the government might be expedited. Extraordinary powers and functions were granted by the people through Congress, and it was not until peace was declared that these rights and powers returned to the people.

These governmental activities ceased functioning after the war:
Food administration;
Fuel administration;
Espionage act;
War trade board;
Alien property custodian (with extension of time for certain duties);
Agricultural stimulation;
Housing construction (except for shipbuilders);
Control of telegraphs and telephones;
Export control.

These functions were extended: Control over railroads: to cease within twenty-one months after the proclamation of peace.

The War Finance Corporation: to cease to function six months after the war, with further time for liquidation.

The Capital Issues Committee: to terminate in six months after the peace proclamation.

The Aircraft Board: to end in six months after peace was proclaimed; and the government operation of ships, within five years after the war was officially ended.

President Wilson, generally acclaimed as the leader of the world's democracies, phrased for civilization the arguments against autocracy in the great peace conference after the war. The President headed the American delegation to that conclave of world re-construction. With him as delegates to the conference were Robert Lansing, Secretary of State; Henry White, former Ambassador to France and Italy; Edward M. House and General Tasker H. Bliss.

Representing American Labor at the International Labor conference held in Paris simultaneously with the Peace Conference were Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor; William Green, secretary-treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America; John R. Alpine, president of the Plumbers' Union; James Duncan, president of the International Association of Granite Cutters; Frank Duffy, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and Frank Morrison, secretary of the American Federation of Labor.

Estimating the share of each Allied nation in the great victory, mankind will conclude that the heaviest cost in proportion to prewar population and treasure was paid by the nations that first felt the shock of war, Belgium, Serbia, Poland and France. All four were the battle-grounds of huge armies, oscillating in a bloody frenzy over once fertile fields and once prosperous towns.

Belgium, with a population of 8,000,000, had a casualty list of more than 350,000; France, with its casualties of 4,000,000 out of a population (including its colonies) of 90,000,000, is really the martyr nation of the world. Her gallant poilus showed the world how cheerfully men may die in defense of home and liberty. Huge Russia, including hapless Poland, had a casualty list of 7,000,000 out of its entire population of 180,000,000. The United States out of a population of 110,000,000 had a casualty list of 236,117 for nineteen months of war; of these 53,169 were killed or died of disease; 179,625 were wounded; and 3,323 prisoners or missing.

[Illustration: KINGS AND CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF THE PRINCIPAL POWERS
ASSOCIATED AGAINST THE GERMAN ALLIANCE (King George V of England,
President Raymond of France, President Woodrow Wilson of the United
States, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, King Albert I of Belgium)]

[Illustration: Photograph of Clemenceau]
  Copyright International Film Service.
  THE "TIGER" OF FRANCE
  George Benjamin Eugene Clemenceau, world-famous Premier of France, who
  by his inspiring leadership maintained the magnificent morale of his
  countrymen in the face of terrific assaults of the enemy.

[Illustration: THE RIGHT HONORABLE DAVID LLOYD GEORGE]
  British Premier, who headed the coalition cabinet which carried
  England through the war to victory.

[Illustration: KING GEORGE V] King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, who struggled earnestly to prevent the war, but when Germany attacked Belgium sent the mighty forces of the British Empire to stop the Hun.

To the glory of Great Britain must be recorded the enormous effort made by its people, showing through operations of its army and navy. The British Empire, including, the Colonies, had a casualty list of 3,049,992 men out of a total population of 440,000,000. Of these 658,665 were killed; 2,032,122 were wounded, and 359,204 were reported missing. It raised an army of 7,000,000, and fought seven separate foreign campaigns, in France, Italy, Dardanelles, Mesopotamia, Macedonia, East Africa and Egypt. It raised its navy personnel from 115,000 to 450,000 men. Co-operating with its allies on the sea, it destroyed approximately one hundred and fifty German and Austrian submarines. It aided materially the American navy and transport service in sending overseas the great American army whose coming decided the war. The British navy and transport service during the war made the following record of transportation and convoy:

Twenty million men, 2,000,000 horses, 130,000,000 tons of food, 25,000,000 tons of explosives and supplies, 51,000,000 tons of oil and fuels, 500,000 vehicles. In 1917 alone 7,000,000 men, 500,000 animals, 200,000 vehicles and 9,500,000 tons of stores were conveyed to the several war fronts.

The German losses were estimated at 1,588,000 killed or died of disease; 4,000,000 wounded; and 750,000 prisoners and missing.

A tabulation of the estimates of casualties and the money cost of the war reveals the enormous price paid by humanity to convince a military-mad Germanic caste that Right and not Might must hereafter rule the world. These figures do not include Serbian losses, which are unavailable. Following is the tabulation:

  THE ENTENTE ALLIES THE CENTRAL POWERS
Russia 7,000,000 Germany 6,338,000
France 4,000,000 Austria-Hungary 4,500,000
British Empire (official) 3,049,992 Turkey 750,000
Italy 1,000,000 Bulgaria 200,000
Belgium 350,000
Roumania 200,000
United States (official) 236,117
Total 15,836,109 Total 11,788,000

Grand total of estimated casualties, 27,624,109, of which the dead alone number perhaps 7,000,000.

ESTIMATED COST IN MONEY
THE ENTENTE ALLIES THE CENTRAL POWERS
Russia $30,000,000,000 Germany $45,000,000,000
Britain 52,000,000,000 Austria-Hungary 25,000,000,000
France 32,000,000,000 Turkey 5,000,000,000
United States 40,000,000,000 Bulgaria 2,000,000,000
Italy 12,000,000,000 —————————
Roumania 3,000,000,000 Total $77,000,000,000
Serbia 3,000,000,000
         ——————————
Total $172,000,000,000

Grand total of estimated cost in money, $249,000,000,000. Was the cost too heavy? Was the price of international liberty paid in human lives and in sacrifices untold too great for the peace that followed?

Even the most practical of money changers, the most sentimental pacifist, viewing the cost in connection with the liberation of whole nations, with the spread of enlightened liberty through oppressed and benighted lands, with the destruction of autocracy, of the military caste, and of Teutonic kultur in its materialistic aspect, must agree that the blood was well shed, the treasure well spent.

Millions of gallant, eager youths learned how to die fearlessly and gloriously. They died to teach vandal nations that nevermore will humanity permit the exploitation of peoples for militaristic purposes.

As Milton, the great philosopher poet, phrased the lesson taught to
Germany on the fields of France:

They err who count it glorious to subdue
By conquest far and wide, to overrun
Large countries, and in field great battles win,
Great cities by assault; what do these worthies
But rob and spoil, burn, slaughter, and enslave
Peaceable nations, neighboring or remote
Made captive, yet deserving freedom more
Than those their conquerors, who leave behind
Nothing but ruin wheresoe'er they rove
And all the flourishing works of peace destroy.

CHAPTER II

THE WORLD SUDDENLY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

Demoralization, like the black plague of the middle ages, spread in every direction immediately following the first overt acts of war. Men who were millionaires at nightfall awoke the next morning to find themselves bankrupt through depreciation of their stock-holdings. Prosperous firms of importers were put out of business. International commerce was dislocated to an extent unprecedented in history.

The greatest of hardships immediately following the war, however, were visited upon those who unhappily were caught on their vacations or on their business trips within the area affected by the war. Not only men, but women and children, were subjected to privations of the severest character. Notes which had been negotiable, paper money of every description, and even silver currency suddenly became of little value. Americans living in hotels and pensions facing this sudden shrinkage in their money, were compelled to leave the roofs that had sheltered them. That which was true of Americans was true of all other nationalities, so that every embassy and the office of every consul became a miniature Babel of excited, distressed humanity.

The sudden seizure of railroads for war purposes in Germany, France, Austria and Russia, cut off thousands of travelers in villages that were almost inaccessible. Europeans being comparatively close to their homes, were not in straits as severe as the Americans whose only hope for aid lay in the speedy arrival of American gold. Prices of food soared beyond all precedent and many of these hapless strangers went under. Paris, the brightest and gayest city in Europe, suddenly became the most somber of dwelling places. No traffic was permitted on the highways at night. No lights were permitted and all the cafes were closed at eight o'clock. The gay capital was placed under iron military rule.

Seaports, and especially the pleasure resorts in France, Belgium and England, were placed under a military supervision. Visitors were ordered to return to their homes and every resort was shrouded with darkness at night. The records of those early days are filled with stories of dramatic happenings.

On the night of July 31st Jean Leon Jaures, the famous leader of French Socialists, was assassinated while dining in a small restaurant near the Paris Bourse. His assassin was Raoul Villein. Jaures had been endeavoring to accomplish a union of French and German Socialists with the aim of preventing the war. The object of the assassination appeared to have been wholly political.

On the same day stock exchanges throughout the United States were closed, following the example of European stock exchanges. Ship insurance soared to prohibitive figures. Reservists of the French and German armies living outside of their native land were called to the colors and their homeward rush still further complicated transportation for civilians. All the countries of Europe clamored for gold. North and South America complied with the demand by sending cargoes of the precious metal overseas. The German ship Kron Prinzessin with a cargo of gold, attempted to make the voyage to Hamburg, but a wireless warning that Allied cruisers were waiting for it off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, compelled the big ship to turn back to safety in America.

Channel boats bearing American refugees from the Continent to London were described as floating hells. London was excited over the war and holiday spirit, and overrun with five thousand citizens of the United States tearfully pleading with the American Ambassador for money for transportation home or assurances of personal safety.

The condition of the terror-stricken tourists fleeing to the friendly shores of England from Continental countries crowded with soldiers dragging in their wake heavy guns, resulted in an extraordinary gathering of two thousand Americans at a hotel one afternoon and the formation of a preliminary organization to afford relief. Some people who attended the meeting were already beginning to feel the pinch of want with little prospects of immediate succor. One man and wife, with four children, had six cents when he appealed to Ambassador Page after an exciting escape from German territory.

[Illustration: WHERE THE WORLD WAR BEGAN. Map showing 15 degrees East to 28 degrees East; 35 degrees North to 52 degrees North. Germany and Russia on the North; the Mediterranean on the South; the Adriatic Sea on the West; the Aegean and Western Turkey on the East.]

Oscar Straus, worth ten millions, struck London with nine dollars. Although he had letters of credit for five thousand, he was unable to cash them in Vienna. Women hugging newspaper bundles containing expensive Paris frocks and millinery were herded in third-class carriages and compelled to stand many hours. They reached London utterly fatigued and unkempt, but mainly cheerful, only to find the hotels choked with fellow countrymen fortunate to reach there sooner.

The Ambassador was harassed by anxious women and children who asked many absurd questions which he could not answer. He said:

"The appeals of these people are most distressing. They are very much excited, and no small wonder. I regret I have no definite news of the prospects or plans of the government for relief. I have communicated their condition to the Department of State and expect a response and assurances of coming aid as soon as possible. That the government will act I have not the slightest doubt. I am confident that Washington will do everything in her power for relief. How soon, I cannot tell. I have heard many distressing tales during the last forty-eight hours."

A crowd filled the Ambassador's office on the first floor of the flat building, in Victoria Street, which was mainly composed of women, school teachers, art students, and other persons doing Europe on a shoestring. Many were entirely out of money and with limited securities, which were not negotiable.

The action of the British Government extending the bank holiday till Thursday of that week was discouraging news for the new arrivals from the Continent, as it was uncertain whether the express and steamship companies would open in the morning for the cashing of checks and the delivery of mail, as was announced the previous Saturday.

Doctors J. Riddle Goffe, of New York; Frank F. Simpson, of Pittsburgh; Arthur D. Ballon of Vistaburg, Mich., and B. F. Martin, of Chicago, formed themselves into a committee, and asked the co-operation of the press in America to bring about adequate assistance for the marooned Americans, and to urge the bankers of the United States to insist on their letters of credit and travelers' checks being honored so far as possible by the agents in Europe upon whom they were drawn.

[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS] In the first weeks of the war the Germans occupied Rheims, but were driven out after von Kluck's retreat. On September 20, 1914, they were reported as first shelling the Cathedral of Rheims and the civilized world stood aghast, for the edifice, begun in 1212, is one of the chief glories of Gothic architecture in all Europe.

[Illustration: Seven men marching abreast.] Photo by Underwood and Underwood. N.Y. THE KAISER AND HIS SIX SONS The ex-Emperor and his sons leading a procession in Berlin soon after the declaration of war. It was noted that in spite of their martial appearance the royal family were extremely careful to keep out of range of the Allied guns. From left to right they are: The Kaiser, Crown Prince Wilhelm, Princes Eitel Friedrich, Adalbert, August, Oscar and Joachim.

Dr. Martin and Dr. Simpson, who left London on Saturday for Switzerland to fetch back a young American girl, were unable to get beyond Paris, and they returned to London. Everywhere they found trains packed with refugees whose only object in life apparently was to reach the channel boats, accepting cheerfully the discomforts of those vessels if only able to get out of the war.

Rev. J. P. Garfield, of Claremore, N. H., gave the following account of his experiences in Holland:

"On sailing from the Hook of Holland near midnight we pulled out just as the boat train from The Hague arrived. The steamer paused, but as she was filled to her capacity she later continued on her voyage, leaving fully two hundred persons marooned on the wharf.

"Our discomforts while crossing the North Sea were great. Every seat was filled with sleepers, the cabins were given to women and children. The crowd, as a rule, was helpful and kindly, the single men carrying the babies and people lending money to those without funds. Despite the refugee conditions prevailing it was noticeable that many women on the Hook wharf clung tenaciously to bandboxes containing Parisian hats."

Travelers from Cologne said that searchlights were operated from the tops of the hotels all night searching for airplanes, and machine guns were mounted on the famous Cologne Cathedral. They also reported that tourists were refused hotel accommodations at Frankfort because they were without cash.

Men, women and children sat in the streets all night. The trains were stopped several miles from the German frontier and the passengers, especially the women and children, suffered great hardship being forced to continue their journey on foot.

Passengers arriving at London from Montreal on the Cunard Line steamer Andania, bound for Southampton, reported the vessel was met at sea by a British torpedo boat and ordered by wireless to stop. The liner then was led into Plymouth as a matter of precaution against mines. Plymouth was filled with soldiers and searchlights were seen constantly flashing about the harbor.

Otis B. Kent, an attorney for the Interstate Commerce Commission, of
Washington, arrived in London after an exciting journey from Petrograd.
Unable to find accommodations at a hotel he slept on the railway station
floor. He said:

"I had been on a trip to Sweden to see the midnight sun. I did not realize the gravity of the situation until I saw the Russian fleet cleared for action. This was only July 26th, at Kronstadt, where the shipyards were working overtime.

"I arrived at the Russian capital on the following day. Enormous demonstrations were taking place. I was warned to get out and left on the night of the 28th for Berlin. I saw Russian soldiers drilling at the stations and artillery constantly on the move.

"At Berlin I was warned to keep off the streets for fear of being mistaken for an Englishmen. At Hamburg the number of warnings was increased. Two Russians who refused to rise in a cafe when the German anthem was played were attacked and badly beaten. I also saw two Englishmen attacked in the street, but they finally were rescued by the police.

"There was a harrowing scene when the Hamburg-American Line steamer Imperator canceled its sailing. She left stranded three thousand passengers, most of them short of money, and the women wailing. About one hundred and fifty of us were given passage in the second class of the American Line steamship Philadelphia, for which I was offered $400 by a speculator.

"The journey to Flushing was made in a packed train, its occupants lacking sleep and food. No trouble was encountered on the frontier."

Theodore Hetzler, of the Fifth Avenue Bank, was appointed chairman of the meeting for preliminary relief of the stranded tourists, and committees were named to interview officials of the steamship companies and of the hotels, to search for lost baggage, to make arrangements for the honoring of all proper checks and notes, and to confer with the members of the American embassy.

Oscar Straus, who arrived from Paris, said that the United States embassy there was working hard to get Americans out of France. Great enthusiasm prevailed at the French capital, he said, owing to the announcement that the United States Government was considering a plan to send transports to take Americans home.

The following committees were appointed at the meeting:

Finance—Theodore Hetzler, Fred I. Kent and James G. Cannon;
Transportation—Joseph F. Day, Francis M. Weld and George D. Smith, all
of New York; Diplomatic—Oscar S. Straus, Walter L. Fisher and James
Byrne; Hotels—L. H. Armour, of Chicago, and Thomas J. Shanley, New
York.

The committee established headquarters where Americans might register and obtain assistance. Chandler Anderson, a member of the International Claims Commission, arrived in London from Paris. He said he had been engaged with the work of the commission at Versailles, when he was warned by the American embassy that he had better leave France. He acted promptly on this advice and the commission was adjourned until after the war. Mr. Anderson had to leave his baggage behind him because the railway company would not register it. He said the city of Paris presented a strange contrast to the ordinary animation prevailing there. Most of the shops were closed. There were no taxis in the streets, and only a few vehicles drawn by horses.

The armored cruiser Tennessee, converted for the time being into a treasure ship, left New York on the night of August 6th, 1914, to carry $7,500,000 in gold to the many thousand Americans who were in want in European countries. Included in the $7,500,000 was $2,500,000 appropriated by the government. Private consignments in gold in sums from $1,000 to $5,000 were accepted by Colonel Smith, of the army quartermaster's department, who undertook their delivery to Americans in Paris and other European ports.

The cruiser carried as passengers Ambassador Willard, who returned to his post at Madrid, and army and naval officers assigned as military observers in Europe. On the return trip accommodations for 200 Americans were available.

The dreadnaught Florida, after being hastily coaled and provisioned, left the Brooklyn Navy Yard under sealed orders at 9.30 o'clock the morning of August 6th and proceeded to Tompkinsville, where she dropped anchor near the Tennessee.

The Florida was sent to protect the neutrality of American ports and prohibit supplies to belligerent ships. Secretary Daniels ordered her to watch the port of New York and sent the Mayflower to Hampton Roads. Destroyers guarded ports along the New England coast and those at Lewes, Del., to prevent violations of neutrality at Philadelphia and in that territory. Any vessel that attempted to sail for a belligerent port without clearance papers was boarded by American officials.

The Texas and Louisiana, at Vera Cruz and the Minnesota, at Tampico, were ordered to New York, and Secretary Daniels announced that other American vessels would be ordered north as fast as room could be found for them in navy yard docks.

At wireless stations, under the censorship ordered by the President, no code messages were allowed in any circumstances. Messages which might help any of the belligerents in any way were barred.

The torpedo-boat destroyer Warrington and the revenue cutter Androscoggin arrived at Bar Harbor on August 6th, to enforce neutrality regulations and allowed no foreign ships to leave Frenchman's Bay without clearance papers. The United States cruiser Milwaukee sailed the same day from the Puget Sound Navy Yard to form part of the coast patrol to enforce neutrality regulations.

Arrangements were made in Paris by Myron T. Herrick, the American
Ambassador, acting under instructions from Washington, to take over the
affairs of the German embassy, while Alexander H. Thackara, the American
Consul General, looked after the affairs of the German consulate.

President Poincare and the members of the French cabinet later issued a joint proclamation to the French nation in which was the phrase "mobilization is not war."

The marching of the soldiers in the streets with the English, Russian and French flags flying, the singing of patriotic songs and the shouting of "On to Berlin!" were much less remarkable than the general demeanor and cold resolution of most of the people.

The response to the order of mobilization was instant, and the stations of all the railways, particularly those leading to the eastward, were crowded with reservists. Many women accompanied the men until close to the stations, where, softly crying, farewells were said. The troop trains left at frequent intervals. All the automobile busses disappeared, having been requisitioned by the army to carry meat, the coachwork of the vehicles being removed and replaced with specially designed bodies. A large number of taxicabs, private automobiles and horses and carts also were taken over by the military for transport purposes.

The wildest enthusiasm was manifested on the boulevards when the news of the ordering of the mobilization became known. Bodies of men formed into regular companies in ranks ten deep, paraded the streets waving the tricolor and other national emblems and cheering and singing the "Marseillaise" and the "Internationale," at the same time throwing their hats in the air. On the sidewalks were many weeping women and children. All the stores and cafes were deserted.

All foreigners were compelled to leave Paris or France before the end of the first day of mobilization by train but not by automobile. Time tables were posted on the walls of Paris giving the times of certain trains on which these people might leave the city.

American citizens or British subjects were allowed to remain in France, except in the regions on the eastern frontier and near certain fortresses, provided they made declaration to the police and obtained a special permit.

As to Italy's situation, Rome was quite calm and the normal aspect made tourists decide that Italy was the safest place. Austria's note to Serbia was issued without consulting Italy. One point of the Triple Alliance provided that no member should take action in the Balkans before an agreement with the other allies. Such an agreement did not take place. The alliance was of defensive, not aggressive, character and could not force an ally to follow any enterprise taken on the sole account and without a notice, as such action taken by Austria against Serbia. It was felt even then that Italy would eventually cast its lot with the Entente Allies.

Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo; John Skelton Williams, Comptroller of the Currency; Charles S. Hamblin and William P. G. Harding, members of the Federal Reserve Board, went to New York early in August, 1914, where they discussed relief measures with a group of leading bankers at what was regarded as the most momentous conference of the kind held in the country in recent years.

The New York Clearing House Committee, on August 2d, called a meeting of the Clearing House Association, to arrange for the immediate issuance of clearing house certificates. Among those at the conference were J. P. Morgan and his partner, Henry P. Davison; Frank A. Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank, and A. Barton Hepburn, chairman of the Chase National Bank.

CHAPTER III

WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR

While it is true that the war was conceived in Berlin, it is none the less true that it was born in the Balkans. It is necessary in order that we may view with correct perspective the background of the World War, that we gain some notion of the Balkan States and the complications entering into their relations. These countries have been the adopted children of the great European powers during generations of rulers. Russia assumed guardianship of the nations having a preponderance of Slavic blood; Roumania with its Latin consanguinities was close to France and Italy; Bulgaria, Greece, and Balkan Turkey were debatable regions wherein the diplomats of the rival nations secured temporary victories by devious methods.

The Balkans have fierce hatreds and have been the site of sudden
historic wars. At the time of the declaration of the World War, the
Balkan nations were living under the provisions of the Treaty of
Bucharest, dated August 10, 1913. Greece, Roumania, Bulgaria, Serbia and
Montenegro were signers, and Turkey acquiesced in its provisions.

[Illustration: PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY OF BUCHAREST, 1913. (Map showing the Adriatic on the West, the Black Sea on the East, Roumania on the North and Crete on the South. Cross hatching show land allocations among Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria and Roumania.)]

The assassination at Sarajevo had sent a convulsive shudder throughout the Balkans. The reason lay in the century-old antagonism between the Slav and the Teuton. Serbia, Montenegro and Russia had never forgiven Austria for seizing Bosnia and Herzegovina and making these Slavic people subjects of the Austrian crown. Bulgaria, Roumania and Turkey remained cold at the news of the assassination. German diplomacy was in the ascendant at these courts and the prospect of war with Germany as their great ally presented no terrors for them. The sympathies of the people of Greece were with Serbia, but the Grecian Court, because the Queen of Greece was the only sister of the German Kaiser, was whole heartedly with Austria. Perhaps at the first the Roumanians were most nearly neutral. They believed strongly that each of the small nations of the Balkan region as well as all of the small nations that had been absorbed but had not been digested by Austria, should cut itself from the leading strings held by the large European powers. There was a distinct undercurrent, for a federation resembling that of the United States of America between these peoples. This was expressed most clearly by M. Jonesco, leader of the Liberal party of Roumania and generally recognized as the ablest statesman of middle Europe. He declared:

"I always believed, and still believe, that the Balkan States cannot secure their future otherwise than by a close understanding among themselves, whether this understanding shall or shall not take the form of a federation. No one of the Balkan States is strong enough to resist the pressure from one or another of the European powers.

"For this reason I am deeply grieved to see in the Balkan coalition of 1912 Roumania not invited. If Roumania had taken part in the first one, we should not have had the second. I did all that was in my power and succeeded in preventing the war between Roumania and the Balkan League in the winter of 1912-13.

"I risked my popularity, and I do not feel sorry for it. I employed all my efforts to prevent the second Balkan war, which, as is well known, was profitable to us. I repeatedly told the Bulgarians that they ought not to enter it because in that case we would enter it too. But I was not successful in my efforts.

"During the second Balkan war I did all in my power to end it as quickly as possible. At the conference at Bucharest I made efforts, as Mr. Pashich and Mr. Venizelos know very well, to secure for beaten Bulgaria the best terms. My object was to obtain a new coalition of all the Balkan States, including Roumania. Had I succeeded in this the situation would be much better. No reasonable man will deny that the Balkan States are neutralizing each other at the present time, which in itself makes the whole situation all the more miserable.

"In October, 1913, when I succeeded in facilitating the conclusion of peace between Greece and Turkey, I was pursuing the same object of the Balkan coalition. On my return from Athens I endeavored, though without success, to put the Greco-Turkish relations on a basis of friendship, being convinced that the well-understood interest of both countries lies not only in friendly relations, but even in an alliance between them.

"The dissensions that exist between the Balkan States can be settled in a friendly way without war. The best moment for this would be after the general war, when the map of Europe will be remade. The Balkan country which would start war against another Balkan country would commit, not only a crime against her own future, but an act of folly as well.

"The destiny and future of the Balkan States, and of all the small European peoples as well, will not be regulated by fratricidal wars, but, with this great European struggle, the real object of which is to settle the question whether Europe shall enter an era of justice, and therefore happiness for the small peoples, or whether we will face a period of oppression more or less gilt-edged. And as I always believed that wisdom and truth will triumph in the end, I want to believe, too, that, in spite of the pessimistic news reaching me from the different sides of the Balkan countries, there will be no war among them in order to justify those who do not believe in the vitality of the small peoples."

The conference at Rome, April 10, 1918, to settle outstanding questions between the Italians and the Slavs of the Adriatic, drew attention to those Slavonic peoples in Europe who were under non-Slavonic rule. At the beginning of the war there were three great Slavonic groups in Europe: First, the Russians with the Little Russians, speaking languages not more different than the dialect of Yorkshire is from the dialect of Devonshire; second, a central group, including the Poles, the Czechs or Bohemians, the Moravians, and Slovaks, this group thus being separated under the four crowns of Russia, Germany, Austria and Hungary; the third, the southern group, included the Sclavonians, the Croatians, the Dalmatians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians, the Slavs, generally called Slovenes, in the western part of Austria, down to Goritzia, and also the two independent kingdoms of Montenegro and Serbia.

Like the central group, this southern group of Slavs was divided under four crowns, Hungary, Austria, Montenegro, and Serbia; but, in spite of the fact that half belong to the Western and half to the Eastern Church, they are all essentially the same people, though with considerable infusion of non-Slavonic blood, there being a good deal of Turkish blood in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The languages, however, are practically identical, formed largely of pure Slavonic materials, and, curiously, much more closely connected with the eastern Slav group—Russia and Little Russia—than with the central group, Polish and Bohemian. A Russian of Moscow will find it much easier to understand a Slovene from Goritzia than a Pole from Warsaw. The Ruthenians in southern Galicia and Bukowina, are identical in race and speech with the Little Russians of Ukrainia.

Of the central group, the Poles have generally inclined to Austria, which has always supported the Polish landlords of Galicia against the Ruthenian peasantry; while the Czechs have been not so much anti-Austrian as anti-German. Indeed, the Hapsburg rulers have again and again played these Slavs off against their German subjects. It was the Southern Slav question as affecting Serbia and Austria, that gave the pretext for the present war. The central Slav question affecting the destiny of the Poles—was a bone of contention between Austria and Germany. It is the custom to call the Southern Slavs "Jugoslavs" from the Slav word Yugo, "south," but as this is a concession to German transliteration, many prefer to write the word "Yugoslav," which represents its pronunciation. The South Slav question was created by the incursions of three Asiatic peoples—Huns, Magyars, Turks—who broke up the originally continuous Slav territory that ran from the White Sea to the confines of Greece and the Adriatic.

[Illustration: Map: Austria-Hungary and surrounding nations]
  THE MIXTURE OF RACES IN SOUTH CENTRAL EUROPE.

[Illustration: Photograph of three soldiers firing artillery.]
  Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.
  SERBS DEFENDING THE MOUNTAIN PASSES LEADING TO THEIR CAPITAL
  Little Serbia, before she was overwhelmed by the concentrated force of
  a mighty Teuton drive, and afterward, did some fighting that
  astonished the world. The photo shows some of her artillery engaged in
  holding back the enemy in the mountain regions near Nish.

[Illustration: A SCENE FROM EARLY TRENCH WARFARE. Painting shows German
soldiers defending a trench line on the left. British attackers are
approaching from the right. Several men are already dead in front of the
trench.]
  From the woods in the background the British charge on an angle of the
  German breastworks under cover of artillery and machine-gun fire. This
  illustrates the early trench warfare before the development of the
  elaborate concrete-protected structures the Germans later devised.
  They can be seen wearing the famous spiked helmets which were later
  replaced by steel ones.

This was the complex of nationalities, the ferment of races existing in 1914. Out of the hatreds engendered by the domination over the liberty-loving Slavic peoples by an arrogant Teutonic minority grew the assassinations at Sarajevo. These crimes were the expression of hatred not for the heir apparent of Austria but for the Hapsburg and their Germanic associates.

By a twist of the wheel of fate, the same Slavic peoples whose determination to rid themselves of the Teutonic yoke, started the war, also bore rather more than their share in the swift-moving events that decided and closed the war.

Russia, the dying giant among the great nations, championed the Slavic peoples at the beginning of the war. It entered the conflict in aid of little Serbia, but at the end Russia bowed to Germany in the infamous peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk. Thereafter during the last months of the war Russia was virtually an ally of its ancient enemy, Turkey, the "Sick Man of Europe," and the central German empires. With these allies the Bolshevik government of Russia attempted to head off the Czecho-Slovak regiments that had been captured by Russia during its drive into Austria and had been imprisoned in Siberia. After the peace consummated at Brest-Litovsk, these regiments determined to fight on the side of the Allies and endeavored to make their way to the western front.

No war problems were more difficult than those of the Czecho-Slovaks. Few have been handled so masterfully. Surrounded by powerful enemies which for centuries have been bent on destroying every trace of Slavic culture, they had learned how to defend themselves against every trick or scheme of the brutal Germans.

The Czecho-Slovak plan in Russia was of great value to the Allies all over the world, and was put at their service by Professor Thomas G. Masaryk. He went to Russia when everything was adrift and got hold of Bohemian prisoners here and there and organized them into a compact little army of 50,000 to 60,000 men. Equipped and fed, he moved them to whatever point had most power to thoroughly disrupt the German plans. They did much to check the German army for months. They resolutely refused to take any part in Russian political affairs, and when it seemed no longer possible to work effectively in Russia this remarkable little band started on a journey all round the world to get to the western front. They loyally gave up most of their arms under agreement with Lenine and Trotzky that they might peacefully proceed out of Russia via Vladivostok.

While they were carrying out their part of the agreement, and well on the way, they were surprised by telegrams from Lenine and Trotzky to the Soviets in Siberia ordering them to take away their arms and intern them.

The story of what occurred then was told by two American engineers, Emerson and Hawkins, who, on the way to Ambassador Francis, and not being able to reach Vologda, joined a band of four or five thousand. The engineers were with them three months, while they were making it safe along the lines of the railroad for the rest of the Czecho-Slovaks to get out, and incidentally for Siberians to resume peaceful occupations. They were also supported by old railway organizations which had stuck bravely to them without wages and which every little while were "shot up" by the Bolsheviki.

Distress in Russia would have been much more intense had it not been for the loyalty of the railway men in sticking to their tasks. Some American engineers at Irkutsk, on a peaceful journey out of Russia, on descending from the cars were met with a demand to surrender, and shots from machine guns. Some, fortunately, had kept hand grenades, and with these and a few rifles went straight at the machine guns. Although outnumbered, the attackers took the guns and soon afterward took the town. The Czecho-Slovaks, in the beginning almost unarmed, went against great odds and won for themselves the right to be considered a nation.

Seeing the treachery of Lenine and Trotzky, they went back toward the west and made things secure for their men left behind. They took town after town with the arms they first took away from the Bolsheviki and Germans; but in every town they immediately set up a government, with all the elements of normal life. They established police and sanitary systems, opened hospitals, and had roads repaired, leaving a handful of men in the midst of enemies to carry on the plans of their leaders. American engineers speaking of the cleanliness of the Czecho-Slovak army, said that they lived like Spartans.

The whole story is a remarkable evidence of the struggle of these little people for self-government.

The emergence of the Czecho-Slovak nation has been one of the most remarkable and noteworthy features of the war. Out of the confusion of the situation, with the possibility of the resurrection of oppressed peoples, something of the dignity of old Bohemia was comprehended, and it was recognized that the Czechs were to be rescued from Austria and the Slovaks from Hungary, and united in one country with entire independence. This was undoubtedly due, in large measure, to the activities of Professor Masaryk, the president of the National Executive Council of the Czecho-Slovaks. His four-year exile in the United States had the establishment of the new nation as its fruit.

Professor Masaryk called attention to the fact that there is a peculiar discrepancy between the number of states in Europe and the number of nationalities—twenty-seven states to seventy nationalities. He explained, also, that almost all the states are mixed, from the point of nationality. From the west of Europe to the east, this is found to be true, and the farther east one goes the more mixed do the states become. Austria is the most mixed of all the states. There is no Austrian language, but there are nine languages, and six smaller nations or remnants of nations. In all of Germany there are eight nationalities besides the Germans, who have been independent, and who have their own literature. Turkey is an anomaly, a combination of various nations overthrown and kept down.

Since the eighteenth century there has been a continuing strong movement from each nation to have its own state. Because of the mixed peoples, there is much confusion. There are Roumanians in Austria, but there is a kingdom of Roumania. There are Southern Slavs, but there are also Serbia and Montenegro. It is natural that the Southern Slavs should want to be united as one state. So it is with Italy.

There was no justice in Poland being separated in three parts to serve the dynasties of Prussia, Russia and Austria. The Czecho-Slovaks of Austria and Hungary claimed a union. The national union consists in an endeavor to make the suppressed nations free, to unite them in their own states, and to readjust the states that exist; to force Austria and Prussia to give up the states that should be free.

In the future, said Doctor Masaryk, there are to be sharp ethnological boundaries. The Czecho-Slovaks will guarantee the minorities absolute equality, but they will keep the German part of their country, because there are many Bohemians in it and they do not trust the Germans.

CHAPTER IV

THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES

One factor alone caused the great war. It was not the assassination at Sarajevo, not the Slavic ferment of anti-Teutonism in Austria and the Balkans. The only cause of the world's greatest war was the determination of the German High Command and the powerful circle surrounding it that "Der Tag" had arrived. The assassination at Sarajevo was only the peg for the pendant of war. Another peg would have been found inevitably had not the projection of that assassination presented itself as the excuse.

Germany's military machine was ready. A gray-green uniform that at a distance would fade into misty obscurity had been devised after exhaustive experiments by optical, dye and cloth experts co-operating with the military high command. These uniforms had been standardized and fitted for the millions of men enrolled in Germany's regular and reserve armies. Rifles, great pyramids of munitions, field kitchens, traveling post-offices, motor lorries, a network of military railways leading to the French and Belgian border, all these and more had been made ready. German soldiers had received instructions which enabled each man at a signal to go to an appointed place where he found everything in readiness for his long forced marches into the territory of Germany's neighbors.

More than all this, Germany's spy system, the most elaborate and unscrupulous in the history of mankind, had enabled the German High Command to construct in advance of the declaration of war concrete gun emplacements in Belgium and other invaded territory. The cellars of dwellings and shops rented or owned by German spies were camouflaged concrete foundations for the great guns of Austria and Germany. These emplacements were in exactly the right position for use against the fortresses of Germany's foes. Advertisements and shop-signs were used by spies as guides for the marching German armies of invasion.

[Illustration: Painting of KAISER WILLIAM II.]
  Copyright Press Illustrating Service.
  KAISER WILLIAM II OF GERMANY
  Posterity will regard him as more responsible than any other human
  being for the sacrifice of millions of lives in the great war, as a
  ruler who might have been beneficent and wise, but attempted to
  destroy the liberties of mankind and to raise on their ruins an odious
  despotism. To forgive him and to forget his terrible transgressions
  would be to condone them.

[Illustration: Men marching past a band.]
  Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N, Y.
  FRANCIS JOSEPH I OF AUSTRIA, THE "OLD EMPEROR," ON A STATE OCCASION.
  Francis Joseph died before the war had settled the fate of the
  Hapsburgs. The end came on November 21, 1916, in the sixty-eighth year
  of his reign. His life was tragic. He lived to see his brother
  executed, his Queen assassinated, and his only son a suicide, with
  always before him the specter of the disintegration of his many-raced
  empire.

In brief, Germany had planned for war. She was approximately ready for it. Under the shelter of such high-sounding phrases as "We demand our place in the sun," and "The seas must be free," the German people were educated into the belief that the hour of Germany's destiny was at hand.

[Illustration: Map of Africa.]
  GERMANY'S POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA PRIOR TO 1914

German psychologists, like other German scientists, had co-operated with the imperial militaristic government for many years to bring the Germanic mind into a condition of docility. So well did they understand the mentality and the trends of character of the German people that it was comparatively easy to impose upon them a militaristic system and philosophy by which the individual yielded countless personal liberties for the alleged good of the state. Rigorous and compulsory military service, unquestioning adherence to the doctrine that might makes right and a cession to "the All-Highest," as the Emperor was styled, of supreme powers in the state, are some of the sufferances to which the German people submitted.

German propaganda abroad was quite as vigorous as at home, but infinitely less successful. The German High Command did not expect England to enter the war. It counted upon America's neutrality with a leaning toward Germany. It believed that German colonization in South Africa and South America would incline these vast domains toward friendship for the Central empires. How mistaken the propagandists and psychologists were events have demonstrated.

It was this dream of world-domination by Teutonic kultur that supplied the motive leading to the world's greatest war. Bosnia, an unwilling province of Austria-Hungary, at one time a province of Serbia and overwhelmingly Slavic in its population, had been seething for years with an anti-Teutonic ferment. The Teutonic court at Vienna, leading the minority Germanic party in Austria-Hungary, had been endeavoring to allay the agitation among the Bosnian Slavs. In pursuance of that policy, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir-presumptive to the thrones of Austria and Hungary, and his morganatic wife, Sophia Chotek, Duchess of Hohenberg, on June 28, 1914, visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. On the morning of that day, while they were being driven through the narrow streets of the ancient town, a bomb was thrown at them, but they were uninjured. They were driven through the streets again in the afternoon, for purpose of public display. A student, just out of his 'teens, one Gavrilo Prinzep, attacked the royal party with a magazine pistol and killed both the Archduke and his wife.

Here was the excuse for which Germany had waited. Here was the dawn of "The Day." The Germanic court of Austria asserted that the crime was the result of a conspiracy, leading directly to the Slavic court of Serbia. The Serbians in their turn declared that they knew nothing of the assassination. They pointed out the fact that Sophia Chotek was a Slav, and that Francis Ferdinand was more liberal than any other member of the Austrian royal household, and finally, that he, more than any other member of the Austrian court, understood and respected the Slavic character and aspirations.

At six o'clock on the evening of July 23d, Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia, presenting eleven demands and stipulating that categorical replies must be delivered before six o'clock on the evening of July 25th. Although the language in which the ultimatum was couched was humiliating to Serbia, the answer was duly delivered within the stipulated time.

The demands of the Austrian note in brief were as follows:

1. The Serbian Government to give formal assurance of its condemnation of Serb propaganda against Austria.

2. The next issue of the Serbian "Official Journal" was to contain a declaration to that effect.

3. This declaration to express regret that Serbian officers had taken part in the propaganda.

4. The Serbian Government to promise that it would proceed rigorously against all guilty of such activity.

5. This declaration to be at once communicated by the King of Serbia to his army, and to be published in the official bulletin as an order of the day.

6. All anti-Austrian publications in Serbia to be suppressed.

7. The Serbian political party known as the "National Union" to be suppressed, and its means of propaganda to be confiscated.

8. All anti-Austrian teaching in the schools of Serbia to be suppressed.

9. All officers, civil and military, who might be designated by Austria as guilty of anti-Austrian propaganda to be dismissed by the Serbian Government.

10. Austrian agents to co-operate with the Serbian Government in suppressing all anti-Austrian propaganda, and to take part in the judicial proceedings conducted in Serbia against those charged with complicity in the crime at Sarajevo.

11. Serbia to explain to Austria the meaning of anti-Austrian utterances of Serbian officials at home and abroad, since the assassination.

To the first and second demands Serbia unhesitatingly assented. To the third demand, Serbia assented, although no evidence was given to show that Serbian officers had taken part in the propaganda.

The Serbian Government assented to the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth demands also.

Extraordinary as was the ninth demand, which would allow the Austrian Government to proscribe Serbian officials, so eager for peace and friendship was the Serbian Government that it assented to it, with the stipulation that the Austrian Government should offer some proof of the guilt of the proscribed officers.

The tenth demand, which in effect allowed Austrian agents to control the police and courts of Serbia, it was not possible for Serbia to accept without abrogating her sovereignty. However, it was not unconditionally rejected, but the Serbian Government asked that it be made the subject of further discussion, or be referred to arbitration. The Serbian Government assented to the eleventh demand, on the condition that if the explanations which would be given concerning the alleged anti-Austrian utterances of Serbian officials would not prove satisfactory to the Austrian Government, the matter should be submitted to mediation or arbitration.

Behind the threat conveyed in the Austrian ultimatum was the menacing figure of militant Germany. The veil that had hitherto concealed the hands that worked the string, was removed when Germany, under the pretense of localizing the quarrel to Serbian and Austrian soil, interrogated France and England, asking them to prevent Russia from defending Serbia in the event of an attack by Austria upon the Serbs. England and France promptly refused to participate in a tragedy which would deliver Serbia to Austria as Bosnia had been delivered. Russia, bound by race and creed to Serbia, read into the ultimatum of Teutonic kultur a determination for warfare. Mobilization of the Russian forces along the Austrian frontier was arranged, when it was seen that Serbia's pacific reply to Austria's demands would be contemptuously disregarded by Germany and Austria.

During the days that intervened between the issuance of the ultimatum and the actual declaration of war by Germany against Russia on Saturday, August 1st, various sincere efforts were made to stave off the world-shaking catastrophe. Arranged chronologically, these events may thus be summarized: Russia, on July 24th, formally asked Austria if she intended to annex Serbian territory by way of reprisal for the assassination at Sarajevo. On the same day Austria replied that it had no present intention to make such annexation. Russia then requested an extension of the forty-eight-hour time-limit named in the ultimatum.

Austria, on the morning of Saturday, July 25th, refused Russia's request for an extension of the period named in the ultimatum. On the same day, the newspapers published in Petrograd printed an official note issued by the Russian Government warning Europe generally that Russia would not remain indifferent to the fate of Serbia. These newspapers also printed the appeal of the Serbian Crown Prince to the Czar dated on the preceding day, urging that Russia come to the rescue of the menaced Serbs. Serbia's peaceful reply surrendering on all points except one, and agreeing to submit that to arbitration, was sent late in the afternoon of the same day, and that night Austria declared the reply to be unsatisfactory and withdrew its minister from Belgrade.

England commenced its attempts at pacification on the following day, Sunday, July 26th. Sir Edward Grey spent the entire Sabbath in the Foreign Office and personally conducted the correspondence that was calculated to bring the dispute to a peaceful conclusion. He did not reckon, however, with a Germany determined upon war, a Germany whose manufacturers, ship-owners and Junkers had combined with its militarists to achieve "Germany's place in the sun" even though the world would be stained in the blood of the most frightful war this earth has ever known. Realization of this fact did not come to Sir Edward Grey until his negotiations with Germany and with Austria-Hungary had proceeded for some time. His first suggestion was that the dispute between Russia and Austria be committed to the arbitration of Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany. Russia accepted this but Germany and Austria rejected it. Russia had previously suggested that the dispute be settled by a conference between the diplomatic heads at Vienna and Petrograd. This also was refused by Austria.

Sir Edward Grey renewed his efforts on Monday, July 27th, with an invitation to Germany to present suggestions of its own, looking toward a settlement. This note was never answered. Germany took the position that its proposition to compel Russia to stand aside while Austria punished Serbia had been rejected by England and France and it had nothing further to propose.

During all this period of negotiation the German Foreign Office, to all outward appearances at least, had been acting independently of the Kaiser, who was in Norway on a vacation trip. He returned to Potsdam on the night of Sunday, July 26th. On Monday morning the Czar of Russia received a personal message from the Kaiser, urging Russia to stand aside that Serbia might be punished. The Czar immediately replied with the suggestion that the whole matter be submitted to The Hague. No reply of any kind was ever made to this proposal by Germany.

[Illustration: THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION IN 1815 (Map: Baltic Sea on the
North, Adriatic Sea on the South, Eastern France and Belgium on the
West, Poland on the East.)]

All suggestions and negotiations looking forward to peace were brought to a tragic end on the following day, Tuesday, July 28th, when Austria declared war on Serbia, having speedily mobilized troops at strategic points on the Serbian border. Russian mobilization, which had been proceeding only in a tentative way, on the Austrian border, now became general, and on July 30th, mobilization of the entire Russian army was proclaimed.

Germany's effort to exclude England from the war began on Thursday, July 29th. A note, sounding Sir Edward Grey on the question of British neutrality in the event of war was received, and a curt refusal to commit the British Empire to such a proposal was the reply. Sir Edward Grey, in a last determined effort to avoid a world-war, suggested to Germany, Austria, Serbia and Russia that the military operations commenced by Austria should be recognized as merely a punitive expedition. He further suggested that when a point in Serbian territory previously fixed upon should have been reached, Austria would halt and would submit her further action to arbitration in the conference of the Powers. Russia and Serbia agreed unreservedly to this proposition. Austria gave a half-hearted assent to the principle involved. Germany made no reply.

The die was cast for war on the following day, July 31st, when Germany made a dictatorial and arrogant demand upon Russia that mobilization of that nation's military forces be stopped within twelve hours. Russia made no reply, and on Saturday, August 1st, Germany set the world aflame with the dread of war's horror by her declaration of war upon Russia.

Germany's responsibility for this monumental crime against the peace of the world is eternally fixed upon her, not only by these outward and visible acts and negotiations, not only by her years of patient preparation for the war into which she plunged the world. The responsibility is fastened upon her forever by the revelations of her own ambassador to England during this fateful period. Prince Lichnowsky, in a remarkable communication which was given to the world, laid bare the machinations of the German High Command and its advisers. He was a guest of the Kaiser at Kiel on board the Imperial yacht Meteor when the message was received informing the Kaiser of the assassination at Sarajevo. His story continues:

Being unacquainted with the Vienna viewpoint and what was going on there, I attached no very far-reaching significance to the event; but, looking back, I could feel sure that in the Austrian aristocracy a feeling of relief outweighed all others. His Majesty regretted that his efforts to win over the Archduke to his ideas had thus been frustrated by the Archduke's assassination.

I went on to Berlin and saw the Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg. I told him that I regarded our foreign situation as very satisfactory as it was a long time indeed since we had stood so well with England. And in France there was a pacifist cabinet. Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg did not seem to share my optimism.

He complained of the Russian armaments. I tried to tranquilize him with the argument that it was not to Russia's interest to attack us, and that such an attack would never have English or French support, as both countries wanted peace.

I went from him to Dr. Zimmermann (the under Secretary) who was acting for Herr von Jagow (the Foreign Secretary), and learned from him that Russia was about to call up nine hundred thousand new troops. His words unmistakably denoted ill-humor against Russia, who, he said, stood everywhere in our way. In addition, there were questions of commercial policy that had to be settled. That General von Moltke was urging war was, of course, not told to me. I learned, however, that Herr von Tschirschky (the German Ambassador in Vienna) had been reproved because he said that he had advised Vienna to show moderation toward Serbia.

Prince Lichnowsky went to his summer home in Silesia, quite unaware of the impending crisis. He continues:

When I returned from Silesia on my way to London, I stopped only a few hours in Berlin, where I heard that Austria intended to proceed against Serbia so as to bring to an end an unbearable state of affairs. Unfortunately, I failed at the moment to gauge the significance of the news. I thought that once more it would come to nothing; that even if Russia acted threateningly, the matter could soon be settled. I now regret that I did not stay in Berlin and declare there and then that I would have no hand in such a policy.

There was a meeting in Potsdam, as early as July 5th, between the German and Austrian authorities, at which meeting war was decided on. Prince Lichnowsky says:

I learned afterwards that at the decisive discussion at Potsdam on July 5th the Austrian demand had met with the unconditional approval of all the personages in authority; it was even added that no harm would be done if war with Russia did come out of it. It was so stated at least in the Austrian report received at London by Count Mensdorff (the Austrian Ambassador to England).

At this point I received instructions to endeavor to bring the English press to a friendly attitude in case Austria should deal the death-blow to "Greater-Serbian" hopes. I was to use all my influence to prevent public opinion in England from taking a stand against Austria. I remembered England's attitude during the Bosnian annexation crisis, when public opinion showed itself in sympathy with the Serbian claims to Bosnia; I recalled also the benevolent promotion of nationalist hopes that went on in the days of Lord Byron and Garibaldi; and on these and other grounds I thought it extremely unlikely that English public opinion would support a punitive expedition against the Archduke's murderers. I thus felt it my duty to enter an urgent warning against the whole project, which I characterized as venturesome and dangerous, I recommended that counsels of moderation he given Austria, as I did not believe that the conflict could be localized (that is to say, it could not be limited to a war between Austria and Serbia).

[Illustration: Photographs of Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg and Prince
Maximilian.]
  Photos from International Film Service.
  THE GERMAN CHANCELLORS
  On the right is Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg who is held responsible
  in large measure for bringing on the war. On the left is Prince
  Maximilian of Baden, the Kaiser's camouflage chancellor who was
  appointed in a vain attempt to fool the American people into thinking
  that a democratic government had been set up in Germany.

[Illustration: Photograph of ex-Emperor Charles and ex-Empress Zita.]
  Copyright Press Illustrating Service. THE DEPOSED RULERS OF
  AUSTRIA-HUNGARY The ex-Emperor Charles and his wife, the ex-Empress
  Zita, in deep conversation with Hungarian leaders who are explaining
  the distressing situation confronting the country.

Herr von Jagow answered me that Russia was not prepared; that there would be more or less of a rumpus; but that the more firmly we stood by Austria, the more surely would Russia give way. Austria was already blaming us for flabbiness and we could not flinch. On the other hand, Russian sentiment was growing more unfriendly all the time, and we must simply take the risk. I subsequently learned that this attitude was based on advices from Count Pourtales (the German Ambassador in Petrograd), that Russia would not stir under any circumstances; information which prompted us to spur Count Berchtold on in his course. On learning the attitude of the German Government I looked for salvation through English mediation, knowing that Sir Edward Grey's influence in Petrograd could be used in the cause of peace. I, therefore, availed myself of my friendly relations with the Minister to ask him confidentially to advise moderation in Russia in case Austria demanded satisfaction from the Serbians, as it seemed likely she would.

The English press was quiet at first, and friendly to Austria, the assassination being generally condemned. By degrees, however, more and more voices made themselves heard, in the sense that, however necessary it might be to take cognizance of the crime, any exploitation of it for political ends was unjustifiable. Moderation was enjoined upon Austria. When the ultimatum came out, all the papers, with the exception of the Standard, were unanimous in condemning it. The whole world, outside of Berlin and Vienna, realized that it meant war, and a world war too. The English fleet, which happened to have been holding a naval review, was not demobilized.

The British Government labored to make the Serbian reply conciliatory, and "the Serbian answer was in keeping with the British efforts." Sir Edward Grey then proposed his plan of mediation upon the two points which Serbia had not wholly conceded. Prince Lichnowsky writes:

M. Cambon (for France), Marquis Imperiali (for Italy), and I were to meet, with Sir Edward in the chair, and it would have been easy to work out a formula for the debated points, which had to do with the co-operation of imperial and royal officials in the inquiries to be conducted at Belgrade. By the exercise of good will everything could have been settled in one or two sittings, and the mere acceptance of the British proposal would have relieved the strain and further improved our relations with England. I seconded this plan with all my energies. In vain. I was told (by Berlin) that it would be against the dignity of Austria. Of course, all that was needed was one hint from Berlin to Count Berchtold (the Austrian Foreign Minister); he would have satisfied himself with a diplomatic triumph and rested on the Serbian answer. That hint was never given. On the contrary, pressure was brought in favor of war….

After our refusal Sir Edward asked us to come forward with our proposal. We insisted on war. No other answer could I get (from Berlin) than that it was a colossal condescension on the part of Austria not to contemplate any acquisition of territory. Sir Edward justly pointed out that one could reduce a country to vassalage without acquiring territory; that Russia would see this, and regard it as a humiliation not to be put up with. The impression grew stronger and stronger that we were bent on war. Otherwise our attitude toward a question in which we were not directly concerned was incomprehensible. The insistent requests and well-defined declarations of M. Sasanof, the Czar's positively humble telegrams, Sir Edward's repeated proposals, the warnings of Marquis San Guiliano and of Bollati, my own pressing admonitions were all of no avail. Berlin remained inflexible—Serbia must be slaughtered.

Then, on the 29th, Sir Edward decided upon his well-known warning. I told him I had always reported (to Berlin) that we should have to reckon with English opposition if it came to a war with France. Time and again the Minister said to me, "If war breaks out it will be the greatest catastrophe the world has ever seen." And now events moved rapidly. Count Berchtold at last decided to come around, having up to that point played the role of "Strong man" under guidance of Berlin. Thereupon we (in answer to Russia's mobilization) sent our ultimatum and declaration of war—after Russia had spent a whole week in fruitless negotiation and waiting.

Thus ended my mission in London. It had suffered shipwreck, not on the wiles of the Briton but on the wiles of our own policy. Were not those right who saw that the German people was pervaded with the spirit of Treitschke and Bernhardi, which glorifies war as an end instead of holding it in abhorrence as an evil thing? Properly speaking militarism is a school for the people and an instrument to further political ends. But in the patriarchal absolutism of a military monarchy, militarism exploits politics to further its own ends, and can create a situation which a democracy freed from junkerdom would not tolerate.

That is what our enemies think; that is what they are bound to think when they see that in spite of capitalistic industrialism, and in spite of socialistic organizations, the living, as Nietzsche said, are still ruled by the dead. The democratization of Germany, the first war aim proposed by our enemies, will become a reality.

This is the frank statement of a great German statesman made long before Germany received its knock-out blow. It was written when Germany was sweeping all before it on land, and when the U-boat was at the height of its murderous powers on the high seas. No one in nor out of Germany has controverted any of its statements and it will forever remain as one of the counts in the indictment against Germany and the sole cause of the world's greatest misery, the war.

America's outstanding authority on matters of international conduct, former Secretary of State Elihu Root declared that the World War was a mighty and all-embracing struggle between two conflicting principles of human right and human duty; it was a conflict between the divine right of kings to govern mankind through armies and nobles, and the right of the peoples of the earth who toil and endure and aspire to govern themselves by law under justice, and in the freedom of individual manhood.

After the declaration of war against Russia by Germany, events marched rapidly and inevitably toward the general conflagration. Germany's most strenuous efforts were directed toward keeping England out of the conflict. We have seen in the revelations of Prince Lichnowsky how eager was England to divert Germany's murderous purpose. There are some details, however, required to fill in the diplomatic picture.

President Poincare, of the French Republic, on July 30th, asked the British Ambassador in Paris for an assurance of British support. On the following day he addressed a similar letter to King George of England. Both requests were qualifiedly refused on the ground that England wished to be free to continue negotiations with Germany for the purpose of averting the war. In the meantime, the German Government addressed a note to England offering guarantees for Belgian integrity, providing Belgium did not side with France, offering to respect the neutrality of Holland and giving assurance that no French territory in Europe would be annexed if Germany won the war. Sir Edward Grey described this as a "shameful proposal," and rejected it on July 30th.

On July 31st England sent a note to France and Germany asking for a statement of purpose concerning Belgian neutrality. France immediately announced that it would respect the treaty of 1839 and its reaffirmation in 1870 guaranteeing Belgium's neutrality. This treaty was entered into by Germany, England, France, Austria and Russia. Germany's reply on August 1st was a proposal that she would respect the neutrality of Belgium if England would stay out of the war. This was promptly declined. On August 2d the British cabinet agreed that if the German fleet attempted to attack the coast of France the British fleet would intervene. Germany, the next day, sent a note agreeing to refrain from naval attacks on France provided England would remain neutral, but declined to commit herself as to the neutrality of Belgium. Before this, however, on August 2d, Germany had announced to Belgium its intention to enter Belgium for the purpose of attacking France. The Belgian Minister in London made an appeal to the British Foreign Office and was informed that invasion of Belgium by Germany would be followed by England's declaration of war. Monday, August 3d, was signalized by Belgium's declaration of its neutrality and its firm purpose to defend its soil against invasion by France, England, Germany or any other nation.

The actual invasion of Belgium commenced on the morning of August 4th, when twelve regiments of Uhlans crossed the frontier near Vise, and came in contact with a Belgian force driving it back upon Liege. King Albert of Belgium promptly appealed to England, Russia and France for aid in repelling the invader. England sent an ultimatum to Germany fixing midnight of August 4th as the time for expiration of the ultimatum. This demanded that satisfactory assurances be furnished immediately that Germany would respect the neutrality of Belgium. No reply was made by Germany and England's declaration of war followed.

Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg, of the German Empire, wrote Germany's infamy into history when, in a formal statement, he acknowledged that the invasion of Belgium was "a wrong that we will try to make good again as soon as our military ends have been reached." To Sir Edward Vochen, British Ambassador to Germany, he addressed the inquiry: "Is it the purpose of your country to make war upon Germany for the sake of a scrap of paper?" The treaty of 1839-1870 guaranteeing Belgium's neutrality was the scrap of paper.

[Illustration: Photographs]
  KING ALBERT I, QUEEN ELIZABETH, THE HEROIC RULERS OF BELGIUM

[Illustration: Photograph showing bombed out shells of buildings. In the
foreground a building has been leveled to the ground.]
  Copyright International News Service.
  THE RED RUINS OF YPRES
  Ypres, the British soldiers "Wipers," was the scene of much of the
  bloodiest fighting of the war. Three great battles were fought for its
  possession. The photograph shows what was once the market place.

With the entrance of England into the war, the issue between autocracy and democracy was made plain before the people of the world. Austria, and later Turkey, joined with Germany; France, and Japan, by reason of their respective treaty obligations joined England and Russia. Italy for the time preferred to remain neutral, ignoring her implied alliance with the Teutonic empires. How other nations lined up on the one side and the other is indicated by the State Department's list of war declarations, and diplomatic severances, which follows:

Austria against Belgium, Aug. 28, 1914.
Austria against Japan, Aug. 27, 1914.
Austria against Montenegro, Aug. 9, 1914.
Austria against Russia, Aug. 6, 1914.
Austria against Serbia, July 28, 1914.
Belgium against Germany, Aug. 4, 1914.
Brazil against Germany, Oct. 26, 1917.
Bulgaria against Serbia, Oct. 14, 1915.
China against Austria, Aug. 14, 1917.
China against Germany, Aug. 14, 1917.
Costa Rica against Germany, May 23, 1918.
Cuba against Germany, April 7, 1917.
Cuba against Austria-Hungary, Dec. 16, 1917.
France against Austria, Aug. 13, 1914.
France against Bulgaria, Oct. 16, 1915.
France against Germany, Aug. 3, 1914.
France against Turkey, Nov. 5, 1914.
Germany against Belgium, Aug. 4, 1914.
Germany against France, Aug. 3, 1914.
Germany against Portugal, March 9, 1916.
Germany against Roumania, Sept. 14, 1916.
Germany against Russia, Aug. 1, 1914.
Great Britain against Austria, Aug. 13, 1914.
Great Britain against Bulgaria, Oct. 15, 1915.
Great Britain against Germany, Aug. 4, 1914.
Great Britain against Turkey, Nov. 5, 1914.
Greece against Bulgaria, Nov. 28, 1916. (Provisional Government.)
Greece against Bulgaria, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.)
Greece against Germany, Nov. 28, 1916. (Provisional Government.)
Greece against Germany, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.)
Guatemala against Germany and Austria-Hungary, April 22, 1918.
Haiti against Germany, July 15, 1918.
Honduras against Germany, July 19, 1918.
Italy against Austria, May 24, 1915.
Italy against Bulgaria, Oct. 19, 1915.
Italy against Germany, Aug. 28, 1916.
Italy against Turkey, Aug. 21, 1915.
Japan against Germany, Aug. 23, 1914.
Liberia against Germany, Aug. 4, 1917.
Montenegro against Austria, Aug. 8, 1914.
Montenegro against Germany, Aug. 9, 1914.
Nicaragua against Germany, May 24, 1918.
Panama against Germany, April 7,1917.
Panama against Austria, Dec. 10, 1917.
Portugal against Germany, Nov. 23, 1914. (Resolution passed authorizing
                                          military intervention as ally
                                          of England)
Portugal against Germany, May 19, 1915. (Military aid granted.)
Roumania against Austria, Aug. 27, 1916. (Allies of Austria also
                                          consider it a declaration.)
Russia against Germany, Aug. 7, 1914.
Russia against Bulgaria, Oct. 19, 1915.
Russia against Turkey, Nov. 3, 1914.
San Marino against Austria, May 24, 1915.
Serbia against Bulgaria, Oct. 16, 1915.
Serbia against Germany, Aug. 6, 1914.
Serbia against Turkey, Dec. 2, 1914.
Siam against Austria, July 22, 1917.
Siam against Germany, July 22, 1917.
Turkey against Allies, Nov. 23, 1914.
Turkey against Roumania, Aug. 29, 1916.
United States against Germany, April 6, 1917.
United States against Austria-Hungary, Dec. 7, 1917.

SEVERANCE OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

The Nations that formally severed relations whether afterward declaring war or not, are as follows:

Austria against Japan, Aug. 26, 1914.
Austria against Portugal, March 16, 1916.
Austria against Serbia, July 26, 1914.
Austria against United States, April 8, 1917.
Bolivia against Germany, April 14, 1917.
Brazil against Germany, April 11, 1917.
China against Germany, March 14, 1917.
Costa Rica against Germany, Sept. 21, 1917.
Ecuador against Germany, Dec. 7, 1917.
Egypt against Germany, Aug. 13, 1914.
France against Austria, Aug. 10, 1914.
Greece against Turkey, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.)
Greece against Austria, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.)
Guatemala against Germany, April 27,1917.
Haiti against Germany, June 17, 1917.
Honduras against Germany, May 17, 1917.
Nicaragua against Germany, May 18, 1917.
Peru against Germany, Oct. 6, 1917.
Santo Domingo against Germany, June 8, 1917.
Turkey against United States, April 20, 1917.
United States against Germany, Feb. 3,1917.
Uruguay against Germany, Oct. 7, 1917.

CHAPTER V

THE GREAT WAR BEGINS

Years before 1914, when Germany declared war against civilization, it was decided by the German General Staff to strike at France through Belgium. The records of the German Foreign Office prove that fact. The reason for this lay in the long line of powerful fortresses along the line that divides France from Germany and the sparsely spaced and comparatively out-of-date forts on the border between Germany and Belgium. True, there was a treaty guaranteeing the inviolability of Belgian territory to which Germany was a signatory party. Some of the clauses of that treaty were:

Article 9. Belgium, within the limits traced in conformity with the principles laid down in the present preliminaries, shall form a perpetually neutral state. The five powers (England, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia), without wishing to intervene in the internal affairs of Belgium, guarantee her that perpetual neutrality as well as the integrity and inviolability of her territory in the limits mentioned in the present article.

Article 10. By just reciprocity Belgium shall be held to observe this same neutrality toward all the other states and to make no attack on their internal or external tranquillity while always preserving the right to defend herself against any foreign aggression.

This agreement was followed on January 23, 1839, by a definitive treaty, accepted by Belgium and by the Netherlands, which treaty regulates Belgium's neutrality as follows:

Article 7. Belgium, within the limits defined in Articles 1, 2 and 4 shall form an independent and perpetually neutral state. She is obligated to preserve this neutrality against all the other states.

To convert this solemn covenant into a "scrap of paper" it was necessary that Germany should find an excuse for tearing it to pieces. There was absolutely no provocation in sight, but that did not deter the German High Command. That august body with no information whatever to afford an excuse, alleged in a formal note to the Belgian Government that the French army intended to invade Germany through Belgian territory. This hypocritical and mendacious note and Belgium's vigorous reply follow:

Note handed in on August 2, 1914, at 7 o'clock P. M., by Herr von
Below-Saleske, German Minister, to M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for
Foreign Affairs.

BRUSSELS, 2d August, 1914.
IMPERIAL GERMAN LEGATION IN BELGIUM
(Highly confidential)

The German Government has received reliable information according to which the French forces intend to march on the Meuse, by way of Givet and Namur. This information leaves no doubt as to the intention of France of marching on Germany through Belgian territory. The Imperial Government cannot avoid the fear that Belgium, in spite of its best will, will be in no position to repulse such a largely developed French march without aid. In this fact there is sufficient certainty of a threat directed against Germany.

It is an imperative duty for the preservation of Germany to forestall this attack of the enemy.

The German Government would feel keen regret if Belgium should regard as an act of hostility against herself the fact that the measures of the enemies of Germany oblige her on her part to violate Belgian territory. In order to dissipate any misunderstanding the German Government declares as follows:

1. Germany does not contemplate any act of hostility against Belgium. If Belgium consents in the war about to commence to take up an attitude of friendly neutrality toward Germany, the German Government on its part undertakes, on the declaration of peace, to guarantee the kingdom and its possessions in their whole extent.

2. Germany undertakes under the conditions laid down to evacuate Belgian territory as soon as peace is concluded.

3. If Belgium preserves a friendly attitude, Germany is prepared, in agreement with the authorities of the Belgian Government, to buy against cash all that is required by her troops, and to give indemnity for the damages caused in Belgium.

4. If Belgium behaves in a hostile manner toward the German troops, and in particular raises difficulties against their advance by the opposition of the fortifications of the Meuse, or by destroying roads, railways, tunnels, or other engineering works, Germany will be compelled to consider Belgium as an enemy.

In this case Germany will take no engagements toward Belgium, but she will leave the later settlement of relations of the two states toward one another to the decision of arms. The German Government has a justified hope that this contingency will not arise and that the Belgian Government will know how to take suitable measures to hinder its taking place. In this case the friendly relations which unite the two neighboring states will become closer and more lasting.

THE REPLY BY BELGIUM
Note handed in by M. Davignon, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Herr von
Below-Saleske, German Minister.

BRUSSELS, 3d August, 1914. (7 o'clock in the morning.)

By the note of the 2d August, 1914, the German Government has made known that according to certain intelligence the French forces intend to march on the Meuse via Givet and Namur and that Belgium, in spite of her good-will, would not be able without help to beat off an advance of the French troops.

The German Government felt it to be its duty to forestall this attack and to violate Belgian territory. Under these conditions Germany proposes to the King's Government to take up a friendly attitude, and undertakes at the moment of peace to guarantee the integrity of the kingdom and of her possessions in their whole extent. The note adds that if Belgium raises difficulties to the forward march of the German troops Germany will be compelled to consider her as an enemy and to leave the later settlement of the two states toward one another to the decision of arms.

This note caused profound and painful surprise to the King's Government.

The intentions which it attributed to France are in contradiction with the express declarations which were made to us on the 1st of August, in the name of the government of the republic.

Moreover, if, contrary to our expectation, a violation of Belgian neutrality were to be committed by France, Belgium would fulfil all her international duties and her army would offer the most vigorous opposition to the invader.

The treaties of 1839, confirmed by the treaties of 1870, establish the independence and the neutrality of Belgium under the guarantee of the powers, and particularly of the Government of his Majesty the King of Prussia.

Belgium has always been faithful to her international obligations; she has fulfilled her duties in a spirit of loyal impartiality; she has neglected no effort to maintain her neutrality or to make it respected.

The attempt against her independence with which the German Government threatens her would constitute a flagrant violation of international law. No strategic interest justifies the violation of that law.

The Belgian Government would, by accepting the propositions which are notified to her, sacrifice the honor of the nation while at the same time betraying her duties toward Europe.

Conscious of the part Belgium has played for more than eighty years in the civilization of the world, she refuses to believe that the independence of Belgium can be preserved only at the expense of the violation of her neutrality.

If this hope were disappointed the Belgian Government has firmly resolved to repulse by every means in her power any attack upon her rights.

The German attack upon Belgium and France came with terrible force and suddenness. Twenty-four army corps, divided into three armies clad in a specially designed and colored gray-green uniform, swept in three mighty streams over the German borders with their objective the heart of France. The Army of the Meuse was given the route through Liege, Namur and Maubeuge. The Army of the Moselle violated the Duchy of Luxemburg, which, under a treaty guaranteeing its independence and neutrality, was not permitted to maintain an army. Germany was a signatory party to this treaty also. The Army of the Rhine cut through the Vosges Mountains and its route lay between the French cities of Nancy and Toul.

The heroic defense of the Belgian army at Liege against the Army of the Meuse delayed the operation of Germany's plans and in all probability saved Paris. It was the first of many similar disappointments and checks that Germany encountered during the war.

The defense of Liege continued for ten heroic days. Within that interval the first British Expeditionary Forces were landed in France and Belgium, the French army was mobilized to full strength. The little Belgian army falling back northward on Antwerp, Louvain and Brussels, threatened the German flank and approximately 200,000 German soldiers were compelled to remain in the conquered section of Belgium to garrison it effectively.

Liege fortifications were the design of the celebrated strategist Brialmont. They consisted of twelve isolated fortresses which had been permitted to become out of repair. No field works of any kind connected them and they were without provision for defense against encircling tactics and against modern artillery.

The huge 42-centimeter guns, the first of Germany's terrible surprises, were brought into action against these forts, and their concrete and armored steel turrets were cracked as walnuts are cracked between the jaws of a nut-cracker. The Army of the Meuse then made its way like a gray-green cloud of poison gas through Belgium. A cavalry screen of crack Uhlan regiments preceded it, and it made no halt worthy of note until it confronted the Belgian army on the line running from Louvain to Namur. The Belgians were forced back before Louvain on August 20th, the Belgian Government removed the capital from Brussels to Antwerp, and the German hosts entered evacuated Brussels.

During this advance of the Army of the Meuse, strong French detachments invaded German soil, pouring into Alsace through the Belfort Gap. Brief successes attended the bold stroke. Mulhausen was captured and the Metz-Strassburg Railroad was cut in several places. The French suffered a defeat almost immediately following this first flush of victory, both in Alsace and in Lorraine, where a French detachment had engaged with the Army of the Moselle. The French army thereupon retreated to the strong line of forts and earthworks defending the border between France and Germany.

England's first expeditionary force landed at Ostend, Calais and Dunkirk on August 7th. It was dubbed England's "contemptible little army" by the German General Staff. That name was seized upon gladly by England as a spur to volunteering. It brought to the surface national pride and a fierce determination to compel Germany to recognize and to reckon with the "contemptible little army."

The contact between the French, Belgian and British forces was speedily established and something like concerted resistance to the advance of the enemy was made possible. The German army, however, followed by a huge equipment of motor kitchens, munition trains, and other motor transport evidencing great care in preparation for the movement, swept resistlessly forward until it encountered the French and British on a line running from Mons to Charleroi.

The British army was assigned to a position between two French armies. By some miscalculation, the French army that was to have taken its position on the British left, never appeared. The French army on the right was attacked and defeated at Charleroi, falling back in some confusion. The German Army of the Moselle co-operating with the Army of the Meuse then attacked the British and French, and a great flanking movement by the German joint commands developed.

This was directed mainly at the British under command of Sir John French. There followed a retreat that for sheer heroism and dogged determination has become one of the great battles of all time. The British, outflanked and outnumbered three to one, fought and marched without cessation for six days and nights. Time after time envelopment and disaster threatened them, but with a determination that would not be beaten they fought off the best that Germany could send against them, maintained contact with the French army on their right, and delayed the German advance so effectively that a complete disarrangement of all the German plans ensued. This was the second great disappointment to Germany. It made possible the victory of the Marne and the victorious peace of 1918. The story of that immortal retreat is best told in the words of Sir John French, transmitting the report of this encounter to the British War Office:

"The transport of the troops from England both by sea and by rail was effected in the best order and without a check. Each unit arrived at its destination well within the scheduled time.

"The concentration was practically complete on the evening of Friday, the 21st ultimo, and I was able to make dispositions to move the force during Saturday, the 22d, to positions I considered most favorable from which to commence operations which the French commander-in-chief, General Joffre, requested me to undertake in pursuance of his plans in prosecution of the campaign.

"The line taken up extended along the line of the canal from Conde on the west, through Mons and Binche on the east. This line was taken up as follows:

"From Conde to Mons, inclusive, was assigned to the Second Corps, and to the right of the Second Corps from Mons the First Corps was posted. The Fifth Cavalry Brigade was placed at Binche.

"In the absence of my Third Army Corps I desired to keep the cavalry divisions as much as possible as a reserve to act on my outer flank, or move in support of any threatened part of the line. The forward reconnoissance was intrusted to Brig.-Gen. Sir Philip Chetwode, with the Fifth Cavalry Brigade, but I directed General Allenby to send forward a few squadrons to assist in this work.

"During the 22d and 23d these advanced squadrons did some excellent work, some of them penetrating as far as Soignies, and several encounters took place in which our troops showed to great advantage.

"2. At 6 A. M., on August 23d, I assembled the commanders of the First and Second Corps and cavalry division at a point close to the position and explained the general situation of the Allies, and what I understood to be General Joffre's plan. I discussed with them at some length the immediate situation in front of us.

"From information I received from French headquarters I understood that little more than one, or at most two, of the enemy's army corps, with perhaps one cavalry division, were in front of my position; and I was aware of no attempted outflanking movement by the enemy. I was confirmed in this opinion by the fact that my patrols encountered no undue opposition in their reconnoitering operations. The observations of my airplanes seemed to bear out this estimate.

"About 3 P. M. on Sunday, the 23d, reports began coming in to the effect that the enemy was commencing an attack on the Mons line, apparently in some strength, but that the right of the position from Mons and Bray was being particularly threatened.

"The commander of the First Corps had pushed his flank back to some high ground south of Bray, and the Fifth Cavalry Brigade evacuated Binche, moving slightly south; the enemy thereupon occupied Binche.

"The right of the Third Division, under General Hamilton, was at Mons, which formed a somewhat dangerous salient; and I directed the commander of the Second Corps to be careful not to keep the troops on this salient too long, but, if threatened seriously, to draw back the center behind Mons. This was done before dark. In the meantime, about 5 P. M., I received a most unexpected message from General Joffre by telegraph, telling me that at least three German corps, viz., a reserve corps, the Fourth Corps and the Ninth Corps, were moving on my position in front, and that the Second Corps was engaged in a turning movement from the direction of Tournay. He also informed me that the two reserve French divisions and the Fifth French army on my right were retiring, the Germans having on the previous day gained possession of the passages of the Sambre, between Charleroi and Namur.

"3. In view of the possibility of my being driven from the Mons position, I had previously ordered a position in rear to be reconnoitered. This position rested on the fortress of Maubeuge on the right and extended west to Jenlain, southeast to Valenciennes, on the left. The position was reported difficult to hold, because standing crops and buildings made the placing of trenches very difficult and limited the field of fire in many important localities. It nevertheless afforded a few good artillery positions.

"When the news of the retirement of the French and the heavy German threatening on my front reached me, I endeavored to confirm it by airplane reconnoissance; and as a result of this I determined to effect a retirement to the Maubeuge position at daybreak on the 24th.

"A certain amount of fighting continued along the whole line throughout the night and at daybreak on the 24th the Second Division from the neighborhood of Harmignies made a powerful demonstration as if to retake Binche. This was supported by the artillery of both the First and Second Divisions, while the First Division took up a supporting position in the neighborhood of Peissant. Under cover of this demonstration the Second Corps retired on the line Dour-Quarouble-Frameries. The Third Division on the right of the corps suffered considerable loss in this operation from the enemy, who had retaken Mons.

"The Second Corps halted on this line, where they partially intrenched themselves, enabling Sir Douglas Haig with the First Corps gradually to withdraw to the new position; and he effected this without much further loss, reaching the line Bavai-Maubeuge about 7 P. M. Toward midday the enemy appeared to be directing his principal effort against our left.

"I had previously ordered General Allenby with the cavalry to act vigorously in advance of my left front and endeavor to take the pressure off.

"About 7.30 A. M. General Allenby received a message from Sir Charles Ferguson, commanding the Fifth Division, saying that he was very hard pressed and in urgent need of support. On receipt of this message General Allenby drew in the cavalry and endeavored to bring direct support to the Fifth Division.

"During the course of this operation General De Lisle, of the Second Cavalry Brigade, thought he saw a good opportunity to paralyze the further advance of the enemy's infantry by making a mounted attack on his flank. He formed up and advanced for this purpose, but was held up by wire about five hundred yards from his objective, and the Ninth Lancers and the Eighteenth Hussars suffered severely in the retirement of the brigade.

"The Nineteenth Infantry Brigade, which had been guarding the line of communications, was brought up by rail to Valenciennes on the 22d and 23d. On the morning of the 24th they were moved out to a position south of Quarouble to support the left flank of the Second Corps.

"With the assistance of the cavalry Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was enabled to effect his retreat to a new position; although, having two corps of the enemy on his front and one threatening his flank, he suffered great losses in doing so.

"At nightfall the position was occupied by the Second Corps to the west of Bavai, the First Corps to the right. The right was protected by the Fortress of Maubeuge, the left by the Nineteenth Brigade in position between Jenlain and Bry, and the cavalry on the outer flank.

"4. The French were still retiring, and I had no support except such as was afforded by the Fortress of Maubeuge; and the determined attempts of the enemy to get round my left flank assured me that it was his intention to hem me against that place and surround me. I felt that not a moment must be lost in retiring to another position.

"I had every reason to believe that the enemy's forces were somewhat exhausted and I knew that they had suffered heavy losses. I hoped, therefore, that his pursuit would not be too vigorous to prevent me effecting my object.

"The operation, however, was full of danger and difficulty, not only owing to the very superior force in my front, but also to the exhaustion of the troops.

"The retirement was recommenced in the early morning of the 25th to a position in the neighborhood of Le Cateau, and rearguards were ordered to be clear of the Maubeuge-Bavai-Eih Road by 5.30 A. M.

"Two cavalry brigades, with the divisional cavalry of the Second Corps, covered the movement of the Second Corps. The remainder of the cavalry division, with the Nineteenth Brigade, the whole under the command of General Allenby, covered the west flank.

"The Fourth Division commenced its detrainment at Le Cateau on Sunday, the 23d, and by the morning of the 25th eleven battalions and a brigade of artillery with divisional staff were available for service.

"I ordered General Snow to move out to take up a position with his right south of Solesmes, his left resting on the Cambrai-LeCateau Road south of La Chaprie. In this position the division tendered great help to the effective retirement of the Second and First Corps to the new position.

"Although the troops had been ordered to occupy the Cambrai-Le Cateau-Landrecies position, and the ground had, during the 25th, been partially prepared and intrenched, I had grave doubts, owing to the information I had received as to the accumulating strength of the enemy against me—as to the wisdom of standing there to fight.

"Having regard to the continued retirement of the French on my right, my exposed left flank, the tendency of the enemy's western corps (II) to envelop me, and, more than all, the exhausted condition of the troops, I determined to make a great effort to continue the retreat until I could put some substantial obstacle, such as the Somme or the Oise, between my troops and the enemy, and afford the former some opportunity of rest and reorganization. Orders were, therefore, sent to the corps commanders to continue their retreat as soon as they possibly could toward the general line Vermand-St. Quentin-Ribemont.

"The cavalry under General Allenby, were ordered to cover the retirement.

"Throughout the 25th and far into the evening, the First Corps continued its march on Landrecies, following the road along the eastern border of the Foret de Mormal, and arrived at Landrecies about 10 o'clock. I had intended that the corps should come further west so as to fill up the gap between Le Cateau and Landrecies, but the men were exhausted and could not get further in without rest.

"The enemy, however, would not allow them this rest, and about 9.30 P. M. a report was received that the Fourth Guards Brigade in Landrecies was heavily attacked by troops of the Ninth German Army Corps, who were coming through the forest on the north of the town. This brigade fought most gallantly, and caused the enemy to suffer tremendous loss in issuing from the forest into the narrow streets of the town. This loss has been estimated from reliable sources at from 700 to 1,000. At the same time information reached me from Sir Douglas Haig that his First Division was also heavily engaged south and east of Maroilles. I sent urgent messages to the commander of the two French reserve divisions on my right to come up to the assistance of the First Corps, which they eventually did. Partly owing to this assistance, but mainly to the skilful manner in which Sir Douglas Haig extricated his corps from an exceptionally difficult position in the darkness of the night, they were able at dawn to resume their march south toward Wassigny on Guise.

"By about 6 P. M. the Second Corps had got into position with their right on Le Cateau, their left in the neighborhood of Caudry, and the line of defense was continued thence by the Fourth Division toward Seranvillers, the left being thrown back.

"During the fighting on the 24th and 25th the cavalry became a good deal scattered, but by the early morning of the 26th, General Allenby had succeeded in concentrating two brigades to the south of Cambrai.

"The Fourth Division was placed under the orders of the general officer commanding the Second Army Corps.

"On the 24th the French Cavalry Corps, consisting of three divisions under General Sordet, had been in billets north of Avesnes. On my way back from Bavai, which was my 'Poste de Commandement' during the fighting of the 23d and 24th, I visited General Sordet, and earnestly requested his co-operation and support. He promised to obtain sanction from his army commander to act on my left flank, but said that his horses were too tired to move before the next day. Although he rendered me valuable assistance later on in the course of the retirement, he was unable, for the reasons given, to afford me any support on the most critical day of all, viz., the 26th.

"At daybreak it became apparent that the enemy was throwing the bulk of his strength against the left of the position occupied by the Second Corps and the Fourth Division.

"At this time the guns of four German army corps were in position against them, and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien reported to me that he judged it impossible to continue his retirement at daybreak (as ordered) in face of such an attack.

"I sent him orders to use his utmost endeavors to break off the action and retire at the earliest possible moment, as it was impossible for me to send him any support, the First Corps being at the moment incapable of movement.

"The French Cavalry Corps, under General Sordet, was coming up on our left rear early in the morning, and I sent an urgent message to him to do his utmost to come up and support the retirement of my left flank; but owing to the fatigue of his horses he found himself unable to intervene in any way.

"There had been no time to intrench the position properly, but the troops showed a magnificent front to the terrible fire which confronted them.

"The artillery, although outmatched by at least four to one, made a splendid fight, and inflicted heavy losses on their opponents.

"At length it became apparent that, if complete annihilation was to be avoided, a retirement must be attempted; and the order was given to commence it about 3.30 P. M. The movement was covered with the most devoted intrepidity and determination by the artillery, which had itself suffered heavily, and the fine work done by the cavalry in the further retreat from the position assisted materially in the final completion of this most difficult and dangerous operation.

"Fortunately the enemy had himself suffered too heavily to engage in an energetic pursuit.

"I cannot close the brief account of this glorious stand of the British troops without putting on record my deep appreciation of the valuable services rendered by Gen. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien.

"I say without hesitation that the saving of the left wing of the army under my command on the morning of the 26th of August, could never have been accomplished unless a commander of rare and unusual coolness, intrepidity, and determination had been present to personally conduct the operation.

"The retreat was continued far into the night of the 26th and through the 27th and 28th, on which date the troops halted on the line Noyon-Chauny-LaFere, having then thrown off the weight of the enemy's pursuit.

"On the 27th and 28th I was much indebted to General Sordet and the French Cavalry Division which he commands for materially assisting my retirement and successfully driving back some of the enemy on Cambrai.

"This closes the period covering the heavy fighting which commenced at Mons on Sunday afternoon, 23d August, and which really constituted a four days' battle.

"It is impossible for me to speak too highly of the skill evinced by the two general officers commanding army corps; the self-sacrificing and devoted exertions of their staffs; the direction of the troops by divisional, brigade, and regimental leaders; the command of the smaller units by their officers; and the magnificent fighting spirit displayed by non-commissioned officers and men.

"I wish particularly to bring to your Lordship's notice the admirable work done by the Royal Flying Corps under Sir David Henderson. Their skill, energy, and perseverance have been beyond all praise. They have furnished me with the most complete and accurate information, which has been of incalculable value in the conduct of the operations. Fired at constantly both by friend and foe, and not hesitating to fly in every kind of weather, they have remained undaunted throughout.

"Further, by actually fighting in the air, they have succeeded in destroying five of the enemy's machines."

The combined French and British armies, including the forces that had retreated from Alsace and Lorraine, gave way with increasing stubbornness before von Kluck. That German general disregarding the fortresses surrounding Paris, swung southward to make a junction with the Army of the Crown Prince of Germany advancing through the Vosges Mountains. General Manoury's army opposed the German advance on the entrenched line of Paris. General Gallieni commanding the garrison of Paris, was ready with a novel mobile transport consisting of taxicabs and fast trucks. The total number of soldiers in the French and British armies now outnumbered those in the German armies opposed to them.

General Joffre, in supreme command of the French, had chosen the battleground. He had set the trap with consummate skill. The word was given; the trap was sprung; and the first battle of the Marne came as a crashing surprise to Germany.

CHAPTER VI

THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM

Germany's onrush into heroic Belgium speedily resolved itself into a saturnalia that drenched the land with blood and roused the civilized world into resentful horror. As the tide of barbarity swept forward into Northern France, stories of the horrors filtered through the close web of German censorship. There were denials at first by German propagandists. In the face of truth furnished by thousands of witnesses, the denials faded away.

What caused these atrocities? Were they the spontaneous expression of dormant brutishness in German soldiers? Were they a sudden reversion of an entire nation to bestiality?

The answer is that the private soldier as an individual was not responsible. The carnage, the rapine, the wholesale desolation was an integral part of the German policy of schrecklichkeit or frightfulness. This policy was laid down by Germany as part of its imperial war code. In 1902 Germany issued a new war manual entitled "Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege." In it is written this cold-blooded declaration:

All measures which conduce to the attainment of the object of war are permissible and these may be summarized in the two ideas of violence and cunning. What is permissible includes every means of war without which the object of the war cannot be attained. All means which modern invention affords, including the fullest, most dangerous, and most massive means of destruction, may be utilized.

Brand Whitlock, United States Minister to Belgium, in a formal report to the State Department, made this statement concerning Germany's policy in permitting these outrages:

"All these deliberate organized massacres of civilians, all these murders and outrages, the violation of women, the killing of children, wanton destruction, burning, looting and pillage, and whole towns destroyed, were acts for which no possible military necessity can be pleaded. They were wilfully committed as part of a deliberately prepared and scientifically organized policy of terrorism."

[Illustration: Painting]
  From a Painting by F. Gueldry to illustrate an official report.
  GERMAN ATROCITIES
  At Senlis, Department of Oise, on September 2,1914, French captives
  were made to walk in the open so as to be hit by French bullets. Many
  were killed and wounded. The townsman on the left was struck in the
  knee. A German officer asked to see the wound and shot him through the
  shoulder. On the right a German officer is seen torturing a wounded
  French soldier by beating him in the face with a stick.

[Illustration: Photographs] Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. THE SUPREME EXPONENTS OF GERMAN FRIGHTFULNESS On the left, General van Bossing, military commander of Belgium. On the right, Grand Admiral van Tirpitz, who inspired the German submarine campaign.

THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 91

And now, having considered these outrages as part of the German policy of terrorism, let us turn to the facts presented by those who made investigations at first hand in devastated Belgium and Northern France.

Let us first turn to the tragic story of the destruction of Louvain. The first document comes in the form of a cable sent from the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs under date of August 8,1914:

"On Tuesday evening a body of German troops who had been driven back retired in disorder upon the town of Louvain. Germans who were guarding the town thought that the retiring troops were Belgians and fired upon them. In order to excuse this mistake the Germans, in spite of the most energetic denials on the part of the authorities, pretended that Belgians had fired on the Germans, although all the inhabitants, including policemen, had been disarmed for more than a week. Without any examination and without listening to any protest the commanding officer announced that the town would be immediately destroyed. All inhabitants had to leave their homes at once; some were made prisoners; women and children were put into a train of which the destination was unknown; soldiers with fire bombs set fire to the different quarters of the town; the splendid Church of St. Pierre, the markets, the university and its scientific establishments, were given to the flames, and it is probable that the Hotel de Ville, this celebrated jewel of Gothic art, will also have disappeared in the disaster. Several notabilities were shot at sight. Thus a town of 40,000 inhabitants, which, since the fifteenth century, has been the intellectual and scientific capital of the Low Countries is a heap of ashes. Americans, many of whom have followed the course at this illustrious alma mater and have there received such cordial hospitality, cannot remain insensible to this outrage on the rights of humanity and civilization which is unprecedented in history."

Minister Whitlock made the following report on the same outrage:

"A violent fusillade broke out simultaneously at various points in the city (Louvain), notably at the Porte de Bruxelles, Porte de Tirlemont, Rue Leopold, Rue Marie-Therese, Rue des Joyeuses Entrees. German soldiers were firing at random in every street and in every direction. Later fires broke out everywhere, notably in the University building, the Library, in the old Church of St. Peter, in the Place du Peuple, in the Rue de la Station, in the Boulevard de Tirlemont, and in the Chaussee de Tirlemont. On the orders of their chiefs, the German soldiers would break open the houses and set fire to them, shooting on the inhabitants who tried to leave their dwellings. Many persons who took refuge in their cellars were burned to death. The German soldiers were equipped with apparatus for the purpose of firing dwellings, incendiary pastils, machines for spraying petroleum, etc. . . .

"Major von Manteuffel (of the German forces) sent for Alderman Schmidt. Upon the latter's arrival, the major declared that hostages were to be held, as sedition had just broken out. He asked Father Parijs, Mr. Schmidt, and Mgr. Coenraedts, First Vice-Rector of the University, who was being held as a hostage, to make proclamations to the inhabitants exhorting them to be calm and menacing them with a fine of twenty million francs, the destruction of the city and the hanging of the hostages, if they created disturbance. Surrounded by about thirty soldiers and a few officers, Major Manteuffel, Father Parijs, Mr. Schmidt and Mgr. Coenraedts left in the direction of the station, and the alderman, in French, and the priest, in Flemish, made proclamations at the street corners.. . .

"Near the statue of Juste-Lipse, a Dr. Berghausen, a German surgeon, in a highly excited condition, ran to meet the delegation. He shouted that a German soldier had just been killed by a shot fired from the house of Mr. David Fishbach. Addressing the soldiers, Dr. Berghausen said: 'The blood of the entire population of Louvain is not worth a drop of the blood of a German soldier!' Then one of the soldiers threw into the interior of the house of Mr. Fishbach one of the pastils which the German soldiers carried and immediately the house flared up. It contained paintings of a high value. The old coachman, Joseph Vandermosten, who had re-entered the house to try to save the life of his master, did not return. His body was found the next day amidst the ruins. . . .

"The Germans made the usual claim that the civil population had fired upon them and that it was necessary to take these measures, i. e., burn the churches, the library and other public monuments, burn and pillage houses, driving out and murdering the inhabitants, sacking the city in order to punish and to spread terror among the people, and General von Luttwitz had told me that it was reported that the son of the burgomaster had shot one of their generals. But the burgomaster of Louvain had no son and no officer was shot at Louvain. The story of a general shot by the son of a burgomaster was a repetition of a tragedy that had occurred at Aerschot, on the 19th, where the fifteen-year-old son of the burgomaster had been killed by a firing squad, not because he had shot a general, but because an officer had been shot, probably by Belgian soldiers retreating through the town. The story of this tragedy is told by the boy's mother, under oath, before the Belgian Commission, and is so simple, so touching, so convincing in its verisimilitude, that I attach a copy of it in extenso to this report. It seems to afford an altogether typical example of what went on all over the stricken land during those days of terror. (In other places it was the daughter of the burgomaster who was said to have shot a general.)

"The following facts may be noted: From the avowal of Prussian officers themselves, there was not one single victim, among their men at the barracks of St. Martin, Louvain, where it was claimed that the first shot had been fired from a house situated in front of the Caserne. This would appear to be impossible had the civilians fired upon them point blank from across the street. It was said that when certain houses near the barracks were burning, numerous explosions occurred, revealing the presence of cartridges; but these houses were drinking houses much frequented by German soldiers. It was said that Spanish students shot from the schools in the Rue de la Station, but Father Catala, rector of the school, affirms that the schools were empty. . . .

"If it was necessary, for whatever reason, to do what was done at Vise, at Dinant, at Aerschot, at Louvain, and in a hundred other towns that were sacked, pillaged and burned, where masses were shot down because civilians had fired on German troops, and if it was necessary to do this on a scale never before witnessed in history, one might not unreasonably assume that the alleged firing by civilians was done on a scale, if not so thoroughly organized, at least somewhat in proportion to the rage of destruction that punished it. And hence it would seem to be a simple matter to produce at least convincing evidence that civilians had fired on the soldiers; but there is no testimony to that effect beyond that of the soldiers who merely assert it: Man hat geschossen. If there were no more firing on soldiers by civilians in Belgium than is proved by the German testimony, it was not enough to justify the burning of the smallest of the towns that was overtaken by that fate. And there is not a scintilla of evidence of organized bands of francs-tireurs, such as were found in the war of 1870."

Under date of September 12, 1917, Minister Whitlock, in a report to the State Department of the United States, made the following summary: "As one studies the evidence at hand, one is struck at the outset by the fact so general that it must exclude the hypothesis of coincidence, and that is that these wholesale massacres followed immediately upon some check, some reverse, that the German army had sustained. The German army was checked by the guns of the forts to the east of Liege, and the horrors of Vise, Verviers, Bligny, Battice, Hervy and twenty villages follow. When they entered Liege, they burned the houses along two streets and killed many persons, five or six Spaniards among them. Checked before Namur they sacked Andenne, Bouvignies, and Champignon, and when they took Namur they burned one hundred and fifty houses. Compelled to give battle to the French army in the Belgian Ardennes they ravaged the beautiful valley of the Semois; the complete destruction of the village of Rossignlo and the extermination of its entire male population took place there. Checked again by the French on the Meuse, the awful carnage of Dinant results. Held on the Sambre by the French, they burn one hundred houses at Charleroi and enact the appalling tragedy of Tamines. At Mons, the English hold them, and after that all over the Borinage there is a systematic destruction, pillage and murder. The Belgian army drive them back from Malines and Louvain is doomed. The Belgian army failing back and fighting in retreat took refuge in the forts of Antwerp, and the burning and sack of Hougaerde, Wavre, Ottignies, Grimde, Neerlinter, Weert, St. George, Shaffen and Aerschot follow.

[Illustration: Painting: Three soldiers in a bombed out shack, one on a
telephone.]
  AN OBSERVATION POST
  Watching the effect of gun fire from a sand-bagged ruin near the
  German lines.

[Illustration: Photograph of King and soldiers parading on horses.] Photo by Trans-Atlantic News Service KING ALBERT AT THE HEAD OF THE HEROIC SOLDIERS OF BELGIUM It is universally agreed that the Belgian monarch was no figurehead general but a real leader of his troops. It was these men, facing annihilation, who astonished the world by opposing the German military machine successfully enough to allow France to get her armies into shape and prevent the immediate taking of Paris that was planned by Germany.

[Illustration: Painting of soldiers dragging large guns through mud;
shells are exploding in the background; in the foreground a dead
soldier lies face down in the mud.]
  THE TERRIBLE FLANDERS MUD
  A German battery endeavoring to escape from a British advance sinks in
  the mud. The gunners are endeavoring to pull the gun out with ropes.

"The Belgian troops inflicted serious losses on the Germans in the South of the Province of Limbourg, and the towns of Lummen, Bilsen, and Lanaeken are partially destroyed. Antwerp held out for two months, and all about its outer line of fortifications there was blood and fire, numerous villages were sacked and burned and the whole town of Termonde was destroyed. During the battles of September the village of Boortmeerbeek near Malines, occupied by the Germans, was retaken by the Belgians, and when the Germans entered it again they burned forty houses. Three times occupied by the Belgians and retaken by the Germans Boortmeerbeek was three times punished in the same way. That is to say, everywhere the German army met with a defeat it took it out, as we say in America, on the civil population. And that is the explanation of the German atrocities in Belgium."

A committee of the highest honor and responsibility was appointed by the
British Government to investigate the whole subject of atrocities in
Belgium and Northern France. Its chairman was the Rt. Hon. Viscount
James Bryce, formerly British Ambassador to the United States. Its other
members were the Rt. Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, the Rt. Hon. Sir Edward
Clark, Sir Alfred Hopkinson, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Sheffield, Mr. Harold Cox and Sir Kenelm E. Digby.

The report of the commission bears upon its face the stamp of painstaking search for truth, substantiates every statement made by Minister Whitlock and makes known many horrible instances of cruelty and barbarity. It makes the following deductions as having been proved beyond question:

1. That there were in many parts of Belgium deliberate and systematically organized massacres of the civil population, accompanied by many isolated murders and other outrages.

2. That in the conduct of the war generally innocent civilians, both men and women, were murdered in large numbers, women violated, and children murdered.

3. That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction of property were ordered and countenanced by the officers of the German army, that elaborate provision had been made for systematic incendiarism at the very outbreak of the war, and that the burnings and destruction were frequent where no military necessity could be alleged, being, indeed, part of a system of general terrorization.

4. That the rules and usages of war were frequently broken, particularly by the using of civilians, including women and children, as a shield for advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by killing the wounded and prisoners and in the frequent abuse of the Red Cross and the white flag.

The Bryce Commission's report on the destruction of Dinant is an example of testimony laid before them. It follows:

"A clear statement of the outrages at Dinant, which many travelers will recall as a singularly picturesque town on the Meuse, is given by one witness, who says that the Germans began burning houses in the Rue St. Jacques on the 21st of August, and that every house in the street was burned. On the following day an engagement took place between the French and the Germans, and the witness spent the whole day in the cellar of a bank with his wife and children. On the morning of the 23d, about 5 o'clock, firing ceased, and almost immediately afterward a party of Germans came to the house. They rang the bell and began to batter at the door and windows. The witness' wife went to the door and two or three Germans came in. The family were ordered out into the street. There they found another family, and the two families were driven with their hands above their heads along the Rue Grande. All the houses in the street were burning.

"The party was eventually put into a forge where there were a number of other prisoners, about a hundred in all, and were kept there from 11 A. M. till 2 P. M. They were then taken to the prison. There they were assembled in a courtyard and searched. No arms were found. They were then passed through into the prison itself and put into cells. The witness and his wife were separated from each other. During the next hour the witness heard rifle shots continually and noticed in the corner of a courtyard leading off the row of cells the body of a young man with a mantle thrown over it. He recognized the mantle as having belonged to his wife. The witness' daughter was allowed to go out to see what had happened to her mother, and the witness himself was allowed to go across the courtyard half an hour afterward for the same purpose. He found his wife lying on the floor in a room. She had bullet wounds in four places but was alive and told her husband to return to the children and he did so.

"About 5 o'clock in the evening, he saw the Germans bringing out all the young and middle-aged men from the cells, and ranging their prisoners, to the number of forty, in three rows in the middle of the courtyard. About twenty Germans were drawn up opposite, but before anything was done there was a tremendous fusillade from some point near the prison and the civilians were hurried back to their cells. Half an hour later the same forty men were brought back into the courtyard. Almost immediately there was a second fusillade and they were driven back to the cells again.

"About 7 o'clock the witness and other prisoners were brought out of their cells and marched out of the prison. They went between two lines of troops to Roche Bayard, about a kilometer away. An hour later the women and children were separated and the prisoners were brought back to Dinant passing the prison on their way. Just outside the prison, the witness saw three lines of bodies which he recognized as being those of his neighbors. They were nearly all dead, but he noticed movement in some of them. There were about one hundred and twenty bodies. The prisoners were then taken up to the top of a hill outside Dinant and compelled to stay there till 8 o'clock in the morning. On the following day they were put into cattle trucks and taken thence to Coblenz. For three months they remained prisoners in Germany.

"Unarmed civilians were killed in masses at other places near the prison. About ninety bodies were seen lying on the top of one another in a grass square opposite the convent. A witness asked a German officer why her husband had been shot, and he told her that it was because two of her sons had been in the civil guard and had shot at the Germans. As a matter of fact, one of her sons was at that time in Liege and the other in Brussels. It is stated that besides the ninety corpses referred to above, sixty corpses of civilians were recovered from a hole in the brewery yard and that forty-eight bodies of women and children were found in a garden. The town was systematically set on fire by hand grenades. Another witness saw a little girl of seven, one of whose legs was broken and the other injured by a bayonet. We have no reason to believe that the civilian population of Dinant gave any provocation, or that any other defense can be put forward to justify the treatment inflicted upon its citizens."

The Bryce Commission reports the outrages in a number of Belgian villages in this terse fashion:

"In Hofstade a number of houses had been set on fire and many corpses were seen, some in houses, some in back yards, and some in the streets. Two witnesses speak of having seen the body of a young man pierced by bayonet thrusts with the wrists cut also. On a side road the corpse of a civilian was seen on his doorstep with a bayonet wound in his stomach and by his side the dead body of a boy of five or six with his hands nearly severed. The corpses of a woman and boy were seen at the blacksmith's. They had been killed with the bayonet. In a cafe, a young man, also killed with the bayonet, was holding his hands together as if in the attitude of supplication.

"In the garden of a house in the main street, bodies of two women were observed, and in another house, the body of a boy of sixteen with two bayonet wounds in the chest. In Sempst a similar condition of affairs existed. Houses were burning and in some of them were the charred remains of civilians. In a bicycle shop a witness saw the burned corpse of a man. Other witnesses speak of this incident. Another civilian, unarmed, was shot as he was running away. As will be remembered, all the arms had been given up some time before by the order of the burgomaster.

"At Weerde four corpses of civilians were lying in the road. It was said that these men had fired upon the German soldiers; but this is denied. The arms had been given up long before. Two children were killed in the village of Weerde, quite wantonly as they were standing in the road with their mother. They were three or four years old and were killed with the bayonet. A small barn burning close by formed a convenient means of getting rid of bodies. They were thrown into the flames from the bayonets. It is right to add that no commissioned officer was present at the time. At Eppeghem, on August 25th, a pregnant woman who had been wounded with a bayonet was discovered in the convent. She was dying. On the road six dead bodies of laborers were seen.

"At Boortmeerbeek a German soldier was seen to fire three times at a little girl five years old. Having failed to hit her, he subsequently bayoneted her. He was killed with the butt end of a rifle by a Belgian soldier who had seen him commit this murder from a distance. At Herent the charred body of a civilian was found in a butcher's shop, and in a handcart twenty yards away was the dead body of a laborer. Two eye witnesses relate that a German soldier shot a civilian and stabbed him with a bayonet as he lay. He then made one of these witnesses, a civilian prisoner, smell the blood on the bayonet. At Haecht the bodies of ten civilians were seen lying in a row by a brewery wall. In a laborer's house, which had been broken up, the mutilated corpse of a woman of thirty to thirty-five was discovered."

Concerning the treatment of women and children in general, the report continues: "The evidence shows that the German authorities, when carrying out a policy of systematic arson and plunder in selected districts, usually drew some distinction between the adult male population on the one hand and the women and children on the other. It was a frequent practice to set apart the adult males of the condemned district with a view to the execution of a suitable number—preferably of the younger and more vigorous—and to reserve the women and children for milder treatment. The depositions, however, present many instances of calculated cruelty, often going the length of murder, toward the women and children of the condemned area.

"At Dinant sixty women and children were confined in the cellar of a convent from Sunday morning till the following Friday, August 28th, sleeping on the ground, for there were no beds, with nothing to drink during the whole period, and given no food until Wednesday, when somebody threw into the cellar two sticks of macaroni and a carrot for each prisoner. In other cases the women and children were marched for long distances along roads, as, for instance, the march of the women from Louvain to Tirlemont, August 28th, the laggards pricked on by the attendant Uhlans. A lady complains of having been brutally kicked by privates. Others were struck at with the butt end of rifles. At Louvain, at Liege, at Aerschot, at Malines, at Montigny, at Andenne, and elsewhere, there is evidence that the troops were not restrained from drunkenness, and drunken soldiers cannot be trusted to observe the rules or decencies of war, least of all when they are called upon to execute a preordained plan of arson and pillage. From the very first women were not safe. At Liege women and children were chased about the streets by soldiers.

"Witnesses recount how a great crowd of men, women and children from Aerschot were marched to Louvain, and then suddenly exposed to a fire from a mitrailleuse and rifles. 'We were all placed,' recounts a sufferer, 'in Station Street, Louvain, and the German soldiers fired on us. I saw the corpses of some women in the street. I fell down, and a woman who had been shot fell on top of me.' Women and children suddenly turned out into the streets, and, compelled to witness the destruction of their homes by fire, provided a sad spectacle to such as were sober enough to see.

"A humane German officer, witnessing the ruin of Aerschot, exclaimed in disgust: 'I am a father myself, and I cannot bear this. It is not war but butchery.' Officers as well as men succumbed to the temptation of drink, with results which may be illustrated by an incident which occurred at Campenhout. In this village there was a certain well-to-do merchant (name given) who had a cellar of good champagne. On the afternoon of the 14th or 15th of August three German cavalry officers entered the house and demanded champagne. Having drunk ten bottles and invited five or six officers and three or four private soldiers to join them, they continued their carouse, and then called for the master and mistress of the house.

"'Immediately my mistress came in,' says the valet de chambre, 'one of the officers who was sitting on the floor got up, and, putting a revolver to my mistress' temple, shot her dead. The officer was obviously drunk. The other officers continued to drink and sing, and they did not pay any great attention to the killing of my mistress. The officer who shot my mistress then told my master to dig a grave and bury my mistress. My master and the officer went into the garden, the officer threatening my master with a pistol. My master was then forced to dig the grave and to bury my mistress in it. I cannot say for what reason they killed my mistress. The officer who did it was singing all the time.'

"In the evidence before us there are cases tending to show that aggravated crimes against women were sometimes severely punished. One witness reports that a young girl who was being pursued by a drunken soldier at Louvain appealed to a German officer, and that the offender was then and there shot. Another describes how an officer of the Thirty-second Regiment of the Line was led out to execution for the violation of two young girls, but reprieved at the request or with the consent of the girls' mother. These instances are sufficient to show that the maltreatment of women was no part of the military scheme of the invaders, however much it may appear to have been the inevitable result of the system of terror deliberately adopted in certain regions. Indeed, so much is avowed. 'I asked the commander why we had been spared,' says a lady in Louvain, who deposes to having suffered much brutal treatment during the sack. He said: 'We will not hurt you any more. Stay in Louvain. All is finished.' It was Saturday, August 29th, and the reign of terror was over.

"The Germans used men, women and children of Belgium as screens for advancing infantry, as is shown in the following: Outside Fort Fleron, near Liege, men and children were marched in front of the Germans to prevent the Belgian soldiers from firing. The progress of the Germans through Mons was marked by many incidents of this character. Thus, on August 22d, half a dozen Belgian colliers returning from work were marching in front of some German troops who were pursuing the English, and in the opinion of the witnesses, they must have been placed there intentionally. An English officer describes how he caused a barricade to be erected in a main thoroughfare leading out of Mons, when the Germans, in order to reach a crossroad in the rear, fetched civilians out of the houses on each side of the main road and compelled them to hold up white flags and act as cover.

"Another British officer who saw this incident is convinced that the Germans were acting deliberately for the purpose of protecting themselves from the fire of the British troops. Apart from this protection, the Germans could not have advanced, as the street was straight and commanded by the British rifle fire at a range of 700 or 800 yards. Several British soldiers also speak of this incident, and their story is confirmed by a Flemish witness in a side street."

The French Government also appointed a commission, headed by M. Georges Payelle. This body made an investigation of outrages committed by German officers and soldiers in Northern France. Its report showed conditions that outstripped in horror the war tactics of savages. It makes the following accusations:

"In Rebais, two English cavalrymen who were surprised and wounded in this commune were finished off with gunshots by the Germans when they were dismounted and when one of them had thrown up his hands, showing thus that he was unarmed.

"In the department of the Marne, as everywhere else, the German troops gave themselves up to general pillage, which was carried out always under similar conditions and with the complicity of their leaders. The Communes of Heiltz-le-Maurupt, Suippes, Marfaux, Fromentieres and Esternay suffered especially in this way. Everything which the invader could carry off from the houses was placed on motor lorries and vehicles. At Suippes, in particular, they carried off in this way a quantity of different objects, among these sewing machines and toys. A great many villages, as well as important country towns, were burned without any reason whatever. Without doubt, these crimes were committed by order, as German detachments arrived in the neighborhood with their torches, their grenades, and their usual outfit for arson.

"At Marfaux nineteen private houses were burned. Of the Commune of Glannes practically nothing remains. At Somme-Tourbe the entire village has been destroyed, with the exception of the Mairie, the church and two private buildings. At Auve nearly the whole town has been destroyed. At Etrepy sixty-three families out of seventy are homeless. At Huiron all of the houses, with the exception of five have been burned. At Sermaize-les-Bains only about forty houses out of 900 remain. At Bignicourt-sur-Saultz thirty houses out of thirty-three are in ruins.

"At Suippes, the big market town which has been practically burned out, German soldiers carrying straw and cans of petrol have been seen in the streets. While the mayor's house was burning, six sentinels with fixed bayonets were under orders to forbid anyone to approach and to prevent any help being given.

"All this destruction by arson, which only represents a small proportion of the acts of the same kind in the Department of Seine-et-Marne, was accomplished without the least tendency to rebellion or the smallest act of resistance being recorded against the inhabitants of the localities which are today more or less completely destroyed. In some villages the Germans, before setting fire to them made one of their soldiers fire a shot from his rifle so as to be able to pretend afterward that the civilian population had attacked them, an allegation which is all the more absurd since at the time when the enemy arrived, the only inhabitants left were old men, sick persons, or people absolutely without any means of aggression.

[Illustration: Painting]
  THE HORRORS OF GERMAN RULE IN FRANCE
  Forcibly removing French civilians from Lille to German labor
  colonies. Families were ruthlessly separated and led away into slavery
  often worse than death.

[Illustration: Hand to hand combat with bayonets.]
  Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.
  A FIGHT IN A CLOUD OF GAS
  The Germans had sent over gas and in this spot it lingered. Then the
  infantry advanced and here, amid the British wire entanglements, the
  foes meet. Both sides in gas masks, they struggle amid the "poisonous
  vapor, and when the bayonet fails they fight, like the pair in the
  foreground, to bring death by tearing away their opponent's mask.

"Numerous crimes against the person have also been committed. In the majority of the communes hostages have been taken away; many of them have not returned. At Sermaize-les-Bains, the Germans carried off about one hundred and fifty people, some of whom were decked out with helmets and coats and compelled, thus equipped, to mount guard over the bridges.

"At Bignicourt-sur-Saultz thirty men and forty-five women and children were obliged to leave with a detachment. One of the men—a certain Emile Pierre—has not returned nor sent any news of himself. At Corfelix, M. Jacqet, who was carried off on the 7th of September with eleven of his fellow-citizens, was found five hundred meters from the village with a bullet in his head.

"At Champuis, the cure, his maid-servant, and four other inhabitants who were taken away on the same day as the hostages of Corfelix had not returned at the time of our visit to the place.

"At the same place an old man of seventy, named Jacquemin, was tied down in his bed by an officer and left in this state without food for three days. He died a little time after. At Vert-la-Gravelle a farm hand was killed. He was struck on the head with a bottle and his chest was run through with a lance. The garde champetre Brulefer of le Gault-la-Foret was murdered at Maclaunay, where he had been taken by the Germans. His body was found with his head shattered and a wound on his chest.

"At Champguyon, a commune which has been fired, a certain Verdier was killed in his father-in-law's house. The latter was not present at the execution, but he heard a shot and next day an officer said to him, 'Son shot. He is under the ruins.' In spite of the search made the body has not been found among them. It must have been consumed in the fire.

"At Sermaize, the roadmaker, Brocard, was placed among a number of hostages. Just at the moment when he was being arrested with his son, his wife and his daughter-in-law in a state of panic rushed to throw themselves into the Saulx. The old man was able to free himself for a moment and ran in all haste after them and made several attempts to save them, but the Germans dragged him away pitilessly, leaving the two wretched women struggling in the river. When Brocard and his son were restored to liberty, four days afterward, and found the bodies, they discovered that their wives had both received bullet wounds in the head.

"At Triaucourt the Germans gave themselves up to the worst excesses. Angered doubtless by the remark which an officer had addressed to a soldier, against whom a young girl of nineteen, Mlle. Helene Proces, had made complaint of on account of the indecent treatment to which she had been subjected, they burned the village and made a systematic massacre of the inhabitants. They began by setting fire to the house of an inoffensive householder, M. Jules Gand, and by shooting this unfortunate man as he was leaving his house to escape the flames. Then they dispersed among the houses in the streets, firing off their rifles on every side. A young man, seventeen years, Georges Lecourtier, who tried to escape, was shot. M. Alfred Lallemand suffered the same fate. He was pursued into the kitchen of his fellow-citizen Tautelier, and murdered there, while Tautelier received three bullets in his hand.

"Fearing, not without reason, for their lives, Mlle. Proces, her mother and her grandmother of seventy-one and her old aunt of eighty-one, tried to cross the trellis which separates their garden from a neighboring property with the help of a ladder. The young girl alone was able to reach the other side and to avoid death by hiding in the cabbages. As for the other women, they were struck down by rifle shots. The village cure collected the brains of the aunt on the ground on which they were strewn and had the bodies carried into Proces' house. During the following night, the Germans played the piano near the bodies.

"While the carnage raged, the fire rapidly spread and devoured thirty-five houses. An old man of seventy and a child of two months perished in the flames. M. Igier, who was trying to save his cattle, was pursued for 300 meters by soldiers, who fired at him ceaselessly. By a miracle this man had the good fortune not to be wounded, but five bullets went through his clothing."

This summary merely hints at the atrocities that were perpetrated. And these are the crimes that France and Belgium will remember after indemnities have been paid, after borders have been re-established and after generations shall have past. The horrors of blazing villages, of violated womanhood, of mutilated childhood, of stark and senseless butcheries, will flash before the minds of French and Belgian men and women when Germany's name shall be mentioned long after the declaration of peace.

Schrecklichkeit had its day. It took its bloody toll of the fairest and bravest of two gallant nations. It ravaged Poland as well and wreaked its fiendish will on wounded soldiers on the battle-fields.

But Schrecklichkeit is dead. Belgium and France have shown that murder and rape and arson can not destroy liberty nor check the indomitable ambitions of the free peoples of earth.

The lesson to Germany was taught at a terrible cost to humanity, but it was taught in a fashion that nations hereafter who shall dream of emulating the Hun will know in advance that frightfulness serves no end except to feed the lust for destruction that exists only in the most debased and brutish of men.

CHAPTER VII

THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE

France and civilization were saved by Joffre and Foch at the first battle of the Marne, in September, 1914. Autocracy was destroyed by Foch at the second battle of the Marne, in July, 1918.

This in a nutshell embraces the dramatic opening and closing episodes of the World War on the soil of France. Bracketed between these two glorious victories were the agonies of martyred France, the deaths and life-long cripplings of millions of men, the up-rooting of arrogant militarism, the liberation of captive nations.

The first battle of the Marne was wholly a French operation. The British were close at hand, but had no share in the victory. Generals Gallieni and Manoury, acting under instructions from Marshal Joffre, were driven by automobile to the headquarters of the British commander, Sir John French, in the village of Melun. They explained in detail General Joffre's plan of attack upon the advancing German army. An urgent request was made that the British army halt its retreat, face about, and attack the two corps of von Kluck's army then confronting the British. Simultaneously with this attack General Manoury's forces were to fall upon the flank and the rear guard of von Kluck along the River Ourcq. This operation was planned for the next day, September 5th. Sir John French replied that he could not get his tired army in readiness for battle within forty-eight hours. This would delay the British attack in all probability until September 7th.

Joffre's plan of battle, however, would admit of no delay. The case was urgent; there was grave danger of a union between the great forces headed by the Crown Prince and those under von Kluck. He resolved to go ahead without the British, and ordered Manoury to strike as had been planned.

He fixed as an extreme limit for the movement of retreat, which was still going on, the line of Bray-sur-Seine, Nogent-sur-Seine, Arcis-sur-Aube, Vitry-le-Francois, and the region to the north of Bar-le-Duc. This line might be reached if the troops were compelled to go back so far. They would attack before reaching it, as soon as there was a possibility of bringing about an offensive disposition, permitting the co-operation of the whole of the French forces. On September 5 it appeared that this desired situation existed.

[Illustration: Photograph] Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N.Y. GENERAL PERSHING AND MARSHAL JOFFRE The Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces chatting with the veteran Marshal of France, the hero of the first battle of the Marne.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  MARSHAL FERDINAND FOCH, GENERALISSIMO OF THE ALLIED ARMIES
  No leader could command greater confidence than the brilliant
  strategist to whom was mainly due the great victory of the Marne in
  the first autumn of the war. He also directed the French offensive on
  the Somme in 1916 and in November, 1917, he was chosen as the French
  representative and subsequently chairman of the Central Military
  Committee appointed to assist the Supreme Allied War Council. Marshal
  Foch was formerly for five years lecturer on strategy and tactics at
  the Ecole de Guerre. At the close of the war he said to the Allied
  armies: "You have won the greatest battle in history and saved the
  most sacred cause—the liberty of the world,"

[Illustration: Map; Paris in the lower left corner, showing various battle lines Eastward to Luxumburg.] THE FIRST GERMAN DASH FOR PARIS

The First German army, carrying audacity to temerity, had continued its endeavor to envelop the French left, had crossed the Grand Morin, and reached the region of Chauffry, to the south of Rebais and of Esternay. It aimed then at cutting Joffre off from Paris, in order to begin the investment of the capital.

The Second army had its head on the line Champaubert, Etoges, Bergeres, and Vertus.

The Third and Fourth armies reached to Chalons-sur-Marne and
Bussy-le-Repos. The Fifth army was advancing on one side and the other
from the Argonne as far as Triacourt-les-Islettes and Juivecourt. The
Sixth and Seventh armies were attacking more to the east.

The French left army had been able to occupy the line Sezanne, Villers-St. Georges and Courchamps. This was precisely the disposition which the General-in-Chief had wished to see achieved. On the 4th he decided to take advantage of it, and ordered all the armies to hold themselves ready. He had taken from his right two new army corps, two divisions of infantry, and two divisions of cavalry, which were distributed between his left and his center.

On the evening of the 5th he addressed to all the commanders of armies a message ordering them to attack.

"The hour has come," he wrote, "to advance at all costs, and to die where you stand rather than give way."

If one examines the map, it will be seen that by his inflection toward Meaux and Coulommiers General von Kluck was exposing his right to the offensive action of the French left. This is the starting point of the victory of the Marne.

On the evening of September 5th the French left army had reached the front Penchard-Saint-Souflet-Ver. On the 6th and 7th it continued its attacks vigorously with the Ourcq as objective. On the evening of the 7th it was some kilometers from the Ourcq, on the front Chambry-Marcilly-Lisieux-Acy-en-Multien. On the 8th, the Germans, who had in great haste reinforced their right by bringing their Second and Fourth army corps back to the north, obtained some successes by attacks of extreme violence. But in spite of this pressure the French held their ground. In a brilliant action they took three standards, and being reinforced prepared a new attack for the 10th. At the moment that this attack was about to begin the enemy was already in retreat toward the north. The attack became a pursuit, and on the 12th the French established themselves on the Aisne.

Why did the German forces which were confronting the French, and on the evening before attacking so furiously, retreat on the morning of the 10th? Because in bringing back on the 6th several army corps from the south to the north to face the French left, the enemy had exposed his left to the attacks of the now rested British, who had immediately faced around toward the north, and to those of the French armies which were prolonging the English lines to the right. This is what the French command had sought to bring about. This is what happened on September 8th and allowed the development and rehabilitation which it was to effect.

On the 6th the British army set out from the line Rozcy-Lagny and that evening reached the southward bank of the Grand Morin. On the 7th and 8th it continued its march, and on the 9th had debouched to the north of the Marne below Chauteau-Thierry—the town that was to become famous for the American stand in 1918—taking in flank the German forces which on that day were opposing, on the Ourcq, the French left army. Then it was that these forces began to retreat, while the British army, going in pursuit and capturing seven guns and many prisoners, reached the Aisne between Soissons and Longueval.

The role of the French army, which was operating to the right of the British army, was threefold. It had to support the British attacking on its left. It had on its right to support the center, which, from September 7th, had been subjected to a German attack of great violence. Finally, its mission was to throw back the three active army corps and the reserve corps which faced it.

On the 7th, it made a leap forward, and on the following days reached and crossed the Marne, seizing, after desperate fighting, guns, howitzers, mitrailleuses, and a million cartridges. On the 12th it established itself on the north edge of the Montagne-de-Reime in contact with the French center, which for its part had just forced the enemy to retreat in haste.

The French center consisted of a new army created on August 29th and of one of those which at the beginning of the campaign had been engaged in Belgian Luxemburg. The first had retreated, on August 29th to September 5th, from the Aisne to the north of the Marne and occupied the general front Sezanne-Mailly.

The second, more to the east, had drawn back to the south of the line
Humbauville-Chateau-Beauchamp-Bignicourt-Blesmes-Maurupt-le-Montoy.

The enemy, in view of his right being arrested and the defeat of his enveloping movement, made a desperate effort from the 7th to the 19th to pierce the French center to the west and to the east of Fere-Champenoise. On the 8th he succeeded in forcing back the right of the new French army, which retired as far as Gouragancon. On the 9th, at 6 o'clock in the morning, there was a further retreat to the south of that village, while on the left the other army corps also had to go back to the line Allemant-Connantre.

Despite this retreat General Foch, commanding the army of the center, ordered a general offensive for the same day. With the Morocco division, whose behavior was heroic, he met a furious assault of the Germans on his left toward the marshes of Saint Gond. Then, with the divisions which had just victoriously overcome the attacks of the enemy to the north of Sezanne, and with the whole of his left army corps, he made a flanking attack in the evening of the 9th upon the German forces, and notably the guard, which had thrown back his right army corps. The enemy, taken by surprise by this bold maneuver, did not resist, and beat a hasty retreat. This marked Foch as the most daring and brilliant strategist of the war.

On the 11th the French crossed the Marne between Tours-sur-Marne and Sarry, driving the Germans in front of them in disorder. On the 12th they were in contact with the enemy to the north of the Camp de Chalons. The reserve army of the center, acting on the right of the one just referred to, had been intrusted with the mission during the 7th, 8th, and 9th of disengaging its neighbor, and it was only on the 10th that being reinforced by an army corps from the east, it was able to make its action effectively felt. On the 11th the Germans retired. But, perceiving their danger, they fought desperately, with enormous expenditure of projectiles, behind strong intrenchments. On the 12th the result had none the less been attained, and the two French center armies were solidly established on the ground gained.

To the right of these two armies were three others. They had orders to cover themselves to the north and to debouch toward the west on the flank of the enemy, which was operating to the west of the Argonne. But a wide interval in which the Germans were in force separated them from the French center. The attack took place, nevertheless, with very brilliant success for the French artillery, which destroyed eleven batteries of the Sixteenth German army corps.

On the 10th inst., the Eighth and Fifteenth German army corps counter-attacked, but were repulsed. On the 11th French progress continued with new successes, and on the 12th the French were able to face round toward the north in expectation of the near and inevitable retreat of the enemy, which, in fact, took place from the 13th.

The withdrawal of the mass of the German force involved also that of the left. From the 12th onward the forces of the enemy operating between Nancy and the Vosges retreated in a hurry before the two French armies of the East, which immediately occupied the positions that the enemy had evacuated. The offensive of the French right had thus prepared and consolidated in the most useful way the result secured by the left and center.

Such was this seven days' battle, in which more than two millions of men were engaged. Each army gained ground step by step, opening the road to its neighbor, supported at once by it, taking in flank the adversary which the day before it had attacked in front, the efforts of one articulating closely with those of the other, a perfect unity of intention and method animating the supreme command.

To give this victory all its meaning it is necessary to add that it was gained by troops which for two weeks had been retreating, and which, when the order for the offensive was given, were found to be as ardent as on the first day. It has also to be said that these troops had to meet the whole Germany army. Under their pressure the German retreat at certain times had the appearance of a rout.

In spite of the fatigue of the poilus, in spite of the power of the German heavy artillery, the French took colors, guns, mitrailleuses, shells, and thousands of prisoners. One German corps lost almost the whole of its artillery.

In that great battle the spectacular rush of General Gallieni's army defending Paris, was one of the dramatic surprises that decided the issue. In that stroke Gallieni sent his entire force forty miles to attack the right wing of the German army. In this gigantic maneuver every motor car in Paris was utilized, and the flying force of Gallieni became the "Army in Taxicabs," a name that will live as long as France exists.

General Clergerie, Chief of Staff to Gallieni told the story for posterity. He said:

"From August 26, 1914, the German armies had been descending upon Paris by forced marches. On September 1st they were only three days' march from the advanced line of the intrenched camp, which the garrison were laboring desperately to put into condition for defense. It was necessary to cover with trenches a circuit of 110 miles, install siege guns, assure the coming of supplies for them over narrow-gauge railways, assemble the food and provisions of all kinds necessary for a city of 4,000,000 inhabitants.

"But on September 3d, the intelligence service, which was working perfectly, stated, about the middle of the day, that the German columns, after heading straight for Paris, were swerving toward the southeast and seemed to wish to avoid the fortified camp.

"General Gallieni and I then had one of those long conferences which denoted grave events; they usually lasted from two to five minutes at most. The fact is that the military government of Paris did little talking—it acted. The conference reached this conclusion: 'If they do not come to us, we will go to them with all the force we can muster.' Nothing remained but to make the necessary preparations. The first thing to do was not to give the alarm to the enemy. General Manoury's army immediately received orders to lie low and avoid any engagement that was not absolutely necessary." Then care was taken to reinforce it by every means. All was ready at the designated time.

In the night of September 3d, knowing that the enemy would have to leave only a rear guard on one bank of the Ourcq, General Gallieni and General Clergerie decided to march against that rear guard, to drive it back with all the weight of the Manoury army, to cut the enemy's communications, and take full advantage of his hazardous situation. Immediately the following order was addressed to General Manoury:

Because of the movement of the German armies, which seem to be slipping in before our front to the southeast, I intend to send your army to attack them in the flank, that is to say, in an easterly direction. I will indicate your line of march as soon as I learn that of the British army. But make your arrangements now so that your troops shall be ready to march this afternoon and to begin a general movement east of the intrenched camp tomorrow.

At ten in the morning a consultation was held by Generals Gallieni, Clergerie, and Manoury, and the details of the plan of operations were immediately decided. General Joffre gave permission to attack and announced that he would himself take the offensive on the 6th. On the 5th, at noon, the army from Paris fired the first shot; the battle of the Ourcq, a preface to the Marne, had begun.

General Clergerie then told what a precious purveyor of information he had found in General von der Marwitz, cavalry commander of the German first army, who made intemperate use of the wireless telegraph and did not even take the trouble to put into cipher his dispatches, of which the Eiffel Tower made a careful collection. "In the evening of September 9th," he said, "an officer of the intelligence corps brought me a dispatch from this same Marwitz couched in something like these terms: 'Tell me exactly where you are and what you are doing. Hurry up, because XXX.' The officer was greatly embarrassed to interpret those three X's. Adopting the language of the poilu, I said to him, 'Translate it, "I am going to bolt."' True enough, next day we found on the site of the German batteries, which had been precipitately evacuated, stacks of munitions; while by the roadside we came upon motors abandoned for the slightest breakdown, and near Betz almost the entire outfit of a field bakery, with a great store of flour and dough half-kneaded. Paris and France were saved.

"Von Kluck could not get over his astonishment. He has tried to explain it by saying he was unlucky, for out of a hundred governors not one would have acted as Gallieni did, throwing his whole available force nearly forty miles from his stronghold. It was downright imprudence."

CHAPTER VIII

JAPAN IN THE WAR

On August 15, 1914, the Empire of Japan issued an ultimatum to Germany. She demanded the evacuation of Tsing-tau, the disarming of the warships there and the handing over of the territory to Japan for ultimate reversion to China. The time limit for her reply was set at 12 o'clock, August 24th. To this ultimatum Germany made no reply, and at 2.30 P. M., August 23d, the German Ambassador was handed his passports and war was declared.

The reason for the action of Japan was simple. She was bound by treaty to Great Britain to come to her aid in any war in which Great Britain might be involved. On August 4th a note was received from Great Britain requesting Japan to safeguard British shipping in the Far East. Japan replied that she could not guarantee the safety of British shipping so long as Germany was in occupation of the Chinese province of Tsing-tau. She suggested in turn that England agree to allow her to remove this German menace. The British Government agreed, on the condition that Tsing-tau be subsequently returned to China.

The Japanese Government in taking this stand was acting with courage and with loyalty. Toward individual Germans she entertained no animosity. She had the highest respect for German scholarship and German military science. She had been sending her young men to German seats of learning, and had based the reorganization of her army upon the German military system. But she did not believe that a treaty was a mere "scrap of paper," and was determined to fulfill her obligations in the treaty with England.

It seems to have been the opinion of the highest Japanese military authorities that Germany would win the war. Japan's statesmen, however, believed that Germany was a menace to both China and Japan and had lively recollections of her unfriendly attitude in connection with the Chino-Japanese war and in the period that followed. Germany had been playing the same game in China that she had played in the Mediterranean and which had ultimately brought about the war.

The Chino-Japanese war had been a great Japanese triumph. One of Japan's greatest victories had been the capture of Port Arthur, but the joy caused in Japan had not ended before it was turned into mourning because of German interference. Germany had then compelled Japan to quit Port Arthur, and to hand over that great fort to Russia so that she herself might take Kiao-chau without Russia's objection.

Japan had never forgotten or forgiven. The German seizure of Kiao-chau had led to the Russian occupation of Port Arthur, the British occupation of Wei-hai-wei and French occupation of Kwan-chow Bay. The vultures were swooping down on defenseless China. This had led to the Boxer disturbance of 1910, where again the Kaiser had interfered.

Japan, who recognized that her interests and safety were closely allied with the preservation of the territorial integrity of China, had proposed to the powers that she be permitted to send her troops to the rescue of the beleaguered foreigners, but this proposition was refused on account of German suspicion of Japan's motives. Later on, during the Russo-Japanese war, Russia was assisted in many ways by the German Government.

Furthermore, the popular sympathy with the Japanese was strongly with the Allies. It was the Kaiser who started the cry of the "yellow peril," which had deeply hurt Japanese pride. Yet, even with this strong feeling, it was remarkable that Japan was willing to ally herself with Russia. She knew very well that after all the greatest danger to her liberties lay across the Japan Sea. Russian autocracy, with its militarism, its religious intolerance, its discriminating policy against foreign interests in commerce and trade, was the natural opponent of liberal Japan.

The immediate object of Japan in joining hands with England was to destroy the German menace in the Pacific. Before she delivered her ultimatum the Germans had been active; ignoring the rights of Japan while she was still neutral they had captured a Russian steamer within Japanese jurisdiction, as well as a number of British merchant vessels, and even a few Japanese ships had been intercepted by German cruisers. This was the disturbance to general peace in the Far East, which had prompted England to request Japan's assistance.

Japan, when she entered the war, was at least twice as strong as when she began the war with Russia. She had an army of one million men, and a navy double the size of that which she had possessed when the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed. As soon as war was declared she proceeded to act. A portion of her fleet was directed against the German forces in the Pacific, one squadron occupying Jaluit, the seat of government of the Marshall Islands, on October 3d, but her main forces were directed against the fortress of Tsing-tau.

The Germans had taken great pride in Tsing-tau, and had made every effort to make it a model colony as well as an impregnable fortress. They had built costly water works, fine streets and fine public buildings. They had been making great preparations for a state of siege, although it was not expected that they would be able to hold out for a long time. There were hardly more than five thousand soldiers in the fortress, and in the harbor but four small gunboats and an Austrian cruiser, the Kaiserin Elizabeth. As Austria was not at war with Japan the authorization of Japan was asked for the removal of the Kaiserin Elizabeth to Shanghai, where she could be interned. The Japanese were favorable to this proposition, but at the last moment instructions arrived from Vienna directing the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to ask for his passports at Tokio and the commander of the Kaiserin Elizabeth to assist the Germans in the defense of Tsing-tau. The Germans also received orders to defend their fortress to the very last. A portion of the German squadron, under Admiral von Spee, had sailed away before the Japanese attack, one of these being the famous commerce raider, the Emden.

On the 27th of August the Japanese made their first move by taking possession of some of the small islands at the mouth of the harbor of Kiao-chau. From these points as bases they swept the surrounding waters for mines, with such success that during the whole siege but one vessel of their fleet was injured by a mine. On the 2d of September they landed troops at the northern base of the peninsula upon which Tsing-tau was situated, with the object of cutting off the fortress from the mainland.

The heavy rains which were customary at that season prevented much action, but airplanes were sent which dropped bombs upon the wireless station, electric power station and railway station of Kiao-chau, and upon the ships in the harbor. On September 13th General Kamio captured the railway station of Kiao-chau which stands at the head of the bay. This placed him twenty-two miles from Tsing-tau itself. On September 27th he captured Prince Heinrich Hill giving him a gun position from which he could attack the inner forts. On the 23d a small British force arrived from Wei-hai-wei to co-operate with the Japanese.

[Illustration: Map of the city Tsing-Tau and Kiao-Chau Bay.]
  THE GERMAN GIBRALTAR IN THE FAR EAST WHICH FELL TO THE JAPANESE

The combined forces then advanced until they were only five miles from Tsing-tau. The German warships were bombarding the Japanese troops fiercely, and were being replied to by the Japanese squadron in the mouth of the harbor. The great waste of German ammunition led General Kamio to the opinion that the Germans did not contemplate a long siege. He then determined on a vigorous assault.

Before the attack was made he gave the non-combatants an opportunity of leaving, and on the 15th of October a number of women and children and Chinese were allowed to pass through the Japanese lines. On October 31st the bombardment began, and the German forts were gradually silenced. On November 2d the Kaiserin Elizabeth was sunk in the harbor.

The Allied armies were pushing their way steadily down, until, on November 6th, their trenches were along the edge of the last German redoubts. At 6 o'clock on that day white flags were floating over the central forts and by 7.30 Admiral Waldeck, the German Governor, had signed the terms of capitulation.

Germany's prize colony on the continent of Asia had disappeared. The survivors, numbering about three thousand, were sent to Japan as prisoners of war. Japanese losses were but two hundred and thirty-six men killed. They had, however, lost one third-class cruiser, the Takachiho, and several smaller crafts. The whole expedition was a notable success. It had occupied much less time than either Japan or Germany had expected, and the news was received in Germany with a universal feeling of bitterness and chagrin.

After the Japanese capture of Kiao-chau Japan's assistance to the Allies, while not spectacular, was extremely important, and its importance increased during the last two years of the war. Her cruiser squadrons did continuous patrol duty in the Pacific and in the China Sea and even in the Indian Ocean. She occupied three groups of German Islands in the South Sea, assisted in driving German raiders from the Pacific, and by her efficiency permitted a withdrawal of British warships to points where they could be useful nearer home. She patrolled the Pacific coast of North and South America, landed marines to quell riots at Singapore, and finally entered into active service in European waters by sending a destroyer squadron to the assistance of the Allies in the Mediterranean.

But while the aid of Japan's navy was important to the Allies, her greatest assistance to the Allied cause was what she did in supplying Russia with military supplies. The tremendous struggle carried on by Russia's forces during the first years prevented an easy German victory, and was only made possible through the assistance of Japan. Enormous quantities of guns, ammunition, military stores, hospital and Red Cross supplies, were sent into Russia, with skilled officers and experts to accompany them.

In the last year of the war Japan once more came prominently in the public eye in connection with the effort made by the Allies to protect from the Russian Bolsheviki vast stores of ammunition which had been landed in ports of Eastern Siberia. She was compelled to land troops to do this and to preserve order in localities where her citizens were in danger. Upon the development of the Czecho-Slovak movement in Eastern Siberia a Japanese force, in association with troops from the United States and Great Britain, was landed to protect the Czecho-Slovaks from Bolsheviki treachery. These troops succeeded in their object, and throughout the latter period of the war kept Eastern Siberia friendly to the Allied cause. In this campaign there was but little blood shed. The expedition was followed by the strong sympathy of the allied world which was full of admiration for the loyalty and courage of the Czecho-Slovaks and their heroic leaders.

CHAPTER IX

CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST

Long before the declaration of war the German military experts had made their plans. They recognized that in case of war with Russia, France would come to the rescue of its ally. They hoped that Italy, and felt sure that England, would remain neutral, but, no doubt, had provided for the possibility that these two nations would join the ranks of their foes. They recognized that they would be compelled to fight against greatly superior numbers, but they had this advantage, that they were prepared to move at once, while England was unprepared, and Russia, with enormous numbers, was so unprovided with railroad facilities that it would take weeks before her armies would be dangerous.

Their plan of campaign, then, was obvious. Leaving in the east only such forces as were necessary for a strong defense, they would throw the bulk of their strength against the French. They anticipated an easy march to Paris, and then with France at their mercy they would gather together all their powers and deal with Russia. But they had underestimated both the French power of resistance, and the Russian weakness, and in particular they had not counted upon the check that they were to meet with in gallant Belgium.

The Russian mobilization was quicker by far than had been anticipated. Her armies were soon engaged with the comparatively small German forces, and met with great success.

To understand the Russian campaign one must have some knowledge of the geography of western Russia. Russian Poland projects as a great quadrilateral into eastern Germany. It is bounded on the north by East Prussia, on the south by Galicia, and the western part reaches deep into Germany itself. The land is a broad, level plain, through which from south to north runs the River Vistula. In the center lies the capital, Warsaw, protected by a group of fortresses. The Russian army, therefore, could not make a direct western advance until it had protected its flanks by the conquest of East Prussia on the north, and Galicia on the south.

By the beginning of the third week in August the first Russian armies were ready. Her forces were arranged as follows: Facing East Prussia was the Army of the Niemen, four corps strong; the Army of Poland, consisting of fifteen army corps, occupied a wide front from Narev on the north to the Bug Valley; a third army, the Army of Galicia, directed its line of advance southward into the country between Lemberg and the River Sareth. The fortresses protecting Warsaw, still further to the east, were well garrisoned, and in front of them to the west were troops intended to delay any German advance from Posen. The Russian commander-in-chief was the Grand Duke Nicholas, uncle of the late Czar, and one of the most admirable representatives of the Russian at his best; a splendid soldier, honest, straightforward, and patriotic, he was the idol of his men. He had with him a brilliant staff, but the strength of his army lay in its experience. They had learned war in the bitter school of the Manchurian campaign.

The German force on the frontier was not less than five hundred thousand men, and they were arranged for defense. Austria, in Galicia, had gathered nearly one million men under the auspices of Frederick. The first movement of these armies took place in East Prussia. The Army of the Niemen had completed its mobilization early in August, and was under the command of General Rennenkampf, one of the Russian leaders in Manchuria. In command of the German forces was General von Francois, an officer of Huguenot descent.

The first clash of these armies took place on the German frontier near Libau, on August 3d. Two days later, the Russians crossed the frontier, drove in the German advance posts, and seized the railway which runs south and east of the Masurian Lakes. The German force fell back, burning villages and destroying roads, according to their usual plan. On the 7th of August the main army of Rennenkampf crossed the border at Suwalki, advancing in two main bodies: the Army of the Niemen moving north from Suwalki, the Army of the Narev marching through the region of the Masurian Lakes. In the lake district they advanced toward Boyen, and then directed their march toward Insterburg.

To protect Insterburg, General van Francois made his first stand at Gumbinnen, where, on the 16th of August, the first important battle of this campaign took place. The result was the defeat and retirement of the Germans, and von Francois was forced to fall back on Koenigsberg.

Meantime, the Army of the Narev, under General Samsonov, was advancing through the country west of the Masurian Lakes. On the 20th his vanguard came upon a German army corps, strongly entrenched at the northwest end of the lakes. The Germans were defeated, and fled in great disorder toward Koenigsberg, abandoning their guns and wagons. Many prisoners were taken, and the Russians found themselves masters of all of East Prussia except that inside the Koenigsberg line. They then marched on Koenigsberg, and East Prussia was for a moment at the mercy of the conqueror.

Troops were left to invest Koenigsberg, and East Prussia was overrun with the enemy. The report as to the behavior of these troops met with great indignation in Germany; but better information insists that they behaved with decorum and discretion. The peasantry of East Prussia, remembering wild tales of the Cossacks of a hundred years before, fled in confusion with stories of burning and slaughter and outrage.

Germany became aroused. To thoroughly understand the effect of the Russian invasion of East Prussia, one must know something of the relations of that district with the German Empire. Historically, this was the cradle of the Prussian aristocracy, whose dangerous policies had alarmed Europe for so many decades. The Prussian aristocracy originated in a mixture of certain west German and Christian knights, with a pagan population of the eastern Baltic plain. The district was separate from Poland and never fell under the Polish influence. It was held by the Teutonic knights who conquered it in a sort of savage independence. The Christian faith, which the Teutonic knights professed to inculcate, took little root, but such civilization as Germany itself had absorbed did filter in. The chief noble of Borussia, the governing Duke, acquired in time the title of King, and it was here, not in Berlin, nor in Brandenburg, that the Hohenzollern power originated.

[Illustration: Painting]
  THE FURY OF A COSSACK CHARGE
  Some of the most bitter fighting of the war took place on the
  snow-covered heights of the Carpathians when Russia's armies struggled
  with the foe. Here is illustrated a charge by Cossacks on an Austrian
  battery. There is nothing in warfare quite like the furious onslaught
  of the little men of the steppes on their wiry ponies.

[Illustration: Painting]
  HIDE AND SEEK IN THE BALTIC
  A Zeppelin flying over a British submarine in the stormy sea.

[Illustration: Map bounded by Koenigsberg on the North, Warsaw on the East,
Cracow on the South and Posen on the West.]
  THE EASTERN FIGHTING ZONE

East Prussia, therefore, had a sentimental importance in the eyes of the Prussian nobility. The Prussian Royal House, in particular, had toward this country an especial regard. Moreover, it was regarded by the Germans as a whole as their rampart against the Slav, a proof of the German power to withstand the dreaded Russian. That this sacred soil should now be in the hands of a Cossack army was not to be borne. The Kaiser acted at once.

Large forces were detached from the west and sent to the aid of the eastern army. A new commander was appointed. He was General von Hindenburg, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War who had been for some years retired. After his retirement he devoted his time to the study of East Prussia, especially the ground around the Masurian Lakes. He became more familiar with its roads, its fields, its marshes, its bogs than any of the peasants who spent their lives in the neighborhood of the lakes. Before his retirement, in the annual maneuvers, he had often rehearsed his defense against Russian invaders. Indeed report, perhaps unfounded, described his retirement to the displeasure of the Emperor William at being badly worsted in one of these mimic combats. He had prevented the country from being cleared and the swamps from being drained, arguing that they were worth more to Germany than a dozen fortresses. A man of rugged strength, his face suggesting power and tenacity, he was to become the idol of the German people.

His chance had come. His army consisted of remnants of the forces of von Francois and large reinforcements sent him from the west. In all, perhaps, he had with him 150,000 men, and he had behind him an admirable system of strategic railways.

The Russian High Command was full of confidence. Rennenkampf had advanced with the Army of the Niemen toward Koenigsberg, whose fall was reported from time to time, without foundation. Koenigsberg was in fact impregnable to armies no stronger than those under Rennenkampf's command. Samsonov with the Army of the Narev, had pushed on to the northeastern point of the lakes, and defeated the German army corps at Frankenau. Misled by his success, he decided to continue his advance through the lake region toward Allenstein. He marched first toward Osterode, in the wilderness of forest, lake and marsh, between Allenstein and the Lower Vistula. His force numbered 200,000 men, but the swamps made it impossible to proceed in mass. His column had to be temporarily divided, nor was he well informed as to the strength of his enemy. On Wednesday, the 26th of August, his advance guards were everywhere driven in. As he pushed on he discovered the enemy in great numbers, and late in the day realized that he was facing a great army.

Von Hindenburg had taken a position astride the railway from Allenstein to Soldau, and all access to his front was barred by lakes and swamps. He was safe from frontal attack, and could reinforce each wing at pleasure. From his right ran the only two good roads in the region, and at his left was the Osterode railway. On the first day he stood on the defensive, while the Russians, confident of victory, attacked again and again. Some ground was won and prisoners captured, and the news of a second victory was sent to western Europe.

The battle continued, however, until the last day of August and is known as the battle of Tannenberg, from a village of that name near the marshes. Having worn down his enemy, von Hindenburg counter-attacked. His first movement was on his right. This not only deceived Samsonov and led him to reinforce his left, but also enabled von Hindenburg to seize the only good road that would give the Russian army a chance of retreat. Meanwhile the German general was hurrying masses of troops northeastward to outflank the Russian right. While the Russians were reinforcing one flank, he was concentrating every man he could upon the other. Then his left swept southward, driving in and enveloping the Russian right, and Samsonov was driven into a country full of swamps and almost without roads.

To thoroughly understand the plight of the Russian army one must have some idea of the character of the Masurian Lake district. It was probably molded by the work of ice in the past. Great glaciers, in their progress toward the sea, have ground out hundreds of hollows, where are found small pools and considerable lakes. From these glaciers have been dropped patches of clay which hold the waters in wide extents of marsh and bog. The country presents a monotonous picture of low, rounded swells and flats, interspersed with stunted pine and birch woods. The marshes and the lakes form a labyrinth, difficult to pass even to those familiar with the country. The Masurian region is a great trap for any commander who has not had unlimited acquaintance with the place. Causeways, filled with great care, and railroads permit an orderly advance, but in a confused retreat disaster at once threatens.

This was the ground that von Hindenburg knew so well. The Russians resisted desperately, but their position could not be held. Disaster awaited them. They found their guns sinking to the axle-trees in mire. Whole regiments were driven into the lakes and drowned. On the last day of battle, August 31st, Samsonov himself was killed, and his army completely destroyed. Fifty thousand prisoners were taken with hundreds of guns and quantities of supplies. Von Hindenburg had attained the triumph of which he had so long dreamed.

It was an immensely successful example of that enveloping movement characteristic of German warfare, a victory recalling the battle of Sedan, and it was upon a scale not inferior to that battle.

The news of this great triumph reached Berlin upon the anniversary of the battle of Sedan, and on the same day that the news came from the west that von Kluck had reached the gates of Paris and it had a profound effect upon the German mind. They had grown to believe that the Germans were a sort of superman; these wonderful successes confirmed them in this belief.

No longer did they talk of a mere defense in the east; an advance on Warsaw was demanded and von Hindenburg was acclaimed the greatest soldier of his day. The Emperor made him Field Marshal, and placed him in command of the Teutonic armies in the east.

But von Hindenburg was not satisfied. The remnant of the defeated army had fled toward Narev, and without losing a moment von Hindenburg set off in pursuit. Rennenkampf, all this time, strange to say, had made no move, and at the news of Samsonov's disaster he abandoned the siege of Koenigsberg and retreated toward the Niemen. At Gumbinnen he fought a rear-guard action with the German left, but had made up his mind that the Niemen must be the Russian line of defense. Von Hindenburg, following, crossed the Russian frontier and in the wide forests near Augustovo there was much fighting.

[Illustration: Photographs]
  LEADING GERMAN GENERALS
  Von Hindenburg, Chief of the German General Staff; von Ludendorff,
  Strategist of the General Staff; von Moltke, dismissed by the Kaiser
  for incompetency; von Mackensen, Commander in the East; Crown Prince
  Rupprecht of Bavaria, Army Commander in the West.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Photo by Press Illustrated Service.
  THE GERMAN GENERAL STAFF
  von Mackensen, von Moltke, Crown Prince Wilhelm, von Francois,
  von Falkenhayn, von Beseler, von Bethmann-Hollweg, von Bulow,
  Duke Albrecht, Ludendorf, von Einem, von Hindenburg, von Heeringen,
  Crown Prince Rupprecht, von Kluck, von Haeseler, von Tirpitz,
  Kaiser Wilhelm II, von Emmich

This action, described as the first battle of Augustovo, was only a rear-guard action, the Russians desiring merely to delay the enemy for a day or two. German reports, however, described it as a victory only second in importance to Tannenberg. Von Hindenburg then occupied Suwalki. He apparently had become over confident, and hardly realized that Rennenkampf was continually being reinforced by the Russian mobilization.

The Russian High Command understood the situation very well. Their aim was to keep von Hindenburg busy on the Niemen, while their armies in the south were overwhelming the fleeing Austrians. Von Hindenburg was deceived, and continued his advance until he got into serious trouble. His movement had begun on September 7th; his army consisted of the four corps with which he had won Tannenberg, and large reinforcements from Germany, including at least one guards battalion, and a number of Saxons and Bavarians. The country is one vast mixture of marsh and lake and bog. The roads are few, and advance must therefore be slow and difficult. Rennenkampf made no attempt to delay him beyond a little rear-guard fighting. The German army reached the Niemen on September 21st, and found behind it the Russian army in prepared positions, with large reinforcements from Vilna.

The river at this point was wide and deep, and hard to cross. The battle of the Niemen Crossings was an artillery duel. The Russians quietly waited in their trenches to watch the Germans build their pontoon bridges. Then their guns blew the bridges to pieces. Thereupon von Hindenburg bombarded the Russian lines hoping to destroy the Russian guns. On Friday, the 26th, his guns boomed all day; the Russians made no reply. So on the morning of the 27th he built bridges again, and again the Russians blew them to pieces. On the 28th he gave the order for retreat.

He realized that the game wasn't worth the candle; he might easily be kept fighting on the Niemen for months, while the main armies of the Russians were crossing Austria. Von Hindenburg conducted the retreat with a skill which came to him naturally from his knowledge of the marshes.

Rennenkampf followed him closely, keeping up persistent attacks through the woods and marshes. The path of the retreating army lay through the forest of Augustovo, a country much like that around the Masurian Lakes, and there the Germans suffered heavy losses. Von Hindenburg managed, however, to get the bulk of his forces back across the frontier and continued his retreat to the intrenchments on the Masurian Lakes.

The Germans lost 60,000 men in killed, wounded and prisoners, and von Hindenburg handed over the command of the German armies in East Prussia to General von Schubert, and hastened south to direct the movement to relieve the Austrians at Cracow.

But quite as important as the campaign in East Prussia was the struggle in Galicia. When the war began the Germans contemplated merely defense in their own domain; such offense as was planned was left to the Austrians farther south.

Galicia is a long, level country lying north of the Carpathian Mountains, and in this country Austria-Hungary had gathered together a force of hardly less than one million men. A quarter of these lay in reserve near the mountains; the remaining three-quarters was divided into two armies; the first, the northern army, being under the command of General Dankl, the second was that of von Offenberg. The base of the first army was Przemysl; that of the second was Lemberg.

The first army, it was planned, was to advance into Russian territory in the direction of Lublin. The second army, stationed southeast of the first army, was to protect it from any Russians who might strike in upon the south. The first army, therefore, contained more picked material than the second, which included many troops from the southern parts of the empire, including certain disaffected contingents. The first army made its advance as soon as possible, and entered Russian territory on the 11th of August. It went forward with very little loss and against very little resistance. The Russian forces which were against it were inferior in number, and fell back towards the Bug. The Austrians followed, turning somewhat toward the east, when their advance was checked by news of catastrophe in their rear. On the 14th of August the Russian army under General Ruzsky crossed the frontier, and advanced toward the Austrian second army.

The Russian army was in far greater strength than had been expected, and when its advance was followed by the appearance upon the right flank of von Offenberg's command, of yet another Russian army, under Brussilov, the Austrian second army found itself in great danger. Ruzsky advanced steadily from August 14th until, on the 21st, it was not more than one day's advance from the outer works of Lemberg, and the third Russian army under Brussilov was threatening von Offenberg's right flank.

Von Offenberg, underestimating the strength of the enemy, undertook to give battle. The first outpost actions were successful for the Austrians, and helped them in their blunder. On the 24th of August the two Russian armies effected a junction, and their Austrian opponents found themselves threatened with disaster. An endeavor was made to retreat, but the retreat turned into a rout. On the 28th Tarnopol was captured by the Russians, and the Austrian army found itself compelled to fall back upon defense positions to the south and east of Lemberg itself.

The attack of the Russian armies was completely successful. The Austrian army was driven from its positions, and on September 4th the Austrians evacuated Lemberg and the Russian forces took possession of the town. The Austrians fled. The population welcomed the conquerors with the greatest enthusiasm. An immense quantity of stores of every kind were captured by the Russians together with at least 100,000 prisoners. There was no looting, nor any kind of outrage. The Russian policy was to make friends of the inhabitants of Galicia.

But there was no halt after Lemberg. Brussilov divided his army, and sent his left wing into the Carpathian passes; his center and right moved west toward Przemysl; while Ruzsky moved northwest to reinforce the Russian army on the Bug. Meanwhile the position of Dankl's army was perilous in the extreme. There were two possible courses, one to fall back and join the remnants of von Offenberg's army, the other to attack at once, before the first Russian army could be reinforced, and if victorious to turn on Ruzsky.

Dankl's army was now very strong. He had received reinforcements, not only from Austria but from Germany. On the 4th of September he attacked the Russian center; his attack was a failure, although he outnumbered the Russians. The battle continued until the tenth.

Everywhere the Austrians were beaten, and driven off in ignominious retreat. The whole Austrian force fled southward in great disorder; a part directed its flight toward Przemysl, others still farther west toward Cracow. Austria had been completely defeated. Poland was clear of the enemy. The Russian flag flew over Lemberg, while the Russian army was marching toward Cracow. The Russian star was in the ascendant.

But the Austrian armies had not been annihilated. An army of nearly a million men cannot be destroyed in so short a time. The Austrian failure was due in part to the disaffection of some of the elements of the army, and in part to the poor Austrian generalship. They had underestimated their foe, and ventured on a most perilous plan of campaign.

Russian generalship had been most admirable, and the Russian generals were men of ability and experience. Brussilov had seen service in the Turkish War of 1877. Ruzsky was a professor in the Russian War Academy. In the Japanese war he had been chief of staff to General Kaulbars, the commander of the Second Manchurian army. Associated with him was General Radko Dmitrieff, an able officer with a most interesting career. General Dmitrieff was born in Bulgaria, when it was a Turkish province. He graduated at the Military School at Sofia, and afterwards at the War Academy at Petrograd. On his return to Bulgaria he commanded a regiment in the Serbian-Bulgarian war. Later he became mixed up in the conspiracy against Prince Alexander, and was forced to leave Bulgaria. For ten years he served in the Russian army, returning to Bulgaria on the accession of Prince Ferdinand. Later on he became Chief of the General Staff, and when the Balkan war broke out he commanded one of the Bulgarian armies, won several important victories, and became a popular hero of the war. Disgusted with the political squabbles which followed the war, he returned to Russia as a general in the Russian army. With men like these in command, the Russian Empire was well served.

After the decisive defeat of the Austrian army under General Dankl, certain changes were made in the Russian High Command. General Ruzsky was made commander of the center, which was largely reinforced. General Ivanov was put in command of the armies operating in Galicia with Dmitrieff and Brussilov as his chief lieutenants. Brussilov's business was to seize the deep passes in the Carpathians and to threaten Hungary. Dmitrieff's duty was to press the Austrian retreat, and capture the main fortresses of central Galicia.

There are two great fortresses on the River San, Jaroslav and Przemysl, both of them controlling important railroad routes. Jaroslav on the main line from Lemberg to Cracow, Przemysl with a line which skirts the Carpathians, and connects with lines going south to Hungary. Jaroslav was fortified by a strong circle of intrenchments and was looked to by Austria for stout resistance. The Austrians were disappointed, for Ivanov captured it in three days, on the 23d of September. Dmitrieff found Przemysl a harder nut to crack. It held out for many months, while operations of greater importance were being carried on by the Russian armies. The plans of the Russian generals in some respects were not unlike the plan previously suggested as that of the German High Command. At the beginning of the war they had no desire to carry on a powerful offensive against Germany. The expedition into East Prussia was conducted more for political than for military purposes. The real offensive at the start was to be against Austria. The Russian movements were cautious at first, but the easy capture of Lemberg, the fall of Jaroslav, and the demoralization of the Austrian armies, encouraged more daring strategy. With the Germans stopped on the north, little aid to the Austrians could come from that source. The Grand Duke Nicholas was eager to strike a great blow before the winter struck in, so his armies swept to the great Polish city of Cracow. The campaign against Austria also had a political side.

Russia had determined upon a new attitude toward Poland. On August 15th the Grand Duke Nicholas, on behalf of the Czar, had issued a proclamation offering self-government to Russian Poland. Home rule for Poland had long been a favorite plan with the Czar. Now he promised, not only to give Russian Poland home rule, but to add to it the Polish peoples in Austria and Germany. This meant that Austria and Germany would have to give up Galicia on the one hand, and Prussian Poland on the other, if they should lose the war. In the old days Poland had been one of the greatest kingdoms in Europe, with a proud nobility and high civilization. She was one of the first of the great Slav peoples to penetrate the west. Later she had protected Europe against Tartar invasion, but internal differences had weakened her, and, surrounded by enemies, she had first been plundered, and later on divided between Austria, Russia and Prussia. Never had the Poles consented to this destruction of their independence. Galicia had constantly struggled against Austria; Prussian Poland was equally disturbing to the Prussian peace, and Russia was only able to maintain the control of her Polish province by the sword.

Of the three the Pole was probably more inclined to keep on friendly terms with Russia, also a Slav people. The policy of the Czar encouraged this inclination and produced disaffection among the Poles in Galicia and in Posen. Moreover, it gave Russia the sympathy of the world which had long regarded the partition of Poland as a political crime. It encouraged the Czecho-Slavs and other dissatisfied portions of the Austrian Empire.

The results were seen immediately in the demoralization of the Austrian armies where considerable numbers of Czecho-Slovak troops deserted to the Russian army, and later in the loyalty to Russia of the Poles, and their refusal, even under the greatest German pressure, to give the German Empire aid.

CHAPTER X

THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY ON THE SEA

Captain Mahan's thesis that in any great war the nation possessing the greater sea power is likely to win, was splendidly illustrated during the World War.

The great English fleets proved the insuperable obstacle to the ambitious German plans of world dominion. The millions of soldiers landed in France from Great Britain, and its provinces, the millions of Americans transported in safety across the water, and the enormous quantities of supplies put at the disposal of the Allies depended, absolutely, upon the Allied control of the sea routes of the world. With a superior navy a German blockade of England would have brought her to terms in a short period, and France, left to fight alone, would have been an easy victim. The British navy saved the world.

Germany had for many years well understood the necessity of power upon the sea. When the war broke out it was the second greatest of the sea powers. Its ships were mostly modern, for its navy was a creation of the past fifteen years, and its development was obviously for the purpose of attacking the British supremacy. The father of this new navy was a naval officer by the name of von Tirpitz, who, in 1897, had become the German Naval Minister. With the aid of the Emperor he had aroused among the Germans a great enthusiasm for maritime power, and had built up a navy in fifteen years, which was second only to the English navy.

Von Tirpitz was an interesting character. In appearance he looked like an old sea-wolf who had passed his life on the wave, but such a thought would be a mistake. The great admiral's work was done on land; he was an organizer, a diplomatist, and a politician. He created nothing new; in all its details he merely copied the English fleet. He is tall, heavily built, with a great white beard, forked in the middle. He is a man of much dignity, with a smile which has won him renown. He might have been Chancellor of the Empire but he preferred to devote himself to the navy, to prove that the future of Germany is on the seas. His glories are the Lusitania, the fleet safely anchored at Kiel, and the long rows of innocent victims of the submarine.

He was born in 1850 at Kustrion on the Ildor, when the German navy was only a little group of worthless boats. In 1865 he entered the School of Cadets, in 1869 he was gazetted lieutenant, in 1875 he was lieutenant-commander with a reputation as an able organizer. In 1891 he was appointed Chief of Staff at Kiel. This was his opportunity, and he set himself at the task of creating and protecting the submarine division of the navy. As time went on he grew in importance. In 1898 he became Assistant Secretary of State at the Admiralty in Berlin. Two years later he became vice-admiral. His admirers recognized his powers, and he was called the master. In 1899 a patent of nobility was conferred upon him. In 1902 he gained permission to build 13,000-ton war ships, and the following year he was made admiral. In 1907 enormous appropriations were made at his desire for the enlargement of the fleet. In 1908 Emperor William conferred on him the Order of the Black Eagle. In 1914 the Kiel Canal was completed under his direction, and he informed the Emperor that the fleet was ready. It is only fair to add that in all his plans he had the active support of his Imperial Master. The Kaiser, too, had dreamed a dream. Von Tirpitz admired the English. His children had been brought up in England, as was also his wife. He imitated the English, but on the day of the declaration of war he absolutely forbade his family to talk English, and he made a bonfire of his fine scientific library of English books. The Kaiser treated Von Tirpitz as his friend, asked his advice, and followed his counsel. His son, Sub-Lieutenant Wolf Von Tirpitz, studied at Oxford, and is on the most friendly terms with many English gentlemen of importance. He was on board the Mainz, which was sunk off Helgoland in August, 1916. In full uniform he swam for twenty minutes, before being picked up by one of the boats of the cruiser Liverpool. He was a lucky prisoner of war. The German battleships and cruisers which represent the toil of von Tirpitz for more than half a century, lay hidden away in the shelter of the Kiel Canal during the war to be ingloriously surrendered at its end. His name will remain linked with that of the Lusitania.

[Illustration: Painting: Seven sailors firing a large deck gun against
a sinking ship in the background.]
  DRIVING THE GERMAN COMMERCE RAIDERS OFF THE SEAS
  The British light cruiser, "Highflyer," sinking the "Kaiser Wilhelm
  der Grosse" off the West Coast of Africa early in the war. The
  commerce-destroyer was attacking a British steamer when the cruiser
  came up and sent her to the bottom. Inserts show both ships.

[Illustration: Painting: Torpedo crossing behind the path of a small ship.] Copyright International Film Service. ESCAPING A TORPEDO BY RAPID MANEUVERING This destroyer escaped a torpedo from a hunted submarine by quickly turning. Generally the torpedo travels at about fifteen feet under water.

The German High Sea Fleet, at the beginning of the war, consisted of forty-one battleships, seven battle cruisers, nine armored cruisers, forty-nine light cruisers, one hundred and forty-five destroyers, eighty torpedo boats, and thirty-eight submarines. Under the direction of Von Tirpitz the navy had become democratic and had drawn to it many able men of the middle class. Its training was highly specialized and the officers were enthusiasts in their profession. The navy of Austria-Hungary had also expanded in recent years under the inspiration of Admiral Montecuculi. At the outbreak of the war the fleet comprised sixteen battleships, two armored and twelve light cruisers, eighteen destroyers, eighty-five torpedo boats and eleven submarines. The Allies were much more powerful. The French navy had in the matter of invention given the lead to the world, but its size had not kept pace with its quality. At the beginning of the war France had thirty-one battleships, twenty-four armored cruisers, eight light cruisers, eighty-seven destroyers, one hundred and fifty-three torpedo boats and seventy-six submarines. Russia, after the war with Japan, had begun the creation of a powerful battle fleet, which had not been completed when war was declared. At that time she had on the Baltic four dreadnaughts, ten armored cruisers, two light cruisers, eighty destroyers and twenty-four submarines, and a fleet of about half the strength in the Black Sea.

The English fleet had reached a point of efficiency which was unprecedented in its history. The progress of the German sea power had stimulated the spirit of the fleet, and led to a steady advance in training and equipment. The development of armament, and of battleship designing, the improvement in gunnery practice, the revision of the rate of pay, the opening up of careers from the lower deck, and the provision of a naval air service are landmarks in the advance. In the navy estimates of March, 1914, Parliament sanctioned over 51,000,000 Pounds for a naval defense, the largest appropriation for the purpose ever made. The home fleet was arranged in three units, the first fleet was divided into four battle squadrons, together with the flagship of the commander-in-chief. The first squadron was made up of eight battleships, the second squadron contained eight, the third eight and the fourth four. Attached to each fleet was a battle cruiser squadron, consisting of four ships in the first fleet, four in the second, four in the third and five in the fourth.

The fourth also contained a light cruiser squadron, a squadron of six gunboats for mine sweeping, and four flotillas of destroyers, each with a flotilla cruiser attached. The second fleet was composed of two battle squadrons, the first containing eight pre-dreadnaughts, and the second six. Attached to this fleet were also two cruiser squadrons, a mine layer squadron of seven vessels, four patrol flotillas, consisting of destroyers and torpedo boats, and seven flotillas of submarines. A third fleet contained two battle squadrons, mainly composed of old ships, with six cruiser squadrons. The English strength, outside home waters, consisted of the Mediterranean fleet, containing three battle cruisers, four armored cruisers, four ordinary cruisers and a flotilla of seventeen destroyers, together with submarines and torpedo boats. In eastern waters there were a battleship, two cruisers, and four sloops. In the China squadron there were one battleship, two armored cruisers, two ordinary cruisers, and a number of gunboats, destroyers, submarines, and torpedo boats. In New Zealand there were four cruisers. The Australian fleet contained a battle cruiser, three ordinary cruisers, three destroyers and two submarines. Other cruisers and gunboats were stationed at the Cape, the west coast of Africa, and along the western Atlantic. At the outbreak of the war two destroyers were purchased from Chile, and two Turkish battleships, building in England, were commandeered by the government.

It is evident that the union of France and Britain made the Allies easily superior in the Mediterranean Sea, so that France was able to transport her African troops in safety, and the British commerce with India and the East could safely continue. The main field of the naval war, therefore, was the North Sea and the Baltic, where Germany had all her fleet, except a few naval raiders. The entrance to the Baltic was closed to the enemy by Denmark, which, as a neutral, was bound to prevent an enemy fleet from passing. Germany, however, by means of the Kiel Canal, could permit the largest battle fleet to pass from the Baltic to the North Sea. The German High Sea Fleet was weaker than the British home fleet by more than forty per cent, and the German policy, therefore, was to avoid a battle, until, through mine layers and submarines, the British power should have been sufficiently weakened. The form of the German coast made this plan easily possible. The various bays and river mouths provided safe retreat for the German ships, and the German fleet were made secure by the fortifications along the coast. On July the 29th, 1914, at the conclusion of the annual maneuvers, instead of being demobilized as would have been usual, the Grand Fleet of Great Britain sailed from Portland along the coast into the mists, and from that moment dominated the whole course of the war.

From the 4th of August, the date of the declaration of war, the oceans of the world were practically rid of enemy war ships, and were closed to enemy mercantile marine. Although diplomacy had not yet failed, the masters of the English navy were not caught napping. The credit for this readiness has been given to Mr. Winston Churchill, one of the first Lords of the Admiralty, who had divined the coming danger. When the grand fleet sailed it seemed to disappear from English view. Occasionally some dweller along the coast might see an occasional cruiser or destroyer sweeping by in the distance, but the great battleships had gone. Somewhere, in some hidden harbor, lay the vigilant fleets of England.

Sea fighting had changed since the days of Admiral Nelson. The old wooden ship belonged to a past generation. The guns of a battleship would have sunk the Spanish Armada with one broadside. In this modern day the battleship was protected by aircraft, which dropped bombs from the clouds. Unseen submarines circled about her. Beneath her might be mines, which could destroy her at the slightest touch. Everything had changed but the daring of the English sailor.

In command of the Home fleet was Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. He had had a distinguished career. Beginning as a lieutenant in the Egyptian War of 1882, he had become a commander in 1891. In 1897 he became a captain, and served in China, commanding the Naval Brigade in the Pekin Expedition of 1900, where he was severely wounded. Later he became naval assistant to the Controller of the Navy, Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes, Rear-Admiral in the United Fleet, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and Controller of the Navy, Vice-Admiral commanding the Atlantic fleet, Vice-Admiral commanding the second division of the Home fleet, and second Sea Lord of the Admiralty. He had distinguished himself in the naval maneuvers of 1913, and was one of the officers mainly responsible for the development of the modern English navy. He had the confidence of his colleagues, and a peculiar popularity among the British seamen.

On the day after the declaration of war, the first shots were fired. German mine layers, it is now believed, in disguise, had been dropping mines during the preceding week over a wide area of the North Sea. On the 5th of August the mine layer, Koenigen Luise, was sunk by the destroyer Lance, and on August 6th the British light cruiser Amphion struck one of the mines laid by the Koenigen Luise and was sunk with great loss of life. On August 9th, German submarines attacked a cruiser squadron without causing any damage, and one submarine was sunk.

It was in the Mediterranean, however, that the greatest interest was felt during the first week of the war. Two German war ships, the Goeben and the Breslau, were off the Algerian coast when war broke out. It is probable that when these ships received their sailing orders, Germany depended on the assistance of Italy, and had sent these ships to its assistance. They were admirably suited for commerce destroyers. They began by bombarding the Algerian coast towns of Bona and Phillipe, doing little damage. They then turned toward the coast of Gibraltar, but found before them the British fleet. Eluding the British they next appeared at Messina. There the captains and officers made their wills and deposited their valuables, including signed portraits of the Kaiser, with the German consul. The decks were cleared for action, and with the bands playing they sailed out under a blood-red sunset.

However, they seem to have been intent only on escape, and they went at full speed eastward toward the Dardanelles, meeting in their way only with the British cruiser Gloucester, which, though much inferior in size, attacked them boldly but was unable to prevent their escape. On entering Constantinople they were reported as being sold to the Turkish Government, the Turks thus beginning the line of conduct which was ultimately to bring them into the war.

Picturesque as this incident was it was of no importance as compared with the great British blockade of Germany which began on the 4th of August. German merchantmen in every country of the empire were seized, and hundreds of ships were captured on the high seas. Those who escaped to neutral ports were at once interned. In a week German commerce had ceased to exist. A few German cruisers were still at large but it was not long before they had been captured, or driven into neutral ports. Among the most picturesque of these raiders were the Emden and the Koenigsberg. The Emden, in particular, interested the world with her romantic adventures. Her story is best told in the words of Lieutenant-Captain von Mucke, and Lieutenant Gyssing, whose return to Germany with forty-four men, four officers and one surgeon, after the destruction of the ship, was a veritable Odyssey.

[Illustration: Painting]
  A BATTLE OF FOUR ELEMENTS
  British monitors shelling the German land batteries near Nieuport.
  German submarines were actively engaged in trying to torpedo these
  monitors and the British monoplane was useful for giving the range to
  the ship and reporting the accuracy of the shots.

[Illustration: Painting]
  TORPEDOING OF THE BRITISH BATTLESHIP, "ABOUKIR"
  In the first few weeks of the war, when the navies of the world were
  still at open warfare, during a sharp engagement off the Hook of
  Holland in the North Sea the British warships "Aboukir", "Cressy" and
  "Hogue" fell victims to the enemy. This sketch shows the "Aboukir"
  after a German torpedo had found its mark in her hull.

"We on the Emden had no idea where we were going, as, on August 11, 1914, we separated from the cruiser squadron, escorted only by the coaler Markomannia. Under way the Emden picked up three officers from German steamers. That was a piece of luck, for afterward we needed many officers for the capturing and sinking of steamers, or manning them when we took them with us. On September 10th, the first boat came in sight. We stopped her; she proved to be a Greek tramp returning from England. On the next day we met the Indus, bound for Bombay, all fitted up as a troop transport, but still without troops. That was the first one we sunk. The crew we took aboard the Markomannia. Then we sank the Lovat, a troop transport ship, and took the Kambinga along with us. One gets used quickly to new forms of activity. After a few days, capturing ships became a habit. Of the twenty-three which we captured most of them stopped after our first signal; when they didn't, we fired a blank shot. Then they all stopped. Only one, the Clan Matteson, waited for a real shot across the bow before giving up its many automobiles and locomotives to the seas.

"The officers were mostly very polite, and let down rope ladders for us. After a few hours they would be on board with us. We ourselves never set foot in their cabins, nor took charge of them. The officers often acted on their own initiative, and signaled to us the nature of their cargo. Then the commandant decided as to whether to sink the ship or take it with us. Of the cargo we always took every thing we could use, particularly provisions. Many of the English officers and sailors made good use of the hours of transfer to drink up the supply of whisky instead of sacrificing it to the waves. I heard that one captain was lying in tears at the enforced separation from his beloved ship, but on investigation found that he was merely dead drunk, The captain on one ship once called out cheerily 'Thank God, I've been captured.' He had received expense money for the trip to Australia, and was now saved half the journey."

Parenthetically it may be remarked, that the Emden's captain, Karl von Mueller, conducted himself at all times with chivalrous bravery, according to the accounts of the English themselves, who in their reports say of him, admiringly, "He played the game." Captain von Mucke's account continues:

"We had mostly quiet weather, so that communication with captured ships was easy. They were mostly dynamited, or else shot close to the water line. At Calcutta we made one of our richest hauls, the Diplomat, chock full of tea, we sunk $2,500,000 worth. On the same day the Trabbotch, too, which steered right straight towards us, was captured. By now we wanted to beat it out of the Bay of Bengal, because we had learned from the papers that the Emden was being keenly searched for. By Rangoon we encountered a Norwegian tramp, which, for a cash consideration, took over all the rest of our prisoners of war.

"On September 23d we reached Madras, and steered straight for the harbor. We stopped still 3,000 yards before the city. Then we shot up the oil tanks; three or four of them burned up and illuminated the city. Two days later we navigated around Ceylon, and could see the lights of Colombo. On the same evening we gathered in two more steamers, the King Lund, and Tywerse. The next evening we got the Burresk, a nice steamer with 500 tons of nice Cardiff coal. Then followed in order, the Ryberia, Foyle, Grand Ponrabbel, Benmore, Troiens, Exfort, Graycefale, Sankt Eckbert, Chilkana. Most of them were sunk. The coal ships were kept. All this happened before October 20th. Then we sailed southward to Deogazia, southwest of Colombo."

The captain then tells with much gusto a story of a visit paid to the Emden by some English farmers, at Deogazia, who were entertained royally by the Emden officers. They knew nothing about the war, and the Emden officers told them nothing. His narrative continues:

"Now we went toward Miniko, where we sank two ships more. On the next day we found three steamers to the north, one of them with much desired Cardiff coal. From English papers on the captured ships we learned that we were being hotly pursued. One night we started for Penang. On October 28th we raised a very practicable fourth smokestack (for disguise). The harbor of Penang lies in a channel difficult of access. There was nothing doing by night. We had to do it at daybreak. At high speed, without smoke, with lights out, we steered into the mouth of the channel. A torpedo boat on guard slept well. We steamed past its small light. Inside lay a dark silhouette. That must be a warship. We recognized the silhouette dead sure. That was the Russian cruiser Jemtchud. There it lay, there it slept like a rat, no watch to be seen. They made it easy for us. Because of the narrowness of the harbor we had to keep close; we fired the first torpedo at four hundred yards.

"Then, to be sure, things livened up a bit on the sleeping warship. At the same time we took the crew quarters under fire five shells at a time. There was a flash of flame on board, then a kind of burning aureole. After the fourth shell the flame burned high. The first torpedo had struck the ship too deep, because we were too close to it. A second torpedo which we fired off from the other side didn't make the same mistake. After twenty seconds there was absolutely not a trace of the ship to be seen.

"But now another ship which we couldn't see was firing. That was the French D'Ivrebreville, toward which we now turned at once. A few minutes later an incoming torpedo destroyer was reported. It proved to be the French torpedo boat Mousquet. It came straight toward us. That's always remained a mystery to me, for it must have heard the shooting. An officer whom we fished up afterward explained to me that they had only recognized we were a German warship when they were quite close to us. The Frenchman behaved well, accepted battle and fought on, but was polished off by us with three broadsides. The whole fight with those ships lasted half an hour. The commander of the torpedo boat lost both legs by the first broadside. When he saw that part of his crew were leaping overboard he cried out 'Tie me fast. I will not survive after seeing Frenchmen desert their ship.' As a matter of fact he went down with his ship, as a brave captain, lashed fast to the mast. That was my only sea-fight.

"On November 9th I left the Emden in order to destroy the wireless plant on the Cocos Island. I had fifty men, four machine guns and about thirty rifles. Just as we were about to destroy the apparatus it reported 'Careful. Emden near.' The work of destruction went smoothly. Presently the Emden signaled to us 'Hurry up.' I pack up, but simultaneously wails the Emden's siren. I hurry up to the bridge, see the flag 'Anna' go up. That means weigh anchor. We ran like mad into our boat, but already the Emden's pennant goes up, the battle flag is raised, they fire from starboard. The enemy is concealed by the island, and therefore not to be seen, but I see the shell strike the water. To follow and catch the Emden is out of question. She is going twenty knots, I only four with my steam pinnace. Therefore I turn back to land, raise the flag, declare German laws of war in force, seize all arms, set out my machine guns on shore in order to guard against a hostile landing. Then I run again in order to observe the fight."

The cable operator at Cocos Island gives the following account of what happened from this point. After describing the sudden flight of the Emden, he goes on: "Looking to the eastward we could see the reason for this sudden departure, for a warship, which we afterwards learned was the Australian cruiser Sydney, was coming up at full speed in pursuit. The Emden did not wait to discuss matters, but, firing her first shot at a range of about 3,700 yards, steamed north as hard as she could go. At first the firing of the Emden seemed excellent, while that of the Sydney was somewhat erratic. This, as I afterward learned, was due to the fact that the Australian cruiser's range finder was put out of action by one of the only two shots the Germans got home. However, the British gunners soon overcame any difficulties that this may have caused, and settled down to their work, so that before long two of the Emden's funnels had been shot away. She also lost one of her masts quite early in the fight. Both blazing away with their big guns the two cruisers disappeared below the horizon, the Emden being on fire.

"Early the next morning, Tuesday, November 10th, we saw the Sydney returning, and at 8.45 A. M. she anchored off the island. From various members of the crew I gathered some details of the running fight with the Emden. The Sydney, having an advantage in speed, was able to keep out of range of the Emden's guns, and to bombard with her own heavier metal. The engagement lasted eighty minutes, the Emden finally running ashore on North Keeling Island, and becoming an utter wreck. Only two German shots proved effective, one of these failed to explode, but smashed the main range finder and killed one man, the other killed three men and wounded fourteen.

"Each of the cruisers attempted to torpedo the other, but both were unsuccessful, and the duel proved a contest in hard pounding at long range. The Sydney's speed during the fighting was twenty-six knots, and the Emden's twenty-four knots. The British ship's superiority of two knots enabled her to choose the range at which the battle should be fought and to make the most of her superior guns. Finally, with a number of wounded prisoners on board, the Sydney left here yesterday, and our few hours of war excitement were over."

Captain Mucke's return home from the Cocos Island was filled with the most extraordinary adventures, and when he finally arrived in country controlled by his Allies he was greeted as a hero.

While the story of the Emden especially interested the world, the Koenigsberg also caused much trouble to English commerce. Her chief exploit occurred on the 20th of September, when she caught the British cruiser Pegasus in Zanzibar harbor undergoing repairs. The Pegasus had no chance, and was destroyed by the Koenigsberg's long-range fire. Nothing much was heard later of the Koenigsberg, which was finally destroyed by an English cruiser, July 11, 1915.

The exploits of these two German commerce raiders attracted general attention, because they were the exceptions to the rule. The British, on the other hand, were able to capture such German merchantmen as ventured on the sea without great difficulty, and as they did not destroy their capture, but brought them before prize courts, the incidents attracted no great attention. The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which had been fitted up as a commerce destroyer by the Germans at the beginning of the war, as was the Spreewald of the Hamburg-American Line, and the Cap Trafalgar, were caught and sunk during the month of September. On the whole, English foreign trade was unimpaired.

But though the German fleet had been bottled up in her harbors, Germany was not yet impotent. There remained the submarine.

Up to 1905 Germany had not a single submarine. The first German submarine was launched on August 30, 1905. Even then it was considered merely an experiment. In February, 1907, it was added to the register of the fleet. On January 1, 1901, there were only four nations that possessed submarines, France, with fourteen; the United States, with eight; England, with six, of which not one was completed, and finally Italy, with two. In 1910, Germany appropriated 18,750,000 marks for submarines, and in 1913, 25,000,000 marks. On January 1, 1914, the total number of submarines of all nations was approximately four hundred.

Early in the war the submarine became a grave menace to the English navy and to English commerce. On the 5th of September the Pathfinder, a light cruiser, was torpedoed and sunk with great loss of life. On September 22d, three cruisers, the Cressy, Hogue, and Aboukir were engaged in patrolling the coast of Holland. A great storm had been raging and the cruisers were not protected by the usual screen of destroyers. At half-past six in the morning the seas had fallen and the cruisers proceeded to their posts. The report of Commander Nicholson, of the Cressy, of what followed gives a good idea of the effectiveness of the submarine.

"The Aboukir," says this report, "was struck at about 6.25 A. M. on the starboard beam. The Hogue and Cressy closed, and took up a position, the Hogue ahead of the Aboukir, and the Cressy about four hundred yards on her port beam. As soon as it was seen that the Aboukir was in danger of sinking, all the boats were sent away from the Cressy, and a picket boat was hoisted out without steam up. When cutters full of the Aboukir's men were returning to the Cressy, the Hogue was struck, apparently under the aft 9.2 magazine, as a very heavy explosion took place immediately. Almost directly after the Hogue was hit we observed a periscope on our port bow about three hundred yards off. Fire was immediately opened, and the engines were put full speed ahead with the intention of running her down. . . .

"Captain Johnson then maneuvered the ship so as to render assistance to the crews of the Hogue and Aboukir. About five minutes later another periscope was seen on our starboard quarter, and fire was opened. The track of the torpedo she fired at a range of from 500 to 600 yards was plainly visible, and it struck us on the starboard side just before the after bridge. The ship listed about ten degrees to the starboard and remained steady. The time was 7.15 A. M. All the water-tight doors, dead lights and scuttles had been securely closed before the torpedoes left the ship. All mess stools and table shores and all available timber below and on deck had been previously got up and thrown overside for the saving of life. A second torpedo fired by the same submarine missed and passed about ten feet astern.

"About a quarter of an hour after the first torpedo had hit, a third torpedo fired from the submarine just before the starboard beam, hit us under the No. 5 boiler room. The time was 7.30 A. M. The ship then began to heel rapidly, and finally turned keel up remaining so for about twenty minutes before she finally sank. It is possible that the same submarine fired all three torpedoes at the Cressy."

Of the total crews of 1,459 officers and men only 779 were saved. The survivors believed that they had seen at least three submarines, but the German official account mentions only one, the U-9, under Captain-Lieutenant Otto Weddigen whose account of this battle confirms the report of Commander Nicholson. Referring to the reports that a flotilla of German submarines had attacked the cruisers, he says:

"These reports were absolutely untrue. U-9 was the only submarine on deck." He adds: "I reached the home port on the afternoon of the 23d and on the 24th went to Wilhelmshaven to find that news of my effort had become public. My wife, dry-eyed when I went away, met me with tears. Then I learned that my little vessel and her brave crew had won the plaudit of the Kaiser who conferred upon each of my co-workers the Iron Cross of the second class and upon me the Iron Crosses of the first and second classes."

Weddigen was the hero of the hour in Germany. He had with him twenty-five men. He seems to have acted with courage and skill, but it is also evident that the English staff work was to blame. Three such vessels should never have been sent out without a screen of destroyers, nor should the Hogue and the Cressy have gone to the rescue of the Aboukir. A few days after the disaster the English Admiralty issued the following statement:

The sinking of the Aboukir was of course an ordinary hazard of patrolling duty. The Hogue and Cressy, however, were sunk because they proceeded to the assistance of their consort, and remained with engines stopped, endeavoring to save life, thus presenting an easy target to further submarine attacks. The natural promptings of humanity have in this case led to heavy losses, which would have been avoided by a strict adhesion to military consideration. Modern naval war is presenting us with so many new and strange situations that an error of judgment of this character is pardonable. But it has become necessary to point out for the future guidance of His Majesty's ships that the conditions which prevail when one vessel of a squadron is injured in the mine field, or is exposed to submarine attack, are analogous to those which occur in action, and that the rule of leaving ships to their own resources is applicable, so far, at any rate, as large vessels are concerned.

On the 28th of August occurred the first important naval action of the war, the battle of Helgoland. From the 9th of August German cruisers had shown activity in the seas around Helgoland and had sunk a number of British trawlers. The English submarines, E-6 and E-8, and the light cruiser Fearless, had patrolled the seas, and on the 21st of August the Fearless had come under the enemy's shell fire. On August 26th the submarine flotilla, under Commodore Keyes, sailed from Harwich for the Bight of Helgoland, and all the next day the Lurcher and the Firedrake, destroyers, scouted for submarines. On that same day sailed the first and third destroyer flotillas, the battle cruiser squadron, first light cruiser squadron, and the seventh cruiser squadron, having a rendezvous at this point on the morning of the 28th.

The morning was beautiful and clear, so that the submarines could be easily seen. Close to Helgoland were Commodore Keyes' eight submarines, and his two small destroyers. Approaching rapidly from the northwest were Commodore Tyrwhitt's two destroyer flotillas, a little to the east was Commodore Goodenough's first light cruiser squadron. Behind this squadron were Sir David Beatty's battle cruisers with four destroyers. To the south and west of Helgoland lay Admiral Christian's seventh cruiser squadron.

Presently from behind Helgoland came a number of German destroyers, followed by two cruisers; and the English submarines, with the two small destroyers, fled westwards, acting as a decoy. As the Germans followed, the British destroyer flotillas on the northwest came rapidly down. At the sight of these destroyers the German destroyers fled, and the British attempted to head them off.

According to the official report the principle of the movement was to cut the German light craft from home, and engage it at leisure on the open sea.

But between the two German cruisers and the English cruisers a fierce battle took place. The Arethusa was engaged with the German Ariadne, and the Fearless with the Strasburg. A shot from the Arethusa shattered the fore bridge of the Ariadne and killed the captain, and both German cruisers drew off toward Helgoland.

Meanwhile the destroyers were engaged in a hot fight. They sunk the leading boat of the German flotilla and damaged a dozen more. Between nine and ten o'clock there was a lull in the fight; the submarines, with some of the destroyers, remained in the neighborhood of Helgoland, and the Germans, believing that these boats were the only hostile vessels in the neighborhood, determined to attack them.

The Mainz, the Koln, and the Strasburg came again on the scene, and opened a heavy fire on some of the boats of the first flotilla which were busy saving life. The small destroyers were driven away, but the seamen in the boats were rescued by an English submarine. The Arethusa and the Fearless, with the destroyers in their company, engaged with three enemy cruisers. The Strasburg, seriously injured, was compelled to flee. The boilers of the Mainz blew up, and she became a wreck. The Koln only remaining and carrying on the fight.

The English destroyers were much crippled, and as the battle had now lasted for five hours any moment the German great battleships might come on the scene. A wireless signal had been sent to Sir David Beatty, asking for help, and about twelve o'clock the Falmouth and the Nottingham arrived on the scene of action. By this time the first destroyer flotilla was out of action and the third flotilla and the Arethusa had their hands full with the Koln. The light cruisers were followed at 12.15 by the English battle cruisers, the Lion came first, and she alone among the battle cruisers seems to have used her guns. Her gun power beat down all opposition. The Koln made for home, but the Lion's guns set her on fire. The luckless Ariadne hove in sight, but the terrible 13.5-inch guns sufficed for her. The battle cruisers circled around, and in ten minutes the Koln went to the bottom.

At twenty minutes to two, Admiral Beatty turned homeward. The German cruisers Mainz, Koln, and the Ariadne had been sunk; the Strasburg was seriously damaged. One destroyer was sunk, and at least seven seriously injured. About seven hundred of the German crew perished and there were three hundred prisoners. The British force returned without the loss of a single ship. The Arethusa had been badly damaged, but was easily repaired. The casualty list was thirty-two killed and fifty-two wounded. The battle was fought on both sides with great gallantry, the chief glory belonging to the Arethusa and the Fearless who bore the brunt of the battle. The strategy and tactical skill employed were admirable, and the German admiral, von Ingenohl from that time on, with one exception, kept his battleships in harbor, and confined his activities to mine laying and the use of submarines.

In the first days of the war the German mine layers had been busy. By means of trawlers disguised as neutrals, mines were dropped off the north coast of Ireland, and a large mine field was laid off the eastern coast of England. One of the most important duties of the Royal Naval Reserve was the task of mine sweeping. Over seven hundred mine-sweeping vessels were constantly employed in keeping an area of 7,200 square miles clear for shipping. These ships swept 15,000 square miles monthly, and steamed over 1,100,000 miles in carrying out their duties.

It would be hard to overestimate the effect of the British blockade of the German ports upon the fortunes of the war. The Germans for a long time attempted, by the use of neutral ships, to obtain the necessary supplies through Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland. Millions of dollars' worth of food and munitions ultimately reached German hands. The imports of all these nations were multiplied many times, but as the time went on the blockade grew stricter and stricter until the Germans felt the pinch. To conduct efficiently this blockade meant the use of over 3,600 vessels which were added to the auxiliary patrol service. Over 13,000 vessels were intercepted and examined by units of the British navy employed on blockade channels.

The Germans protested with great vigor against this blockade, and ultimately endeavored to counteract it by declaring unrestricted submarine warfare. In fact, Great Britain had gone too far, and vigorous protests from America followed her attempt to seize contraband goods in American vessels.

The code of maritime law, adopted in the Declaration at Paris of 1856, as well as the Declaration in London of 1909, had been framed in the interests of unmaritime nations. The British plenipotentiaries had agreed to these laws on the theory that in any war of the future Britain would be neutral. The rights of neutrals had been greatly increased. A blockade was difficult to enforce, for the right of a blockading power to capture a blockade runner did not cover the whole period of her voyage, and was confined to ships of the blockading force. A ship carrying contraband could only be condemned if the contraband formed more than half its cargo. A belligerent warship could destroy a neutral vessel without taking it into a port for a judgment. The transfer of an enemy vessel to a neutral flag was presumed to be valid, if effected more than thirty days before the outbreak of war. Belligerents in neutral vessels on the high seas were exempt from capture. The Emden could justify its sinking of British ships, but the English were handicapped in their endeavor to prevent neutral ships from carrying supplies to Germany.

But Germany had become a law unto itself. And England found it necessary in retaliation to issue orders in council which made nugatory many of the provisions of the maritime code. The protests of the American Government and those of other neutrals were treated with the greatest consideration, and every endeavor was made that no real injustice should be done. When America itself later entered the war these differences of opinion disappeared from public view.

CHAPTER XI

THE SUBLIME PORTE

As soon as the diplomatic relations between Austria and Serbia had been broken, the Turkish Grand Vizier informed the diplomatic corps in Constantinople that Turkey would remain neutral in the conflict. The declaration was not formal, for war had not yet been declared. The policy of Turkey, as represented in the ministerial paper, Tasfiri-Efkiar, was as follows:

"Turkey has never asked for war, as she always has worked toward avoiding it, but neutrality does not mean indifference. The present Austro-Serbian conflict is to a supreme degree interesting to us. In the first place, one of our erstwhile opponents is fighting against a much stronger enemy. In the natural course of things Serbia, which till lately was expressing, in a rather open way, her solidarity as a nation, still provoking us, and Greece, will be materially weakened. In the second place, the results of this war may surpass the limits of the conflict between two countries, and in that case our interests will be just as materially affected. We must, therefore, keep our eyes open, as the circumstances are momentarily changing, and do not permit us to let escape certain advantages which we can secure by active, and rightly acting, diplomacy. The policy of neutrality will impose on us the obligation of avoiding to side with either of the belligerents. But the same policy will force us to take all the necessary measures for safeguarding our interests and our frontiers."

Whereupon a Turkish mobilization was at once ordered. The war had hardly begun when Turkey received the news that her two battleships, building in British yards, had been taken over by England. A bitter feeling against England was at once aroused, Turkish mobs proceeded to attack the British stores and British subjects, and attempts were even made against the British embassy in Constantinople, and the British consulate at Smyrna.

At this time Turkey was in a peculiar position. For a century she had been on the best of terms with France and Great Britain. On the other hand Russia had been her hereditary enemy. She was still suffering from her defeat by the Balkan powers, and her statesmen saw in this war great possibilities. She desired to recover her lost provinces in Europe, and saw at once that she could hope for little from the Allies in this direction.

[Illustration: Map: Black Sea to the North, Caspian Sea to the East,
Persian Gulf to South, Crete to the West.]
  SKETCH OF TERRITORY CONTROLLED BY TURKEY IN 1914

For some years, too, German intrigues, and, according to report, German money, had enabled the German Government to control the leading Turkish statesmen. German generals, under General Liman von Sanders, were practically in control of the Turkish army. The commander-in-chief was Enver Bey, who had been educated in Germany and was more German than the Germans. A new system of organization for the Turkish army had been established by the Germans, which had substituted the mechanical German system for the rough and inefficient Turkish methods. Universal conscription provided men, and the Turkish soldier has always been known as a good soldier. Yet as it turned out the German training did little for him. Under his own officers he could fight well, but under German officers, fighting for a cause which he neither liked nor understood, he was bound to fail.

At first the Turkish mobilization was conducted in such a way as to be ready to act in common with Bulgaria in an attack against Greek and Serbian Macedonia, as soon as the Austrians had obtained a decisive victory over the Serbians. The entry of Great Britain into the war interfered with this scheme. Meantime, though not at war, the Turks were suffering almost as much as if war had been declared. Greedy speculators took advantage of the situation, and the government itself requisitioned everything it could lay its hands on.

A Constantinople correspondent, writing on the 6th of August, says as follows;

"Policemen and sheriffs followed by military officers are taking by force everything in the way of foodstuffs, entering the bakeries and other shops selling victuals, boarding ships with cargoes of flour, potatoes, wheat and rice, and taking over virtually everything, giving in lieu of payment a receipt which is not worth even the paper on which it is written. In this way many shops are forced to close, bread has entirely disappeared from the bakeries, and Constantinople, the capital of a neutral country, is already feeling all the troubles and privations of a besieged city. Prices for foodstuffs have soared to inaccessible heights, as provisions are becoming scarce. Actual hand-to-hand combats are taking place in the streets outside the bakeries for the possession of a loaf of bread, and hungry women with children in their arms are seen crying and weeping with despair. Many merchants, afraid lest the government requisition their goods, hasten to have their orders canceled, the result being that no merchandise of any kind is coming to Constantinople either from Europe or from Anatolia. Both on account of the recruiting of their employees, and of shortage of coal, the companies operating electric tramways of the city have reduced their service to the minimum, as no power is available for the running of the cars. Heartrending scenes are witnessed in front of the closed doors of the various banking establishments, where large posters are to be seen bearing the inscription 'Closed temporarily by order of the government.'"

Immediately after war was declared between Germany and Russia the Porte ordered the Bosporus and Dardanelles closed to every kind of shipping, at the same time barring the entrances of these channels with rows of mines. The first boat to suffer from this measure was a British merchantman which was sunk outside the Bosporus, while another had a narrow escape in the Dardanelles. A large number of steamers of every nationality waited outside the straits for the special pilot boats of the Turkish Government, in order to pass in safety through the dangerous mine field. This measure of closing the straits was suggested to Turkey by Austria and Germany, and was primarily intended against Russia, as it was feared that her Black Sea fleet might force its way into the Sea of Marmora and the AEgean.

On August 2d the Turkish Parliament was prorogued, so that all political power might center around the Imperial throne. A vigorous endeavor was made to strengthen the Turkish navy. Djemal Pasha was placed at its head with Arif Bey as chief of the naval staff. Talaat Bey and Halil Bey were sent to Bucharest to exchange views with Roumanian statesmen, and representatives of the Greek Government, in regard to the outstanding Greco-Turkish difficulties.

On September 10th an official announcement from the Sublime Porte was issued defining in the first place many constitutional reforms, and in particular abolishing the capitulation, that is, the concessions made by law to foreigners, allowing them participation in the administration of justice, exemption from taxation, and special protection in their business transactions. In abolishing these capitulations the Ottoman Government declared that it would treat foreign countries in accordance with the rules of international law, and that it was acting without any hostile feeling against any of the foreign states.

The Allied governments formally protested against this action of the Turkish Government. Meantime Constantinople was the center of most elaborate intrigues. The Turkish Government grew more and more warlike, and began to threaten, not only Greece, but Russia and the Triple Entente as well. During this period the Turkish press maintained an active campaign against England and the Allies. Every endeavor was made by the Sublime Porte to secure Roumanian or Bulgarian co-operation in a militant policy. The Allies, seeing the situation, made many promises to Bulgaria, Greece and Roumania. Bulgaria was offered Adrianople and Thrace; Greece was to have Smyrna, and Roumania the Roumanian provinces in Austria. The jealousy of these powers of each other prevented an agreement. The influence of Germany became more and more preponderant with the Ottoman Empire; indeed, it is probable that an understanding had existed between the two powers from the beginning. The action of the Turkish Government in regard to the Goeben and Breslau could hardly have been possible unless with a previous understanding. At last the rupture came. The following was the official Turkish version of the events which led to the Turkish declaration of war:

"While on the 27th of October a small part of the Turkish fleet was maneuvering on the Black Sea, the Russian fleet, which at first confined its activities to following and hindering every one of our movements, finally, on the 29th, unexpectedly began hostilities by attacking the Ottoman fleet. During the naval battle which ensued the Turkish fleet, with the help of the Almighty, sank the mine layer Pruth, inflicted severe damage on one of the Russian torpedo boats, and captured a collier. A torpedo from the Turkish torpedo boat Gairet-i-Millet sank the Russian destroyer Koubanietz, and another from the Turkish torpedo boat Mouavenet-i-Millet inflicted serious damage on a Russian coast guard ship. Three officers and seventy-two sailors rescued by our men and belonging to the crews of the damaged and sunken vessels of the Russian fleet have been made prisoners. The Ottoman Imperial fleet, glory be given to the Almighty, escaped injury, and the battle is progressing favorably for us. Information received from our fleet, now in the Black Sea, is as follows:

"From accounts of Russian sailors taken prisoners, and from the presence of a mine layer among the Russian fleet, evidence is gathered that the Russian fleet intended closing the entrance to the Bosporus with mines, and destroying entirely the Imperial Ottoman fleet, after having split it in two. Our fleet, believing that it had to face an unexpected attack, and supposing that the Russians had begun hostilities without a formal declaration of war, pursued the scattered Russian fleet, bombarded the port of Sebastopol, destroyed in the city of Novorossisk fifty petroleum depots, fourteen military transports, some granaries, and the wireless telegraph station. In addition to the above our fleet has sunk in Odessa a Russian cruiser, and damaged severely another. It is believed that this second boat was likewise sunk. Five other steamers full of cargoes lying in the same port were seriously damaged. A steamship belonging to the Russian volunteer fleet was also sunk, and five petroleum depots were destroyed. In Odessa and Sebastopol the Russians from the shore opened fire against our fleet."

[Illustration: Photographs and Paintings]
  FAMOUS BRITISH GENERALS
  General Smith-Dorrien, British Corps Commander in the famous retreat
  from Mons; Generals Plumer, Rawlinson and Byng, Commanders on the
  Western Front; General Birdwood, Commander of the Australian-New
  Zealand troops at Gallipoli.

[Illustration: Photographs and Paintings]
  FAMOUS FRENCH GENERALS
  Marshal Petain, Commander-in-Chief of the French armies in the West;
  Generals Mangin, Gouraud and Humbert, Army Commanders in the West;
  Generals Gallieni, Commander of Paris, who sent forward an army in
  taxicabs to save the day at the First Battle of the Marne.

The Sultan at once declared war against Russia, England and France, and issued a proclamation to his troops, declaring that he had called them to arms to resist aggression and that "the very existence of our Empire and of three hundred million Moslems whom I have summoned by sacred Fetwa to a supreme struggle, depend on your victory. Do not forget that you are brothers in arms of the strongest and bravest armies of the world, with whom we are now fighting shoulder to shoulder."

The Fetwa, or proclamation announcing a holy war, called upon all Mussulmans capable of carrying arms, and even upon Mussulman women to fight against the powers with whom the Sultan was at war. In this manner the holy war became a duty, not only for all Ottoman subjects, but for the three hundred million Moslems of the earth. On November 5th Great Britain declared war against Turkey, ordered the seizure in British ports of Turkish vessels, and, by an order in Council, annexed the Island of Cyprus. On the 17th of December, the Khedive Abbas II, having thrown in his lot with Turkey and fled to Constantinople, Egypt was formally proclaimed a British Protectorate. The title of Khedive was abolished, and the throne of Egypt, with the title of Sultan, was offered to Prince Hussein Kamel Pasha, the eldest living prince of the house of Mahomet Ali, an able and enlightened man. This meant that Britain was now wholly responsible for the defense of Egypt. The new Sultan of Egypt made his state entry on December 20th into the Abdin Palace in Cairo. The progress of the new ruler was received with great enthusiasm by thousands of spectators.

The King of England sent a telegram of congratulation with his promise of support:

On the occasion when your Highness enters upon your high office I desire to convey to your Highness the expression of my most sincere friendship, and the assurance of my unfailing support in safeguarding the integrity of Egypt, and in securing her future well being and prosperity. Your Highness has been called upon to undertake the responsibilities of your high office at a grave crisis in the national life of Egypt, and I feel convinced that you will be able, with the co-operation of your Ministers, and the Protectorate of Great Britain, successfully to overcome all the influences which are seeking to destroy the independence of Egypt and the wealth, liberty and happiness of its people.

This was Britain's answer to the Turkish proclamation of war. The Turks had not taken this warlike course with entire unanimity. The Sultan, the Grand Vizier, and Djavid Bey were in favor of peace, but Enver Pasha and his colleagues overruled them. The Odessa incident was unjustified aggression, deliberately planned to provoke hostilities. The tricky and corrupt German diplomacy had won its point.

It is interesting to observe that the proclamation of the holy war, a favorite German scheme, fell flat. The Kaiser, and his advisers, had counted much upon this raising of the sacred flag. The Kaiser had visited Constantinople and permitted himself to be exploited as a sympathizer with Mohammedanism. Photographs of him had been taken representing him in Mohammedan garb, accompanied by Moslem priests, and a report had been deliberately circulated throughout Turkey that he had become a Moslem. The object of this camouflage was to stir up the Mohammedans in the countries controlled by England, risings were hoped for in Egypt and India, and German spies had been distributed through those countries to encourage religious revolts. But there was almost no response. The Sultan, it is true, was the head of the Church, but who was the Sultan? The old Sultan, now dethroned, and imprisoned, or this new and insignificant creature placed on the throne by the young Turk party? The Mohammedan did not feel himself greatly moved.

At the beginning of the war Turkey found herself unable to make any move to recover her provinces in Thrace. Greece and Bulgaria were neutral, and could not be attacked. Placing herself, therefore, in the hands of her German advisers, she moved her new army to those frontiers where it could meet the powers with whom she was at war. In particular Germany and Austria desired her aid in Transcaucasia against the Russian armies. An attack upon Russia from that quarter would mean that many troops which otherwise would have been used against the Central Powers must be sent to the Caucasus. The Suez Canal, too, must be attacked. An expedition there would compel Great Britain to send out troops, and perhaps would encourage the hoped-for rebellion in Egypt and give an opportunity for religious insurrection in India, where the Djehad was being preached among the Mohammedan tribes in the northwest. The Dardanelles, to be sure, might be threatened but the Germans had sent there many heavy guns and fortifications had been built which, in expert opinion, made Constantinople safe.

The Turkish offensive along her eastern frontier in Transcaucasia and in Persia was first undertaken. The Persian Gulf had long been controlled by Great Britain; even in the days of Elizabeth the East India Company had fought with Dutch and Portuguese rivals for control of its commerce. The English had protected Persia, suppressed piracy and slavery, and introduced sanitary measures in the marshes along the coast. They regarded a control of the Persian Gulf as necessary for the prosperity of India and the Empire. The Turkish Government had never had great power along the Persian Gulf. Bagdad, indeed, had been captured by Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, but in eastern Arabia lived many independent Arabian chieftains who had no idea of subjecting themselves to Turkish rule.

For years Germany had been looking with jealous eyes in this direction. Her elaborate intrigues with Turkey were mainly designed to open up the way to the Persian Gulf. She had planned a great railway to open up trade, and her endeavor to build the Bagdad Railway is a story in itself. Her efforts had lasted for many years, but she found herself constantly blocked by the agents of Great Britain.

Before the Ottoman troops were ready, the British in the Gulf had made a start. On November 7th a British force under Brigadier-General Delamain bombarded the Turkish fort at Falon, landed troops and occupied the village. Sailing north from this point they disembarked at Sanijah, where they intrenched themselves and waited for reinforcements. On November 13th reinforcements arrived, and on November 17th the British army advanced toward Sahain. From there they moved on Sahil, where they encountered a Turkish force. Some lively fighting ensued and the Turks broke and fled. Turkish casualties were about one thousand five hundred men, the English killed numbered thirty-eight.

The British then moved on Basra, moving by steamer along the Shat-el-Arab River. On November 22d Basra was reached and it was found that the Turks had evacuated the place. A base camp was then prepared, for it was certain that there would be further fighting. Bagdad was only about three hundred miles distant; and fifty miles above Basra, at the junction of the Tigris and the Euphrates, lies the town of Kurna where the Turks were gathering an army. On December 4th an attack was made on Kurna but without success. The British obtained reinforcements, but on December 9th the Turkish garrison surrendered unconditionally. The British troops then intrenched themselves, having established a barricade against a hostile advance upon India.

Farther north the war was between Turkey and Russia. Since Persia had no military power, each combatant was able to occupy that country whenever they desired. The Turks advanced into Persia south of Lake Urmia, and, meeting with no resistance from Persia, moved northward toward the Russian frontier. On the 30th of January, 1915, Russian troops heavily defeated the invaders and followed them south as far as Tabriz, which they occupied and held. The Russian armies had also undertaken movements in this section. In the extreme northwest of Persia a Russian column had crossed the frontier, and occupied, on the 3d of November, the town of Bayazid close to Mt. Ararat. Other columns entered Kurdestan, and an expedition against Van was begun. Further north another Russian column crossed the frontier and captured the town of Karakilissa, but was held there by the Turks.

These were minor expeditions. The real struggle was in Transcaucasia, where the main body of the Turkish army under Enver Pasha himself was in action. At this point the boundaries of Turkey touch upon the Russian Empire. To the north is the Great Russian fortress of Kars, to the south and west the Turkish stronghold of Erzerum. The whole district is a great mountain tangle, the towns standing at an altitude of 5,000 and 6,000 feet, surrounded by lofty hills. None of the roads are good, and in winter the passes are almost impassable. In all the wars between Russia and Turkey, these mountain regions have been the scenes of desperate battles.

The Turkish plan of battle was to entice the Russians from Sarakamish across the frontier, leading them on to some distance from their base, then, while holding their front, a second force was to swing around and attack them on the left flank. The plan was simple, the difficulty was the swing of the left flank, which had to be made through mountain paths, deeply covered with snow. The Turkish army was composed of about 150,000 men under the command of Hassan Izzet Pasha, but Enver, with a large German staff was the true commander. The Russian army, under General Woronzov was about 100,000 men.

Early in November the Russians crossed the frontier and reached Koprikeui, which they occupied on the 20th of November. The Turkish Eleventh corps was entrusted with the duty of holding the Russian forces; the remainder of the army was to advance over the passes and take their stations behind the Russian right. On December 25th the Turkish attack began. The Eleventh corps forced back the Russians from Koprikeui to Khorasan, while the extreme Turkish left was endeavoring to outflank them. But the weather was desperate. A blizzard was sweeping down the steeps. The Turkish forces were indeed able to carry out the plan, for they obtained the position desired. But by this time they were worn out, and half starved, and their attack on New Year's Day resulted in their defeat and retreat. The Ninth corps was utterly wiped out, and the remainder of the Turkish forces driven off in confusion. Only the strenuous efforts of the Turkish Eleventh corps prevented a debacle. After a three days' battle it, too, was broken, and with heavy losses it retreated toward Erzerum. The snowdrifts and blizzards must have accounted for not less than 50,000 of the Turkish troops. The result of the battle made Russia safe in the Caucasus.

But the Germans had another use for the Turkish forces. England was in control of Egypt and the Suez Canal. The German view of England's position has been well stated by Dr. Paul Rohrbach:

"As soon as England acquired Egypt it was incumbent upon her to guard against any menace from Asia. Such a danger apparently arose when Turkey, weakened by her last war with Russia and by difficult conditions at home, began to turn to Germany for support. And now war has come, and England is reaping the crops which she has sown. England, not we, desired this war. She knows this, despite all her hypocritical talk, and she fears that, as soon as connection is established along the Berlin-Vienna-Budapest-Sofia-Constantinople Line, the fate of Egypt may be decided. Through the Suez Canal goes the route to all the lands surrounding the Indian Ocean, and by way of Singapore to the western shores of the Pacific. These two worlds together have about nine hundred million inhabitants, more than half the population of the universe, and India lies in a controlling position in their midst. Should England lose the Suez Canal she will be obliged, unlike the powers in control of that waterway, to use the long route around the Cape of Good Hope, and depend on the good will of the South African Boers. The majority among the latter have not the same views as Botha. However, it is too early to prophesy, and it is not according to German ideas to imitate our opponents by singing premature paeans of victory. But anyhow we are well aware why anxious England already sees us on the road to India."

Following out this view a Turkish force was directed toward the Suez Canal, while the German intriguers did their best to stir up revolt in Egypt itself. The story of Egypt is one of the most interesting parts of the world's history. In the early days of the world it led mankind. Its peculiar geographical position at first gave it strength, and afterward made it the prize for which all nations were ready to contend. In 1517 the Sultan Selim conquered Egypt and made it part of the Turkish realm, and in spite of many changes the sovereignty of Constantinople had continued. In recent years the misgovernment of the Khedive Ismael had brought into its control France and Britain; then came the deposition of Ismael, the revolt under Arabi, the bombardment of Alexandria and the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. Since then Egypt has been occupied by Great Britain, who restored order, defeated the armies of the Mahdi, and turned Egyptian bankruptcy into prosperity. Lord Kitchener was the English hero of the wars with the Mahdi, and Lord Cromer the administrator who gave the Egyptian peasant a comfort unknown since the days of the Pharaohs. With prosperity came political agitation, and Germany, as has been seen, looked upon Egypt as fertile territory for German propaganda.

Intrigue having failed in Egypt, a Turkish force was directed against the Suez Canal. If that could be captured Great Britain could be cut off from India. An expeditionary army of about 65,000 men was gathered under the command of Djemal Pasha, the former Turkish Minister of Marine. He had been bitterly indignant at the seizure of the two Turkish dreadnaughts building in England, and was burning for revenge. But he found great difficulties before him. To reach the Canal it was necessary to cross a trackless desert, varying from 120 to 150 miles in width. Over this desert there were three routes. The first touched the Mediterranean coast at El-Arish and then went across the desert to El-Kantara on the Canal, twenty-five miles south of Port Said. On this route there were only a few wells, quite insufficient for an army. A second route ran from Akaba, on the Red Sea, across the Peninsula of Sinai to a point a little north of Suez. This was also badly supplied with wells. Between the two was the central route. Leaving the Mediterranean at El-Arish it ran up the valley called the Wady El-Arish to where that valley touched the second road. There was no railway, nor were these roads suitable for motor transports; for an army to move it would be necessary either to build a railway or to improve the roads. The best route for railway was the Wady El-Arish. The Suez Canal, moreover, can be easily defended. It is over two hundred feet wide, with banks rising to a height of forty feet. A railway runs along the whole Canal, and most of the ground to the east is flat, offering a good field of fire either to troops on the banks or to ships on the Canal.

A considerable force of British troops, under the command of Major-General Sir John Maxwell, were assigned for the protection of the Canal. About the end of October it was reported that 2,000 Bedouins were marching on the Canal, and on November 21st a skirmish took place between this force and some of the English troops in which the Bedouins were repelled. Nothing more was heard for more than two months, but on January 28, 1915, a small advance party from the Turkish army was beaten back east of El-Kantara. British airmen watched the desert well and kept the British army well informed of the Turkish movements. The Turks had found it impossible to convey their full force across the desert, and the forces which finally arrived seemed to have numbered only about twelve thousand men. The main attack was not developed until February 2d.

According to an account in the London Times, on that date, the enemy began to move toward the Ismailia Ferry. They met a reconnoitering party of Indian troops of all arms, and a desultory engagement ensued to which a violent sandstorm put a sudden end about three o'clock in the afternoon. The main attacking force pushed forward toward its destination after nightfall. From twenty-five to thirty galvanized iron pontoon boats, seven and a half meters in length, which had been dragged in carts across the desert, were hauled by hand toward the water. With one or two rafts made of kerosene tins in a wooden frame, all was ready for the attack. The first warning of the enemy's approach was given by a sentry of a mountain battery who heard, to him, an unknown tongue across the water. The noise soon increased. It would seem that Mudjah Ideem—"Holy Warriors"—said to be mostly old Tripoli fighters, accompanied the pontoon section, and regulars of the Seventy-fifth regiment, for loud exultations, often in Arabic, of "Brothers, die for the faith; we can die but once," betrayed the enthusiastic irregular.

The Egyptians waited until the Turks were pushing their boats into the water, then the Maxims attached to the battery suddenly spoke, and the guns opened at point-blank range at the men and boats crowded under the steep bank opposite them. Immediately a violent fire broke out on both sides of the Canal.

A little torpedo boat with a crew of thirteen, patrolling the Canal, dashed up and landed a party of four officers and men to the south of Tussum, who climbed up the eastern bank and found themselves in a Turkish trench, and escaped by a miracle with the news. Promptly the midget dashed in between the fires and enfiladed the eastern bank amid a hail of bullets, and destroyed several pontoon boats lying unlaunched on the bank. It continued to harass the enemy, though two officers and two men were wounded.

As the dark, cloudy night lightened toward dawn fresh forces went into action. The Turks, who occupied the outer, or day, line of the Tussum post, advanced, covered by artillery, against the Indian troops, holding the inner or night position, while an Arab regiment advanced against the Indian troop at the Serapeum post. The warships on the Canal and lake joined in the fray. The enemy brought some six batteries of field guns into action from the slopes west of Kataiba-el-kaeli. Shells admirably fused made fine practice at all the visible targets, but failed to find the battery above mentioned which with some help from a detachment of infantry, beat down the fire of the riflemen on the opposite bank and inflicted heavy losses on the hostile supports advancing toward the Canal.

Supported by land and naval artillery the Indian troops took the offensive, the Serapeum garrison, which had stopped the enemy three-quarters of a mile from the position, cleared its front, and the Tussum garrison, by a brilliant counter-attack, drove the enemy back. Two battalions of Anatolians of the Twenty-eighth regiment were thrown into the fight, but the artillery gave them no chance, and by 3.30 in the afternoon a third of the enemy, with the exception of a force that lay hid in bushy hollows on the east bank between the two posts, were in full retreat, leaving many dead, a large proportion of whom had been killed by shrapnel. Meanwhile the warships on the lake had been in action, a salvo from a battleship woke up Ismailia early, and crowds of soldiers and some civilians climbed every available sand hill to see what was doing, till the Turkish guns sent shells sufficiently near to convince them that it was safer to watch from cover.

At about eleven in the morning two six-inch shells hit the Hardinge near the southern entrance of the lake. They first damaged the funnel, and the second burst inboard. Pilot Carew, a gallant old merchant seaman, refused to go below when the firing opened and lost a leg. Nine others were wounded, one or two merchantmen were hit but no lives were lost. A British gunboat was struck. Then came a dramatic duel between the Turkish big gun, or guns, and a warship. The Turks fired just over, and then just short, at 9,000 yards. The warship sent in a salvo of more six-inch shells than had been fired that day.

Late in the afternoon of the 3d there was sniping from the east bank between Tussum and Serapeum, and a man was killed on the tops of a British battleship. Next morning the sniping was renewed and the Indian troops, moving out to search the ground, found several hundred of the enemy in the hollow previously mentioned. During the fighting some of the enemy, either by accident or design, held up their hands, while others fired on the Punjabis, who were advancing to take the surrender, and killed a British officer. A sharp fight with the cold steel followed, and a British officer killed a Turkish officer with a sword thrust in single combat. A body of a German officer with a white flag was afterward found here, but there is no proof that the white flag was used. Finally all the enemy were killed, captured or put to flight. With this the fighting ended, and the subsequent operations were confined to the rounding up of prisoners, and the capture of a considerable amount of military material left behind. The Turks, who departed with their guns and baggage during the night of the 3d, still seemed to be moving eastward.

So ended the battle of the Suez Canal.

Two more incidents in the Turkish campaign remain to be noticed. Report having come that the town of Akaba on the Red Sea was being used as a mine-laying station, H. M. S. Minerva visited the place, and found it occupied by soldiers under a German officer. The Minerva destroyed the fort and the barracks and the government buildings. Another British cruiser, with a detachment of Indian troops, captured the Turkish fort at Sheik Said, at the southern end of the Red Sea. And so for the time ended all Turkish movements against Great Britain. That such movements should have been possible seems hard to believe. For a century the British had been the friends and allies of the Turkish Government. In the Crimean War their armies had fought side by side with the Turkish troops against Russia. In the Russo-Turkish War Lord Beaconsfield, in the negotiations which preceded the treaty of Berlin, had saved for Turkey much of its territory. It was only the British influence and the fear of the British power which had prevented Russia from taking possession of Constantinople a half a century before. The English had always been popular in Turkey and there was every reason at the beginning of the war to believe that their popularity had not waned. There is reason to believe that the average Turk had little sympathy with the course of his government, and if a free expression of the popular will had been possible the Turkish army would never have been sent against either the Englishmen or the Frenchmen. But long years of German propaganda had done their work. The power of Enver Pasha was greater than that of the weakling Sultan and the war was forced upon the Turkish people by German tools and German bribes.

CHAPTER XII

RESCUE OF THE STARVING

The sufferings of Belgium during the German occupation were terrible, and attracted the attention and the sympathy of the whole world. To understand conditions it is necessary to know something of the economic situation. Since it had come under the protection of the Great Powers, Belgium had developed into one of the greatest manufacturing countries in the world. Nearly two million of her citizens were employed in the great industries, and one million two hundred thousand on the farms. She was peaceful, industrious and happy. But on account of the fact that more than one-half of her citizenship earned their living by daily labor she found it impossible to produce foodstuff enough for her own needs. Seventy-eight per cent of her breadstuffs had to be imported. From her own fields she could hardly supply her population for more than four months.

The war, and the German occupation, almost destroyed business. Mines, workshops, factories and mills were closed. Labor found itself without employment and consequently without wages. The banks would extend no credit. But even if there had been money enough it soon became apparent that the food supply was rapidly going. The German invasion had come when the crops were standing ripe upon the field. Those crops had not been reaped, but had been trampled under foot by the hated German.

One feature of Belgian industrial life should be understood. Hundreds of thousands of her workmen were employed each day in workshops at considerable distances from their own homes. In times of peace the morning and evening trains were always crowded with laborers going to and returning from their daily toil. One of the first things seized upon by the German officials was the railroads, and it was with great difficulty that anyone, not belonging to the German army, could obtain an opportunity to travel at all, and it was with still greater difficulty that supplies of food of any kind could be transported from place to place. Every village was cut off from its neighbor, every town from the next town. People were unable even to obtain news of the great political events which were occurring from day to day, and the food supply was automatically cut off.

But this was not the worst. One of the first moves of the German occupation was to quarter hundreds of thousands of troops upon their Belgian victims, and these troops must be fed even though the Belgian and his family were near starvation. Then followed the German seizure of what they called materials for war. General von Beseler in a despatch to the Kaiser, after the fall of Antwerp, speaks very plainly:

The war booty taken at Antwerp is enormous—at least five hundred cannon and huge quantities of ammunition, sanitation materials, high-power motor cars, locomotives, wagons, four million kilograms of wheat, large quantities of flour, coal and flax wool, the value of which is estimated at ten million marks, copper, silver, one armored train, several hospital trains, and quantities of fish.

The Germans proceeded to commandeer foodstuffs and raw materials of industry. Linseed oil, oil cakes, nitrates, animal and vegetable oils, petroleum and mineral oils, wool, copper, rubber, ivory, cocoa, rice, wine, beer, all were seized and sent home to the Fatherland. Moreover, cities and provinces were burdened with formidable war contributions. Brussels was obliged to pay ten million dollars, Antwerp ten million dollars, the province of Brabant, ninety millions of dollars, Namur and seventeen surrounding communes six million four hundred thousand dollars. Finally Governor von Bissing, on the 10th of December, 1914, issued the following decree:

A war contribution of the amount of eight million dollars to be paid monthly for one year is imposed upon the population of Belgium. The payment of these amounts is imposed upon the nine provinces which are regarded as joint debtors. The two first monthly payments are to be made by the 15th of January, 1915, at latest, and the following monthly payments by the tenth of each following month to the military chest of the Field Army of the General Imperial Government in Brussels. If the provinces are obliged to resort to the issue of stock with a view to procuring the necessary funds, the form and terms of these shares will be determined by the Commissary General for the banks in Belgium.

At a meeting of the Provincial Councils the vice-president declared: "The Germans demand these $96,000,000 of the country without right and without reason. Are we to sanction this enormous war tax? If we listened only to our hearts, we should reply 'No I ninety-six million times no! because our hearts would tell us we were a small, honest nation living happily by its free labor; we were a small, honest nation having faith in treaties and believing in honor; we were a nation unarmed, but full of confidence, when Germany suddenly hurled two million men upon our frontiers, the most brutal army that the world has ever seen, and said to us, 'Betray the promise you have given. Let my armies go by, that I may crush France, and I will give you gold.' Belgium replied, 'Keep your gold. I prefer to die, rather than live without honor.' The German army has, therefore, crushed our country in contempt of solemn treaties. 'It is an injustice,' said the Chancellor of the German Empire. 'The position of Germany has forced us to commit it, but we will repair the wrong we have done to Belgium by the passage of our armies.' They want to repair the injustice as follows: Belgium will pay Germany $96,000,000! Give this proposal your vote. When Galileo had discovered the fact that the earth moved around the sun, he was forced at the foot of the stake to abjure his error, but he murmured, 'Nevertheless it moves.' Well, gentlemen, as I fear a still greater misfortune for my country I consent to the payment of the $96,000,000 and I cry 'Nevertheless it moves.' Long live our country in spite of all."

At the end of a year von Bissing renewed this assessment, inserting in his decree the statement that the decree was based upon article forty-nine of The Hague Convention, relating to the laws and usages of war on land. This article reads as follows: "If in addition to the taxes mentioned in the above article the occupant levies other moneyed contributions in the occupied territory, they shall only be applied to the needs of the army, or of the administration, of the territory in question." In the preceding article it says: "If in the territory occupied the occupant collects the taxes, dues and tolls payable to the state, he shall do so as far as possible in accordance with the legal basis and assessment in force at the time, and shall in consequence be bound to defray the expenses of the administration of the occupied territories to the same extent as the National Government had been so bound."

The $96,000,000 per annum was more than six times the amount of the direct taxes formerly collected by the Belgian state, taxes which the German administration, moreover, collected in addition to the war assessment. It was five times as great as the ordinary expenditure of the Belgian War Department.

[Illustration: Map: Denmark on the North, Elbe River on the East,
Switzerland on the South, Eastern England on the West.]
  SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN AND ALSACE-LORRAINE ACQUISITIONS

But this was not all. In addition to the more or less legitimate German methods of plunder the whole country had been pillaged. In many towns systematic pillage began as soon as the Germans took possession. At Louvain the pillage began on the 27th of August, 1914, and lasted a week. In small bands the soldiers went from house to house, ransacked drawers and cupboards, broke open safes, and stole money, pictures, curios, silver, linen, clothing, wines, and food. Great loads of such plunder were packed on military baggage wagons and sent to Germany. The same conditions were reported from town after town. In many cases the houses were burnt to destroy the proof of extensive thefts.

Nor were these offenses committed only by the common soldiers. In many cases the officers themselves sent home great collections of plunder. Even the Royal Family were concerned in this disgraceful performance. After staying for a week in a chateau in the Liege District, His Imperial Highness, Prince Eitel Fritz and the Duke of Brunswick, had all the dresses which were found in a wardrobe sent back to Germany. This is said to be susceptible of absolute proof.

In addition to this form of plunder special pretexts were made use of to obtain money. At Arlon a telephone wire was broken, whereupon the town was given four hours to pay a fine of $20,000 in gold, in default of which one hundred houses would be sacked. When the payment was made forty-seven houses had already been plundered. Instance after instance could be given of similar unjustifiable and exorbitant fines.

Under treatment like this Belgium was brought in a short time into immediate sight of starvation. They made frantic appeals for help. First they appealed to the Germans, but the German authorities did nothing, though in individual cases German soldiers shared their army rations with the people. Then an appeal was made to Holland, but Holland was a nation much like Belgium. It did not raise food enough for itself, and was not sure that it could import enough for its own needs.

From all over Belgium appeals were sent from the various towns and villages to Brussels. But Brussels, too, was face to face with famine. To cope with famine there were many relief organizations in Belgium. Every little town had its relief committee, and in the larger cities strong branches of the Red Cross did what they could. Besides such secular organizations, there were many religious organizations, generally under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church.

In Brussels a strong volunteer relief organization was formed on September 5th under the patronage of the American and Spanish Ministers, Mr. Brand Whitlock and the Marquis of Villalobar. This committee, known as the Central Relief Committee, or more exactly La Comite Central de Secours et d'Alimentation pour l'Agglomeration bruxelloise, did wonderful work until the end of the war. But though there was plenty of organization there were great difficulties ahead.

In order to import food, credit had to be established abroad, permission had to be obtained to transport food stuffs into Belgium through the British blockade. Permission to use the railroads and canals of Belgium had to be obtained from Germany, and, most important of all, it had to be made certain that no food thus imported should be seized by the German troops.

Through the American and Spanish ministers permission was obtained from Governor-General Kolmar von der Goltz to import food, and the Governor-General also gave assurance that, "Foodstuffs of all sorts imported by the committee to assist the civil population shall be reserved exclusively for the nourishment of the civil population of Belgium, and that consequently these foodstuffs shall be exempt from requisition on the part of the military authorities, and shall rest exclusively at the disposition of the committee."

With this assurance the Central Relief Committee sent Emil Francqui and Baron Lambert, members of their committee, together with Mr. Hugh Gibson, secretary of the American Legation, whose activities in behalf of Belgium attracted much favorable notice, to the city of London, to explain to the British Government the suffering that existed in Belgium, and to obtain permission to transport food through the British blockade. In the course of this work they appealed to the American Ambassador in England, Mr. Walter Hines Page, and were introduced by him to an American mining engineer named Herbert Clark Hoover, who had just become prominent as the chairman of a committee to assist Americans who had found themselves in Europe when the war broke out, and had been unable to secure funds.

Mr. Hoover took up the matter with great vigor, and organized an American committee under the patronage of the ministers of the United States and of Spain in London, Berlin, The Hague and Brussels, which committee obtained permission from the British Government to purchase and transport through the British blockade, to Rotterdam, Holland, cargoes of foodstuffs, to be ultimately transferred into Belgium and distributed by the Belgian Central Relief Committee under the direction of American citizens headed by Mr. Brand Whitlock.

[Illustration: Painting: Several ships and two airplanes.]
  AN AIRPLANE CONVOY
  Food ships successfully convoyed by seaplanes in clear weather when
  submarines were easier to detect.

188 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR

[Illustration: Painting]
  BRITISH LIGHT ARTILLERY GETTING IN ON THE GALLOP
  Always the guns must follow closely in the wake of the infantry to
  break up German counter attacks and hold the ground gained. Here a
  detachment of the Royal Horse Artillery storms through a deserted
  Flanders village, straining every nerve to save those few seconds that
  may mean the saving or the loss of the new positions won.

The following brief notices, in connection with this committee appeared in the London Times:

October 24 1914.—A commission has been set up in London, under the title of The American Commission for Relief in Belgium. The Brussels committee reports feeding 300,000 daily.

November 4.—The Commission for Relief in Belgium yesterday issued their first weekly report, 3 London Wall Buildings. A cargo was received yesterday at Brussels just in time. Estimated monthly requirements, 60,000 tons grain, 15,000 tons maize, 3,000 tons rice and peas. Approved by the Spanish and American ministers, Brussels.

The personality of the various gentlemen who devoted themselves to Belgian relief is interesting, not only because of what they did, but because they are unusual men. The Spanish Minister, who bore the peculiar name of Marquis of Villalobar y O'Neill, had the appearance of an Irishman, as he was on the maternal side, and was a trained diplomat, with delightful manners and extraordinary strength of character. Another important aid in the Belgian relief work was the Mexican Charge d'Affaires Senor don German Bulle. Hugh Gibson, secretary of the American Legation, wittily described this gentleman as the "representative of a country without a government to a government without a country." The businessman in the American Legation was this secretary. Mr. Gibson had the appearance of a typical Yankee, though he came from Indiana. He was about thirty years old, with dark eyes, crisp hair, and a keen face. He was noted for his wit as well as his courage. Many interesting stories are told of him. He had been often under fire, and he was full of stories of his exploits told in a witty and modest way.

The following incident shows something of his humor. Like most of the Americans in Belgium he was followed by spies. With one of these Gibson became on the most familiar terms, much to the spy's disgust. One very rainy day, when Gibson was at the Legation, he discovered his pet spy standing under the dripping eaves of a neighboring house. Gibson picked up a raincoat and hurried over to the man.

"Look here, old fellow," said he, "I'm going to be in the Legation for three hours. You put on this coat and go home. Come back in three hours and I'll let you watch me for the rest of the day."

Mr. Brand Whitlock, the American Minister, was a remarkable man. Before coming to Belgium he had become a distinguished man of letters. Beginning as a newspaper reporter in Chicago, he had studied law and been admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1894, and to the Bar of the State of Ohio in 1897. He had entered into politics, and been elected mayor of Toledo, Ohio, in 1905, again in 1907, 1909 and 1911. Meanwhile he had been writing novels, "The Thirteenth District," "The Turn of the Balance," "The Fall Guy," and "Forty Years of It." He had accepted the appointment of American Minister to Belgium with the idea that he would find leisure for other literary work, but the outbreak of the war affected him deeply. A man of a sympathetic character who had lived all his life in an amiable atmosphere, had been a member of prison reform associations and charitable societies, he now found himself surrounded by a storm of horrors. Day by day he had to see the distress and suffering of thousands of people. He threw himself at once into the work of relief. His health was not strong and he always looked tired and worn. He was the scholarly type of man, the kind who would be happy in a library, or in the atmosphere of a college, but he rose to the emergency.

The American Legation became the one staple point around which the starving and suffering population could rally. Belgians will never forget what he did in those days. On Washington's Birthday they filed before the door of the American Legation at Number 74 Rue de Treves, men, women and children of all classes; some in furs, some in the garments of the poor; noblemen, scholars, workmen, artists, shopkeepers and peasants to leave their visiting cards, some engraved, some printed and some written on pieces of paper, in tribute to Mr. Whitlock and the nation which he represented.

But the man whose name stands cut above all others as one of the biggest figures in connection with the work of relief was Mr. Herbert C. Hoover. Mr. Hoover came of Quaker stock. He was born at West Branch, Iowa, in 1874, graduated from Leland Stanford University in 1895, specialized in mining engineering, and spent several years in mining in the United States and in Australia. He married Miss Lou Henry, of Monterey, California, in 1899, and with his bride went to China as chief engineer of the Chinese Imperial Bureau of Mines. He aided in the defense of Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion. After that he continued engineering work in China until 1902, when he became a partner of the firm of Bewick, Moreing & Co., mine operators, of London, and was consulting engineer for more than fifty mining companies. He looked extremely youthful; smooth shaven, with a straight nose, and a strong mouth and chin. To him, more than anyone else, was due the creation and the success of the Commission for Relief in Belgium. The splendid organization which saved from so much suffering more than seven million non-combatants in Belgium and two million in Northern France, was his achievement.

A good story is told in the Outlook of September 8, 1915, which illustrates his methods. It seems that before the commission was fairly on its feet, there came a day when it was a case of snarling things in red tape and letting Belgium starve, or getting food shipped and letting governments howl. Hoover naturally chose the latter.

When the last bag had been stowed and the hatches were battened down (writes Mr. Lewis R. Freeman, who tells the story), Hoover went in person to the one Cabinet Minister able to arrange for the only things he could not provide for himself—clearance papers.

"If I do not get four cargoes of food to Belgium by the end of the week," he said bluntly, "thousands are going to die from starvation, and many more may be shot in food riots."

"Out of the question," said the distinguished Minister; "there is no time, in the first place, and if there was, there are no good wagons to be spared by the railways, no dock hands, and no steamers. Moreover, the Channel is closed for a week to merchant vessels, while troops are being transferred to the Continent."

"I have managed to get all these things," Hoover replied quietly, "and am now through with them all, except the steamers. This wire tells me that these are now loaded and ready to sail, and I have come to have you arrange for their clearance."

The great man gasped. "There have been—there are even now—men in the Tower for less than you have done!" he ejaculated. "If it was for anything but Belgium Relief—if it was anybody but you, young man—I should hate to think of what might happen. As it is—er—I suppose there is nothing to do but congratulate you on a jolly clever coup. I'll see about the clearance at once."

Mr. Lloyd George tells the following story: It seems that the Commission on Belgian Relief was attempting to simplify its work by arranging for an extension of exchange facilities on Brussels. Mr. Lloyd George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, sent for Hoover. What happened is told in Mr. George's words:

"'Mr. Hoover,' I said, 'I find I am quite unable to grant your request in the matter of Belgian exchange, and I have asked you to come here that I might explain why.'

"Without waiting for me to go on, my boyish-looking caller began speaking. For fifteen minutes he spoke without a break—just about the clearest expository utterance I have ever heard on any subject. He used not a word too much, nor yet a word too few. By the time he had finished I had come to realize, not only the importance of his contentions, but, what was more to the point, the practicability of granting his request. So I did the only thing possible under the circumstance, told him I had never understood the question before, thanked him for helping me to understand, and saw to it that things were arranged as he wanted them."

On April 10, 1915, a submarine torpedoed one of the food ships chartered by the commission. A week later a German hydro-airplane tried to drop bombs on the deck of another commission ship. So Hoover paid a flying visit to Berlin. He was at once assured that no more incidents of the sort would occur.

"Thanks," said Hoover. "Your Excellency, have you heard the story of the man who was nipped by a bad-tempered dog? He went to the owner to have the dog muzzled. 'But the dog won't bite you,' insisted the owner. 'You know he won't bite me, and I know he won't bite me,' said the injured party doubtfully, 'but the question is, does the dog know?'"

"Herr Hoover," said the high official, "pardon me if I leave you for a moment. I am going at once to 'let the dog know.'"

This story, which is told by Mr. Edward Eyre Hunt in his delightful book about Belgium, "War Bread," may be apocryphal, but it illustrates well Hoover's habit of getting exactly what he wants.

When Mr. Hoover accepted the chairmanship of the Commission for Relief in Belgium he established his headquarters at 3 London Wall Buildings, London, England, and marshaled a small legion of fellow Americans, business men, sanitary experts, doctors and social workers, who, as unpaid volunteers, set about the great task of feeding the people of Belgium and Northern France. The commission soon became a great institution, recognized by all governments, receiving contributions from all parts of the earth, with its own ships in every big port, and in the eyes of the Belgians and French, who received their daily bread through its agency, a monument of what Americans could do in social organization and business efficiency, for Americans furnished the entire personnel of the commission from the beginning.

The commission was a distinct organization from the Belgian National Committee, through and with which it worked in Belgium itself. Its functions were those of direction, and supervision of all matters that had to be dealt with outside Belgium. In the occupied territories it had the help of thousands of Belgian and French workers, many of them women.

The commission did not depend, according to Mr. Hoover, on anyone of its American members for leadership. Anyone of them could at any time take charge and carry on the work. "Honold, Poland, Gregory, Brown, Kellogg, Lucey, White, Hunsiker, Connet, and many others who, at various periods, have given of their great ability and experience in administration could do it." At the same time it was admitted that the commission would never have been so successful if Belgium had not already had in existence a well-developed communal system. The base of the commission's organization was a committee in every commune or municipality.

"You can have no idea what a great blessing it was in Belgium and Northern France to have the small and intimate divisions which exist under the communal system," said Mr. Hoover. "It is the whole unit of life, and a political entity much more developed than in America. It has been not only the basis of our relief organization, but the salvation of the people."

Altogether there were four thousand communal committees linked up in larger groups under district and provincial committees, which in turn came under the Belgian National Committee. Contributions were received from all over the world, but the greater part from the British and French governments.

When Mr. Hoover began his work he appealed to the people of the United States, but the American response to the appeal was sadly disappointing. During his stay in America, in the early part of 1917, Mr. Hoover expressed himself on the subject of his own country's niggardliness, pointing out at the same time that the chief profits made out of providing food for Belgium had gone into American pockets. Out of the two hundred and fifty millions of dollars spent by the commission at that time, one hundred and fifty millions had been used in the United States to purchase supplies and on these orders America had made a war profit of at least thirty million dollars. Yet in those two years the American people had contributed only nine million dollars!

Mr. Hoover declared: "Thousands of contributions have come to us from devoted people all over the United States, but the truth is that, with the exception of a few large gifts, American contributions have been little rills of charity of the poor toward the poor. Everywhere abroad America has been getting the credit for keeping alight the lamp of humanity, but what are the facts? America's contributions have been pitifully inadequate and, do not forget it, other peoples have begun to take stock of us. We have been getting all the credit. Have we deserved it? We lay claim to idealism, to devotion to duty and to great benevolence, but now the acid test is being applied to us. This has a wider import than mere figures. Time and time again, when the door to Belgium threatened to close, we have defended its portals by the assertion that this was an American enterprise; that the sensibilities of the American people would be wounded beyond measure, would be outraged, if this work were interfered with. Our moral strength has been based upon this assertion. I believe it is true, but it is difficult in the face of the figures to carry conviction. And in the last six or eight months time and again we have felt our influence slip from under us."

The statement that Germans had taken food intended for the Belgians was disposed of by Mr. Hoover in a speech in New York City. "We are satisfied," he said, "that the German army has never eaten one-tenth of one per cent of the food provided. The Allied governments never would have supplied us with two hundred million dollars if we were supplying the German army. If the Germans had absorbed any considerable quantity of this food the population of Belgium would not be alive today."

The plan of operation of the Belgian Commission needs some description. Besides the headquarters in London there was an office in Brussels, and, as Rotterdam was the port of entry for all Belgian supplies, a transshipping office for commission goods was opened in that city. The office building was at 98 Haringvliet, formerly the residence of a Dutch merchant prince.

Captain J. F. Lucey, the first Rotterdam director, sat in a roomy office on the second floor overlooking the Meuse. From his windows he could see the commission barges as they left for Belgium, their huge canvas flags bearing the inscription "Belgian Relief Committee." He was a nervous, big, beardless American, a volunteer who had left his business to organize and direct a great transshipping office in an alien land for an alien people.

Out of nothing he created a large staff of clerks, wrung from the Dutch
Government special permits, loaded the immense cargoes received from
England into canal boats, obtained passports for cargoes and crews, and
shipped the foodstuffs consigned personally to Mr. Brand Whitlock.

Something of what was done at this point may be understood from a reference in the first annual report of the commission published October 31, 1915:

The chartering and management of an entire fleet of vessels, together with agency control practically throughout the world, has been carried out for the commission quite free of the usual charges by large transportation firms who offered these concessions in the cause of humanity. Banks generally have given their exchange services and have paid the full rate of interest on deposits. Insurance has been facilitated by the British Government Insurance Commissioners, and the firms who fixed the insurance have subscribed the equivalent of their fees. Harbor dues and port charges have been remitted at many points and stevedoring firms have made important concessions in rates and have afforded other generous services. In Holland, exemption from harbor dues and telegraph tolls has been granted and rail transport into Belgium provided free of charge. The total value of these Dutch concessions is estimated at 147,824 guilders. The German military authorities in Belgium have abolished custom and canal dues on all commission imports, have reduced railway rates one-half and on canals and railways they give right of way to commission foodstuffs wherever there is need.

By mid-November gift ships from the United States were on their way to Rotterdam, but the Canadian province of Nova Scotia was first in the transatlantic race.

One of the most thrilling experiences of the first year's work was the coming of the Christmas ship, a steamer full of Christmas gifts presented by the children of America to the children of war-ridden Belgium. The children knew all about it long before the ship arrived in Rotterdam. St. Nicholas' day had brought them few presents. They were hungry for friendliness, and the thought of getting gifts from children across the sea filled them with joy.

Many difficulties arose, which delayed the distribution of these gifts. The Germans insisted that every package should be opened and every scrap of writing taken out before the gifts were sent into Belgium. This was a tremendous task, for notes written by American children were tucked away into all sorts of impossible places.

Three motor boats made an attempt to carry these gifts into Belgium by Christmas day. They carried boxes of clothing, outfits for babies, blankets, caps, bonnets, cloaks, shoes of every description, babies' boots, candy, fish, striped candy canes, chocolates and mountains of nuts, nuts such as the Belgians had never seen in their lives before: pecans, hickory nuts, American walnuts, and peanuts galore. There were scores of dolls, French bisques, smiling pleasantly, pop-eyed rag dolls, old darky mammy dolls, and Santa Clauses, teddy bears, picture books, fairy books and story books.

One child had written on the cover of her book: "Father says I ought to send you my best picture book, but I think that this one will do."

These gifts made the American aid to Belgium a thousand times more intimate and real, and never after that was American help thought of in other terms than those of burning gratitude. Among these gifts were hundreds of American flags, which soon became familiar to all Belgium.

The commission automobiles bore the flag, and the children would recognize the Stars and Stripes and wave and cheer as it went by. Thousands upon thousands of gifts to the Belgian people followed the Christmas ship. All, or a great part, of the cargoes of one hundred and two ships consisted of gift goods from America and indeed from all parts of the world, and the Belgians sent back a flood of acknowledgments and thousands of beautiful souvenirs. Some of the most touching remembrances came from the children. Every child in the town of Tamise, for example, wrote a letter to America.

One addressed to the President of the United States reads as follows:

Highly Honored Mr. President: Although I am still very young I feel already that feeling of thankfulness which we, as Belgians, owe to you, Highly Honored Mr. President, because you have come to our help in these dreary times. Without your help there would certainly have been thousands of war victims, and so, Noble Sir, I pray that God will bless you and all the noble American people. That is the wish of all the Belgian folk.

On New Year's day Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, issued his famous pastoral:

Belgium gave her word of honor to defend her independence. She has kept her word. The other powers had agreed to protect and to respect Belgium's neutrality. Germany has broken her word, England has been faithful to it. These are the facts. I consider it an obligation of my pastoral charge to define to you your conscientious duties toward the power which has invaded our soil, and which for the moment occupies the greater part of it. This power has no authority, and, therefore, in the depth of your heart, you should render it neither esteem, nor attachment, nor respect. The only legitimate power in Belgium is that which belongs to our King, to his government, to the representatives of the nation; that alone is authority for us; that alone has a right to our heart's affection and to our submission.

Cardinal Mercier was called the bravest man in Belgium. Six feet five in height, a thin, scholarly face, with grayish white hair, and a forehead so white that one feels one looks on the naked bone, he presented the appearance of some medieval ascetic. But there was a humorous look about his mouth, and an expression of sympathy and comprehension which gave the effect of a keenly intelligent, as well as gentle, leader of the nation.

At the beginning of the war the Roman Catholic party was divided. Some of its leaders were opposed to resistance to the invaders. Many priests fled before the German armies. But the pastoral letter of Cardinal Mercier restored to the Church its old leadership. In him conquered Belgium had found a voice.

On New Year's Sunday, 1915, every priest at the Mass read out the Cardinal's ringing challenge. There were German soldiers in the churches, but no word of the letter had been allowed to reach the ears of the authorities, and the Germans were taken completely by surprise. Immediately orders came from headquarters prohibiting further circulation of the letter, and ordering that every copy should be surrendered to the authorities. Soldiers at the bayonet's point extorted the letter from the priests, and those who had read it were put under arrest. Yet, somehow, copies of the letter were circulated throughout Belgium, and every Belgian took new heart.

As far as the Cardinal was concerned German action was a very delicate matter. They could not arrest and imprison so great a dignitary of the Church for fear of the effect, not only upon the Catholics of the outer world, but on the Catholics in their own empire. An officer was sent to the Cardinal to demand that the letter be recalled. The Cardinal refused. He was then notified that it was desired that he remain in his palace for the present. His confinement lasted only for a day.

The Americans who were in Belgium as representatives of the Relief Commission had two duties. First, to see that the Germans did not seize any of the food supplies, and second, to see that every Belgian who was in need should receive his daily bread. The ration assigned to each Belgian was 250 grams of bread per day. This seems rather small, but the figure was established by Horace Fletcher, the American food expert, who was one of the members of the commission.

Mr. Fletcher also prepared a pamphlet on food values, which gave recipes for American dishes which were up to that time unknown to the Belgians. He soon got not only the American but the Belgian committeemen talking of calories with great familiarity.

Some of the foods sent from America were at first almost useless to the Belgians. They did not know how to cook cornmeal and oatmeal, and some of the famished peasants used them as feed for chickens. Teachers had to be sent out through the villages to give instructions.

A great deal of difficulty developed in connection with the bread. The supply of white flour was limited; wheat had to be imported, and milled in Belgium. It was milled so as to contain all the bran except ten per cent, but in some places ten or fifteen per cent of cornmeal was added to the flour, not only to enable the commission to provide the necessary ration, but also to keep down the price. As a result the price of bread was always lower in Belgium than in London, Paris or New York.

Much less trouble occurred in connection with the distribution of bread and soup from the soup kitchens. In Antwerp thirty-five thousand men were fed daily at these places. At first it often occurred that soup could be had, but no bread. The ration of soup and bread given in the kitchens cost about ten cents a day. There were four varieties of soup, pea, bean, vegetable and bouillon, and it was of excellent quality. Every person carried a card with blank spaces for the date of the deliveries of soup. There were several milk kitchens maintained for the children, and several restaurants where persons with money might obtain their food.

It was necessary not only to fight starvation in Belgium but also disease. There were epidemics of typhoid and black measles. The Rockefeller Foundation established a station in Rotterdam called the Rockefeller Foundation War Relief Commission, and some of the women among its workers acted as volunteer health officers. People were inoculated against typhoid, and the sources of infection traced and destroyed. Another form of relief work was providing labor for the unemployed. A plan of relief was drawn up and it was arranged that a large portion of them should be employed by the communal organizations, in public works, such as draining, ditching, constructing embankments and building sewers. The National Committee paid nine-tenths of the wages, the commune paying the other tenth. The first enrolment of unemployed amounted to more than 760,000 names, and nearly as many persons were dependent upon these workers.

Providing employment for these led to certain complications. The Germans had been able up to this time to secure a certain amount of labor from the Belgians. Now the Belgian could refuse to work for the German, and a great deal of tact was necessary to prevent trouble. As time went on the relief work of the Commission was extended into the north of France, where a population of more than 2,000,000 was within the German zone. The work was handled in the same way, with the same guarantees from Germany.

In conclusion a word may be said of the effect of all this suffering upon the Belgian people, and let a Belgian speak, who knew his country well and had traveled it over, going on foot, as he says, or by tram, from town to town, from village to village:

"I have seen and spoken with hundreds of men of all classes and all parts of the country, and all these people, taken singly or united in groups, display a very definite frame of mind. To describe this new psychology we must record the incontestably closer union which has been formed between the political sections of the country. There are no longer any political parties, there are Belgians in Belgium, and that is all; Belgians better acquainted with their country, feeling for it an impulse of passionate tenderness such as a child might feel who saw his mother suffering for the first time, and on his account. Walloons and Flemings, Catholics and Liberals or Socialists, all are more and more frankly united in all that concerns the national life and decisions for the future.

"By uniting the whole nation and its army, by shedding the blood of all our Belgians in every corner of the country, by forcing all hearts, all families, to follow with anguish the movement of those soldiers who fought from Liege to Namur, from Wavre to Antwerp or the Oise, the war has suddenly imposed wider horizons upon all, has inspired all minds with noble and ardent passions, has compelled the good will of all to combine and act in concert in order to defend the common interests.

"Of these profoundly tried minds, of these wonderful energies now employed for the first time, of these atrocious sufferings which have brought all hearts into closer contact, a new Belgium is born, a greater, more generous, more ideal Belgium."

CHAPTER XIII

BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES

The month of October, 1914, contained no important naval contests. On the 15th, the old British cruiser Hawke was torpedoed in the North Sea and nearly five hundred men were lost. On the other hand, on the 17th of October, the light cruiser Undaunted, accompanied by the destroyers, Lance, Legion and Loyal, sank four German destroyers off the Dutch coast. But the opening of November turned the interest of the navy to the Southern Pacific. When the war began Admiral von Spee, with the German Pacific squadron, was at Kiaochau in command of seven vessels. Among these was the Emden, whose adventurous career has been already described. Another, the Karlsruhe, became a privateer in the South Atlantic.

Early in August von Spee set sail from Kiaochau with two armored cruisers, the Gneisenau and the Scharnhorst and three light cruisers, the Dresden, Leipzig and Nurmberg. These ships were comparatively new, well armed, and of considerable speed. They set off for the great trade highways to destroy, as far as possible, British commerce. Their route led them to the western coast of South America, and arrangements were made so that they were coaled and provisioned from bases in some of the South American states which permitted a slack observance of the laws respecting the duties of neutrals.

A small British squadron had been detailed to protect British commerce in this part of the world. It was commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, a distinguished and popular sailor, who had under his command one twelve-year-old battleship, the Canopus, two armored cruisers, the Good Hope and the Monmouth, the light cruiser Glasgow, and an armed liner, the Otranto. None of these vessels had either great speed or heavy armament. The equipment of the Canopus, indeed, was obsolete. Admiral Cradock's squadron arrived at Halifax on August 14th, thence sailed to Bermuda, then on past Venezuela and Brazil around the Horn. It visited the Falkland Islands, and by the third week of October was on the coast of Chile. The Canopus had dropped behind for repairs, and though reinforcements were expected, they had not yet arrived.

One officer wrote, on the 12th of October, "From now till the end of the month is the critical time, as it will decide whether we shall have to fight a superior German force from the Pacific before we can get reinforcements from home or the Mediterranean. We feel that the admiralty ought to have a better force here, but we shall fight cheerfully whatever odds we have to face."

Admiral Cradock knew well that his enemy was superior in force. From Coronel, where he sent off some cables, he went north on the first of November, and about four o'clock in the afternoon the Glasgow sighted the enemy. The two big German armored cruisers were leading the way, and two light cruisers were following close. The German cruiser Leipzig does not seem to have been in company. The British squadron was led by the Good Hope, with the Monmouth, Glasgow and Otranto following in order. It was a beautiful spectacle. The sun was setting in the wonderful glory which one sees in the Pacific, and the British ships, west of the German, must have appeared to them in brilliant colors. On the east were the snowy peaks of the Andes. Half a gale was blowing and the two squadrons moved south at great speed. About seven o'clock they were about seven miles apart and the Scharnhorst, which was leading the German fleet, opened fire. At this time the Germans were shaded by the inshore twilight, but the British ships must have showed up plainly in the afterglow. The enemy fired with great accuracy. Shell after shell hit the Good Hope and the Monmouth, but the bad light and inferior guns saved the German ships from much damage. The Good Hope was set on fire and at 7.50 exploded and sank. The Monmouth was also on fire, and turned away to the western sea. The Glasgow had escaped so far, but the whole German squadron bore down upon her. She turned and fled and by nine o'clock was out of sight of the enemy. The Otranto, only an armed liner, had disappeared early in the fight. On the following day the Glasgow worked around to the south, and joined the Canopus, and the two proceeded to the Straits of the Magellan. The account of this battle by the German Admiral von Spee is of especial interest:

"Wind and swell were head on, and the vessels had heavy going, especially the small cruisers on both sides. Observation and distance estimation were under a severe handicap because of the seas which washed over the bridges. The swell was so great that it obscured the aim of the gunners at the six-inch guns on the middle deck, who could not see the sterns of the enemy ships at all, and the bows but seldom. At 6.20 P. M., at a distance of 13,400 yards, I turned one point toward the enemy, and at 6.34 opened fire at a distance of 11,260 yards. The guns of both our armored cruisers were effective, and at 6.39 already we could note the first hit on the Good Hope. I at once resumed a parallel course, instead of bearing slightly toward the enemy. The English opened their fire at this time. I assume that the heavy sea made more trouble for them than it did for us. Their two armored cruisers remained covered by our fire, while they, so far as could be determined, hit the Scharnhorst but twice, and the Gneisenau only four times. At 6.53, when 6,500 yards apart, I ordered a course one point away from the enemy. They were firing more slowly at this time, while we were able to count numerous hits. We could see, among other things, that the top of the Monmouth's forward turret had been shot away, and that a violent fire was burning in the turret. The Scharnhorst, it is thought, hit the Good Hope about thirty-five times. In spite of our altered course the English changed theirs sufficiently so that the distance between us shrunk to 5,300 yards. There was reason to suspect that the enemy despaired of using his artillery effectively, and was maneuvering for a torpedo attack.

"The position of the moon, which had risen at six o'clock, was favorable to this move. Accordingly I gradually opened up further distances between the squadrons by another deflection of the leading ship, at 7.45. In the meantime it had grown dark. The range finders on the Scharnhorst used the fire on the Monmouth as a guide for a time, though eventually all range finding, aiming and observations became so inexact that fire was stopped at 7.26. At 7.23 a column of fire from an explosion was noticed between the stacks of the Good Hope. The Monmouth apparently stopped firing at 7.20. The small cruisers, including the Nuremburg, received by wireless at 7.30 the order to follow the enemy and to attack his ships with torpedoes. Vision was somewhat obscured at this time by a rain squall. The light cruisers were not able to find the Good Hope, but the Nuremburg encountered the Monmouth and at 8.58 was able, by shots at closest range, to capsize her, without a single shot being fired in return. Rescue work in the heavy sea was not to be thought of, especially as the Nuremburg immediately afterward believed she had sighted the smoke of another ship and had to prepare for another attack. The small cruisers had neither losses nor damage in the battle. On the Gneisenau there were two men slightly wounded. The crews of the ships went into the fight with enthusiasm, everyone did his duty, and played his part in the victory."

Little criticism can be made of the tactics used by Vice-Admiral Spee. He appears to have maneuvered so as to secure the advantage of light, wind and sea. He also seems to have suited himself as regards the range.

Admiral Cradock was much criticised for joining battle with his little fleet against such odds, but he followed the glorious traditions of the English navy. He, and 1,650 officers and men, were lost, and the news was hailed as a great German victory. But the British admiralty were thoroughly roused. Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee, chief of the war staff, proceeded at once with a squadron to the South Atlantic. With him were two battle cruisers, the Invincible and the Inflexible, three armored cruisers, the Carnovan, the Kent and the Cornwall. His fleet was joined by the light cruiser Bristol and the armed liner Macedonia. The Glasgow, fresh from her rough experience, was found in the South Atlantic. Admiral Sturdee then laid his plans to come in touch with the victorious German squadron. A wireless message was sent to the Canopus, bidding her proceed to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. This message was intercepted by the Germans, as was intended.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright International News Service
  THE SINKING OF THE GERMAN CRUISER "BLUECHER"
  This dramatic photograph from the great North Sea Battle in 1915 shows
  the stricken ship just as she turned turtle and was about to sink.
  Officers and men can be seen swarming like ants on the upper side of
  the hull. Others, who either fell or preferred to take their chance in
  the sea, are shown swimming away from the wreck.

[Illustration: Painting]
  GERMANY BRINGS THE WAR TO EAST COAST TOWNS OF ENGLAND
  By raids with light cruisers on the coast towns, and Zeppelins and
  airplanes further inland, Germany sought to frighten the British
  populace. At Hartlepool, where this scene was enacted, several
  civilians, some of them women and children, were killed by bursting
  shells of the raiders.

Admiral von Spee, fearing the Japanese fleet, was already headed for Cape Horn. He thought that the Canopus could be easily captured at Port Stanley, and he started at once to that port. Admiral Sturdee's expedition had been kept profoundly secret. On December 7th the British squadron arrived at Port Stanley, and spent the day coaling. The Canopus, the Glasgow and the Bristol were in the inner harbor, while the remaining vessels lay outside. On December 8th, Admiral von Spee arrived from the direction of Cape Horn. The battle that followed is thoroughly described in the report of Vice-Admiral Sturdee from which the following extracts have been made:

"At 8 A. M., Tuesday, December 8th, a signal was received from the signal station on shore. 'A four-funnel and two-funnel man-of-war in sight from Sapper Hill steering north.' The Kent was at once ordered to weigh anchor, and a general signal was made to raise steam for full speed. At 8.20 the signal service station reported another column of smoke in sight, and at 8.47 the Canopus reported that the first two ships were eight miles off, and that the smoke reported at 8.20 appeared to be the smoke of two ships about twenty miles off. At 9.20 A. M. the two leading ships of the enemy, the Gneisenau and Nuremburg, with guns trained on the wireless station, came within range of the Canopus, which opened fire at them across the lowland at a range of 11,000 yards. The enemy at once hoisted their colors, and turned away. A few minutes later the two cruisers altered course to port, as though to close the Kent at the entrance to the harbor. But at about this time it seems that the Invincible and Inflexible were seen over the land, and the enemy at once altered course, and increased speed to join their consorts. At 9.45 A. M. the squadron weighed anchor and proceeded out of the harbor, the Carnovan leading. On passing Cape Pembroke light, the five ships of the enemy appeared clearly in sight to the southeast, hull down. The visibility was at its maximum, the sea was calm, with a bright sun, a clear sky, and a light breeze from the northwest. At 10.20 the signal for a general chase was made. At this time the enemy's funnels and bridges showed just above the horizon. Information was received from the Bristol at 11.27 that three enemy ships had appeared off Port Pleasant, probably colliers or transports. The Bristol was therefore directed to take the Macedonia under orders and destroy transports.

"The enemy were still maintaining their distance, and I decided at 12.20 P. M. to attack, with the two battle cruisers and the Glasgow. At 12.47 P. M. the signal to 'Open fire and engage the enemy' was made. The Inflexible opened fire at 12.55 P. M. at the right-hand ship of the enemy, and a few minutes later the Invincible opened fire at the same ship. The deliberate fire became too threatening, and when a shell fell close alongside her at 1.20 p. m. she, the Leipsig, turned away, with the Nuremburg and Dresden, to the southwest. These light cruisers were at once followed by the Kent, Glasgow and Cornwall.

"The action finally developed into three separate encounters. First, the action with the armored cruisers. The fire of the battle cruisers was directed on the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The effect of this was quickly seen, when, with the Scharnhorst leading, they turned about seven points to port, and opened fire. Shortly afterwards the battle cruisers were ordered to turn together with the Invincible leading. The enemy then turned about ten points to starboard, and a second chase ensued until, at 2.45, the battle cruisers again opened fire. This caused the enemy to turn into line ahead to port and open fire. The Scharnhorst caught fire forward, but not seriously, and her fire slackened perceptibly. The Gneisenau was badly hit by the Inflexible.

"At 3.30 P. M. the Scharnhorst turned about ten points to starboard, her fire had slackened perceptibly, and one shell had shot away her third funnel. Some guns were not firing, and it would appear that the turn was dictated by a desire to bring her starboard guns into action. The effect of the fire on the Scharnhorst became more and more apparent in consequence of smoke from fires and also escaping steam. At times a shell would cause a large hole to appear in her side, through which could be seen a dull, red glow of flame.

"At 4.04 P. M. the Scharnhorst, whose flag remained flying to the last, suddenly listed heavily to port, and within a minute it became clear that she was a doomed ship, for the list increased very rapidly until she lay on her beam ends. At 4.17 P. M. she disappeared. The Gneisenau passed on the far side of her late flagship, and continued a determined, but ineffectual, effort to fight the two battle cruisers. At 5.08 P. M. the forward funnel was knocked over, and remained resting against the second funnel. She was evidently in serious straits, and her fire slackened very much.

"At 5.15 P. M. one of the Gneisenau's shells struck the Invincible. This was her last effective effort. At 5.30 P. M. she turned toward the flagship with a heavy list to starboard, and appeared to stop, the steam pouring from her escape pipes, and smoke from shell and fires rising everywhere. About this time I ordered the signal 'Cease fire,' but before it was hoisted, the Gneisenau opened fire again, and continued to fire from time to time with a single gun. At 5.40 P. M. the three ships closed in on the Gneisenau, and at this time the flag flying at her fore truck, was apparently hauled down, but the flag at the peak continued flying. At 5.50 'Cease fire' was made. At 6 P. M. the Gneisenau keeled over very suddenly, showing the men gathered on her decks, and then walking on her side as she lay for a minute on her beam ends before sinking.

"The prisoners of war from the Gneisenau report that by the time the ammunition was expended some six hundred men had been killed and wounded. When the ship capsized and sank there were probably some two hundred unwounded survivors in the water, but, owing to the shock of the cold water, many were drowned within sight of the boats and ships. Every effort was made to save life as quickly as possible, both by boats and from the ships. Life buoys were thrown and ropes lowered, but only a portion could be rescued. The Invincible alone rescued a hundred and eight men, fourteen of whom were found to be dead after being brought on board. These men were buried at sea the following day, with full military honors.

"Second, action with the light cruisers. About one P. M. when the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau turned to port to engage the Invincible and the Inflexible, the enemy's light cruisers turned to starboard to escape. The Dresden was leading, and the Nuremburg and Leipzig followed on each quarter. In accordance with my instructions, the Glasgow, Kent and Cornwall at once went in chase of these ships. The Glasgow drew well ahead of the Cornwall and Kent, and at 3 P. M. shots were exchanged with the Leipzig at 12,000 yards. The Glasgow's object was to endeavor to outrange the Leipzig, and thus cause her to alter course and give the Cornwall and Kent a chance of coming into action. At 4.17 P. M. the Cornwall opened fire also on the Leipzig; at 7.17 P. M. the Leipzig was on fire fore and aft, and the Cornwall and Glasgow ceased fire. The Leipzig turned over on her port side and disappeared at 9 P. M. Seven officers and eleven men were saved. At 3.36 P. M. the Cornwall ordered the Kent to engage the Nuremburg, the nearest cruiser to her. At 6.35 P. M. the Nuremburg was on fire forward, and ceased firing. The Kent also ceased firing, then, as the colors were still observed to be flying on the Nuremburg, the Kent opened fire again. Fire was finally stopped five minutes later, on the colors being hauled down, and every preparation was made to save life. The Nuremburg sank at 7.27, and as she sank a group of men were waving the German ensign attached to a staff.

"Twelve men were rescued, but only seven survived. The Kent had four killed and twelve wounded, mostly caused by one shell. During the time the three cruisers were engaged with the Nuremburg and Leipzig, the Dresden, which was beyond her consorts, effected her escape, owing to her superior speed. The Glasgow was the only cruiser with sufficient speed to have had any chance of success, however she was fully employed in engaging the Leipzig for over an hour before either the Cornwall or Kent could come up and get within range. During this time the Dresden was able to increase her distance and get out of sight. Three, Action with the enemy's transports. H.M.S. Macedonia reports that only two ships, the steamships Baden and Santa Isabel, were present. Both ships were sunk after removal of the crews."

Thus was annihilated the last squadron belonging to Germany outside the North Sea. The defeat of Cradock had been avenged. The British losses were very small, considering the length of the fight and the desperate efforts of the German fleet. Only one ship of the German squadron was able to escape, and this on account of her great speed. The German sailors went down with colors flying. They died as Cradock's men had died.

The naval war now entered upon a new phase. The shores of Great Britain had for many years been so thoroughly protected by the British navy that few coast fortifications had been built, except at important naval stations. Invasion on a grand scale was plainly impossible, so long as the British fleets held control of the sea. With German guns across the Channel almost within hearing it was evident that a raiding party might easily reach the English shore on some foggy night. The English people were much disturbed. They had read the accounts of the horrible brutalities of the German troops in Belgium and eastern France, and they imagined their feelings if a band of such ferocious brutes were to land in England and pillage their peaceful homes. There was a humorous side to the way in which the yeomanry and territorials entrenched themselves along the eastern coast line, but the Germans, angry at the failure of their fleets, determined to disturb the British peace by raids, slight as the military advantage of such raids might be.

On November 2d a fleet of German warships sailed from the Elbe. They were three battle cruisers, the Seydlitz, the Moltke, and the Von Der Tann; two armored cruisers, the Blucher and the York, and three light cruisers, the Kolberg, the Graudenz, and the Strasburg. They were mainly fast vessels and the battle cruisers carried eleven-inch guns. Early in the morning they ran through the nets of a British fishing fleet. Later an old coast police boat, the Halcyon, was shot at a few times. About eight o'clock they were opposite Yarmouth, and proceeded to bombard that naval station from a distance of about ten miles. Their range was poor and their shells did no damage. They then turned swiftly for home, but on the road back the York struck a mine, and was sunk.

[Illustration: Map: Great Britain on the West, Denmark and Germany on
the East.]
  ENGLISH COAST TOWNS THAT WERE RAIDED

On the 16th of December they came again, full of revenge because of the destruction of von Spee and his squadron. Early in the morning early risers in Scarborough saw in the north four strange ships. Scarborough was absolutely without defense. It had once been an artillery depot but in recent years had been a cavalry station, and some few troops of this service were quartered there. Otherwise it was an open seaside resort. The German ships poured shells into the defenseless town, aiming at every large object they could see, the Grand Hotel, the gas works, the water works and the wireless station. Churches, public buildings, and hospitals were hit, as well as private houses. Over five hundred shells were fired. Then the ships turned around and moved away. The streets were crowded with puzzled and scared inhabitants, many of whom, as is customary in watering places, were women, children and invalids.

At nine o'clock Whitby, a coast town near Scarborough, saw two great ships steaming up from the south. Ten minutes later the ships were firing. The old Abbey of Hilda and Cedman was struck, but on the whole little damage was done. Another division of the invaders visited the Hartlepools. There there was a small fort, with a battery of old-fashioned guns, and off the shore was a small British flotilla, a gunboat and two destroyers. The three battle cruisers among the German raiders opened fire. The little British fleet did what they could but were quickly driven off. The German ships then approached the shore and fired on the English battery, the first fight with a foreign foe in England since 1690. The British battery consisted of some territorials who stood without wavering to their guns and kept up for half an hour a furious cannonading. A great deal of damage was done; churches, hospitals, workhouses and schools were all hit. The total death roll was 119, and the wounded over 300. Six hundred houses were damaged or destroyed, but there was a great deal of heroism, not only among the territorials, but among the inhabitants of the town, and when the last shots were fired all turned to the work of relief.

Somewhere between nine and ten o'clock the bold German fleet started for home. The British Grand Fleet had been notified of the raid and two battle cruiser squadrons were hurrying to intercept them. But the weather had thickened and the waters of the North Sea were covered with fog belts stretching for hundreds of miles. And so the raiders returned safe to receive their Iron Crosses. The German aim in such raids was probably to create a panic, and so interfere with the English military plans. If the English had not looked at the matter with common sense they might easily have been tempted to spend millions of pounds on seaboard fortifications, and keep millions of men at home who were more necessary in the armies in France. But the English people kept their heads.

Germany, perceiving the indignation of the world at these bombardments of defenseless watering places, endeavored to appease criticism by describing them as fortified towns. But the well-known excellence of the German system of espionage makes it plain that they knew the true condition of affairs. These towns were not selected as fortified towns, but because they were not, and destruction in unfortified towns it was thought would have a greater effect than in a fortified town where it would be regarded as among the natural risks of war.

During the rest of the year of 1914 no further sea fight took place in the North Sea nor was there any serious loss to the navy from torpedo or submarine. But on the first of January, 1915, the British ship Formidable, 15,000 tons, was struck by two torpedoes and sunk. The previous day she had left Sheerness with eight vessels of the Channel fleet and with no protection from destroyers. The night was a bright moonlight and for such vessels to be moving in line on such a night without destroyers shows gross carelessness. Out of a crew of 800 men only 201 were saved, and the rescue of this part of the crew was due to the seamanship of Captain Pillar of the trawler Providence, who managed to take most of those rescued on board his vessel.

On January 24th the German battle cruiser squadron under Rear-Admiral Hipper set sail from Wilhelmshaven. What his object was is not known. He had enlarged the mine field north of Helgoland and north of the mine field had stationed a submarine flotilla. It is likely that he was planning to induce the British fleet to follow him into the mine field, or within reach of his submarines. That same morning the British battle cruiser squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty put to sea.

According to the official report of the English Admiral he was in command of the following vessels; battle cruisers, the Lion, Princess Royal, the Tiger, the New Zealand, and the Indomitable; light cruisers, the Southampton, the Nottingham, the Birmingham, the Lowestoft, the Arethusa, the Aurora and the Undaunted, with destroyer flotillas under Commodore Tyrwhitt. The German Admiral had with him the Seydlitz, the Moltke, the Derfflinger, the Blucher, six light cruisers and a destroyer flotilla. The English Admiral apparently had some hint of the plans of the German squadron. The night of the 23d had been foggy; in the morning, however, the wind came from the northeast and cleared off the mists. An abridgment of the official report gives a good account of the battle, sometimes called the battle of Dogger Bank:

"At 7.25 A. M. the flash of guns was observed south-southeast; shortly afterwards the report reached me from the Aurora that she was engaged with enemy ships. I immediately altered course to south-southeast, increased speed, and ordered the light cruisers and flotillas to get in touch and report movements of enemy. This order was acted upon with great promptitude, indeed my wishes had already been forestalled by the respective senior officers, and reports almost immediately followed from the Southampton, Arethusa, and Aurora as to the position and composition of the enemy. The enemy had altered their course to southeast; from now onward the light cruisers maintained touch with the enemy and kept me fully informed as to their movements. The battle cruisers worked up to full speed, steering to the southward; the wind at the time was northeast, light, with extreme visibility.

"At 7.30 A. M. the enemy were sighted on the port bow, steaming fast, steering approximately southeast, distance fourteen miles. Owing to the prompt reports received we had attained our position on the quarter of the enemy, and altered course to run parallel to them. We then settled down to a long stern chase, gradually increasing our speed until we reached 28.5 knots.

"Great credit is due to the engineer staffs of the New Zealand and Indomitable. These ships greatly exceeded their speed. At 8.52 A. M., as we had closed within 20,000 yards of the rear ship, the battle cruisers maneuvered so that guns would bear and the Lion fired a single shot which fell short. The enemy at this time were in single line ahead, with light cruisers ahead and a large number of destroyers on their starboard beam. Single shots were fired at intervals to test the range, and at 9.09 the Lion made her first hit on the Blucher, the rear ship of the German line. At 9.20 the Tiger opened fire on the Blucher, and the Lion shifted to the third in the line, this ship being hit by several salvos. The enemy returned our fire at 9.14 A. M., the Princess Royal, on coming into range, opened fire on the Blucher. The New Zealand was also within range of the Blucher which had dropped somewhat astern, and opened fire on her. The Princess Royal then shifted to the third ship in the line (Derfflinger) inflicting considerable damage on her. Our flotilla cruisers and destroyers had gradually dropped from a position, broad on our beam, to our port quarter, so as not to foul our range with their smoke. But the enemy's destroyers threatening attack, the Meteor and M division passed ahead of us.

"About 9.45 the situation was about as follows: The Blucher, the fourth in their line, showed signs of having suffered severely from gun fire, their leading ship and number three were also on fire. The enemy's destroyers emitted vast columns of smoke to screen their battle cruisers, and under cover of this the latter now appeared to have altered course to the northward to increase their distance. The battle cruisers therefore were ordered to form a line of bearing north-northwest, and proceeded at the utmost speed. Their destroyers then showed evident signs of an attempt to attack. The Lion and the Tiger opened fire upon them, and caused them to retire and resume their original course.

"At 10.48 A. M. the Blucher, which had dropped considerably astern of the enemy's line, hauled out to port, steering north with a heavy list, on fire, and apparently in a defeated condition. I consequently ordered the Indomitable to attack the enemy breaking northward. At 10.54 submarines were reported on the starboard bow, and I personally observed the wash of a periscope. I immediately turned to port. At 10.03 an injury to the Lion being reported as being incapable of immediate repair, I directed the Lion to shape course northwest.

"At 11.20 I called the Attack alongside, shifting my flag to her, and proceeded at utmost speed to rejoin the squadron. I met them at noon, retiring north-northwest. I boarded and hoisted my flag on the Princess Royal, when Captain Brock acquainted me with what had occurred since the Lion fell out of line, namely, that the Blucher had been sunk and that the enemy battle cruisers had continued their course to the eastward in a considerably damaged condition. He also informed me that a Zeppelin and a seaplane had endeavored to drop bombs on the vessels which went to the rescue of the survivors of the Blucher."

It appears from this report that as soon as the Germans sighted the British fleet they promptly turned around and fled to the southeast. This flight, before they could have known the full British strength, suggests that the German Admiral was hoping to lure the British vessels into the Helgoland trap. The British gunnery was remarkably good, shot after shot taking effect at a distance of ten miles, and that too when moving at over thirty miles an hour. Over 120 of the crew of the Blucher were rescued and more would have been rescued if it had not been for the attack upon the rescue parties by the German aircraft. The injury to the Lion was very unfortunate. Admiral Beatty handed over charge of the battle cruisers to Rear-Admiral Moore, and when he was able to overtake the squadron he found that under Admiral Moore's orders the British fleet were retiring. The British squadron at the moment of turning was seventy miles from Helgoland, and in no danger from its mine fields. What might have been a crushing victory became therefore only a partial one: the Germans lost the Blucher; the Derfflinger and the Seydlitz were badly injured, but it seems that with a little more persistence the whole German squadron might have been destroyed.

The result was a serious blow to Germany. This engagement was the first between modern big-gun ships. Particular interest is also attached to it because each squadron was accompanied by scouting and screening light cruisers and destroyers. It was fear of submarines and mines, moreover, that influenced the British to break off the engagement. A Zeppelin airship and a seaplane also took part, and perhaps assisted in the fire control of the Germans. The conditions surrounding this battle were ideal for illustrating the functions of battle cruisers. The German warship raid on the British coast of the previous month was still fresh in mind, and when this situation off the Dogger Bank arose the timely interposing of Admiral Beatty's superior force, the fast chase, the long-range fighting, the loss of the Blucher and the hasty retreat of the enemy, were all particularly pleasing to the British people. As a result the battle cruiser type of ship attained great popularity.

CHAPTER XIV

NEW METHODS AND HORRORS OF WARFARE

When Germany embarked upon its policy of frightfulness, it held in reserve murderous inventions that had been contributed to the German General Staff by chemists and other scientists working in conjunction with the war. Never since the dawn of time had there been such a perversion of knowledge to criminal purposes; never had science contributed such a deadly toll to the fanatic and criminal intentions of a war-crazed class.

As the war uncoiled its weary length, and month after month of embargo and privation saw the morale of the German nation growing steadily lower, these murderous inventions were successively called into play against the Allies, but as each horror was put into play on the battle-field, its principles were solved by the scientists of the Allied nations, and the deadly engine of destruction was turned with trebled force against the Huns.

This happened with the various varieties of poison gas, with liquid fire, with trench knives, with nail-studded clubs, with armor used by shock troops, with airplane bombs, with cannon throwing projectiles weighing thousands of pounds great distances behind the battle lines. Not only did America and the Allies improve upon Germany's pattern in these respects, but they added a few inventions that went far toward turning the scale against Germany. An example of these is the "tank." Originally this was a caterpillar tractor invented in America and adopted in England. At first these were of two varieties, the male, carrying heavy guns only, and the females, equipped with machine guns. To these was later added the whippet tank, named after the racing dog developed in England. These whippet tanks averaged eighteen miles an hour, carrying death and terror into the ranks of the enemy. All the tanks were heavily armored and had as their motto the significant words "Treat 'Em Rough." The Germans designed a heavy anti-tank rifle about three feet longer than the ordinary rifle and carrying a charge calculated to pierce tank armor. These were issued to the German first line trenches at the rate of three to a company. That they were not particularly effective was proved by the ease with which the tanks of all varieties tore through the barbed wire entanglements and passed over the Hindenburg and Kriemhild lines, supposed by the Germans to be impregnable.

The tanks in effect were mobile artillery and were used as such by all the Allied troops. Germany frantically endeavored to manufacture tanks to meet the Allied monsters, but their efforts were feeble when compared with the great output opposed to them.

Before considering other inventions used for the first time in this war, it is well to understand the tremendous changes in methods and tactics made necessary by these discoveries.

Put into a sentence, the changed warfare amounts to this: it is a mobilization of material, of railroads, great guns, machine guns, food, airplanes and other engines of destruction quite as much as it is a mobilization of men.

The Germans won battle after battle at the beginning of the war because of their system of strategic railways that made it possible to transport huge armies to selected points in the shortest possible time both on the eastern and the western fronts. Lacking a system of transportation to match this, Russia lost the great battles that decided her fate, Belgium was over-run, and France, once the border was passed, became a battle-field upon which the Germans might extend their trench systems over the face of the land.

Lacking strategic railways to match those of Germany, France evolved an effective substitute in the modern system of automobile transportation. When von Kluck swung aside from Paris in his first great rush, Gallieni sent out from Paris an army in taxicabs that struck the exposed flank and went far toward winning the first battle of the Marne. It was the truck transportation system of the French along the famous "Sacred Road" back of the battle line at Verdun that kept inviolate the motto of the heroic town, "They Shall Not Pass." Motor trucks that brought American reserves in a khaki flood won the second battle of the Marne. It was automobile transportation that enabled Haig to send the British Canadians and Australians in full cry after the retreating Germans when the backbone of the German resistance was broken before Lens, Cambrai, and Ostend.

America's railway transportation system in France was one of the marvels of the war. Stretching from the sector of seacoast set apart for America by the French Government, it radiated far into the interior, delivering men, munitions and food in a steady stream. American engineers worked with their brothers-in-arms with the Allies to construct an inter-weaving system of wide-gauge and narrow-gauge roads that served to victual and munition the entire front and further serve to deliver at top speed whole army corps. It was this network of strategic railways that enabled the French to send an avalanche clad in horizon-blue to the relief of Amiens when Hindenburg made his final tremendous effort of 1918.

In its essentials, military effort in the great conflict may be roughly
divided into
  Open warfare,
  Trench warfare,
  Crater warfare.

The first battle of the Marne was almost wholly open warfare; so also were the battles of the Masurian Lakes, Allenstein, and Dunajec in the eastern theater of war, and most of the warfare on the Italian front between the Piave River and Gorizia.

In this variety of battle, airplanes and observation balloons play a prominent part. Once the enemy is driven out of its trenches, the message is flashed by wireless to the artillery and slaughter at long range begins. If there have been no intrenchments, as was the case in the first battle of the Marne, massed artillery send a plunging fire into the columns moving in open order and prepare the way for machine gunners and infantry to finish the rout.

In previous wars, cavalry played a heroic role in open warfare; only rarely has it been possible to use cavalry in the Great War. The Germans sent a screen of Uhlans before its advancing hordes into Belgium and Northern France in 1914. The Uhlans also were in the van in the Russian invasion, but with these exceptions, German cavalry was a negligible factor.

British and French cavalry were active in pursuit of the fleeing Teutons when the Hindenburg line was smashed in September of 1918. Outside of that brief episode, the cavalry did comparatively nothing so far as the Allies were concerned. It was the practice on both sides to dismount cavalry and convert it into some form of trench service. Trench mortar companies, bombing squads, and other specialty groups were organized from among the cavalrymen. Of course the fighting in the open stretches of Mesopotamia, South Africa and Russia involved the use of great bodies of cavalry. The trend of modern warfare, however, is to equip the cavalryman with grenades and bayonets, in addition to his ordinary gear, and to make of him practically a mounted infantryman.

Trench warfare occupied most of the time and made nine-tenths of the discomforts of the soldiers of both armies. If proof of the adaptive capacity of the human animal were needed, it is afforded by the manner in which the men burrowed in vermin-infested earth and lived there under conditions of Arctic cold, frequently enduring long deprivations of food, fuel, and suitable clothing. During the early stages of the war, before men became accustomed to the rigors of the trenches, many thousands died as a direct result of the exposure. Many thousand of others were incapacitated for life by "trench feet," a group of maladies covering the consequences of exposure to cold and water which in those early days flowed in rivulets through most of the trenches. The trenches at Gallipoli had their own special brand of maladies. Heatstroke and a malarial infection were among these disabling agencies. Trench fever, a malady beginning with a headache and sometimes ending in partial paralysis and death, was another common factor in the mortality records.

But in spite of all these and other discomforts, in spite of the disgusting vermin that crawled upon the men both in winter and in summer, both sides mastered the trenches and in the end learned to live in them with some degree of comfort.

At first the trenches were comparatively straight, shallow affairs; then as the artillery searched them out, as the machine gunners learned the art of looping their fire so that the bullets would drop into the hiding places of the enemy, the trench systems gradually became more scientifically involved. After the Germans had been beaten at the Marne and had retired to their prepared positions along the Aisne, there commenced a series of flanking attempts by one side and the other which speedily resolved itself into the famous "race to the sea." This was a competition between the opposing armies in rapid trench digging. The effort on either side was made to prevent the enemy from executing a flank movement. In an amazingly short time the opposing trenches extended from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border, making further outflanking attempts impossible of achievement.

[Illustration: Map: The North Sea and surrounding countries—Norway,
Denmark, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany.]
  FORTS, FLYING AND NAVAL BASES ON THE NORTH SEA

This was not the first time in history that intrenched armies opposed each other. The Civil War in this country set the fashion in that respect. The contending sides in the Great War, however, improved vastly upon the American example. Communicating trenches were constructed, leading back to the company kitchens, and finally to the open road leading back to the rest billets of the armies.

When night raiding commenced, it was speedily seen that straight trenches exposed whole companies of men to enfilading fire. Thereupon bastions were made and new defenses presented by zig-zagging the front-line trenches and the communicating ditches as well.

To the formidable obstacles presented by the trenches, equipped as they were with sand-bag parapets and firing steps, were added barbed-wire entanglements and pitfalls of various sorts. The greatest improvement was made by the Germans, and they added "pill boxes." These were really miniature fortresses of concrete and armor plate with a dome-shaped roof and loopholes for machine gunners. Only a direct hit by a projectile from a big gun served to demolish a "pill box." The Allies learned after many costly experiments that the best method to overcome these obstacles was to pass over and beyond them, leaving them isolated in Allied territory, where they were captured at the leisure of the attackers.

Trench warfare brings with it new instruments. There are the flame projectors, which throw fire to a distance of approximately a hundred feet. The Germans were the first to use these, but they were excelled in this respect by the inventive genius of the nations opposing them.

The use of poison gas, the word being used in its broad sense, is now general. It was first used by the Germans, but as in the case of flame throwers, the Allies soon gained the ascendency.

[Illustration: Four photographs of tanks.]
  TYPES OF LAND BATTLESHIPS DEVELOPED BY ALLIES AND GERMANS
  British light tank, of 1918, with turret action and high speed
  British Tank of earliest type, as used at Cambrai.
  German land battleship in 1918 on the Western front
  Improved French Tank first used in Champagne in 1916.

[Illustration: Painting]
  CHARGING ON GERMAN TRENCHES IN GAS MASKS
  Each British soldier carried two gas-proof helmets. At the first alarm
  of gas the helmet was instantly adjusted, for to breathe even a whiff
  of the yellow cloud meant death or serious injury. This picture shows
  the earlier type before the respirator mask was devised to keep up
  with Germany's development of gas warfare.

The first use of asphyxiating gas was by the Germans during the first battle of Ypres. There the deadly compound was mixed in huge reservoirs back of the German lines. From these extended a system of pipes with vents pointed toward the British and Canadian lines. Waiting until air currents were moving steadily westward, the Germans opened the stop-cocks shortly after midnight and the poisonous fumes swept slowly, relentlessly forward in a greenish cloud that moved close to the earth. The result of that fiendish and cowardly act was that thousands of men died in horrible agony without a chance for their lives.

Besides that first asphyxiating gas, there soon developed others even more deadly. The base of most of these was chlorine. Then came the lachrymatory or "tear-compelling" gases, calculated to produce temporary or permanent blindness. Another German "triumph" was mustard gas. This is spread in gas shells, as are all the modern gases. The Germans abandoned the cumbersome gas-distributing system after the invention of the gas shell. These make a peculiar gobbling sound as they rush overhead. They explode with a very slight noise and scatter their contents broadcast. The liquids carried by them are usually of the sort that decompose rapidly when exposed to the air and give off the acrid gases dreaded by the soldiers. They are directed against the artillery as well as against intrenched troops. Every command, no matter how small, has its warning signal in the shape of a gong or a siren warning of approaching gas.

Gas masks were speedily discovered to offset the dangers of poison gases of all kinds. These were worn not only by troops in the field, but by artillery horses, pack mules, liaison dogs, and by the civilian inhabitants in back of the battle lines. Where used quickly and in accordance with instructions, these masks were a complete protection against attacks by gas.

The perfected gas masks used by both sides contained a chamber filled with a specially prepared charcoal. Peach pits were collected by the millions in all the belligerent countries to make this charcoal, and other vegetable substances of similar density were also used. Anti-gas chemicals were mixed with the charcoal. The wearer of the mask breathed entirely through the mouth, gripping a rubber mouthpiece while his nose was pinched shut by a clamp attached to the mask.

In training, soldiers were required to hold their breath for six seconds while the mask was being adjusted. It was explained to them that four breaths of the deadly chlorine gas was sufficient to kill; the first breath produced a spasm of the glottis; the second brought mental confusion and delirium; the third produced unconsciousness; and the fourth, death. The bag containing the gas mask and respirator was carried always by the soldier.

The soldier during the winter season in the front line trenches was a grotesque figure. His head was crowned with a helmet covered with khaki because the glint of steel would advertise his whereabouts. Beneath the helmet he wore a close fitting woolen cap pulled down tightly around his ears and sometimes tied or buttoned beneath his chin. Suspended upon his chest was the khaki bag containing gas mask and respirator. Over his outer garments were his belt, brace straps, bayonet and ammunition pouches. His rifle was slung upon his shoulder with the foot of a woolen sock covering the muzzle and the leg of the same sock wrapped around the breech. A large jerkin made of leather, without sleeves, was worn over the short coat. Long rubber boots reaching to the hips and strapped at ankle and hip completely covered his legs. When anticipating trench raids, or on a raiding party, a handy trench knife and carefully slung grenades were added to his equipment.

Airplane bombing ultimately changed the whole character of the war. It extended the fighting lines miles behind the battle front. It brought the horrors of night attacks upon troops resting in billets. It visited destruction and death upon the civilian population of cities scores of miles back of the actual front.

Germany transgressed repeatedly the laws of humanity by bombing hospitals far behind the battle front. Describing one of these atrocious attacks, which took place May 29, 1918, Colonel G. H. Andrews, chaplain of a Canadian regiment, said:

"The building bombed was one of three large Red Cross hospitals at Boulenes and was filled with Allied wounded. A hospital in which were a number of wounded German prisoners stood not very far away.

"The Germans could not possibly have mistaken the building they bombed for anything else but a hospital. There were flags with a red cross flying, and lights were turned on them so that they would show prominently. And the windows were brilliantly lighted. Those inside heard the buzz of the advancing airplanes, but did not give them a thought.

"The machines came right on, ignoring the hospital with the German wounded, indicating they had full knowledge of their objective, until they were over a wing of the Red Cross hospital that contained the operating room on the ground floor. In the operating room a man was on the table for a most difficult surgical feat. Around him were gathered the staff of the hospital and its brilliant surgeons. Lieutenant Sage of New York had just given him the anesthetic when one of the airplanes let the bomb drop. It was a big fellow. It must have been all of 250 pounds of high explosive.

"It hurtled downward, carrying the two floors before it. Through the gap thus made wounded men, the beds in which they lay, convalescents, and all on the floors came crashing down to the ground. The bomb's force extended itself to wreck the operating room, where the man on the table, Lieutenant Sage, and all in the room were killed. In all there were thirty-seven lives lost, including three Red Cross nurses.

"The building caught fire. The concussion had blown the stairs down, so that escape from the upper floors seemed impossible. But the convalescents and the soldiers, who had run to the scene of the bombing, let the very ill ones out of the windows, and escape was made in that way.

"And then, to cap the climax, the German airplanes returned over the spot of their ghastly triumph and fired on the rescuers with machine guns. God will never forgive the Huns for that act alone. Nor will our comrades ever forget it."

The statement of Colonel Andrews was corroborated by a number of other officers.

To protect artillery against counter-fire of all kinds, both sides from the beginning used the art of camouflage. This was resorted to particularly against scouting airplanes. At first the branches of trees and similar natural cover were used to deceive the airmen. Later the guns themselves were painted with protective colorations, and screens of burlap were used instead of branches. The camoufleur, as the camouflage artist was called, speedily extended his activities to screens over highways, preventing airmen from seeing troops in motion, to the protective coloration of lookout posts, and of other necessary factors along the fighting front. Camouflage also found great usefulness in the protective coloration of battleships and merchant vessels. Scientific study went hand in hand with the art, the object being to confuse the enemy and to offer targets as small as possible to the enemy gunners.

Crater warfare came as a development of intensified artillery attacks upon trench systems. It was at Dunajec on the eastern front that for the first time in modern war the wheels of artillery were placed hub to hub in intensified hurricane fire upon enemy positions. The result there under von Mackensen's direction was the rout of the Russians. When later the same tactics were employed on the western front, the result was to destroy whole trench systems with the exception of deep dugouts, and to send the occupants of the trenches into the craters, made by shell explosions, for protection.

It was observed that, these craters made excellent cover and when linked by vigorous use of the intrenching tools carried by every soldier, they made a fair substitute for the trenches. This observation gave root to an idea which was followed by both armies; this was the deliberate creation of crater systems by the artillery of the attacking force. Into these lines of craters the attacking infantry threw itself in wave after wave as it rushed toward the enemy trenches. The ground is so riddled by this intensive artillery fire that there is created what is known as "moon terrain", fields resembling the surface of the moon as seen through a powerful telescope. Troops on both sides were trained to utilize these shell holes to the utmost, each little group occupying a crater, keeping in touch with its nearest group and moving steadily in unison toward the enemy.

One detail in which this war surpassed all others was in the use of machine guns and grenades. The Germans were first to make extensive use of the machine gun as a weapon with which to produce an effective barrage. They established machine-gun nests at frequent intervals commanding the zone over which infantry was to advance and by skilful crossfire kept that terrain free from every living thing. The Germans preferred a machine gun, water cooled and of the barrel-recoil type. The English used a Vickers-Maxim and a Lewis gun, the latter the invention of an officer in the American army. The French preferred the Hotchkiss and the Saint-Etienne. The Americans standardized the Browning light and heavy machine guns, and these did effective service. It was asserted by American gunnery experts that the Browning excels all other weapons of its type.

Two general types of grenades were used on both sides. One a defensive bomb about the size of an orange, containing a bursting charge weighing twenty-two ounces. Then there was a grenade used for offensive work carrying about thirty-two ounces of high explosives. The defensive grenades were of cast iron and so made that they burst into more than a hundred jagged pieces when they exploded. These wounded or killed within a radius of one hundred and fifty yards. In exceptional instances, the range was higher.

The function of artillery in a modern battle is constantly extending. Both the big guns and the howitzers were the deciding factors in most of the military decisions reached during the war. Artillery is divided first between the big guns having a comparatively flat trajectory and the howitzers whose trajectory is curved. Then there is a further division into these four classes: Field artillery, Heavy artillery, Railroad artillery, Trench artillery.

The type of field artillery is the famous 75-millimeter gun used interchangeably by the French and Americans. It is a quick-firing weapon and is used against attacking masses and for the various kind of barrages, including an anti-aircraft barrage.

Included in the heavy artillery are guns and howitzers of larger caliber than the 75-millimeter. Three distinct and terrifying noises accompany explosions of these guns. First, there is the explosion when the shell leaves the gun; then there is the peculiar rattling noise like the passing of a railway train when the shells pass overhead; then there is the explosion at point of contact, a terrific concussion which produces the human condition called "shell-shock," a derangement of body and brain, paralyzing nerve and muscle centers and frequently producing insanity.

The railroad artillery comprises huge guns pulled on railways by locomotives, each gun having a number of cars as part of its equipment. These are slow-firing guns of great power and hurling the largest projectiles known to warfare. The largest guns of this class were produced by American inventive genius as a reply to the German gun of St. Gobain Forest. This was a weapon which hurled a nine-inch shell from a distance of sixty-two miles into the heart of Paris. The damage done by it was comparatively slight and it had no appreciable effect upon the morale of the Parisians.

Its greatest damage was when it struck the Roman Catholic Church of St. Gervais on Good Friday, March 29, 1918, killing seventy-five persons and wounding ninety. Fifty-four of those killed were women, five being Americans. The total effect of the bombardment by this big gun was to arouse France, England and America to a fiercer fighting pitch. The late Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York, expressed this sentiment, when he sent the following message to the Archbishop of Paris:

Shocked by the brutal killing of innocent victims gathered at religious services to commemorate the passing of our blessed Saviour on Good Friday, the Catholics of New York join your noble protest against this outrage of the sanctuary on such a day and at such an hour and, expressing their sympathy to the bereaved relatives of the dead and injured, pledge their unfaltering allegiance in support of the common cause that unites our two great republics. May God bless the brave officers and men of the Allied armies in their splendid defense of liberty and justice!

Trench artillery are Stokes guns and other mortars hurling aerial torpedoes containing great quantities of high explosives. These have curved trajectories and are effective not only against trenches but also against deep dugouts, wire entanglements and listening posts.

One of the most important details of modern warfare is that of communication or liaison on the battlefield. This is accomplished by runners recruited from the trenches, by dogs, pigeons, telephone, radio.

As has been heretofore stated, the airplane considered in all its developments, is the newest and most important of factors in modern warfare. It photographs the enemy positions, it detects concentrations and other movements of the enemy, it makes surprise impossible, it is a deadly engine of destruction when used in spraying machine-gun fire upon troops in the open. As a bombing device, it surpasses the best and most accurate artillery.

CHAPTER XV

GERMAN PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA IN AMERICA

The pages of Germany's militaristic history are black with many shameful deeds and plots. Those pages upon which are written the intrigues against the peace of America and against the lives and properties of American citizens during the period between the declaration of war in 1914 and the armistice ending the war, while not so bloody as those relating to the atrocities in Belgium and Northern France are still revolting to civilized mankind.

Germany not only paid for the murder of passengers on ships where its infernal machines were placed, not only conspired for the destruction of munition plants and factories of many kinds, not only sought to embroil the United States, then neutral, in a war with Mexico and Japan, but it committed also the crime of murderous hypocrisy by conspiring to do these wrongs under the cloak of friendship for this country.

It was in December of 1915 that the German Government sent to the United
States for general publication in American newspapers this statement:

The German Government has naturally never knowingly accepted the support of any person, group of persons, society or organization seeking to promote the cause of Germany in the United States by illegal acts, by counsel of violence, by contravention of law, or by any means whatever that could offend the American people in the pride of their own authority.

The answer to this imperial lie came from the President of the United States, when, in his address to Congress, April 2, 1917, urging a declaration of war on Germany, he characterized the German spy system and its frightful fruits in the following language:

"One of the things that has served to convince us that the Prussian autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that from the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting communities, and even our offices of government, with spies, and set criminal intrigues everywhere afoot against our national unity of counsel, our peace within and without, our industries and our commerce. Indeed it is now evident that its spies were here even before the war began; and it is unhappily not a matter of conjecture, but a fact proved in our courts of justice, that the intrigues which have more than once come perilously near to disturbing the peace and dislocating the industries of the country have been carried on at the instigation, with the support, and even under the personal direction of official agents of the Imperial Government accredited to the Government of the United States."

Austria co-operated with Germany in a feeble way in these plots and propaganda, but the master plotter was Count Johann von Bernstorff, Germany's Ambassador. The Austro-Hungarian Ambassador, Constantin Theodor Dumba, Captain Franz von Papen, Captain Karl Boy-Ed, Dr. Heinrich F. Albert, and Wolf von Igel, all of whom were attached to the German Embassy, were associates in the intrigues. Franz von Rintelen operated independently and received his funds and instructions directly from Berlin.

One of the earliest methods of creating disorder in American munition plants and other industrial establishments engaged in war work was through labor disturbances. With that end in view a general German employment bureau was established in August, 1915, in New York City. It had branches in Philadelphia, Bridgeport, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and Cincinnati. These cities at that time were the centers of industries engaged in furnishing munitions and war supplies to the Entente allies. Concerning this enterprise Ambassador Dumba, writing to Baron Burian, Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, said:

A private German employment office has been established which provides employment for persons who have voluntarily given up their places, and it is already working well. We shall also join in and the widest support is assured us.

The duties of men sent from the German employment offices into munition plants may be gathered from the following frank circular issued on November 2, 1914, by the German General Headquarters and reprinted in the Freie Zeitung, of Berne.

GENERAL HEADQUARTERS TO THE MILITARY REPRESENTATIVE ON THE RUSSIAN AND FRENCH FRONTS, AS WELL AS IN ITALY AND NORWAY.

In all branch establishments of German banking houses in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, China and the United States, special military accounts have been opened for special war necessities. Main headquarters authorizes you to use these credits to an unlimited extent for the purpose of destroying factories, workshops, camps, and the most important centers of military and civil supply belonging to the enemy. In addition to the incitement of labor troubles, measures must be taken for the damaging of engines and machinery plants, the destruction of vessels carrying war material to enemy countries, the burning of stocks of raw materials and finished goods, and the depriving of large industrial centers of electric power, fuel and food. Special agents, who will be placed at your disposal, will supply you with the necessary means for effecting explosions and fires, as well as with a list of people in the country under your supervision who are willing to undertake the task of destruction. (Signed) DR. E. FISCHER.

Shortly after the establishment of the German employment bureau,
Ambassador Dumba sent the following communication to the Austrian
Foreign Office:

It is my impression that we can disorganize and hold up for months, if not entirely prevent, the manufacture of munitions in Bethlehem and the Middle West, which, in the opinion of the German military attache, is of importance and amply outweighs the comparatively small expenditure of money involved.

Concerning the operations of the arson and murder squad organized by von Bernstorff, Dumba and their associates, it is only necessary to turn to the records of the criminal courts of the United States and Canada. Take for example the case against Albert Kaltschmidt, living in Detroit, Michigan. The United States grand jury sitting in Detroit indicted Kaltschmidt and his fellow conspirators upon the following counts:

"To blow up the factory of the Peabody's Company, Limited, at Walkerville, Ontario, … engaged in manufacturing uniforms, clothing and military supplies …

"To blow up the building known as the Windsor Armories of the City of
Windsor.

"To blow up and destroy other plants and buildings in said Dominion of Canada, which were used for the manufacture of munitions of war, clothing and uniforms.

"To blow up and destroy the great railroad bridges of the Canadian
Pacific Railroad at Nipigon. . . .

"To employ and send into said Dominion of Canada spies to obtain military information."

Besides the acts enumerated in the indictment it was proved upon trial that Kaltschmidt and his gang planned to blow up the Detroit Screw Works where shrapnel was being manufactured, and to destroy the St. Clair tunnel, connecting Canada with the United States. Both of these plans failed. Associated with Kaltschmidt in these plots were Captain von Papen, Baron Kurt von Reiswitz, German consul-general in Chicago; Charles F. Respa, Richard Herman, and William M. Jarasch, the latter two German reservists. Testifying in the case Jarasch, a bartender, said: "Jacobsen (an aide) told me that munition factories in Canada were to be blown up. Before I left for Detroit, Jacobsen and I went to the consulate. We saw the consul and he shook hands with me and wished me success."

Charles F. Respa, in his testimony made the following revelations in response to questions by the government's representatives:

Q. How long had you been employed before he (Kaltschmidt) told you that he wanted you to blow up some of these factories? A. About three weeks.

Q. Did Kaltschmidt at the time speak of any particular place that he wanted you to blow up? A. The particular place was the Armory.

Q. Did he mention the Peabody Building at that time? A. Not particularly—he was more after the bridges and the armories and wanted those places blown up that made ammunition and military clothing.

Q. The explosion at the armories was to be timed so that it would occur when the soldiers were asleep there? A. Yes—he did not mention that he wanted to kill soldiers.

Q. Did he say that if the dynamite in the suitcase exploded it would kill the soldiers? A. I do not remember that he said so, but he must have known it.

Q. Did you take both grips? A. Yes. Q. Where did you set the first grip?
A. By the Peabody plant (blown up on June 20,1915).

Q. Where did you put the other suitcase? A. Then I walked down the
Walkerville road to the Armories at Windsor, and carried the suitcase.

Q. When you got to the Armories did you know where to place it? A. I had my instructions.

Q. From Kaltschmidt? A. Yes.

Q. Did you place this suitcase containing the dynamite bomb at the armory in a proper place to explode and do any damage? A. Yes.

Q. Was it properly connected so that the cap would explode and strike the dynamite? A. I fixed it so that it would not.

Q. Did you deliberately fix this bomb that you took to the Armories so that it would not explode? A. Yes.

Q. Why did you do that? A. I knew that the suitcase contained thirty sticks of dynamite and if exploded would blow up the Armories and all the ammunition and kill every man in it.

It is interesting to note in this connection that Kaltschmidt was sentenced to four years in the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas, and to pay a fine of $20,000. Horn's sentence was eighteen months in the Atlanta penitentiary and a fine of $1,000.

Attempts were also made to close by explosions the tunnels through which the Canadian Pacific Railroad passes under the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia. The German General Staff in this instance operated through Franz Bopp, the German consul-general in San Francisco, and Lieutenant von Brincken. J. H. van Koolbergen was hired to do this work. Concerning the negotiations, van Koolbergen made this statement:

"Not knowing what he wanted I went to see him. He was very pleasant and told me that he was an officer in the German army and at present working in the secret service of the German Empire under Mr. Franz Bopp, the Imperial German consul.

"I went to the consulate and met Franz Bopp and then saw von Brincken in another room. He asked me if I would do something for him in Canada and I answered him, 'Sure, I will do something, even blow up bridges, if there is money in it.' And he said, 'You are the man; if that is so, you can make good money.'

"Von Brincken told me that they were willing to send me up to Canada to blow up one of the bridges on the Canadian Pacific Railroad or one of the tunnels. I asked him what was in it and he said he would talk it over with the German consul, Bopp.

"I had accepted von Brincken's proposition to go to Canada and he offered me $500 to defray my expenses. On different occasions, in his room, von Brincken showed me maps and information about Canada, and pointed out to me where he wanted the act to be done. This was to be between Revelstake and Vancouver on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and I was to get $3,000 in case of a successful blowing up of a military bridge or tunnel."

Van Koolbergen only made a pretended effort to blow up the tunnel. He did furnish the evidence, however, which served to send Bopp and his associates to the penitentiary.

Even more sensational was the plot against the international bridge upon which the Grand Trunk Railway crosses the border between the United States and Canada at Vanceboro, Me.

Werner Horn was a German reserve lieutenant. Von Papen delivered to him a flat order to blow up the bridge and he gave him $700 for the purpose of perpetrating the outrage. Horn was partially successful. At his trial in Boston in June, 1917, he made the following confession:

"I admit and state that the facts set forth in the indictments as to the conveyance of explosives on certain passenger trains from New York to Boston and from Boston to Vanceboro, in the State of Maine, are true. I did, as therein alleged, receive an explosive and conveyed the same from the city of New York to Boston, thence by common carrier from Boston to Vanceboro, Maine. On or about the night of February 1, 1915, I took said explosive in a suitcase in which I was conveying it and carried the same across the bridge at Vanceboro to the Canadian side, and there, about 1.10 in the morning of February 2, 1915, I caused said explosive to be exploded near or against the abutments of the bridge on the Canadian side, with intent to destroy the abutment and cripple the bridge so that the same could not be used for the passage of trains."

Bribery of Congressmen was intended by Franz von Rintelen, operating directly in touch with the German Foreign Office in Berlin. Count von Bernstorff sent the following telegram to Berlin in connection with his plan:

I request authority to pay out up to $50,000 in order, as on former occasions, to influence Congress through the organization you know of, which can perhaps prevent war. I am beginning in the meantime to act accordingly. In the above circumstances, a public official German declaration in favor of Ireland is highly desirable, in order to gain the support of the Irish influence here.

That it was Rintelen's purpose to use large sums of money for the purpose of bribing Congressmen was stated positively by George Plochman, treasurer of the Transatlantic Trust Company, where Rintelen kept his deposits.

Rintelen was the main figure on this side of the water in the fantastic plot to have Mexico and Japan declare war upon the United States. During the trial of Rintelen in New York City in May, 1917, it was testified "that he came to the United States in order to embroil it with Mexico and Japan if necessary; that he was doing all he could and was going to do all he could to embroil this country with Mexico; that he believed that if the United States had a war with Mexico it would stop the shipment of ammunition to Europe; that he believed it would be only a matter of time until we were involved with Japan."

Rintelen also said that "General Huerta was going to return to Mexico and start a revolution there which would cause the United States to intervene and so make it impossible to ship munitions to Europe. Intervention," he said, "was one of his trump cards."

Mexico was the happy hunting-ground for pro-German plotters, and the German Ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhardt, was the leader in all the intrigues. The culmination of Germany's effort against America on this continent came on January 19, 1917, when Dr. Alfred Zimmerman, head of the German Foreign Office, sent the following cable to Ambassador von Eckhardt:

On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to keep neutral the United States of America.

If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the following basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement. You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an outbreak of war with the United States, and suggest that the President of Mexico, on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time, offer to mediate between Germany and Japan.

Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England to make peace in a few months. ZIMMERMAN.

This was almost three months before the United States entered the war. As an example of German blindness and diplomatic folly it stands unrivaled in the annals of the German Foreign Office.

Plots against shipping were the deadliest in which the German conspirators engaged. Death and destruction followed in their wake. In direct connection of von Bernstorff and his tools with these outrages the following testimony by an American secret service man employed by Wolf von Igel is interesting. It refers to an appointment with Captain von Kleist, superintendent of Scheele's bomb factory in Hoboken, N. J.

"We sat down and we spoke for about three hours. I asked him the different things that he did, and said if he wanted an interview with Mr. von Igel, my boss, he would have to tell everything. So he told me that von Papen gave Dr. Scheele, the partner of von Kleist in this factory, a check for $10,000 to start this bomb factory. He told me that he, Mr. von Kleist, and Dr. Scheele and a man by the name of Becker on the Friedrich der Grosse were making the bombs, and that Captain Wolpert, Captain Bode and Captain Steinberg, had charge of putting these bombs on the ships; they put these bombs in cases and shipped them as merchandise on these steamers, and they would go away on the trip and the bombs would go off after the ship was out four or five days, causing a fire and causing the cargo to go up in flames. He also told me that they have made quite a number of these bombs; that thirty of them were given to a party by the name of O'Leary, and that he took them down to New Orleans where he had charge of putting them on ships down there, this fellow O'Leary."

About four hundred bombs were made under von Igel's direction; explosions and fires were caused by them on thirty-three ships sailing from New York harbor alone.

Four of the bombs were found at Marseilles on a vessel which sailed from Brooklyn in May, 1915. The evidence collected in the case led to the indictment of the following men for feloniously transporting on the steamship Kirk Oswald a bomb or bombs filled with chemicals designed to cause incendiary fires: Rintelen, Wolpert, Bode, Schmidt, Becker, Garbade, Praedel, Paradies, von Kleist, Schimmel, Scheele, Steinberg and others. The last three named fled from justice, Scheele being supplied with $1,000 for that purpose by Wolf von Igel. He eluded the Federal authorities until April, 1918, when he was found hiding in Cuba under the protection of German secret service agents. All the others except Schmidt were found guilty and sentenced, on February 5, 1918, to imprisonment for eighteen months and payment of a fine of $2,000 each. It was proved during the trial that Rintelen had hired Schimmel, a German lawyer, to see that bombs were placed on ships.

Schmidt, von Kleist, Becker, Garbade, Praedel and Paradies had already been tried for conspiracy to make bombs for concealment on ocean-going vessels, with the purpose of setting the same on fire. All were found guilty, and on April 6, 1917, von Kleist and Schmidt were sentenced to two years imprisonment and a fine of $500 each.

Robert Fay, a former officer in the German army, who came to the United States in April, 1915, endeavored to prevent the traffic in munitions by sinking the laden ships at sea. In recounting the circumstances of his arrival here to the chief of the United States secret service, Fay said:

". . .I had in the neighborhood of $4,000…. This money came from a man who sent me over … (named) Jonnersen. The understanding was that it might be worth while to stop the shipment of artillery munitions from this country. . . . I imagined Jonnersen to be in the (German) secret service."

After stating that he saw von Papen and Boy-Ed, and that neither would have anything to do with him, apparently because suspicious of his identity, Fay continued:

"I did not want to return (to Germany) without having carried out my intention, that is, the destruction of ships carrying munitions. I proceeded with my experiments and tried to get hold of as much explosive matter as in any way possible. . . ."

Fay and two confederates were arrested in a lonely spot near Grantwood, New Jersey, while testing an explosive. During his examination at police headquarters in Weehawken immediately after the arrest he was questioned as follows:

Q. That large machine you have downstairs, what is that?

A. That is a patent of mine. It is a new way of getting a time fuse. …

Q. Did you know where Scholz (Fay's brother-in-law) had this machine made?

A. In different machine shops.

Q. What material is it you wanted (from Daeche, an accomplice)?

A. Trinitrotoluol (T. N. T.). …

Q. How much did the machinery cost?

A. Roughly speaking, $150 or $200.

Q. What would be the cost of making one and filling it with explosives?

A. About $250 each … If they had given me money enough I should simply have been able to block the shipping entirely.

Q. Do you mean you could have destroyed every ship that left the harbor by means of those bombs?

A. I would have been able to stop so many that the authorities would not have dared (to send out any ships).

It was proved during Fay's trial that his bomb was a practical device, and that its forty pounds of explosive would sink any ship to which it was attached.

Fay and his accomplices, Scholz and Daeche, were convicted of conspiracy to attach explosive bombs to the rudders of vessels, with the intention of wrecking the same when at sea, and were sentenced, on May 9, 1916, to terms of eight, four and two years respectively, in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta. Dr. Herbert Kienzle and Max Breitung, who assisted Fay in procuring explosives, were indicted on the same charge. Both were interned.

Another plan for disabling ships was suggested by a man who remained for some time unknown. He called one day at the German Military Information Bureau, maintained at 60 Wall Street by Captain von Papen, of the German embassy, and there gave the following outline of his plan:

"I intend to cause serious damage to vessels of the Allies leaving ports of the United States by placing bombs, which I am making myself, on board. These bombs resemble ordinary lumps of coal and I am planning to have them concealed in the coal to be laden on steamers of the Allies. I have already discussed this plan with … at … and he thinks favorably of my idea. I have been engaged on similar work in … after the outbreak of the war, together with Mr. von …"

[Illustration: Painting]
  WOMEN AT WORK THAT MEN MAY FIGHT
  The women of the world took up quickly almost every masculine task in
  industry to release their menfolk for the firing line. They were
  especially valuable in the munitions factories of England, as shown
  above. The women in the foreground are testing shell cases for size,
  while those in the background work the lathes.

[Illustration: Painting]
  THE FINAL TRIBUTE
  Allied airman dropping a wreath on the grave of a comrade who fell and
  was buried within the German lines.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  A BELGIAN MILITARY OBSERVATION BALLOON
  Large numbers of these balloons, which came to be known as sausages,
  were used by the Allied armies on all fronts.

The German secret service report from which the above excerpt is taken states that the maker of the bomb was paid by check No. 146 for $150 drawn on the Riggs National Bank of Washington. A photographic copy of this check shows that it was payable to Paul Koenig, of the Hamburg-American Line, and was signed by Captain von Papen. On the counterfoil is written this memorandum, "For F. J. Busse." Busse confessed later that he had discussed with Captain von Papen at the German Club in New York City the plan of damaging the boilers of munition ships with bombs which resembled lumps of coal.

Free access to Allied ships laden with supplies for Vladivostok would have been invaluable to the conspirators, and in order to obtain it Charles C. Crowley, a detective employed by Consul-General Bopp, resorted to the extraordinary scheme revealed in the following letter to Madam Bakhmeteff, wife of the Russian Ambassador to the United States:

MME J. BAKHMETEFF, care Imperial Russian Embassy, Newport, R. I.: DEAR MADAM:—By direction of the Imperial Russian Consul-General of San Francisco, I beg to submit the following on behalf of several fruit-growers of the State of California. As it is the wish of certain growers to contribute several tons of dried fruit to the Russian Red Cross they desire to have arrangements made to facilitate the transportation of this fruit from Tacoma, Washington, to Vladivostok, and as we are advised that steamships are regularly plying between Tacoma and Vladivostok upon which government supplies are shipped we would like to have arrangements made that these fruits as they might arrive would be regularly consigned to these steamers and forwarded. It would be necessary, therefore, that an understanding be had with the agents of these steamship lines at Tacoma that immediate shipments be made via whatever steamers might be sailing.

It is the desire of the donors that there be no delay in the shipments
as delays would lessen the benefits intended to those for whom the fruit
was provided ….
Respectfully yours,
C. C. CROWLEY.

The statements of Louis J. Smith and van Koolbergen, combined with a mass of other evidence consisting in part of letters and telegrams, caused the grand jury to indict Consul-General Bopp, his staff and his hired agents, for conspiracy to undertake a military enterprise against Canada. Among the purposes of this enterprise specified in the indictment was the following:

"To blow up and destroy with their cargoes and crews any and all vessels belonging to Great Britain, France, Japan or Russia found within the limits of Canada, which were laden with horses, munitions of war, or articles of commerce in course of transportation to the above countries…."

The following descriptions have been made by the United States
Government of the tools of von Bernstorff in German plots:

Paul Koenig, the head of the Hamburg-American secret service, who was active in passport frauds, who induced Gustave Stahl to perjure himself and declare the Lusitania armed, and who plotted the destruction of the Welland Canal. In his work as a spy he passed under thirteen aliases in this country and Canada.

Captains Boy-Ed, von Papen, von Rintelen, Tauscher, and von Igel were all directly connected with the German Government itself. There is now in the possession of the United States Government a check made out to Koenig and signed by von Papen, identified by number in a secret report of the German Bureau of Investigation as being used to procure $150 for the payment of a bomb-maker, who was to plant explosives disguised as coal in the bunkers of the merchant vessels clearing from the port of New York. Boy-Ed, Dr. Bunz, the German ex-minister to Mexico, the German consul at San Francisco, and officials of the Hamburg-American and North German Lloyd steamship lines evaded customs regulations and coaled and victualed German raiders at sea. Von Papen and von Igel supervised the making of the incendiary bombs on the Friedrich der Grosse, then in New York Harbor, and stowed them away on outgoing ships. Von Rintelen financed Labor's National Peace Council, which tried to corrupt legislators and labor leaders.

A lesser light of this galaxy was Robert Fay, who invented an explosive contrivance which he tied to the rudder posts of vessels. According to his confession and that of his partner in murder, the money came from the German secret police.

Among the other tools of the German plotters were David Lamar and Henry Martin, who, in the pay of Captain von Rintelen, organized and managed the so-called Labor's National Peace Council, which sought to bring about strikes, an embargo on munitions, and a boycott of the banks which subscribed to the Anglo-French loan. A check for $5,000 to J. F. J. Archibald for propaganda work, and a receipt from Edwin Emerson, the war correspondent, for $1,000 traveling expenses were among the documents found in Wolf von Igel's possession.

Others who bore English names were persuaded to take leading places in similar organizations which concealed their origin and real purpose. The American Embargo Conference arose out of the ashes of Labor's Peace Council, and its president was American, though the funds were not. Others tampered with were journalists who lent themselves to the German propaganda and who went so far as to serve as couriers between the Teutonic embassies in Washington and the governments in Berlin and Vienna. A check of $5,000 was discovered which Count von Bernstorff had sent to Marcus Braun, editor of Fair Play. And a letter was discovered which George Sylvester Viereck, editor of the Fatherland, sent to Privy Councilor Albert, the German agent, arranging for a monthly subsidy of $1,750, to be delivered to him through the hands of intermediaries—women whose names he abbreviates "to prevent any possible inquiry." There is a record of $3,000 paid through the German embassy to finance the lecture tour of Miss Ray Beveridge, an American artist, who was further to be supplied with German war pictures.

The German propagandists also directed their efforts to poisoning the minds of the people through the circulation of lies concerning affairs in France and at home. Here are some of the rumors circulated throughout the country that were nailed as falsehoods:

It was said that the national registration of women by the Food Administration was to find out how much money each had in the bank, how much of this was owed, and everything about each registrant's personal affairs.

That the millions collected from the public for the Red Cross went into the pockets of thieves, and that the soldiers and sailors got none of it, nor any of its benefits.

That base hospital units had been annihilated while en route overseas.

That leading members of other hospital units had been executed as spies by the American Government.

That canned goods put up by the housewives were to be seized by the government and appropriated to the use of the army and navy.

That soldiers in training were being instructed to put out the eyes of every German captured.

That all of the "plums" at the officers' training camps fell to Roman Catholics. The plums went to Protestants when the propagandist talked to a Catholic.

That the registration of women was held so that girls would be enticed into the cities where white slaves were made of them.

That the battleship Pennsylvania had been destroyed with everyone on board by a German submarine.

That more than seventy-five per cent of the American soldiers in France had been infected with venereal diseases.

That intoxicants were given freely to American soldiers in Y. M. C. A. and Knights of Columbus huts in France.

But the lies and the plots failed to make any impression on the morale of American citizenry. In fact, America from the moment war was declared against Germany until the time an armistice was declared, seemed to care for nothing but results. Charges of graft made with bitter invective in Congress created scarcely more than a ripple. The harder the pro-German plotters worked for the destruction of property and the incitement to labor disturbances, the closer became the protective network of Americanism against these anti-war influences. After half a dozen German lies had been casually passed from mouth to mouth as rumors; the American people came to look upon other mischievous propaganda in its true light. Patriotic newspapers in every community exposed the false reports and citizens everywhere were on their guard against the misstatements. It was noticeable that the propaganda was intensified just previous to and during the several Liberty Loan campaigns. Proof that the American spirit rises superior to anti-American influences is furnished by the glorious records of these Liberty Loans. Every one was over-subscribed despite the severest handicaps confronted by any nation.

CHAPTER XVI

SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA

The United States was brought face to face with the Great War and with what it meant in ruthless destruction of life when, on May 7, 1915, the crack Cunard Liner Lusitania, bound from New York to Liverpool, with 1,959 persons aboard, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off Old Head of Kinsale, Southwestern Ireland. Two torpedoes reached their mark. The total number of lives lost when the ship sunk was 1,198. Of these 755 were passengers and the remainder were members of the crew. Of the drowned passengers, 124 were Americans and 35 were infants.

"Remember the Lusitania!" later became a battlecry just as "Remember the Maine!" acted as a spur to Americans during the war with Spain. It was first used by the famous "Black Watch" and later American troops shouted it as they went into battle.

The sinking of the Lusitania, with its attendant destruction of life, sent a thrill of horror through the neutral peoples of the world. General opposition to the use of submarines in attacking peaceful shipping, especially passenger vessels, crystallized as the result of the tragedy, and a critical diplomatic controversy between the United States and Germany developed. The American Government signified its determination to break off friendly relations with the German Empire unless the ruthless practices of the submarine commanders were terminated. Germany temporarily agreed to discontinue these practices.

Among the victims of the Cunarder's destruction were some of the best known personages of the Western Hemisphere. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, multimillionaire; Charles Frohman, noted theatrical manager; Charles Klein, dramatist, who wrote "The Lion and the Mouse;" Justus Miles Forman, author, and Elbert Hubbard, known as Fra Elbertus, widely read iconoclastic writer, were drowned.

The ocean off the pleasant southern coast of Ireland was dotted with bodies for days after the sinking of the liner. The remains of many of the victims, however, never were recovered.

When the Lusitania prepared to sail from New York on her last trip, fifty anonymous telegrams addressed to prominent persons aboard the vessel warned the recipients not to sail with the liner. In addition to these warnings was an advertisement inserted in the leading metropolitan newspapers by the German embassy, advising neutral persons that British steamships were in danger of destruction in the war zone about the British Isles. This notice appeared the day the Lusitania sailed, May 1st, and was placed next the advertisement of the Cunard Line. Following is the advertisement:

NOTICE! Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or of any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk. Imperial German Embassy, Washington, D. C., April 22, 1915.

Little or no attention was paid to the warnings, only the usual number of persons canceling their reservations, The general agent of the Cunard Line at New York assured the passengers that the Lusitania's voyage would be attended by no risk whatever, referring to the liner's speed and water-tight compartments.

As the great Cunarder drew near the scene of her disaster, traveling at moderate speed along her accustomed route, there was news of freight steamers falling victims to Germany's undersea campaign. It was not definitely established, however, whether the liner was warned of danger.

At two o'clock on the fine afternoon of May 7th, some ten miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, the Lusitania was sighted by a submarine 1,000 yards away. A second later the track of a torpedo, soon followed by another, was seen and each missile crashed into the Lusitania's hull with rending detonations.

Many were killed or injured immediately by the explosions.

Before the liner's headway was lost, some boats were lowered, and capsized as a result. The immediate listing of the steamship added to the difficulties of rescue and increased the tragical toll of dead.

Much heroism and calmness were displayed by many in the few minutes the liner remained afloat. The bearing of Frohman, Vanderbilt, Hubbard and other Americans was declared to have been particularly inspiring.

Rescue ships and naval vessels rushed to the aid of the survivors from all nearby ports of Ireland.

It has been said that the sinking of the Lusitania was carefully planned by the chiefs of the German admiralty. They expected, it was believed, to demoralize British shipping and strike terror into the minds of the British people by showing that the largest and swiftest of liners could easily be destroyed by submarines.

According to the Paris paper, La Guerre Sociale, published by Gustave Herve, the submarine responsible was the U-21, commanded by Lieutenant Hersing. Hersing was said to have been decorated for his deed. The U-21 afterwards was destroyed and the story of its participation in the sinking of the great Cunarder never was confirmed.

Immediately upon the news of the Lusitania disaster, President Wilson took steps to hold Germany to that "strict accountability" of which he had notified Berlin when the war-zone operations were begun earlier in the year. His first communication, protesting against the sinking of the liner in the name of humanity and demanding disavowal, indemnity and assurance that the crime would not be repeated, was despatched on May 13th. On May 30th the German reply argued that the liner carried munitions of war and probably was armed.

The following official German version of the incident by the German
Admiralty Staff over the signature of Admiral Behncke was given:

"The submarine sighted the steamer, which showed no flag, May 7th, at 2.20 o'clock, Central European time, afternoon, on the southeast coast of Ireland, in fine, clear weather.

"At 3.10 o'clock one torpedo was fired at the Lusitania, which hit her starboard side below the captain's bridge. The detonation of the torpedo was followed immediately by a further explosion of extremely strong effect. The ship quickly listed to starboard and began to sink.

"The second explosion must be traced back to the ignition of quantities of ammunition inside the ship."

These extenuations were all rejected by the United States, and the next note prepared by President Wilson was of such character that Secretary of State Bryan resigned. This second communication was sent on June 11th, and on June 22d another was cabled. September 1st Germany accepted the contentions of the United States in regard to submarine warfare upon peaceful shipping. There were continued negotiations concerning the specific settlement to be made in the case of the Lusitania.

On February 4th, 1916, arrived a German proposition which, coupled with personal parleys carried on between German Ambassador von Bernstorff and United States Secretary of State Lansing, seemed in a fair way to conclude the whole controversy. It was announced on February 8th that the two nations were in substantial accord and Germany was declared to have admitted the sinking of the liner was wrong and unjustified and promised that reparation would be made.

However, a week later, when Germany took advantage of tentative American proposals concerning the disarming of merchant ships, by announcing that all armed hostile merchantmen would be treated as warships and attacked without warning, the almost completed agreement was overthrown. The renewed negotiations were continuing when the torpedoing of the cross-channel passenger ship Sussex, without warning, on March 24th, impelled the United States to issue a virtual ultimatum, demanding that the Germans immediately cease their present methods of naval warfare on pain of the rupture of diplomatic relations with the most powerful existing neutral nation.

The Lusitania, previous to her sinking, had figured in the war news, first at the conflict, when it was feared she had been captured by a German cruiser while she was dashing across the Atlantic toward Liverpool, and again in February of 1915, when she flew the American flag as a ruse to deceive submarines while crossing the Irish Sea. This latter incident called forth a protest from the United States.

On her fatal trip the cargo of the Lusitania was worth $735,000.

As a great transatlantic liner, the Lusitania was a product of the race for speed, which was carried on for years among larger steamship companies, particularly of England and Germany. When the Lusitania was launched, it was the wonder of the maritime world. Its mastery of the sea, from the standpoint of speed, was undisputed.

Progress of the Lusitania on its first voyage to New York, September 7, 1907, was watched by the world. The vessel made the voyage in five days and fifty-four minutes, at that time a record. Its fastest trip, made on the western voyage, was four days eleven hours forty-two minutes. This record, however, was wrested from it subsequently by the Mauretania, a sister ship, which set the mark of four days ten hours forty-one minutes, that still stands.

Although the Lusitania was surpassed in size by several other liners built subsequently, it never lost the reputation acquired at the outset of its career. Its speed and luxurious accommodations made it a favorite, and its passenger lists bore the names of many of the most prominent Atlantic wayfarers. The vessel was pronounced by its builders to be as nearly unsinkable as any ship could be.

Everything about the Lusitania was of colossal dimensions.

Her rudder weighed sixty-five tons. She carried three anchors of ten tons each. The main frames and beams, placed end to end, would extend thirty miles. The Lusitania was 785 feet long, 88 feet beam, and 60 feet deep. Her gross tonnage was 32,500 and her net tonnage, 9,145.

Charges were made that one or more guardian submarines deliberately drove off ships nearby which might have saved hundreds of lives lost when the Lusitania went down. Captain W. F. Wood, of the Leyland Line steamer Etonian, said his ship was prevented from going to the rescue of the passengers of the sinking Lusitania by a warning that an attack might be made upon his own vessel.

The Etonian left Liverpool, May 6th. When Captain Wood was forty-two miles from Kinsale he received a wireless call from the Lusitania for immediate assistance.

The call was also picked up by the steamers City of Exeter and Narragansett. The Narragansett, Captain Wood said, was made a target for submarine attack, a torpedo missing her by a few feet, and her commander then warned Captain Wood not to attempt to reach the Lusitania.

"It was two o'clock in the afternoon, May 7th, that we received the wireless S O S," said Captain Wood. "I was then forty-two miles distant from the position he gave me. The Narragansett and the City of Exeter were nearer the Lusitania and she answered the SOS.

"At five o'clock I observed the City of Exeter cross our bows and she signaled, 'Have you heard anything of the disaster?'

"At that moment I saw a periscope of a submarine between the Tonina and the City of Exeter, about a quarter of a mile directly ahead of us. She dived as soon as she saw us.

"I signaled to the engine room for every available inch of speed. Then we saw the submarine come up astern of us. I now ordered full speed ahead and we left the submarine behind. The periscope remained in sight about twenty minutes.

"No sooner had we lost sight of the submarine astern, than another appeared on the starboard bow. This one was directly ahead and on the surface, not submerged.

"I starboarded hard away from him, he swinging as we did. About eight minutes later he submerged. I continued at top speed for four hours and saw no more of the submarines. It was the ship's speed that saved her, that's all.

"The Narragansett, as soon as she heard the S O S call, went to the assistance of the Lusitania. One of the submarines discharged a torpedo at her and missed her by not more than eight feet. The Narragansett then warned us not to attempt to go to the rescue, and I got her wireless call while I was dodging the two submarines. You can see that three ships would have gone to the assistance of the Lusitania had they not been attacked by the two submarines."

The German Government defended the brutal destruction of non-combatants by the false assertions that the Lusitania was an armed vessel and that it was carrying a great store of munitions. Both of these accusations were proved to be mere fabrications. The Lusitania was absolutely unarmed and the nearest approach to munitions was a consignment of 1,250 empty shell cases and 4,200 cases of cartridges for small arms.

Intense indignation swept over the neutral world, the tide rising highest in America. It well may be said that the destruction of the Lusitania was one of the greatest factors in driving America into the war with Germany.

Concerning the charge that the Lusitania carried munitions, Dudley Field Malone, Collector of the port of New York, testified that he made personal and close inspection of the ship's cargo and saw that it carried no guns and that there were no munitions in its cargo.

His statement follows:

"This report is not correct. The Lusitania was inspected before sailing, as is customary. No guns were found, mounted or unmounted, and the vessel sailed without any armament. No merchant ship would be allowed to arm in this port and leave the harbor."

Captain W. T. Turner, of the Lusitania, testifying before the coroner's inquest at Kinsale, Ireland, was interrogated as follows:

"You were aware threats had been made that the ship would be torpedoed?"

"We were," the Captain replied.

"Was she armed?"

"No, sir."

"What precautions did you take?"

"We had all the boats swung when we came within the danger zone, between the passing of Fastnet and the time of the accident."

The coroner asked him whether he had received a message concerning the sinking of a ship off Kinsale by a submarine. Captain Turner replied that he had not.

"Did you receive any special instructions as to the voyage?"

"Yes, sir."

"Are you at liberty to tell us what they were?"

"No, sir."

"Did you carry them out?"

"Yes, to the best of my ability."

"Tell us in your own words what happened after passing Fastnet."

"The weather was clear," Captain Turner answered. "We were going at a speed of eighteen knots. I was on the port side and heard Second Officer Hefford call out:

"'Here's a torpedo!'

"I ran to the other side and saw clearly the wake of a torpedo. Smoke and steam came up between the last two funnels. There was a slight shock. Immediately after the first explosion there was another report, but that may possibly have been internal.

"I at once gave the order to lower the boats down to the rails, and I directed that women and children should get into them. I also had all the bulkheads closed.

"Between the time of passing Fastnet, about 11 o'clock, and of the torpedoing I saw no sign whatever of any submarines. There was some haze along the Irish coast, and when we were near Fastnet I slowed down to fifteen knots. I was in wireless communication with shore all the way across."

Captain Turner was asked whether he had received any message in regard to the presence of submarines off the Irish coast. He replied in the affirmative. Questioned regarding the nature of the message, he replied:

"I respectfully refer you to the admiralty for an answer." "I also gave orders to stop the ship," Captain Turner continued, "but we could not stop. We found that the engines were out of commission. It was not safe to lower boats until the speed was off the vessel. As a matter of fact, there was a perceptible headway on her up to the time she went down.

"When she was struck she listed to starboard. I stood on the bridge when she sank, and the Lusitania went down under me. She floated about eighteen minutes after the torpedo struck her. My watch stopped at 2.36. I was picked up from among the wreckage and afterward was brought aboard a trawler.

"No warship was convoying us. I saw no warship, and none was reported to me as having been seen. At the time I was picked up I noticed bodies floating on the surface, but saw no living persons."

"Eighteen knots was not the normal speed of the Lusitania, was it?"

"At ordinary times," answered Captain Turner, "she could make twenty-five knots, but in war times her speed was reduced to twenty-one knots. My reason for going eighteen knots was that I wanted to arrive at Liverpool bar without stopping, and within two or three hours of high water."

"Was there a lookout kept for submarines, having regard to previous warnings?"

"Yes, we had double lookouts."

"Were you going a zigzag course at the moment the torpedoing took place?"

"No. It was bright weather, and land was clearly visible."

"Was it possible for a submarine to approach without being seen?"

"Oh, yes; quite possible."

"Something has been said regarding the impossibility of launching the boats on the port side?"

"Yes," said Captain Turner, "owing to the listing of the ship."

"How many boats were launched safely?"

"I cannot say."

"Were any launched safely?"

"Yes, and one or two on the port side."

"Were your orders promptly carried out?"

"Yes."

"Was there any panic on board?"

"No, there was no panic at all. It was almost calm."

"How many persons were on board?"

"There were 1,500 passengers and about 600 crew."

By the Foreman of the Jury—"In the face of the warnings at New York that the Lusitania would be torpedoed, did you make any application to the admiralty for an escort?"

"No, I left that to them. It is their business, not mine. I simply had to carry out my orders to go, and I would do it again."

Captain Turner uttered the last words of this reply with great emphasis.

By the Coroner—"I am glad to hear you say so, Captain."

By the Juryman—"Did you get a wireless to steer your vessel in a northern direction?"

"No," replied Captain Turner.

"Was the course of the vessel altered after the torpedoes struck her?"

"I headed straight for land, but it was useless. Previous to this the watertight bulkheads were closed. I suppose the explosion forced them open. I don't know the exact extent to which the Lusitania was damaged."

"There must have been serious damage done to the water-tight bulkheads?"

"There certainly was, without doubt."

"Were the passengers supplied with lifebelts?"

"Yes."

"Were any special orders given that morning that lifebelts be put on?"

"No."

"Was any warning given before you were torpedoed?"

"None whatever. It was suddenly done and finished."

"If there had been a patrol boat about, might it have been of assistance?"

"It might, but it is one of those things one never knows."

With regard to the threats against his ship, Captain Turner said he saw nothing except what appeared in the New York papers the day before the Lusitania sailed. He had never heard the passengers talking about the threats, he said.

"Was a warning given to the lower decks after the ship had been struck?"
Captain Turner was asked.

"All the passengers must have heard the explosion," Captain Turner replied.

Captain Turner, in answer to another question, said he received no report from the lookout before the torpedo struck the Lusitania.

Ship's Bugler Livermore testified that the watertight compartments were closed, but that the explosion and the force of the water must have burst them open. He said that all the officers were at their posts and that earlier arrivals of the rescue craft would not have saved the situation.

After physicians had testified that the victims had met death through prolonged immersion and exhaustion the coroner summed up the case.

He said that the first torpedo fired by the German submarine did serious damage to the Lusitania, but that, not satisfied with this, the Germans had discharged another torpedo. The second torpedo, he said, must have been more deadly, because it went right through the ship, hastening the work of destruction.

The characteristic courage of the Irish and British people was manifested at the time of this terrible disaster, the coroner continued, and there was no panic. He charged that the responsibility "lay on the German Government and the whole people of Germany, who collaborated in the terrible crime."

"I propose to ask the jury," he continued, "to return the only verdict possible for a self-respecting jury, that the men in charge of the German submarine were guilty of wilful murder."

The jury then retired and after due deliberation prepared this verdict:

We find that the deceased met death from prolonged immersion and exhaustion in the sea eight miles south-southeast of Old Head of Kinsale, Friday, May 7, 1915, owing to the sinking of the Lusitania by torpedoes fired by a German submarine.

We find that the appalling crime was committed contrary to international law and the conventions of all civilized nations.

We also charge the officers of said submarine and the Emperor and the Government of Germany, under whose orders they acted, with the crime of wholesale murder before the tribunal of the civilized world.

We desire to express sincere condolences and sympathy with the relatives of the deceased, the Cunard Company, and the United States, many of whose citizens perished in this murderous attack on an unarmed liner.

President Wilson's note to Germany, written consequent on the torpedoing of the Lusitania, was dated six days later, showing that time for careful deliberation was duly taken. The President's Secretary, Joseph P. Tumulty, on May 8th, the day following the tragedy, made this statement:

Of course the President feels the distress and the gravity of the situation to the utmost, and is considering very earnestly but very calmly, the right course of action to pursue. He knows that the people of the country wish and expect him to act with deliberation as well as with firmness.

Although signed by Mr. Bryan, as Secretary of State, the note was written by the President in shorthand—a favorite method of Mr. Wilson in making memoranda—and transcribed by him on his own typewriter. The document was presented to the members of the President's Cabinet, a draft of it was sent to Counselor Lansing of the State Department, and after a few minor changes, it was transmitted by cable to Ambassador Gerard in Berlin.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASHINGTON, MAY 13, 1915.
The Secretary of State to the American Ambassador at Berlin:

Please call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and after reading to him this communication leave with him a copy.

In view of recent acts of the German authorities in violation of American rights on the high seas, which culminated in the torpedoing and sinking of the British steamship Lusitania on May 7, 1915, by which over 100 American citizens lost their lives, it is clearly wise and desirable that the Government of the United States and the Imperial German Government should come to a clear and full understanding as to the grave situation which has resulted.

The sinking of the British passenger steamer Falaba by a German submarine on March 28th, through which Leon C. Thrasher, an American citizen, was drowned; the attack on April 28th, on the American vessel Cushing by a German aeroplane; the torpedoing on May 1st of the American vessel Gulflight by a German submarine, as a result of which two or more American citizens met their death; and, finally, the torpedoing and sinking of the steamship Lusitania, constitute a series of events which the Government of the United States has observed with growing concern, distress, and amazement.

Recalling the humane and enlightened attitude hitherto assumed by the Imperial German Government in matters of international right, and particularly with regard to the freedom of the seas; having learned to recognize the German views and the German influence in the field of international obligation as always engaged upon the side of justice and humanity; and having understood the instructions of the Imperial German Government to its naval commanders to be upon the same plane of humane action prescribed by the naval codes of the other nations, the Government of the United States was loath to believe—it cannot now bring itself to believe—that these acts, so absolutely contrary to the rules, the practices, and the spirit of modern warfare, could have the countenance, or sanction of that great government. It feels it to be its duty, therefore, to address the Imperial German Government concerning them with the utmost frankness and in the earnest hope that it is not mistaken in expecting action on the part of the Imperial German Government, which will correct the unfortunate impressions which have been created, and vindicate once more the position of that government with regard to the sacred freedom of the seas.

The Government of the United States has been apprised that the Imperial German Government considered themselves to be obliged by the extraordinary circumstances of the present war and the measure adopted by their adversaries in seeking to cut Germany off from all commerce, to adopt methods of retaliation which go much beyond the ordinary methods of warfare at sea, in the proclamation of a war zone from which they have warned neutral ships to keep away. This government has already taken occasion to inform the Imperial German Government that it cannot admit the adoption of such measures or such a warning of danger to operate as in any degree an abbreviation of the rights of American shipmasters or of American citizens bound on lawful errands as passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nationality, and that it must hold the Imperial German Government to a strict accountability for any infringement of those rights, intentional or incidental. It does not understand the Imperial German Government to question these rights. It assumes, on the contrary, that the Imperial Government accept, as of course, the rule that the lives of noncombatants, whether they be of neutral citizenship or citizens of one of the nations at war, cannot lawfully or rightfully be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruction of an unarmed merchantman, and recognize also, as all other nations do, the obligation to take the usual precaution of visit and search to ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in fact of belligerent nationality or is in fact carrying contraband of war under a neutral flag.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Underwood and Underwood. N. Y.
  THE LUSITANIA
  The sinking of this great liner by a German submarine, with the loss
  of more than a thousand lives, caused a thrill of horror throughout
  all neutral nations and crystallized public opinion in the United
  States into a fierce resentment of German barbarism which indirectly
  led to the entry into the World War.

[Illustration]
  SUBMARINE HUNTING
  A small naval dirigible used for scouting by the British Navy. Under
  the cigar-shaped balloon is swung an airplane chassis equipped with
  powerful motors and steering apparatus, together with a light gun.

The Government of the United States, therefore, desires to call the attention of the Imperial German Government with the utmost earnestness to the fact that the objection to their present method of attack against the trade of their enemies lies in the practical impossibility of employing submarines in the destruction of commerce without disregarding those rules of fairness, reason, justice, and humanity which all modern opinion regards as imperative. It is practically impossible for the officers of a submarine to visit a merchantman at sea and examine her papers and cargo. It is practically impossible for them to make a prize of her; and, if they cannot put a prize crew on board of her, they cannot sink her without leaving her crew and all on board of her to the mercy of the sea in her small boats. These facts, it is understood, the Imperial German Government frankly admit. We are informed that in the instances of which we have spoken time enough for even that poor measure of safety was not given, and in at least two of the cases cited not so much as a warning was received. Manifestly, submarines cannot be used against merchantmen, as the last few weeks have shown, without an inevitable violation of many sacred principles of justice and humanity.

American citizens act within their indisputable rights in taking their ships and in traveling wherever their legitimate business calls them upon the high seas, and exercise those rights in what should be the well-justified confidence that their lives will not be endangered by acts done in clear violation of universally acknowledged international obligations, and certainly in the confidence that their own government will sustain them in the exercise of their rights.

There was recently published in the newspapers of the United States, I regret to inform the Imperial German Government, a formal warning, purporting to come from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington, addressed to the people of the United States, and stating, in effect, that any citizen of the United States who exercised his right of free travel upon the seas would do so at his peril if his journey should take him within the zone of waters within which the Imperial German Navy was using submarines against the commerce of Great Britain and France, notwithstanding the respectful but very earnest protest of the Government of the United States. I do not refer to this for the purpose of calling the attention of the Imperial German Government at this time to the surprising irregularity of a communication from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington addressed to the people of the United States through the newspapers, but only for the purpose of pointing out that no warning that an unlawful and inhumane act will be committed can possibly be accepted as an excuse or palliation for that act or as an abatement of the responsibility for its commission.

Long acquainted as this government has been with the character of the Imperial Government, and with the high principles of equity by which they have in the past been actuated and guided, the Government of the United States cannot believe that the commanders of the vessels which committed these acts of lawlessness did so except under a misapprehension of the orders issued by the Imperial German naval authorities. It takes for granted that, at least within the practical possibilities of every such case, the commanders even of submarines were expected to do nothing that would involve the lives of noncombatants or the safety of neutral ships, even at the cost of failing of their object of capture or destruction. It confidently expects, therefore, that the Imperial German Government will disavow the acts of which the Government of the United States complains; that they will make reparation so far as reparation is possible for injuries which are without measure, and that they will take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence of anything so obviously subversive of the principles of warfare for which the Imperial German Government have in the past so wisely and so firmly contended.

The government and people of the United States look to the Imperial German Government for just, prompt, and enlightened action in this vital matter with the greater confidence, because the United States and Germany are bound together not only by ties of friendship, but also by the explicit stipulations of the Treaty of 1828, between the United States and the Kingdom of Prussia.

Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in case of the destruction of neutral ships sunk by mistake, while they may satisfy international obligations, if no loss of life results, cannot justify or excuse a practice the natural and necessary effect of which is to subject neutral nations and neutral persons to new and immeasurable risks.

The Imperial German Government will not expect the Government of the United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the performance of its sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment. BRYAN.

Ex-President Roosevelt, after learning details of the sinking of the
Lusitania, made these statements:

"This represents not merely piracy, but piracy on a vaster scale of murder than old-time pirate ever practiced. This is the warfare which destroyed Louvain and Dinant and hundreds of men, women and children in Belgium. It is a warfare against innocent men, women, and children traveling on the ocean, and our own fellowcountrymen and countrywomen, who were among the sufferers.

"It seems inconceivable that we can refrain from taking action in this matter, for we owe it not only to humanity, but to our own national self-respect."

Former President Taft made this statement:

"I do not wish to embarrass the President of the Administration by a discussion of the subject at this stage of the information, except to express confidence that the President will follow a wise and patriotic course. We must bear in mind that if we have a war it is the people, the men and women, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, who must pay with lives and money the cost of it, and therefore they should not be hurried into the sacrifices until it is made clear that they wish it and know what they are doing when they wish it.

"I agree that the inhumanity of the circumstances in the case now presses us on, but in the heat of even just indignation is this the best time to act, when action involves such momentous consequences and means untold loss of life and treasure? There are things worse than war, but delay, due to calm deliberation, cannot change the situation or minimize the effect of what we finally conclude to do.

"With the present condition of the war in Europe, our action, if it is to be extreme, will not lose efficiency by giving time to the people, whose war it will be, to know what they are facing.

"A demand for war that cannot survive the passion of the first days of public indignation and will not endure the test of delay and deliberation by all the people is not one that should be yielded to."

President Wilson was criticised later by many persons for not insisting upon a declaration of war immediately after the sinking of the Lusitania. Undoubtedly the advice of former President Taft and of others high in statesmanship, prevailed with the President. This in substance was that America should prepare resolutely and thoroughly, giving Germany in the meantime no excuse for charges that America's entrance into the conflict was for aggression or for selfish purposes.

It was seen even as early as the sinking of the Lusitania that Germany's only hope for final success lay in the submarine. It was reasoned that unrestricted submarine warfare against the shipping of the world, so far as tended toward the provisioning and munitioning of the Allies, would be the inevitable outcome. It was further seen that when that declaration would be made by Germany, America's decision for war must be made. The President and his Cabinet thereupon made all their plans looking toward that eventuality.

The resignation of Mr. Bryan from the Cabinet was followed by the appointment of Robert Lansing as Secretary of State. It was recognized on both sides of the Atlantic that President Wilson in all essential matters affecting the war was active in the preparation of all state papers and in the direction of that department. Another Cabinet vacancy was created when Lindley M. Garrison, of New Jersey, resigned the portfolio of Secretary of War because of a clash upon his militant views for preparedness. Newton D. Baker, of Cleveland, Ohio, a close friend and supporter of President Wilson, was appointed in his stead.

CHAPTER XVII

NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR IN BLOOD-SOAKED TRENCHES

After the immortal stand of Joffre at the first battle of the Marne and the sudden savage thrust at the German center which sent von Kluck and his men reeling back in retreat to the prepared defenses along the line of the Aisne, the war in the western theater resolved itself into a play for position from deep intrenchments. Occasionally would come a sudden big push by one side or the other in which artillery was massed until hub touched hub and infantry swept to glory and death in waves of gray, or blue or khaki as the case might be. But these tremendous efforts and consequent slaughters did not change the long battle line from the Alps to the North Sea materially. Here and there a bulge would be made by the terrific pressure of men and material in some great assault like that first push of the British at Neuve Chapelle, like the German attack at Verdun or like the tremendous efforts by both sides on that bloodiest of all battlefields, the Somme.

Neuve Chapelle deserves particular mention as the test in which the British soldiers demonstrated their might in equal contest against the enemy. There had been a disposition in England as elsewhere up to that time to rate the Germans as supermen, to exalt the potency of the scientific equipment with which the German army had taken the field. When the battle of Neuve Chapelle had been fought, although its losses were heavy, there was no longer any doubt in the British nation that victory was only a question of time.

The action came as a pendant to the attack by General de Langle de Cary's French army during February, 1915, at Perthes, that had been a steady relentless pressure by artillery and infantry upon a strong German position. To meet it heavy reinforcements had been shifted by the Germans from the trenches between La Bassee and Lille. The earthworks at Neuve Chapelle had been particularly depleted and only a comparatively small body of Saxons and Bavarians defended them. Opposite this body was the first British army. The German intrenchments at Neuve Chapelle surrounded and defended the highlands upon which were placed the German batteries and in their turn defended the road towards Lille, Roubaix and Turcoing.

The task assigned to Sir John French was to make an assault with only forty-eight thousand men on a comparatively narrow front. There was only one practicable method for effective preparation, and this was chosen by the British general. An artillery concentration absolutely unprecedented up to that time was employed by him. Field pieces firing at point-blank range were used to cut the barbed wire entanglements defending the enemy intrenchments, while howitzers and bombing airplanes were used to drop high explosives into the defenseless earthworks.

Sir Douglas Haig, later to become the commander-in-chief of the British forces, was in command of the first army. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien commanded the second army. It was the first army that bore the brunt of the attack.

No engagement during the years on the western front was more sudden and surprising in its onset than that drive of the British against Neuve Chapelle. At seven o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, March 10, 1915, the British artillery was lazily engaged in lobbing over a desultory shell fire upon the German trenches. It was the usual breakfast appetizer, and nobody on the German side took any unusual notice of it. Really, however, the shelling was scientific "bracketing" of the enemy's important position. The gunners were making sure of their ranges.

At 7.30 range finding ended, and with a roar that shook the earth the most destructive and withering artillery action of the war up to that time was on. Field pieces sending their shells hurtling only a few feet above the earth tore the wire emplacements of the enemy to pieces and made kindling wood of the supports. Howitzers sent high explosive shells, containing lyddite, of 15-inch, 9.2-inch and 6-inch caliber into the doomed trenches and later into the ruined village. It was eight o'clock in the morning, one-half hour after the beginning of the artillery action, that the village was bombarded. During this time British soldiers were enabled to walk about in No Man's Land behind the curtain of fire with absolute immunity. No German rifleman or machine gunner left cover. The scene on the German side of the line was like that upon the blasted surface of the moon, pock-marked with shell holes, and with no trace of human life to be seen above ground.

[Illustration: Map: Neuve Chapelle and surroundings.]
  THE BATTLE GROUND OF NEUVE CHAPELLE

An eye witness describing the scene said:

"The dawn, which broke reluctantly through a veil of clouds on the morning of Wednesday, March 10, 1915, seemed as any other to the Germans behind the white and blue sandbags in their long line of trenches curving in a hemicycle about the battered village of Neuve Chapelle. For five months they had remained undisputed masters of the positions they had here wrested from the British in October. Ensconced in their comfortably-arranged trenches with but a thin outpost in their fire trenches, they had watched day succeed day and night succeed night without the least variation from the monotony of trench warfare, the intermittent bark of the machine guns—rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—and the perpetual rattle of rifle fire, with here and there a bomb, and now and then an exploded mine.

"For weeks past the German airmen had grown strangely shy. On this
Wednesday morning none were aloft to spy out the strange doings which,
as dawn broke, might have been descried on the desolate roads behind the
British lines.

"From ten o'clock of the preceding evening endless files of men marched silently down the roads leading towards the German positions through Laventie and Richebourg St. Vaast, poor shattered villages of the dead where months of incessant bombardment have driven away the last inhabitants and left roofless houses and rent roadways….

"Two days before, a quiet room, where Nelson's Prayer stands on the mantel-shelf, saw the ripening of the plans that sent these sturdy sons of Britain's four kingdoms marching all through the night. Sir John French met the army corps commanders and unfolded to them his plans for the offensive of the British army against the German line at Neuve Chapelle.

"The onslaught was to be a surprise. That was its essence. The Germans were to be battered with artillery, then rushed before they recovered their wits. We had thirty-six clear hours before us. Thus long, it was reckoned (with complete accuracy as afterwards appeared), must elapse before the Germans, whose line before us had been weakened, could rush up reinforcements. To ensure the enemy's being pinned down right and left of the 'great push,' an attack was to be delivered north and south of the main thrust simultaneously with the assault on Neuve Chapelle."

[Illustration: Map bounded by Armentieres on the North, Lille on the
East, Estaires on the West and Carvin on the South.]
  MAP OF THE BATTLE FRONT BETWEEN ARMENTIERES AND LA BASSEE
  On the left, half way up the map, may be seen Neuve Chapelle; a little
  to the right of it is Aubers, where some of the sternest fighting
  occurred.

After describing the impatience of the British soldiers as they awaited the signal to open the attack, and the actual beginning of the engagement, the narrator continues:

"Then hell broke loose. With a mighty, hideous, screeching burst of noise, hundreds of guns spoke. The men in the front trenches were deafened by the sharp reports of the field-guns spitting out their shells at close range to cut through the Germans' barbed wire entanglements. In some cases the trajectory of these vicious missiles was so flat that they passed only a few feet above the British trenches.

"The din was continuous. An officer who had the curious idea of putting his ear to the ground said it was as though the earth were being smitten great blows with a Titan's hammer. After the first few shells had plunged screaming amid clouds of earth and dust into the German trenches, a dense pall of smoke hung over the German lines. The sickening fumes of lyddite blew back into the British trenches. In some places the troops were smothered in earth and dust or even spattered with blood from the hideous fragments of human bodies that went hurtling through the air. At one point the upper half of a German officer, his cap crammed on his head, was blown into one of our trenches.

"Words will never convey any adequate idea of the horror of those five and thirty minutes. When the hands of officers' watches pointed to five minutes past eight, whistles resounded along the British lines. At the same moment the shells began to burst farther ahead, for, by previous arrangement, the gunners, lengthening their fuses, were 'lifting' on to the village of Neuve Chapelle so as to leave the road open for our infantry to rush in and finish what the guns had begun.

"The shells were now falling thick among the houses of Neuve Chapelle, a confused mass of buildings seen reddish through the pillars of smoke and flying earth and dust. At the sound of the whistle—alas for the bugle, once the herald of victory, now banished from the fray!—our men scrambled out of the trenches and hurried higgledy-piggledy into the open. Their officers were in front. Many, wearing overcoats and carrying rifles with fixed bayonets, closely resembled their men.

"It was from the center of our attacking line that the assault was pressed home soonest. The guns had done their work well. The trenches were blown to irrecognizable pits dotted with dead. The barbed wire had been cut like so much twine. Starting from the Rue Tilleloy the Lincolns and the Berkshires were off the mark first, with orders to swerve to right and left respectively as soon as they had captured the first line of trenches, in order to let the Royal Irish Rifles and the Rifle Brigade through to the village. The Germans left alive in the trenches, half demented with fright, surrounded by a welter of dead and dying men, mostly surrendered. The Berkshires were opposed with the utmost gallantry by two German officers who had remained alone in a trench serving a machine gun. But the lads from Berkshire made their way into that trench and bayoneted the Germans where they stood, fighting to the last. The Lincolns, against desperate resistance, eventually occupied their section of the trench and then waited for the Irishmen and the Rifle Brigade to come and take the village ahead of them. Meanwhile the second Thirty-ninth Garhwalis on the right had taken their trenches with a rush and were away towards the village and the Biez Wood.

"Things had moved so fast that by the time the troops were ready to advance against the village the artillery had not finished its work. So, while the Lincolns and the Berks assembled the prisoners who were trooping out of the trenches in all directions, the infantry on whom devolved the honor of capturing the village, waited. One saw them standing out in the open, laughing and cracking jokes amid the terrific din made by the huge howitzer shells screeching overhead and bursting in the village, the rattle of machine guns all along the line, and the popping of rifles. Over to the right where the Garhwalis had been working with the bayonet, men were shouting hoarsely and wounded were groaning as the stretcher-bearers, all heedless of bullets, moved swiftly to and fro over the shell-torn ground.

"There was bloody work in the village of Neuve Chapelle. The capture of a place at the bayonet point is generally a grim business, in which instant, unconditional surrender is the only means by which bloodshed, a deal of bloodshed, can be prevented. If there is individual resistance here and there the attacking troops cannot discriminate. They must go through, slaying as they go such as oppose them (the Germans have a monopoly of the finishing-off of wounded men), otherwise the enemy's resistance would not be broken, and the assailants would be sniped and enfiladed from hastily prepared strongholds at half a dozen different points.

"The village was a sight that the men say they will never forget. It looked as if an earthquake had struck it. The published photographs do not give any idea of the indescribable mass of ruins to which our guns reduced it. The chaos is so utter that the very line of the streets is all but obliterated.

"It was indeed a scene of desolation into which the Rifle Brigade—the first regiment to enter the village, I believe—raced headlong. Of the church only the bare shell remained, the interior lost to view beneath a gigantic mound of debris. The little churchyard was devastated, the very dead plucked from their graves, broken coffins and ancient bones scattered about amid the fresher dead, the slain of that morning— gray-green forms asprawl athwart the tombs. Of all that once fair village but two things remained intact—two great crucifixes reared aloft, one in the churchyard, the other over against the chateau. From the cross, that is the emblem of our faith, the figure of Christ, yet intact though all pitted with bullet marks, looked down in mute agony on the slain in the village.

"The din and confusion were indescribable. Through the thick pall of shell smoke Germans were seen on all sides, some emerging half dazed from cellars and dugouts, their hands above their heads, others dodging round the shattered houses, others firing from the windows, from behind carts, even from behind the overturned tombstones. Machine guns were firing from the houses on the outskirts, rapping out their nerve-racking note above the noise of the rifles.

"Just outside the village there was a scene of tremendous enthusiasm. The Rifle Brigade, smeared with dust and blood, fell in with the Third Gurkhas with whom they had been brigaded in India. The little brown men were dirty but radiant. Kukri in hand they had very thoroughly gone through some houses at the cross-roads on the Rue du Bois and silenced a party of Germans who were making themselves a nuisance there with some machine guns. Riflemen and Gurkhas cheered themselves hoarse."

[Illustration: Map: Bapaume on the North, Albert on the West, Rosieres and
Chaulnes on the South and Peronne on the East.]
  SCENE OF THE BLOODY BATTLES OF THE SOMME
  The tide of war swept over this terrain with terrific violence.
  Peronne was taken by the British in their great offensives of 1916-17;
  in the last desperate effort of the Germans in 1918 they plunged
  through Peronne advancing 35 miles, only to be hurled back with awful
  losses by Marshal Foch. The town of Albert was taken and retaken
  several times.

Unfortunately for the complete success of the brilliant attack a great delay was caused by the failure of the artillery that was to have cleared the barbed wire entanglements for the Twenty-third Brigade, and because of the unlooked for destruction of the British field telephone system by shell and rifle fire. The check of the Twenty-third Brigade banked other commands back of it, and the Twenty-fifth Brigade was obliged to fight at right angles to the line of battle. The Germans quickly rallied at these points, and took a terrific toll in British lives. Particularly was this true at three specially strong German positions. One called Port Arthur by the British, another at Pietre Mill and the third was the fortified bridge over Des Layes Creek.

Because of the lack of telephone communication it was impossible to send reinforcements to the troops that had been held up by barbed wire and other emplacements and upon which German machine guns were pouring a steady stream of death.

As the Twenty-third Brigade had been held up by unbroken barbed wire northwest of Neuve Chapelle, so the Seventh Division of the Fourth Corps was also checked in its action against the ridge of Aubers on the left of Neuve Chapelle. Under the plan of Sir Douglas Haig the Seventh Division was to have waited until the Eighth Division had reached Neuve Chapelle, when it was to charge through Aubers. With the tragic mistake that cost the Twenty-third Brigade so dearly, the plan affecting the Seventh Division went awry. The German artillery, observing the concentration of the Seventh Division opposite Aubers, opened a vigorous fire upon that front. During the afternoon General Haig ordered a charge upon the German positions. The advance was made in short rushes in the face of a fire that seemed to blaze from an inferno. Inch by inch the ground was drenched with British blood. At 5.30 in the afternoon the men dug themselves in under the relentless German fire. Further advance became impossible.

The night was one of horror. Every minute the men were under heavy bombardment. At dawn on March 11th the dauntless British infantry rushed from the trenches in an effort to carry Aubers, but the enemy artillery now greatly reinforced made that task an impossible one. The trenches occupied by the British forces were consolidated and the salient made by the push was held by the British with bulldog tenacity.

The number of men employed in the action on the British side was forty-eight thousand. During the early surprise of the action the loss was slight. Had the wire in front of the Twenty-third Brigade been cut by the artillery assigned to such action, and had the telephone system not been destroyed the success of the thrust would have been complete. The delay of four and a half hours between the first and second phases of the attack caused virtually all the losses sustained by the attacking force. The total casualties were 12,811 men of the British forces. Of these 1,751 officers and privates were taken prisoners and 10,000 officers and men were killed and wounded.

The action continued throughout Thursday, March 11th, with little change in the general situation. The British still held Neuve Chapelle and their intrenchments threatened Aubers. On Friday morning, March 12th, the Crown Prince of Bavaria made a desperate attempt under cover of a heavy fog to recapture the village. The effort was made in characteristic German dense formations. The Westphalian and Bavarian troops came out of Biez Wood in waves of gray-green, only to be blown to pieces by British guns already loaded and laid on the mark. Elsewhere the British waited until the Germans were scarcely more than fifty paces away when they opened with deadly rapid fire before which the German waves melted like snow before steam. It was such slaughter as the British had experienced when held up before Aubers. Slaughter that staggered Germany.

So ended Neuve Chapelle, a battle in which the decision rested with the British, a victory for which a fearful price had been paid but out of which came a confidence that was to hearten the British nation and to put sinews of steel into the British army for the dread days to come.

The story of Neuve Chapelle was repeated in large and in miniature many times during the deadlock of trench warfare on the western front until victory finally came to the Allies. During those years the western battle front lay like a wounded snake across France and Belgium. It writhed and twisted, now this way, now that, as one side or the other gambled with men and shells and airplanes for some brief advantage. It bent back in a great bulge when von Hindenburg made his famous retreat in the winter of 1916 after the Allies had pressed heavily against the Teutonic front upon the ghastly field of the Somme. The record is one of great value to military strategists, to the layman it is only a succession of artillery barrages, of gas attacks, of aerial reconnaissances and combats.

One day grew to be very much like another in that deadlock of pythons. A play for position here was met by a counter-thrust in another place. German inventions were out-matched and outnumbered by those coming from the Allied side.

Trench warfare became the daily life of the men. They learned to fight and live in the open. The power of human adaptation to abnormal conditions was never better exemplified than in those weary, dreary years on the western front.

The fighting-lines consisted generally of one, two, or three lines of shelter-trenches lying parallel, measuring twenty or twenty-five inches in width, and varying in length according to the number they hold; the trenches were joined together by zigzag approaches and by a line of reinforced trenches (armed with machine guns), which were almost completely proof against rifle, machine gun, or gun fire. The ordinary German trenches were almost invisible from 350 yards away, a distance which permitted a very deadly fire. It is easy to realize that if the enemy occupied three successive lines and a line of reinforced intrenchments, the attacking line was likely, at the lowest estimate, to be decimated during an advance of 350 yards—by rifle fire at a range of 350 yards' distance, and by the extremely quick fire of the machine guns, each of which delivered from 300 to 600 bullets a minute with absolute precision. In the field-trench, a soldier enjoyed far greater security than he would if merely prone behind his knapsack in an excavation barely fifteen inches deep. He had merely to stoop down a little to disappear below the level of the ground and be immune from infantry fire; moreover, his machine guns fired without endangering him. In addition, this stooping position brought the man's knapsack on a level with his helmet, thus forming some protection against shrapnel and shell-splinters.

At the back of the German trenches shelters were dug for non-commissioned officers and for the commander of the unit.

[Illustration: Painting: Several planes flying over troops in a
demolished town.]
  THE STRUGGLE FOR ARMENTIERES
  Allied forces holding up a German attack on the Lys Canal. Airplanes
  flying low peppered the Germans with machine guns and broke up their
  concentrations, aiding greatly in the severe repulse of the attacking
  Huns.

[Illustration: Painting] AFTER A DRIVE ON THE SOMME British advancing over the captured German trenches, after heavy artillery fire had reduced them to tangled ruins and crushed their powers of resistance.

Ever since the outbreak of the war, the French troops in Lorraine, after severe experiences, realized rapidly the advantages of the German trenches, and began to study those they had taken gloriously. Officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the engineers were straightway detached in every unit to teach the infantry how to construct similar shelters. The education was quick, and very soon they had completed the work necessary for the protection of all. The tools of the enemy "casualties," the spades and picks left behind in deserted villages, were all gladly piled on to the French soldiers' knapsacks, to be carried willingly by the very men who used to grumble at being loaded with even the smallest regulation tool. As soon as night had set in on the occasion of a lull in the fighting, the digging of the trenches was begun. Sometimes, in the darkness, the men of each fighting nation—less than 500 yards away from their enemy—would hear the noise of the workers of the foe: the sounds of picks and axes; the officers' words of encouragement; and tacitly they would agree to an armistice during which to dig shelters from which, in the morning, they would dash out, to fight once more.

Commodious, indeed, were some of the trench barracks. One French soldier wrote:

"In really up-to-date intrenchments you may find kitchens, dining-rooms, bedrooms, and even stables. One regiment has first class cow-sheds. One day a whimsical 'piou-piou,' finding a cow wandering about in the danger zone, had the bright idea of finding shelter for it in the trenches. The example was quickly followed, and at this moment the ——th Infantry possess an underground farm, in which fat kine, well cared for, give such quantities of milk that regular distributions of butter are being made—and very good butter, too."

But this is not all. An officer writes home a tale of yet another one of the comforts of home added to the equipment of the trenches:

"We are clean people here. Thanks to the ingenuity of ——, we are able to take a warm bath every day from ten to twelve. We call this teasing the 'bosches,' for this bathing-establishment of the latest type is fitted up—would you believe it?—in the trenches!"

CHAPTER XVIII

STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA

When Germany struck at the heart of France through Belgium simultaneous action was undertaken by the German Command in Southwest Africa through propaganda and mobilization of the available German troops. Insidiously and by the use of money systematic propaganda was instituted to corrupt the Boers against their allegiance to the Union of South Africa. One great character stood like a rock against all their efforts. It was the character of General Louis Botha, formerly arrayed in battle against the British during the Boer uprising.

With characteristic determination he formulated plans for the invasion of German Southwest Africa without asking permission of the citizens of the South African Union or of the British Foreign Office. His vision comprehended an invasion that would have as its culmination a British-Boer colony where the German colony had been, and that from Cable Bay to the source of the Nile there would be one mighty union, with a great trunk railway feeding Egypt, the Soudan, Rhodesia, Uganda, and the Union of South Africa. An able lieutenant to Botha was General Smuts. He co-operated with his chief in a campaign of education. They pointed out the absolute necessity for deafness to the German tempters, and succeeded in obtaining full co-operation for the Botha plan of invasion from the British Imperial Government and the South African Union. Concerning this agreement General Botha said:

"To forget their loyalty to the empire in this hour of trial would be scandalous and shameful, and would blacken South Africa in the eyes of the whole world. Of this South Africans were incapable. They had endured some of the greatest sacrifices that could be demanded of a people, but they had always kept before them ideals, founded on Christianity, and never in their darkest days had they sought to gain their ends by treasonable means. The path of treason was an unknown path to Dutch and English alike.

"Their duty and their conscience alike bade them be faithful and true to the Imperial Government in all respects in this hour of darkness and trouble. That was the attitude of the Union Government; that was the attitude of the people of South Africa. The government had cabled to the Imperial Government at the outbreak of war, offering to undertake the defense of South Africa, thereby releasing the Imperial troops for service elsewhere. This was accepted, and the Union Defense Force was mobilized."

Preliminary to the invasion of German Southwest Africa, General Botha proclaimed martial law throughout the Union. The first act in consequence of this proclamation was the arrest of a number of conspirators who were planning sedition throughout the Union. The head of this conspiracy was Lieutenant-Colonel S. G. Maritz. General Beyers and General De Wet, both Boer officers of high standing, co-operated with Maritz in an abortive rebellion. The situation was most trying for the native Boers and, to their credit be it recorded, the great majority of them stood out strongly against the Germans. Vigorous action by Botha and Smuts smashed the rebellion in the fall of 1914. A force acting under General Botha in person attacked the troops under General Beyers at Rustemburg on October 27th, and on the next day General Beyers sought refuge in flight. A smaller force acting under General Kemp was also routed on November 5th.

General De Wet opened his campaign of rebellion on November 7th in an action at Wimburg, where he defeated a smaller force of Loyalists under General Cronje. The decisive battle at Marquard occurred on November 12th, Botha commanding the Loyalists forces in person and De Wet the rebels. The victory of Botha in this fierce engagement was complete. De Wet was routed and was captured on December 1st with a rear-guard of fifty-two men. General Beyers was drowned on December 9th while attempting to escape from the Vall into the Transvaal. This virtually ended all opposition to General Botha. The invasion of German Southwest Africa began on January 5, 1915, and was one uninterrupted chapter of successes. Through jungle and swamp, swept by torrential rains and encountering obstacles that would have disheartened any but the stoutest heart, the little force of invasion swept forward. Most of the engagements by the enemy were in the nature of guerrilla and rear-guard actions. The backbone of the German command was broken and the remaining forces capitulated in July, 1915.

With the capitulation came the story of the German mismanagement in Southwest Africa, and particularly their horrible treatment of the Hereros and Hottentots in the country misgoverned by them. An official report fully authenticated was made and none of its essential details were refuted.

The report told the story of how the German authorities exterminated the native Hereros. When Germany annexed the country in 1890 they were believed to possess well over 150,000 head of cattle. After the rinderpest scourge of 1897 they still owned something like 90,000 head. By 1902, less than ten years after the arrival of the first German settlers, the Hereros had only 45,898 head of cattle, while the 1,051 German traders and farmers then in the country owned 44,487. The policy of robbing and killing the natives had by that time received the sanction of Berlin. By the end of 1905 the surviving Hereros had been reduced to pauperism and possessed nothing at all. In 1907 the Imperial German Government by ordinance prohibited the natives of Southwest Africa from possessing live stock.

The wholesale theft of the natives' cattle, their only wealth, with the direct connivance and approval of the Berlin Government, was one of the primary causes of the Herero rebellion of 1904. The revolt was suppressed with characteristic German ruthlessness. But the Germans were not content with a mere suppression of the rising; they had decided upon the practical extinction of the whole tribe. For this purpose Leutwein, who was apparently regarded as too lenient, was superseded by von Trotha, noted for his merciless severity. He had played a notorious part in the Chinese Boxer rebellion, and had just suppressed the Arab rising in German East Africa by the wholesale massacre of men, women, and children. As a preliminary von Trotha invited the Herero chiefs to come in and make peace, "as the war was now over," and promptly shot them in cold blood. Then he issued his notorious "extermination order," in terms of which no Herero—man, woman, child, or babe—was to receive mercy or quarter. "Kill every one of them," he said, "and take no prisoners."

The hanging of natives was a common occurrence. A German officer had the right to order a native to be hanged. No trial or court was necessary. Many were hanged merely on suspicion.

The Hereros were far more humane in the field than the Germans. They were once a fine race. Now there is only a miserable remnant left.

This is amply proved by official German statistics. Out of between 80,000 and 90,000 souls, only about 15,000 starving and fugitive Hereros were alive at the end of 1905, when von Trotha relinquished his task. In 1911, after all rebellions had been suppressed and tranquillity restored, the government had a census taken. The figures, reproduced below, speak for themselves:

                Estimate Official Census
                  1904 1911
                                            Decrease
  Hereros 80,000 15,130 64,870
  Hottentots 20,000 9,781 10,219
  Berg-Damaras 30,000 12,831 17,169
                ———- ——— ———
                130,000 37,742 92,258

In other words, eighty per cent of the Herero people disappeared, and more than half of the Hottentot and Berg-Damara races shared the same fate. Dr. Paul Rohrbach's dictum, "It is applicable to a nation in the same way as to the individual that the right of existence is primarily justified in the degree that such existence is useful for progress and general development," comes forcible to mind. These natives of Southwest Africa had been, weighed in the German balance and had been found wanting.

Germany lost more than a million square miles of territory in Africa as a direct consequence of General Botha's bold action. These are divided in four great regions, Southwest Africa, Kamerun, Togo and East Africa. Togoland as this region is popularly known extends from the north shore of the Gulf of Guinea into the interior and is bounded by French and British colonies. By a joint attack of French and British forces, beginning the second week in August, 1914, the German power in this rich domain was completely broken, and the conquest of Togoland was complete on August 26, 1914. The military operation was of a desultory nature, and the losses negligible in view of the area of 33,000 square miles of highly productive land passed from German control.

The fighting in the great region of Kamerun was somewhat more stubborn than that in Togoland. The villages of Bonaberi and Duala were particularly well defended. The British and French fought through swamps and jungle under the handicap of terrific heat, and always with victory at the end of the engagement. The conquest of the Kamerun was complete by the end of June, 1915. In addition to the operations by the British and French a combined Belgian and French force captured Molundu and Ngaundera in the German Congo.

The raids by General Botha on German Southwest Africa, commenced on September 27, 1914. A series of brilliant strategic actions resulted in the conquest of a region once and a half the size of the German Empire at the time the Great War began. A British description of the operation states:

The occupation of Windhoek was effected by General Botha's North Damaraland forces working along the railway from Swakopmund. At the former place General Vanderventer joined up with General Botha's forces. The force from Swakopmund met with considerable opposition, first at Tretskopje, a small township in the great Namib Desert fifty miles to the northeast of Swakopmund, and secondly at Otjimbingwe, on the Swakop River, sixty miles northwest of Windhoek. Apart from these two determined stands, however, little other opposition was encountered, and Karibib was occupied on May 5th and Okahandja and Windhoek on May 12th. With the fall of the latter place, 3,000 Europeans and 12,000 natives became prisoners.

The wireless station—one of Germany's most valuable high-power stations, which was able to communicate with one relay only, with Berlin—was captured almost intact, and much rolling stock also fell into the hands of the Union forces.

The advance from the south along the Luderitzbucht-Seeheim-Keetmanshoop Railway, approximately 500 miles in length, was made by two forces which joined hands at Keetmanshoop. The advance from Aus (captured on April 10th) was made by General Smuts's forces. Colonel (afterward General) Vanderventer, moving up from the direction of Warmbad and Kalkfontein, around the flanks of Karas Mountain, pushed on after reaching Keetmanshoop in the direction of Gibeon. Bethany had previously been occupied during the advance to Seeheim. At Kabus, twenty miles to the north of Keetmanshoop, and at Gibeon pitched battles were fought between General Vanderventer's forces and the enemy. No other opposition of importance was encountered, and the operations were brought to a successful conclusion.

The stiffest fighting in all Africa came in German East Africa. It began in late September, 1914, and continued until mid-June, 1915. The Germans, curiously enough, commenced the offensive here with an attack upon Monbasa, the terminus of the Uganda railway and the capital of British East Africa. The attack was planned as a joint naval and military operation, the German cruiser Koenigsburg being assigned to move into the harbor and bombard the town simultaneously with the assault by land. The plan went awry when the presence of British warships frightened off the Koenigsburg. The land attack was easily checked by a detachment of the King's African Rifles and native Arabian troops until the detachments of Indian Regulars arrived upon the scene. The enemy thereupon retreated to his original plans.

British reprisals came early in November, when the towns of Tanga and Gassin were attacked by British troops. The troops selected for this adventure numbered 6,000 and carried only food, water, guns and munitions. No protection of any kind nor any other equipment was taken by the soldiers. Reinforcements to the German forces delayed the capture of Gassin until January. A garrison of three hundred men was left there and this in turn was besieged by three thousand Germans. After a stubborn defense the Germans recaptured the town. A union of two British forces was accomplished early in June, 1915. One of these cut through German East Africa along the Kagera River and the other advanced on steamers from Kisumu. They met the enemy on June 22d and defeated it with heavy casualties. Later General Tighe, commanding the combined British forces, was congratulated on the completeness of his victory on June 28th, by General Kitchener.

The territory acquired by the British as a consequence of the invasion of Germany's African possessions, possesses formidable natural barriers, but once these are past the traveller finds lands of wonderful fertility and great natural resources. Approaching German Southwest Africa from the east access is across the Kalahari Desert. This in its trackless desolation, its frequent sandstorms and torrid heat through which only the hardiest and best provisioned caravans may penetrate is worse than the worst that Sahara can show. There is not a sign of life. Approached from the sea the principal port is Walfish Bay, a fair harbor that was improved by the British when they occupied it. Near Walfish some of the largest diamonds in the history of the world have been found and gold fields of considerable richness have been worked. The climate of German Southwest Africa, after the torrential storms of the seacoast and the terrific heat of the desert have been passed, is one of the most salubrious in the world. It is unique among African regions in the opportunities it affords for colonization by white men. Great Britain possessed large holdings of this land before Germany came into possession, but abandoned them under the belief that the region was comparatively worthless. There was no misapprehension on this score when all of the lands came into the possession of England as the result of the war.

CHAPTER XIX

ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA

For many years before the great war began the great powers of Europe were divided into two great alliances, the Triple Entente, composed of Russia, France and England, and the Triple Alliance, composed of Germany, Austria and Italy. When the war began Italy refused to join with Germany and Austria. Why? The answer to this question throws a vivid light on the origin of the war.

Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance; she knew the facts, not only what was given to the public, but the inside facts. According to the terms of the alliance each member was bound to stand by each other only in case of attack. Italy refused to join with Austria and Germany because they were the aggressors. The constant assertions of the German statesmen, and of the Kaiser himself, that war had been forced upon them were declared untrue by their associate Italy in the very beginning, and the verdict of Italy was the verdict of the world. Not much was said in the beginning about Italy's abstention from war. The Germans, indeed, sneered a little and hinted that some day Italy would be made to regret her course, but now that the Teuton snake is scotched the importance of Italy's action has been perceived and appraised at its true value.

The Germans from the very beginning understood the real danger that might come to the Central Powers through Italian action. Every effort was made by the foreign office to keep her neutral. First threats were used, later promises were held out of addition to Italian territory if she would send her troops to Germany's assistance. When this failed the most strenuous efforts were made to keep Italy neutral, and a former German premier, Prince von Bulow, was sent to Italy for this purpose. Socialist leaders, too, were sent from Germany to urge the Italian Socialists to insist upon neutrality.

In July, 1914, the Italian Government was not taken by surprise. They had observed the increase year by year of the German army and of the German fleet. At the end of the Balkan wars they had been asked whether they would agree to an Austrian attack upon Serbia. They had consequently long been deliberating as to what their course should be in case of war, and they had made up their minds that under no circumstances would they aid Germany against England.

Quite independently of her long-standing friendship with England it would be suicide to Italy in her geographical position to enter a war which should permit her coast to be attacked by the English and French navies, and her participation in the Triple Alliance always carried the proviso that it did not bind her to fight England. This was well known in the German foreign office, and, indeed, in France where the writers upon war were reckoning confidently on the withdrawing of Italy from the Triple Alliance, and planning to use the entire forces of France against Germany.

A better understanding of the Italian position will result from a consideration of the origin of the Triple Alliance.

After the war of 1870, Bismarck, perceiving the quick recovery of France, considered the advisability of attacking her again, and, to use his own words, "bleeding her white." He found, however, that if this were attempted France would be joined by Russia and England and he gave up this plan. In order, however, to render France powerless he planned an alliance which should be able to control Europe. A league between Germany, Austria and Russia was his desire, and for some time every opportunity was taken to develop friendship with the Czar. Russia, however, remained cool. Her Pan-Slavonic sympathies were opposed to the interests of Germany. Bismarck, therefore, determined, without losing the friendship of Russia, to persuade Italy to join in the continental combination. Italy, at the time, was the least formidable of the six great powers, but Bismarck foresaw that she could be made good use of in such a combination.

At that time Italy, just after the completion of Italian unity, found herself in great perplexity. Her treatment of the Pope had brought about the hostility of Roman Catholics throughout the world. She feared both France and Austria, who were strong Catholic countries, and hardly knew where to look for friends. The great Italian leader at the time was Francesco Crispi, who, beginning as a Radical and a conspirator, had become a constitutional statesman. Bismarck professed the greatest friendship for Crispi, and gave Crispi to understand that he approved of Italy's aspirations on the Adriatic and in Tunis.

The next year, however, at the Berlin Congress, Italy's interests were ignored, and finally, in 1882, France seized Tunis, to the great indignation of the Italians. It has been shown in more recent times that the French seizure of Tunis was directly due to Bismarck's instigation.

The Italians having been roused to wrath, Bismarck proceeded to offer them a place in the councils of the Triple Alliance. It was an easy argument that such an alliance would protect them against France, and no doubt it was promised that it would free them from the danger of attack by Austria. England, at the time, was isolated, and Italy continued on the best understanding with her.

The immediate result of the alliance was a growth of Italian hostility toward France, which led, in 1889, to a tariff war on France. Meanwhile German commercial and financial enterprises were pushed throughout the Italian peninsula. What did Italy gain by this? Her commerce was weakened, and Austria permitted herself every possible unfriendly act except open war.

As time went on Germany and Austria became more and more arrogant. Italy's ambitions on the Balkan peninsula were absolutely ignored. In 1908 Austria appropriated Bosnia and Herzegovina, another blow to Italy. By this time Italy understood the situation well, and that same year, seeing no future for herself in Europe, she swooped down on Tripoli. In doing this she forestalled Germany herself, for Germany had determined to seize Tripoli.

Both Germany and Austria were opposed to this action of Italy, but Italy's eyes were now open. Thirty years of political alliance had created no sympathy among the Italians for the Germans. Moreover, it was not entirely a question of policy. The lordly arrogance of the Prussians caused sharp antagonism. The Italians were lovers of liberty; the Germans pledged toward autocracy. They found greater sympathy in England and in France.

"I am a son of liberty," said Cavour, "to her I owe all that I am." That, too, is Italy's motto. When the war broke out popular sympathy in Italy was therefore strongly in favor of the Allies. The party in power, the Liberals, adopted the policy of neutrality for the time being, but thousands of Italians volunteered for the French and British service, and the anti-German feeling grew greater as time went on.

Finally, on the 23rd of May, 1915, the Italian Government withdrew its ambassador to Austria and declared war. A complete statement of the negotiations between Italy and Austria-Hungary, which led to this declaration, was delivered to the Government of the United States by the Italian Ambassador on May 25th. This statement, of which the following is an extract, lucidly presented the Italian position:

"The Triple Alliance was essentially defensive, and designed solely to preserve the status quo, or in other words equilibrium, in Europe. That these were its only objects and purposes is established by the letter and spirit of the treaty, as well as by the intentions clearly described and set forth in official acts of the ministers who created the alliance and confirmed and renewed it in the interests of peace, which always has inspired Italian policy. The treaty, as long as its intents and purposes had been loyally interpreted and regarded, and as long as it had not been used as a pretext for aggression against others, greatly contributed to the elimination and settlement of causes of conflict, and for many years assured to Europe the inestimable benefits of peace. But Austria-Hungary severed the treaty by her own hands. She rejected the response of Serbia which gave to her all the satisfaction she could legitimately claim. She refused to listen to the conciliatory proposals presented by Italy in conjunction with other powers in the effort to spare Europe from a vast conflict, certain to drench the Continent with blood and to reduce it to ruin beyond the conception of human imagination, and finally she provoked that conflict.

"Article first of the treaty embodied the usual and necessary obligation of such pacts—the pledge to exchange views upon any fact and economic questions of a general nature that might arise pursuant to its terms. None of the contracting parties had the right to undertake without a previous agreement any step the consequence of which might impose a duty upon the other signatories arising under the alliance, or which would in any way whatsoever encroach upon their vital interests. This article was violated by Austria-Hungary, when she sent to Serbia her note dated July 23, 1914, an action taken without the previous assent of Italy. Thus, Austria-Hungary violated beyond doubt one of the fundamental provisions of the treaty. The obligation of Austria-Hungary to come to a previous understanding with Italy was the greater because her obstinate policy against Serbia gave rise to a situation which directly tended toward the provocation of a European war.

"As far back as the beginning of July, 1914, the Italian Government, preoccupied by the prevailing feeling in Vienna, caused to be laid before the Austro-Hungarian Government a number of suggestions advising moderation, and warning it of the impending danger of a European outbreak. The course adopted by Austria-Hungary against Serbia constituted, moreover, a direct encroachment upon the general interests of Italy both political and economical in the Balkan peninsula. Austria-Hungary could not for a moment imagine that Italy could remain indifferent while Serbian independence was being trodden upon. On a number of occasions theretofore, Italy gave Austria to understand, in friendly but clear terms, that the independence of Serbia was considered by Italy as essential to the Balkan equilibrium. Austria-Hungary was further advised that Italy could never permit that equilibrium to be disturbed through a prejudice. This warning had been conveyed not only by her diplomats in private conversations with responsible Austro-Hungarian officials, but was proclaimed publicly by Italian statesmen on the floors of Parliament.

"Therefore, when Austria-Hungary ignored the usual practices and menaced Serbia by sending her an ultimatum, without in any way notifying the Italian Government of what she proposed to do, indeed leaving that government to learn of her action through the press, rather than through the usual channels of diplomacy, when Austria-Hungary took this unprecedented course she not only severed her alliance with Italy but committed an act inimical to Italy's interests….

"After the European war broke out Italy sought to come to an understanding with Austria-Hungary with a view to a settlement satisfactory to both parties which might avert existing and future trouble. Her efforts were in vain, notwithstanding the efforts of Germany, which for months endeavored to induce Austria-Hungary to comply with Italy's suggestion thereby recognizing the propriety and legitimacy of the Italian attitude. Therefore Italy found herself compelled by the force of events to seek other solutions.

"Inasmuch as the treaty of alliance with Austria-Hungary had ceased virtually to exist and served only to prolong a state of continual friction and mutual suspicion, the Italian Ambassador at Vienna was instructed to declare to the Austro-Hungarian Government that the Italian Government considered itself free from the ties arising out of the treaty of the Triple Alliance in so far as Austria-Hungary was concerned. This communication was delivered in Vienna on May 4th.

"Subsequently to this declaration, and after we had been obliged to take steps for the protection of our interests, the Austro-Hungarian Government submitted new concessions, which, however, were deemed insufficient and by no means met our minimum demands. These offers could not be considered under the circumstances. The Italian Government taking into consideration what has been stated above, and supported by the vote of Parliament and the solemn manifestation of the country came to the decision that any further delay would be inadvisable. Therefore, on May 23d, it was declared, in the name of the King, to the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador at Rome, that, beginning the following day, May 24th, it would consider itself in a state of war with Austria-Hungary."

It was a closely reasoned argument that the Italian statesmen presented, but there was something more than reasoned argument in Italy's course. She had been waiting for years for the opportunity to bring under her flag the men of her own race still held in subjection by hated Austria. Now was the time or never. Her people had become roused. Mobs filled the streets. Great orators, even the great poet, D'Annunzio, proclaimed a holy war. The sinking of the Lusitania poured oil on the flames, and the treatment of Belgium and eastern France added to the fury.

Italian statesmen, even if they had so desired, could not have withstood the pressure. It was a crusade for Italia Irredenta, for civilization, for humanity. The country had been flooded by representatives of German propaganda, papers had been hired and, by all report, money in large amounts distributed. But every German effort was swept away in the flood of feeling. It was the people's war.

Amid tremendous enthusiasm the Chamber of Deputies adopted by vote of 407 to 74 the bill conferring upon the government full power to make war. All members of the Cabinet maintained absolute silence regarding what step should follow the action of the chamber. When the chamber reassembled on May 20th, after its long recess, there were present 482 Deputies out of 500, the absentees remaining away on account of illness. The Deputies especially applauded were those who wore military uniforms and who had asked permission for leave from their military duties to be present at the sitting. All the tribunes were filled to overflowing. No representatives of Germany, Austria or Turkey were to be seen in the diplomatic tribune. The first envoy to arrive was Thomas Nelson Page, the American Ambassador, who was accompanied by his staff. M. Barrere, Sir J. Bennell Rodd, and Michel de Giers, the French, British and Russian Ambassadors, respectively, appeared a few minutes later and all were greeted with applause, which was shared by the Belgian, Greek and Roumanian ministers. George B. McClellan, one-time mayor of New York, occupied a seat in the President's tribune.

A few minutes before the session began the poet, Gabrielle D'Annunzio, one of the strongest advocates of war, appeared in the rear of the public tribune which was so crowded that it seemed impossible to squeeze in anybody else. But the moment the people saw him they lifted him shoulder high and passed him over their heads to the first row.

The entire chamber, and all those occupying the other tribunes, rose and applauded for five minutes, crying "Viva D'Annunzio!" Later thousands sent him their cards and in return received his autograph bearing the date of this eventful day. Senor Marcora, President of the Chamber, took his place at three o'clock. All the members of the House, and everybody in the galleries, stood up to acclaim the old follower of Garibaldi. Premier Salandra, followed by all the members of the Cabinet, entered shortly afterward. It was a solemn moment. Then a delirium of cries broke out.

"Viva Salandra!" roared the Deputies, and the cheering lasted for a long time. After the formalities of the opening, Premier Salandra, deeply moved by the demonstration, arose and said:

"Gentlemen, I have the honor to present to you a bill to meet the eventual expenditures of a national war."

The announcement was greeted by further prolonged applause. The Premier's speech was continually interrupted by enthusiasm, and at times he could hardly continue on account of the wild cheering. The climax was reached when he made a reference to the army and navy. Then the cries seemed interminable, and those on the floor of the House and in the galleries turned to the military tribune from which the officers answered by waving their hands and handkerchiefs.

At the end of the Premier's speech there were deafening vivas for the King, war and Italy. Thirty-four Socialists refused to join the cheers, even in the cry "Viva Italia!" and they were hooted and hissed.

The action of the Italian Government created intense feeling. A newspaper man in Vienna, describing the Austrian indignation, said:

"The exasperation and contempt which Italy's treacherous surprise attack and her hypocritical justification aroused here, are quite indescribable. Neither Serbia nor Russia, despite a long and costly war, is hated. Italy, however, or rather those Italian would-be politicians and business men who offer violence to the majority of peaceful Italian people, are unutterably hated." On the other hand German papers spoke with much more moderation and recognized that Italy was acting in an entirely natural manner.

On the very day on which war was declared active operations were begun. Both sides had been making elaborate preparations. Austria had prepared herself by building strong fortifications in which were employed the latest technical improvements in defensive warfare. Upon the Carso and around Gorizia the Austrians had placed innumerable batteries of powerful guns mounted on rails and protected by armor plates. They also had a great number of medium and smaller guns. A net of trenches had been excavated and constructed in cement all along the edge of the hills which dominated the course of the Isonzo River.

[Illustration: Painting: Hundreds of soldiers using ropes to drag a
large gun up a mountain slope.]
  ITALY'S TITANIC LABOR TO CONQUER THE ALPS
  When the Italians were making their first mighty advance against
  Austria descriptions came through of the almost unbelievable natural
  obstacles they were conquering. Getting one of the monster guns into
  position in the mountains, as shown above, over the track that had to
  be built for every foot of its progress, was one such handicap.

[Illustration: Painting: Soldiers debarking from a transport under heavy
gun fire.]
  THE HISTORIC LANDING FROM THE "RIVER CLYDE" AT SEDDUL BARR
  An incident of the Dardanelles Expedition. Horrible losses were
  sustained by the Allied troops from the concentrated fire of the
  Turkish machine guns on shore.

These trenches, occupying a position nearly impregnable because so mountainous, were defended by every modern device. They were protected with numerous machine guns, surrounded by wire entanglements through which ran a strong electric current. These lines of trenches followed without interruption from the banks of the Isonzo to the summit of the mountains which dominate it; they formed a kind of formidable staircase which had to be conquered step by step with enormous sacrifice.

During this same period General Cadorna, then head of the Italian army, had been bringing that army up to date, working for high efficiency and piling up munitions.

The Army of Italy was a formidable one. Every man in Italy is liable to military service for a period of nineteen years from the age of twenty to thirty-nine.

At the time of the war the approximate war strength of the army was as follows: Officers, 41,692; active army with the colors, 289,910; reserve, 638,979; mobile militia, 299,956; territorial militia, 1,889,659; total strength, 3,159,836. The above number of total men available included upward of 1,200,000 fully trained soldiers, with perhaps another 800,000 partially trained men, the remaining million being completely untrained men. This army was splendidly armed, its officers well educated, and the men brave and disciplined.

The Italian plan of campaign apparently consisted first, in neutralizing the Trentino by capturing or covering the defenses and cutting the two lines of communication with Austria proper, the railway which ran south from Insbruck, and that which ran southwest from Vienna and joined the former at Fransensfets; and second, in a movement in force on the eastern frontier, with Trieste captured or covered on the right flank in the direction of the Austrian fortress at Klagenfurt and Vienna.

The first blow was struck by Austria on the day that war was declared. On that day bombs were dropped on Venice, and five other Adriatic ports were shelled from air, and some from sea. The Italian armies invaded Austria on the east with great rapidity, and by May 27th a part of the Italian forces had moved across the Isonzo River to Monfalcone, sixteen miles northwest of Trieste. Another force penetrated further to the north in the Crown land of Gorizia, and Gradisca. Reports from Italy were that encounters with the enemy had thus far been merely outpost skirmishes, but had allowed Italy to occupy advantageous positions on Austrian territory By June 1st, the Italians had occupied the greater part of the west bank of the Isonzo, with little opposition. The left wing was beyond the Isonzo, at Caporetto, fighting among the boulders of Monte Nero, where the Austrian artillery had strong positions. Monfalcone was kept under constant bombardment.

A general Italian advance took place on June 7th across the Isonzo River from Caporetto to the sea, a distance of about forty miles. Monfalcone was taken by the Italians on June the 10th, the first serious blow against Trieste, as Monfalcone was a railway junction, and its electrical works operated the light and power of Trieste.

Next day the center made a great blow against Gradisca and Sagrado, but the river line proved too strong. The only success was won that night at Plava, north of Borrigia, which was carried by a surprise attack. The Isonzo was in flood, and presented a serious obstacle to the onrush of the Italians. By June 14th the Italian eastern army had pushed forward along the gulf of Trieste toward the town of Nebrosina, nine miles from Trieste.

Meanwhile, the Austrian armies were being constantly strengthened. The initial weakness of the Austrian defensive was due to the fact that the armies normally assigned to the invaded region had been sent to defend the Austrian line in Galicia against the Russians. When Italy began her invasion the defenses of the country were chiefly in the hands of hastily mobilized youths below the military age of nineteen, and men above the military age of forty-two. From now on Austrian troops began to arrive from the Galician front, some of these representing the finest fighting material in the Austrian ranks. The chance of an easy victory was slipping from Italy's hands. The Italian advance was checked.

On the 15th of June the Italians carried an important position on Monte Nero, climbing the rocks by night and attacking by dawn. But this conquest did not help much. No guns of great caliber could be carried on the mountain, and Tolmino, which had been heavily fortified, and contained a garrison of some thirty thousand men, was entirely safe. The following week there were repeated counter-attacks at Plava and on Monte Nero, but the Italians held what they had won.

[Illustration: Map]
  AREA OF GENERAL CADORNA'S SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS AGAINST GORIZIA
  The Isonzo valley forms the eastern line for the defense of Italy and
  its possession was essential to the realization of Italian ideals.
  Gorizia, its main strategic position, first fell to the Italians
  August 9, 1916.

The position was now that Cadorna's left wing was in a strong position, but could not do much against Tolmino. His center was facing the great camp of Gorizia, while his right was on the edge of the Carso, and had advanced as far as Dueno, on the Monfalcone-Trieste Railroad. The army was in position to make an attack upon Gorizia. On the 2d of July an attack on a broad front was aimed directly at Gorizia. The left was to swing around against the defenses of Gorizia to the north; the center was directed against the Gorizia bridge head, and the right was to swing around to the northeast through the Doberdo plateau. If it succeeded the Trieste railway would be cut and Gorizia must fall.

Long and confused fighting followed. The center and the right of the Italian army slowly advanced their line, taking over one thousand prisoners. For days there was continuous bombardment and counter-bombardment. The fighting on the left was terrific. In the neighborhood of Plava the Italian forces found themselves opposed by Hungarian troops, unaccustomed to mountain warfare, who at first fell back. Austrian reserves came to their aid, and flung back three times the Italian charge.

Three new Italian brigades were brought up, and King Victor Emanuel himself came to encourage his troops. The final assault carried the heights. On the 22d of July the Italian right captured the crest of San Michele, which dominates the Doberdo plateau.

Meanwhile the Austrian armies were being heavily reinforced, and General Cadorna found himself unable to make progress. Much ground had been won but Gorizia was still unredeemed. Many important vantage points were in Italian hands, but it was difficult to advance. The result of the three months' campaign was a stalemate. In the high mountains to the north Italy's campaign was a war of defense. To undertake her offensive on the Isonzo it was necessary that she guard her flanks and rear. The Tyrolese battle-ground contained three distinct points where it was necessary to operate; the Trentino Salient, the passes of the Dolomites, and the passes of the Carnic Alps.

Early in June Italy had won control of the ridges of the mountains in the two latter points, but the problem in the Trentino was more difficult. It was necessary, because of the converging valleys, to push her front well inland. On the Carnic Alps the fighting consisted of unimportant skirmishes. The main struggle centered around the pass of Monte Croce Carnico.

In two weeks the Alpini had seized dominating positions to the west of the pass, but the Austrians clung to the farther slopes. A great deal of picturesque fighting went on, but not much progress was made. Further west in the Dolomite region there was more fighting. On the 30th of May Cartina had been captured, and the Italians moved north toward the Pusterthal Railway. Progress was slow, as the main routes to the railway were difficult.

By the middle of August they were only a few miles from the railway, but all the routes led through defiles, and the neighboring heights were in the possession of the Austrians. To capture these heights was a most difficult feat, which the Italians performed in the most brilliant way; but even after they had passed these defiles success was not yet won. Each Italian column was in its own grove, with no lateral communication. The Austrians could mass themselves where they pleased. As a result the Italian forces were compelled to halt.

In the Trentino campaign the Italians soon captured the passes, and moved against Trente and Roverito. These towns were heavily fortified, as were their surrounding heights. The campaign became a series of small fights on mountain peaks and mountain ridges. Only small bodies of troops could maneuver, and the raising of guns up steep precipices was extremely difficult. The Italians slowly succeeded in gaining ground, and established a chain of posts around the heights so that often one would see guns and barbed wire intrenchments at a height of more than ten thousand feet among the crevasses of the glaciers. The Alpini performed wonderful feats of physical endurance, but the plains of Lombardy were still safe.

CHAPTER XX

GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI

If ever the true mettle and temper of a people were tried and exemplified in the crucible of battle, that battle was the naval and land engagement embracing Gallipoli and the Dardanelles and the people so tested, the British race. Separated in point of time but united in its general plan, the engagements present a picture of heroism founded upon strategic mistakes; of such perseverance and dogged determination against overwhelming natural and artificial odds as even the pages of supreme British bravery cannot parallel. The immortal charge of the Light Brigade was of a piece with Gallipoli, but it was merely a battle fragment and its glorious record was written in blood within the scope of a comparatively few inspired minutes. In the mine-strewn Dardanelles and upon the sun-baked, blood-drenched rocky slopes of Gallipoli, death always partnered every sailor and soldier. As at Balaklava, virtually everyone knew that some one had blundered, but the army and the navy as one man fought to the bitter end to make the best of a bad bargain, to tear triumph out of impossibilities.

France co-operated with the British in the naval engagement, but the greater sacrifice, the supreme charnel house of the war, the British race reserved for itself. There, the yeomanry of England, the unsung county regiments whose sacrifices and achievements have been neglected in England's generous desire to honor the men from "down under," the Australians and New Zealanders grouped under the imperishable title of the Anzacs—there the Scotch, Welsh and Irish knit in one devoted British Army with the great fighters from the self-governing colonies waged a battle so hopeless and so gallant that the word Gallipoli shall always remind the world how man may triumph over the fear of death; how with nothing but defeat and disaster before them, men may go to their deaths as unconcernedly as in other days they go to their nightly sleep.

On November 5, 1914, Great Britain declared war upon Turkey. Hostilities, however, had preceded the declaration. On November 3d the combined French and British squadrons had bombarded the entrance forts. This was merely intended to draw the fire of the forts and make an estimate of their power. From that time on a blockade was maintained, and on the 13th of December a submarine, commanded by Lieutenant Holbrook, entered the straits and torpedoed the Turkish warship Messoudieh, which was guarding the mine fields.

By the end of January the blockading fleet, through constant reinforcement, had become very strong, and had seized the Island of Tenedos and taken possession of Lemnos, which nominally belonged to Greece, as bases for naval operations. On the 19th of February began the great attack upon the forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles, which attracted the attention of the world for nearly a year.

The expedition against the Dardanelles had been considered with the greatest care, and approved by the naval authorities. That their judgment was correct, however, is another question. The history of naval warfare seems to make very plain that a ship, however powerful, is at a tremendous disadvantage when attacking forts on land. The badly served cannon of Alexandria fell, indeed, before a British fleet, but Gallipoli had been fortified by German engineers, and its guns were the Krupp cannon. The British fleet found itself opposed by unsurmountable obstacles. Looking backward it seems possible, that if at the very start Lord Kitchener had permitted a detachment of troops to accompany the fleet, success might have been attained, but without the army the navy was powerless.

The Peninsula of Gallipoli is a tongue of land about fifty miles long, varying in width from twelve to two or three miles. It is a mass of rocky hills so steep that in many places it is a matter of difficulty to reach their tops. On it are a few villages, but there are no decent roads and little cultivated land. On the southern shore of the Dardanelles conditions are nearly the same. Here, the entrance is a flat and marshy plain, but east of this plain are hills three thousand feet high. The high ground overhangs the sea passage on both sides, and with the exception of narrow bits of beach at their base, presents almost no opportunity for landing.

[Illustration: Map: Gallipoli and surroundings]
  MAP OF THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA Showing the various landing places,
  with inset of the Sari-Bair Region.

A strong current continually sifts down the straits from the Sea of
Marmora.

Forts were placed at the entrance on both the north and south side, but they were not heavily armed and were merely outposts. Fourteen miles from the mouth the straits become quite narrow, making a sharp turn directly north and then resuming their original direction. The channel thus makes a sharp double bend. At the entrance to the strait, known as the Narrows, were powerful fortresses, and the slopes were studded with batteries. Along both sides of the channel the low ground was lined with batteries. It was possible to attack the forts at fairly long range, but there was no room to bring any large number of ships into action at the same time.

At the time of the Gallipoli adventure there were probably nearly half a million of men available for a defense of the straits, men well armed and well trained under German leadership. The first step was comparatively easy. The operations against the other forts began at 8 A.M. on Friday, the 19th of February. The ships engaged were the Inflexible, the Agamemnon, the Cornwallis, the Vengeance and the Triumph from the British fleet, and the Bouvet, Suffren, and the Gaulois from the French, all under the command of Vice-Admiral Sackville Carden. The French squadron was under Rear-Admiral Gueprette. A flotilla of destroyers accompanied the fleet, and airplanes were sent up to guide the fire of the battleships.

At first the fleet was arranged in a semicircle some miles out to sea from the entrance to the strait. It afforded an inspiring spectacle as the ships came along and took up position, and the picture became most awe-inspiring when the guns began to boom. The bombardment at first was slow. Shells from the various ships screaming through the air at the rate of about one every two minutes.

The Turkish batteries, however, were not to be drawn, and, seeing this, the British Admiral sent one British ship and one French ship close in shore toward the Sedd-el-Bahr forts. As they went in they sped right under the guns of the shore batteries, which could no longer resist the temptation to see what they could do. Puffs of white smoke dotted the landscape on the far shore, and dull booms echoed over the placid water. Around the ships fountains of water sprang up into the air. The enemy had been drawn, but his marksmanship was obviously very bad. Not a single shot directed against the ships went within a hundred yards of either.

At sundown on account of the failing light Admiral Carden withdrew the fleet. On account of the bad weather the attack was not renewed until February 25th. It appeared that the outer forts had not been seriously damaged on the 19th, and that what injury had been done had been repaired. In an hour and a half the Cape Helles fort was silenced. The Agamemnon was hit by a shell fired at a range of six miles, which killed three men and wounded five. Early in the afternoon Sedd-el-Bahr was attacked at close range, but not silenced till after 5 P.M. At this time British trawlers began sweeping the entrance for mines, and during the next day the mine field was cleared for a distance of four miles up the straits.

As soon as this clearance was made the Albion, Vengeance and Majestic steamed into the strait and attacked Fort Dardanos, a fortification some distance below the Narrows. The Turks replied vigorously, not only from Dardanos but from batteries scattered along the shore. Believing that the Turks had abandoned the forts at the entrance, landing parties of marines were sent to shore. In a short time, however, they met a detachment of the enemy and were compelled to retreat to their boats. The outer forts, however, were destroyed, and their destruction was extremely encouraging to the Allies.

For a time a series of minor operations was carried on, meeting with much success. Besides attacks on forts inside of the strait, Smyrna was bombarded on March the 5th, and on March the 6th the Queen Elizabeth, the Agamemnon and the Ocean bombarded the forts at Chanak on the Asiatic side of the Narrows, from a position in the gulf of Saros on the outer side of the Gallipoli Peninsula. To all of these attacks the Turks replied vigorously and the attacking ships were repeatedly struck, but with no loss of life. On the 7th of March Fort Dardanos was silenced, and Fort Chanak ceased firing, but, as it turned out, only temporarily.

Preparations were now being made for a serious effort against the Narrows. The date of the attack was fixed for March 17th, weather permitting. On the 16th Admiral Carden was stricken down with illness and was invalided by medical authority. Admiral de Roebeck, second in command, who had been very active in the operations, was appointed to succeed him. Admiral de Roebeck was in cordial sympathy with the purposes of the expedition and determined to attack on the 18th of March. At a quarter to eleven that morning, the Queen Elizabeth, Inflexible, Agamemnon, Lord Nelson, the Triumph and Prince George steamed up the straits towards the Narrows, and bombarded the forts of Chanak. At 12.22 the French squadron, consisting of the Suffren, Gaulois, Charlemagne, and Bouvet, advanced up the Dardanelles to aid their English associates.

Under the combined fire of the two squadrons the Turkish forts, which at first replied strongly, were finally silenced. All of the ships, however, were hit several times during this part of the action. A third squadron, including the Vengeance, Irresistible, Albion, Ocean, Swiftshore and Majestic, then advanced to relieve the six old battleships inside the strait.

As the French squadron, which had engaged the forts in a most brilliant fashion, was passing out the Bouvet was blown up by a drifting mine and sank in less than three minutes, carrying with her most of her crew. At 2.36 P.M. the relief battleships renewed the attack on the forts, which again opened fire. The Turks were now sending mines down with the current. At 4.09 the Irresistible quitted the line, listing heavily, and at 5.50 she sank, having probably struck a drifting mine. At 6.05 the Ocean, also having struck a mine, sank in deep water. Practically the whole of the crews were removed safely. The Gaulois was damaged by gunfire; the Inflexible had her forward control position hit by a heavy shell, which killed and wounded the majority of the men and officers at that station and set her on fire. At sunset the forts were still in action, and during the twilight the Allied fleet slipped out of the Dardanelles.

Meantime, an expeditionary force was being gathered. The largest portion of this force came from Great Britain, but France also provided a considerable number from her marines and from her Colonial army. Both nations avoided, as far as possible, drawing upon the armies destined for service in France.

In the English army there were divisions from Australia and New Zealand and there were a number of Indian troops and Territorials. The whole force was put under the command of General Sir Ian Hamilton. The commander-in-chief on the Turkish side was the German General Liman von Sanders, the former chief of the military mission at Constantinople. The bulk of the expeditionary force, which numbered altogether about a hundred and twenty thousand men, were, therefore, men whose presence in the east did not weaken the Allied strength in the west.

The great difficulty of the new plan was that it was impossible to surprise the enemy. The whole Gallipoli Peninsula was so small that a landing at any point would be promptly observed, and the nature of the ground was of such a character that progress from any point must necessarily be slow. The problem was therefore a simple one.

The expeditionary force gathered in Egypt during the first half of
April, and about the middle of the month was being sent to Lemnos.
Germany was well aware of the English plans, and was doing all that it
could to provide a defense.

On April 23d the movement began, and about five o'clock in the afternoon the first of the transports slowly made its way through the maze of shipping toward the entrance of Mudros Bay.

Immediately the patent apathy, which had gradually overwhelmed everyone, changed to the utmost enthusiasm, and as the liners steamed through the fleet, their decks yellow with khaki, the crews of the warships cheered them on to victory while the bands played them out with an unending variety of popular airs. The soldiers in the transports answered this last salutation from the navy with deafening cheers, and no more inspiring spectacle has ever been seen than this great expedition.

The whole of the fleet from the transports had been divided up into five divisions and there were three main landings. The 29th Division disembarked off the point of the Gallipoli Peninsula near Sedd-el-Bahr, where its operations were covered both from the gulf of Saros and from the Dardanelles by the fire of the covering warships. The Australian and New Zealand contingent disembarked north of Gaba Tepe. Further north a naval division made a demonstration.

Awaiting the Australians was a party of Turks who had been intrenched almost on the shore and had opened up a terrific fusillade. The Australian volunteers rose, as a man, to the occasion. They waited neither for orders nor for the boats to reach the beach, but springing out into the sea they went in to the shore, and forming some sort of a rough line rushed straight on the flashes of the enemy's rifles. In less than a quarter of an hour the Turks were in full flight.

While the Australians and New Zealanders, or Anzacs as they are now generally known from the initials of the words Australian-New Zealand Army Corps, were fighting so gallantly at Gaba Tepe, the British troops were landing at the southern end of the Gallipoli Peninsula. The advance was slow and difficult. The Turk was pushed back, little by little, and the ground gained organized. The details of this progress, though full of incidents of the greatest courage and daring, need not be recounted.

On June the 4th a general attack was made, preceded by heavy bombardments by all guns, but after terrific fighting, in which many prisoners were captured and great losses suffered, the net result was an advance of about five hundred yards. As time went on the general impression throughout the Allied countries was that the expedition had failed. On June 30th the losses of the Turks were estimated at not less than seventy thousand, and the British naval and military losses up to June 1st, aggregated 38,635 officers and men. At that time the British and French allies held but a small corner of the area to be conquered. In all of these attacks the part played by the Australian and New Zealand army corps was especially notable. Reinforcements were repeatedly sent to the Allies, who worked more and more feverishly as time went on with the hope of aiding Russia, which was then desperately struggling against the great German advance.

On August 17th it was reported that a landing had been made at Suvla Bay, the extreme western point of the Peninsula. From this point it was hoped to threaten the Turkish communications with their troops at the lower end of the Peninsula. This new enterprise, however, failed to make any impression, and in the first part of September, vigorous Turkish counter-offensives gained territory from the Franco-British troops. According to the English reports the Turks paid a terrible price for their success.

It had now become evident that the expedition was a failure. The Germans were already gloating over what they called the "failure of British sea power," and English publicists were attempting to show that, though the enterprise had failed, the very presence of a strong Allied force at Saloniki had been an enormous gain. The first official announcement of failure was made December 20, 1916, when it was announced that the British forces at Anzac and Suvla Bay had been withdrawn, and that only the minor positions near Sedd-el-Bahr were occupied. Great Britain's loss of officers and men at the Dardanelles up to December 11th was 112,921, according to an announcement made in the House of Commons by the Parliamentary Under Secretary for War. Besides these casualties the number of sick admitted to hospitals was 96,683. The decision to evacuate Gallipoli was made in the course of November by the British Government as the result of the early expressed opinion of General Monro, who had succeeded General Hamilton on October 28, 1915.

General Monro found himself confronted with a serious problem in the attempt to withdraw an army of such a size from positions not more than three hundred yards from the enemy's trenches, and to embark on open beaches every part of which was within effective range of Turkish guns. Moreover, the evacuation must be done gradually, as it was impossible to move the whole army at once with such means of transportation as existed. The plan was to remove the munitions, supplies and heavy guns by instalments, working only at night, carrying off at the same time a large portion of the troops, but leaving certain picked battalions to guard the trenches. Every endeavor had to be made for concealment. The plan was splendidly successful, and the Turks apparently completely deceived. On December 20th the embarkation of the last troops at Suvla was accomplished. The operations at Anzac were conducted in the same way. Only picked battalions were left to the end, and these were carried safely off.

The success of the Suvla and Anzac evacuation made the position at Cape Helles more dangerous. The Turks were on the lookout, and it seemed almost impossible that they could be again deceived. On January 7th an attack was made by the Turks upon the trenches, which was beaten back. That night more than half the troops had left the Peninsula. The next day there was a heavy storm which made embarkation difficult, but it was nevertheless accomplished. The whole evacuation was a clever and successful bit of work.

CHAPTER XXI

THE GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY

Germany's ambition for conquest at sea had been nursed and carefully fostered for twenty years. During the decade immediately preceding the declaration of war, it had embarked upon a policy of naval upbuilding that brought it into direct conflict with England's sea policy. Thereafter it became a race in naval construction, England piling up a huge debt in its determination to construct two tons of naval shipping to every one ton built by Germany.

Notwithstanding Great Britain's efforts in this direction, Germany's naval experts, with the ruthless von Tirpitz at their head, maintained that, given a fair seaway with ideal weather conditions favoring the low visibility tactics of the German sea command, a victory for the Teutonic ships would follow. It was this belief that drew the ships of the German cruiser squadron and High Seas Fleet off the coast of Jutland and Horn Reef into the great battle that decided the supremacy of the sea.

The 31st of May, 1916, will go down in history as the date of this titanic conflict. The British light cruiser Galatea on patrol duty near Horn Reef reported at 2.20 o'clock on the afternoon of that day, that it had sighted smoke plumes denoting the advance of enemy vessels from the direction of Helgoland Bight. Fifteen minutes later the smoke plumes were in such number and volume that the advance of a considerable force to the northward and eastward was indicated. It was reasoned by Vice-Admiral Beatty, to whom the Galatea had sent the news by radio, that the enemy in rounding Horn Reef would inevitably be brought into action. The first ships of the enemy were sighted at 3.31 o'clock. These were the battle screen of fast light cruisers. Back of these were five modern battle cruisers of the highest power and armament.

The report of the battle, by an eye-witness, that was issued upon semiofficial authority of the British Government, follows:

First Phase, 3.30 P.M. May 31st. Beatty's battle cruisers, consisting of the Lion, Princess Royal, Queen Mary, Tiger, Inflexible, Indomitable, Invincible, Indefatigable, and New Zealand, were on a southeasterly course, followed at about two miles distance by the four battleships of the class known as Queen Elizabeths.

Enemy light cruisers were sighted and shortly afterward the head of the
German battle cruiser squadron, consisting of the new cruiser
Hindenburg, the Seydlitz, Derfflinger, Lutzow, Moltke, and possibly the
Salamis.

Beatty at once began firing at a range of about 20,000 yards (twelve miles) which shortened to 16,000 yards (nine miles) as the fleets closed. The Germans could see the British distinctly outlined against the light yellow sky. The Germans, covered by a haze, could be very indistinctly made out by the British gunners.

The Queen Elizabeths opened fire on one after another as they came within range. The German battle cruisers turned to port and drew away to about 20,000 yards.

Second Phase, 4.40 P.M. A destroyer screen then appeared beyond the German battle cruisers. The whole German High Seas Fleet could be seen approaching on the northeastern horizon in three divisions, coming to the support of their battle cruisers.

The German battle cruisers now turned right around 16 points and took station in front of the battleships of the High Fleet.

Beatty, with his battle cruisers and supporting battleships, therefore, had before him the whole of the German battle fleet, and Jellicoe was still some distance away.

The opposing fleets were now moving parallel to one another in opposite directions, and but for a master maneuver on the part of Beatty the British advance ships would have been cut off from Jellicoe's Grand Fleet. In order to avoid this and at the same time prepare the way so that Jellicoe might envelop his adversary, Beatty immediately also turned right around 16 points, so as to bring his ships parallel to the German battle cruisers and facing the same direction.

As soon as he was around he increased to full speed to get ahead of the Germans and take up a tactical position in advance of their line. He was able to do this owing to the superior speed of the British battle cruisers.

[Illustration: Photographs]
  Copyright Harris & Ewing.
  ADMIRAL WILLIAM S. SIMS; Commander-in-Chief of the United States Navy
  in European waters.
  ADMIRAL SIR DAVID BEATTY; Commander-in-Chief of the British Grand
  Fleet.

[Illustration: Photographs]
  FIELD-MARSHAL EARL KITCHENER; British Secretary for War, who built up
  the British army at the beginning of the war.
  FIELD-MARSHAL SIR JOHN D. FRENCH; Commander-in-chief of the British
  force in France and Belgium from the beginning of the war to December,
  1915.

Just before the turning point was reached, the Indefatigable sank, and the Queen Mary and the Invincible also were lost at the turning point, where, of course, the High Seas Fleet concentrated their fire.

A little earlier, as the German battle cruisers were turning the Queen
Elizabeths had in similar manner concentrated their fire on the turning
point and destroyed a new German battle cruiser, believed to be the
Hindenburg.

Beatty had now got around and headed away with the loss of three ships, racing parallel to the German battle cruisers. The Queen Elizabeths followed behind engaging the main High Seas Fleet.

Third Phase, 5 P.M. The Queen Elizabeths now turned short to port 16 points in order to follow Beatty. The Warspite jammed her steering gear, failed to get around, and drew the fire of six of the enemy, who closed in upon her.

The Germans claimed her as a loss, since on paper she ought to have been lost, but, as a matter of act, though repeatedly straddled by shell fire with the water boiling up all around her, she was not seriously hit, and was able to sink one of her opponents. Her captain recovered control of the vessel, brought her around, and followed her consorts.

In the meantime the Barham, Valiant and Malaya turned short so as to avoid the danger spot where the Queen Mary and the Invincible had been lost, and for an hour, until Jellicoe arrived, fought a delaying action against the High Seas Fleet.

The Warspite joined them at about 5.15 o'clock, and all four ships were so successfully maneuvered in order to upset the spotting corrections of their opponents that no hits of a seriously disabling character were suffered. They had the speed over their opponents by fully four knots, and were able to draw away from part of the long line of German battleships, which almost filled up the horizon.

At this time the Queen Elizabeths were steadily firing on at the flashes of German guns at a range which varied between 12,000 and 15,000 yards, especially against those ships which were nearest them. The Germans were enveloped in a mist and only smoke and flashes were visible.

By 5.45 half of the High Seas Fleet had been left out of range, and the
Queen Elizabeths were steaming fast to join hands with Jellicoe.

To return to Beatty's battle cruisers. They had succeeded in outflanking the German battle cruisers, which were, therefore, obliged to turn a full right angle to starboard to avoid being headed.

Heavy fighting was renewed between the opposing battle cruiser squadrons, during which the Derfflinger was sunk; but toward 6 o'clock the German fire slackened very considerably, showing that Beatty's battle cruisers and the Queen Elizabeths had inflicted serious damage on their immediate opponents.

Fourth Phase, 6 P.M. The Grand Fleet was now in sight, and, coming up fast in three directions, the Queen Elizabeths altered their course four points to the starboard and drew in toward the enemy to allow Jellicoe room to deploy into line.

The Grand Fleet was perfectly maneuvered and the very difficult operation of deploying between the battle cruisers and the Queen Elizabeths was perfectly timed.

Jellicoe came up, fell in behind Beatty's cruisers, and followed by the damaged but still serviceable Queen Elizabeths, steamed right across the head of the German fleet.

The first of the ships to come into action were the Revenue and the Royal Oak with their fifteen-inch guns, and the Agincourt which fired from her seven turrets with the speed almost of a Maxim gun.

The whole British fleet had now become concentrated. They had been perfectly maneuvered, so as to "cross the T" of the High Seas Fleet, and, indeed, only decent light was necessary to complete their work of destroying the Germans in detail. The light did improve for a few minutes, and the conditions were favorable to the British fleet, which was now in line approximately north and south across the head of the Germans.

During the few minutes of good light Jellicoe smashed up the first three German ships, but the mist came down, visibility suddenly failed, and the defeated High Seas Fleet was able to draw off in ragged divisions.

Fifth Phase, Night. The Germans were followed by the British, who still had them enveloped between Jellicoe on the west, Beatty on the north, and Evan Thomas with his three Queen Elizabeths on the south. The Warspite had been sent back to her base.

[Illustration: Map]
  HOW THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE OF JUTLAND WAS FOUGHT
  This chart must be taken only as a general indication of the courses
  of the opposing fleets. Sir David Beatty with two squadrons of battle
  cruisers and one squadron of fast battleships, first steamed southward
  and southeastward of the German battle cruiser squadron; then,
  sighting the German battle fleet, turned northward, afterwards bearing
  eastward and connecting with Sir John Jellicoe's battle squadron.

During the night the torpedo boat destroyers heavily attacked the German ships, and, although they lost seriously themselves, succeeded in sinking two of the enemy.

Coordination of the units of the fleet was practically impossible to keep up, and the Germans discovered by the rays of their searchlights the three Queen Elizabeths, not more than 4,000 yards away. Unfortunately they were then able to escape between the battleships and Jellicoe, since the British gunners were not able to fire, as the destroyers were in the way.

So ended the Jutland battle, which was fought as had been planned and very nearly a great success. It was spoiled by the unfavorable weather conditions, especially at the critical moment, when the whole British fleet was concentrated and engaged in crushing the head of the German line.

Commenting on the engagement, Admiral Jellicoe said: "The battle cruiser fleet, gallantly led by Vice-Admiral Beatty, and admirably supported by the ships of the fifth battle squadron under Rear Admiral Evan-Thomas, fought the action under, at times, disadvantageous conditions, especially in regard to light, in a manner that was in keeping with the best traditions of the service."

His estimate of the German losses was: two battleships of the dreadnought type, one of the Deutschland type, which was seen to sink; the battle cruiser Lutzow, admitted by the Germans; one battle cruiser of the dreadnought type, one battle cruiser seen to be so severely damaged that its return was extremely doubtful; five light cruisers, seen to sink—one of them possibly a battleship; six destroyers seen to sink, three destroyers so damaged that it was doubtful if they would be able to reach port, and a submarine sunk. The official German report admitted only eleven ships sunk; the first British report placed the total at eighteen, but Admiral Jellicoe enumerated twenty-one German vessels as probably lost.

The Admiral paid a fine tribute to the German naval men: "The enemy," he said, "fought with the gallantry that was expected of him. We particularly admired the conduct of those on board a disabled German light cruiser which passed down the British line shortly after the deployment under a heavy fire, which was returned by the only gun left in action. The conduct of the officers and men war entirely beyond praise. On all sides it is reported that the glorious traditions of the past were most worthily upheld; whether in the heavy ships, cruisers, light cruisers, or destroyers, the same admirable spirit prevailed. The officers and men were cool and determined, with a cheeriness that would have carried them through anything. The heroism of the wounded was the 'admiration' of all. I cannot adequately express the pride with which the spirit of the fleet filled me."

At daylight on the 1st of June the British battle fleet, being southward of Horn Reef, turned northward in search of the enemy vessels. The visibility early on the first of June was three to four miles less than on May 31st, and the torpedo-boat destroyers, being out of visual touch, did not rejoin the fleet until 9 A.M. The British fleet remained in the proximity of the battlefield and near the line of approach to the German ports until 11 A.M., in spite of the disadvantage of long distances from fleet bases and the danger incurred in waters adjacent to the enemy's coasts from submarines and torpedo craft.

The enemy, however, made no sign, and the admiral was reluctantly compelled to the conclusion that the High Sea Fleet had returned into port. Subsequent events proved this assumption to have been correct. The British position must have been known to the enemy, as at 4 A.M. the fleet engaged a Zeppelin about five minutes, during which time she had ample opportunity to note and subsequently report the position and course of the British fleet.

The Germans at first claimed a victory for their fleet. The test, of course, was the outcome of the battle. The fact that the German fleet retreated and nevermore ventured forth from beneath the protecting guns and mine fields around Helgoland, demonstrates beyond dispute that the British were entitled to the triumph. The German official report makes the best presentation of the German case. It follows in full:

The High Sea Fleet, consisting of three battleship squadrons, five battle cruisers, and a large number of small cruisers, with several destroyer flotillas, was cruising in the Skagerrak on May 31 for the purpose, as on earlier occasions, of offering battle to the British fleet. The vanguard of the small cruisers at 4.30 o'clock in the afternoon (German time) suddenly encountered ninety miles west of Hanstholm, (a cape on the northwest coast of Jutland), a group of eight of the newest cruisers of the Calliope class and fifteen or twenty of the most modern destroyers.

While the German light forces and the first cruiser squadron under Vice Admiral Hipper were following the British, who were retiring north-westward, the German battle cruisers sighted to the westward Vice Admiral Beatty's battle squadron of six ships, including four of the Lion type and two of the Indefatigable type. Beatty's squadron developed a battle line on a southeasterly course and Vice Admiral Hipper formed his line ahead on the same general course and approached for a running fight. He opened fire at 5.49 o'clock in the afternoon with heavy artillery at a range of 13,000 meters against the superior enemy. The weather was clear and light, and the sea was light with a northwest wind.

After about a quarter of an hour a violent explosion occurred on the last cruiser of the Indefatigable type. It was caused by a heavy shell, and destroyed the vessel.

About 6.20 o'clock in the afternoon five warships of the Queen Elizabeth type came from the west and joined the British battle cruiser line, powerfully reinforcing with their fifteen-inch guns the five British battle cruisers remaining after 6.20 o'clock. To equalize this superiority Vice Admiral Hipper ordered the destroyers to attack the enemy. The British destroyers and small cruisers interposed, and a bitter engagement at close range ensued, in the course of which a light cruiser participated.

The Germans lost two torpedo boats, the crews of which were rescued by sister ships under a heavy fire. Two British destroyers were sunk by artillery, and two others—the Nestor and Nomad—remained on the scene in a crippled condition. These later were destroyed by the main fleet after German torpedo boats had rescued all the survivors.

While this engagement was in progress, a mighty explosion, caused by a big shell, broke the Queen Mary, the third ship in line, asunder, at 6.30 o'clock.

Soon thereafter the German main battleship fleet was sighted to the southward, steering north. The hostile fast squadrons thereupon turned northward, closing the first part of the fight, which lasted about an hour.

The British retired at high speed before the German fleet, which followed closely. The German battle cruisers continued the artillery combat with increasing intensity, particularly with the division of the vessels of the Queen Elizabeth type, and in this the leading German battleship division participated intermittently. The hostile ships showed a desire to run in a flat curve ahead of the point of our line and to cross it.

At 7.45 o'clock in the evening British small cruisers and destroyers launched an attack against our battle cruisers, who avoided the torpedoes by maneuvering, while the British battle cruisers retired from the engagement, in which they did not participate further as far as can be established. Shortly thereafter a German reconnoitering group, which was parrying the destroyer attack, received an attack from the northeast. The cruiser Wiesbaden was soon put out of action in this attack. The German torpedo flotillas immediately attacked the heavy ships.

Appearing shadow-like from the haze bank to the northeast was made out a long line of at least twenty-five battleships, which at first sought a junction with the British battle cruisers and those of the Queen Elizabeth type on a northwesterly to westerly course, and then turned on an easterly to southeasterly course.

With the advent of the British main fleet, whose center consisted of three squadrons of eight battleships each, with a fast division of three battle cruisers of the Invincible type on the northern-end, and three of the newest vessels of the Royal Sovereign class, armed with fifteen-inch guns, at the southern end, there began about 8 o'clock in the evening the third section of the engagement, embracing the combat between the main fleets.

Vice Admiral Scheer determined to attack the British main fleet, which he now recognized was completely assembled and about doubly superior. The German battleship squadron, headed by battle cruisers, steered first toward the extensive haze bank to the northeast, where the crippled cruiser Wiesbaden was still receiving a heavy fire. Around the Wiesbaden stubborn individual fights under quickly changing conditions now occurred.

The light enemy forces, supported by an armored cruiser squadron of five ships of the Minatour, Achilles, and Duke of Edinburgh classes coming from the northeast, were encountered and apparently surprised on account of the decreasing visibility of our battle cruisers and leading battleship division. The squadron came under a violent and heavy fire by which the small cruisers Defense and Black Prince were sunk. The cruiser Warrior regained its own line a wreck and later sank. Another small cruiser was damaged severely.

Two destroyers already had fallen victims to the attack of German torpedo boats against the leading British battleships and a small cruiser and two destroyers were damaged. The German battle cruisers and leading battleship division had in these engagements come under increased fire of the enemy's battleship squadron, which, shortly after 8 o'clock, could be made out in the haze turning to the north-eastward and finally to the east, Germans observed, amid the artillery combat and shelling of great intensity, signs of the effect of good shooting between 8.20 and 8.30 o'clock particularly. Several officers on German ships observed that a battleship of the Queen Elizabeth class blew up under conditions similar to that of the Queen Mary. The Invincible sank after being hit severely. A ship of the Iron Duke class had earlier received a torpedo hit, and one of the Queen Elizabeth class was running around in a circle, its steering apparatus apparently having been hit.

The Lutzow was hit by at least fifteen heavy shells and was unable to maintain its place in line. Vice Admiral Hipper, therefore, trans-shipped to the Moltke on a torpedo boat and under a heavy fire. The Derfflinger meantime took the lead temporarily. Parts of the German torpedo flotilla attacked the enemy's main fleet and heard detonations. In the action the Germans lost a torpedo boat. An enemy destroyer was seen in a sinking condition, having been hit by a torpedo.

After the first violent onslaught into the mass of the superior enemy the opponents lost sight of each other in the smoke by powder clouds. After a short cessation in the artillery combat Vice Admiral Scheer ordered a new attack by all the available forces.

German battle cruisers, which with several light cruisers and torpedo boats again headed the line, encountered the enemy soon after 9 o'clock and renewed the heavy fire, which was answered by them from the mist, and then by the leading division of the main fleet. Armored cruisers now flung themselves in a reckless onset at extreme speed against the enemy line in order to cover the attack of the torpedo boats. They approached the enemy line, although covered with shot from 6,000 meters distances. Several German torpedo flotillas dashed forward to attack, delivered torpedoes, and returned, despite the most severe counterfire, with the loss of only one boat. The bitter artillery fire was again interrupted, after this second violent onslaught, by the smoke from guns and funnels.

Several torpedo flotillas, which were ordered to attack somewhat later, found, after penetrating the smoke cloud, that the enemy fleet was no longer before them; nor, when the fleet commander again brought the German squadrons upon the southerly and southwesterly course where the enemy was last seen, could our opponents be found. Only once more—shortly before 10.30 o'clock—did the battle flare up. For a short time in the late twilight German battle cruisers sighted four enemy capital ships to seaward and opened fire immediately. As the two German battleship squadrons attacked, the enemy turned and vanished in the darkness. Older German light cruisers of the fourth reconnoissance group also were engaged with the older enemy armored cruisers in a short fight. This ended the day battle.

The German divisions, which, after losing sight of the enemy, began a night cruise in a southerly direction, were attacked until dawn by enemy light force in rapid succession.

The attacks were favored by the general strategic situation and the particularly dark night.

The cruiser Frauenlob was injured severely during the engagement of the fourth reconnoissance group with a superior cruiser force, and was lost from sight.

One armored cruiser of the Cressy class suddenly appeared close to a German battleship and was shot into fire after forty seconds, and sank in four minutes.

The Florent (?) Destroyer 60, (the names were hard to decipher in the darkness and therefore were uncertainly established) and four destroyers—3, 78, 06, and 27—were destroyed by our fire. One destroyer was cut in two by the ram of a German battleship. Seven destroyers, including the G-30, were hit and severely damaged. These, including the Tipperary and Turbulent, which after saving survivors, were left behind in a sinking condition, drifted past our line, some of them burning at the bow or stern.

The tracks of countless torpedoes were sighted by the German ships, but only the Pommern (a battleship) fell an immediate victim to a torpedo. The cruiser Rostock was hit, but remained afloat. The cruiser Elbing was damaged by a German battleship during an unavoidable maneuver. After vain endeavors to keep the ship afloat the Elbing was blown up, but only after her crew had embarked on torpedo boats. A post torpedo boat was struck by a mine laid by the enemy.

Following are the statistics of the fight:

                                ADMITTED LOSSES—BRITISH
NAME TONNAGE PERSONNEL
Queen Mary (battle cruiser) 27,000 1,000
Indefatigable (battle cruiser) 18,750 800
Invincible (battle cruiser) 17,250 750
Defense (armored cruiser) 14,600 755
Warrior (armored cruiser) 13,550 704
Black Prince (armored cruiser) 13,550 704
Tipperary (destroyer) 1,850 150
Turbulent (destroyer) 1,850 150
Shark (destroyer) 950 100
Sparrowhawk (destroyer) 950 100
Ardent (destroyer) 950 100
Fortune (destroyer) 950 100
Nomad (destroyer) 950 100
Nestor (destroyer) 950 100

                                 BRITISH TOTALS
Battle cruisers 63,000 2,550
Armored cruisers 41,700 2,163
Destroyers 9,400 900
                               ———— ———
Fourteen ships 114,100 5,613

                         ADMITTED LOSSES—GERMAN*
NAME TONNAGE PERSONNEL
Lutzow (battle cruiser) 26,600 1,200
Pommern (battleship) 13,200 729
Wiesbaden (cruiser) 5,600 450
Frauenlob (cruiser) 2,715 264
Elbing (cruiser) 5,000 450
Rostock (cruiser) 4,900 373
Five destroyers 5,000 500

GERMAN TOTALS
Battle cruisers 39,800 1,929
Cruisers 18,215 1,537
Destroyers 5,000 500
                                 ——— ——-
Eleven ships 63,015 3,966

* These figures are given for what they are worth, but no one outside of Germany doubted but that their losses were very much greater than admitted in the official report.

TOTAL LOSSES OF MEN
BRITISH
Dead or missing. 6,104
Wounded 513
                ———-
Total 6,617

GERMAN
Dead or missing 2,414
Wounded 449
                ———-
Total 2,863

LOSS IN MONEY VALUE (Rough Estimate)
British $115,000,000
German $63,000,000
    ————————
Total $178,000,000

While the world was still puzzling over the conflicting reports of the
Battle of Jutland came the shocking news that Field Marshal Lord Horatio
Herbert Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, had perished
off the West Orkney Islands on June 5th, through the sinking of the
British cruiser Hampshire. The entire crew was also lost, except twelve
men, a warrant officer and eleven seamen, who escaped on a raft. Earl
Kitchener was on his way to Russia, at the request of the Russian
Government, for a consultation regarding munitions to be furnished the
Russian army. He was intending to go to Archangel and visit Petrograd,
and expected to be back in London by June 20th. He was accompanied by
Hugh James O'Beirne, former Councillor of the British Embassy at
Petrograd, O.A. Fitz-Gerald, his military secretary, Brigadier-General
Ellarshaw, and Sir Frederick Donaldson, all of whom were lost.

The cause of the sinking of the Hampshire is not known. It is supposed that it struck a mine, but the tragedy very naturally brought into existence many stories which ascribe his death to more direct German action.

Seaman Rogerson, one of the survivors, describes Lord Kitchener's last moments as follows: "Of those who left the ship, and have survived, I was the one who saw Lord Kitchener last. He went down with the ship, he did not leave her. I saw Captain Seville help his boat's crew to clear away his galley. At the same time the Captain was calling to Lord Kitchener to come to the boat, but owing to the noise made by the wind and sea, Lord Kitchener could not hear him, I think. When the explosion occurred, Kitchener walked calmly from the Captain's cabin, went up the ladder and on to the quarter deck. There I saw him walking quite collectedly, talking to two of the officers. All three were wearing khaki and had no overcoats on. Kitchener calmly watched the preparations for abandoning the ship, which were going on in a steady and orderly way. The crew just went to their stations, obeyed orders, and did their best to get out the boats. But it was impossible. Owing to the rough weather, no boats could be lowered. Those that were got out were smashed up at once. No boats left the ship. What people on the shore thought to be boats leaving, were rafts. Men did get into the boats as these lay in their cradles, thinking that as the ship went under the boats would float, but the ship sank by the head, and when she went she turned a somersault forward, carrying down with her all the boats and those in them. I do not think Kitchener got into a boat. When I sprang to a raft he was still on the starboard side of the quarter deck, talking with the officers. From the little time that elapsed between my leaving the ship and her sinking I feel certain Kitchener went down with her, and was on deck at the time she sank."

[Illustration: Map]
  WHERE EARL KITCHENER MET HIS DEATH

The British Admiralty, after investigation, gave out a statement declaring that the vessel struck a mine, and sank about fifteen minutes after.

The news of Lord Kitchener's death shocked the whole Allied world. He was the most important personality in the British Empire. He had built up the British army, and his name was one to conjure by. His efficiency was a proverb, and he had an air of mystery about him that made him a sort of a popular hero. He was great before the World War began; he was the conqueror of the Soudan; the winner of the South African campaign; the reorganizer of Egypt. In his work as Secretary of War he had met with some criticism, but he possessed, more than any other man, the public confidence. At the beginning of the war he was appointed Secretary of War at the demand of an overwhelming public opinion. He realized more than any one else what such a war would mean. When others thought of it as an adventure to be soon concluded, he recognized that there would be years of bitter conflict. He asked England to give up its cherished tradition of a volunteer army; to go through arduous military training; he saw the danger to the Empire, and he alone, perhaps, had the authority to inspire his countrymen with the will to sacrifice. But his work was done. The great British army was in the field.

CHAPTER XXII

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN

In the very beginning Russia had marked out one point for attack. This was the city of Cracow. No doubt the Grand Duke Nicholas had not hoped to be able to invest that city early. The slowness of the mobilization of the Russian army made a certain prudence advisable at the beginning of the campaign. But the great success of his armies in Lemberg encouraged more daring aims. He had invested Przemysl, and Galicia lay before him. Accordingly, he set his face toward Cracow.

Cracow, from a military point of view, is the gate both of Vienna and Berlin. A hundred miles west of it is the famous gap of Moravia, between the Carpathian and the Bohemian mountains, which leads down into Austria. Through this gap runs the great railway connecting Silesia with Vienna, and the Grand Duke knew that if he could capture Cracow he would have an easy road before him to the Austrian capital. Cracow also is the key of Germany.

Seventy miles from the city lies the Oder River. An army might enter Germany by this gate and turn the line of Germany's frontier fortresses. The Oder had been well fortified, but an invader coming from Cracow might move upon the western bank. The Russian plan no doubt was to threaten both enemy capitals. Moreover, an advance of Russia from Cracow would take its armies into Silesia, full of coal and iron mines, and one of the greatest manufacturing districts in the German Empire. This would be a real success, and all Germany would feel the blow.

Another reason for the Russian advance in Galicia was her desire to control the Galician oil wells. To Germany petrol had become one of the foremost munitions of war. Since she could not obtain it from either America or Russia she must get it from Austria, and the Austrian oil fields were all in Galicia. This, in itself, would explain the Galician campaign. Moreover, through the Carpathian Mountains it was possible to make frequent raids into Hungary, and Russia understood well the feeling of Hungary toward her German allies.

She hoped that when Hungary perceived her regiments sacrificed and her plains overrun by Russian troops, she would regret that she had allowed herself to be sacrificed to Prussian ambition. The Russians, therefore, suddenly, moved toward Cracow.

Then von Hindenburg came to the rescue. The supreme command of the Austrian forces was given to him. The defenses of Cracow were strengthened under the direction of the Germans, and a German army advanced from the Posen frontier toward the northern bank of the Vistula. The advance threatened the Russian right, and, accordingly, within ten days' march of Cracow, the Russians stopped. The German offensive in Poland had begun. The news of the German advance came about the fifth of October. Von Hindenburg, who had been fighting in East Prussia, had at last perceived that nothing could be gained there. The vulnerable part of Russia was the city of Warsaw. This was the capital of Poland, with a population of about three-quarters of a million. If he could take Warsaw, he would not only have pleasant quarters for the winter but Russia would be so badly injured that no further offensive from her need be anticipated for a long period. Von Hindenburg had with him a large army. In his center he probably had three-quarters of a million men, and on his right the Austrian army in Cracow, which must have reached a million.

Counting the troops operating in East Prussia and along the Carpathians, and the garrison of Przemysl, the Teuton army must have had two and a half million soldiers. Russia, on the other hand, though her mobilization was still continuing, at this time could not have had as many as two million men in the whole nine hundred miles of her battle front.

The fight for Warsaw began Friday, October 16th, and continued for three days, von Hindenburg being personally in command. On Monday the Germans found themselves in trouble. A Russian attack on their left wing had come with crushing force. Von Hindenburg found his left wing thrown back, and the whole German movement thrown into disorder. Meanwhile an attempt to cross the Vistula at Josefov had also been a failure. The Russians allowed the Germans to pass with slight resistance, waited until they arrived at the village Kazimirjev, a district of low hills and swampy flats, and then suddenly overwhelmed them.

Next day the Russians crossed the river themselves, and advanced along the whole line, driving the enemy before them, through great woods of spruce out into the plains on the west. This forest region was well known to the Russian guides, and the Germans suffered much as the Russians had suffered in East Prussia. Ruzsky, the Russian commander, pursued persistently; the Germans retreating first to Kielce, whence they were driven, on the 3d of November, with great losses, and then being broken into two pieces, with the north retiring westward and the south wing southwest toward Cracow.

Rennenkampf's attack on the German left wing was equally successful, and von Hindenburg was driven into full retreat. The only success won during this campaign was that in the far south where Austrian troops were sweeping eastward toward the San. This army drove back the Russians under Ivanov, reoccupied Jaroslav and relieved Przemysl. This was a welcome relief to Przemysl, for the garrison was nearly starved, and it was well for the garrison that the relief came, for in a few days the Russians returned, recaptured Jaroslav and reinvested Przemysl. As von Hindenburg retreated he left complete destruction in his wake, roads, bridges, railroad tracks, water towers, railway stations, all were destroyed; even telegraph posts, broken or sawn through, and insulators broken to bits.

It was now the turn of Russia to make a premature advance, and to pay for it. Doubtless the Grand Duke Nicholas, whose strategy up to this point had been so admirable, knew very well the danger of a new advance in Galicia, but he realized the immense political as well as military advantages which were to be obtained by the capture of Cracow. He therefore attempted to move an army through Poland as well as through Galicia, hoping that the army in Poland would keep von Hindenburg busy, while the Galician army would deal with Cracow.

The advance was slow on account of the damaged Polish roads. It was preceded by a cavalry screen which moved with more speed. On November 10th, the vanguard crossed the Posen frontier and cut the railway on the Cracow-Posen line. This reconnaissance convinced the Russian general that the German army did not propose to make a general stand, and it seemed to him that if he struck strongly with his center along the Warta, he might destroy the left flank of the German southern army, while his own left flank was assaulting Cracow. He believed that even if his attack upon the Warta failed, the Russian center could at any rate prevent the enemy from interfering with the attack further south upon Cracow.

The movement therefore began, and by November 12th, the Russian cavalry had taken Miechow on the German frontier, about twenty miles north of Cracow. Its main forces were still eighty miles to the east. About this time Grand Duke Nicholas perceived that von Hindenburg was preparing a counter stroke. He had retreated north, and then, by means of his railways, was gathering a large army at Thorn. Large reinforcements were sent him, some from the western front, giving him a total of about eight hundred thousand men. In his retreat from Warsaw, while he had destroyed all roads and railways in the south and west, he had carefully preserved those of the north already planning to use them in another movement. He now was beginning an advance, once again, against Warsaw. On account of the roads he perceived that it would be difficult for the Russians to obtain reinforcements. Von Hindenburg had with him as Chief of Staff General von Ludendorff, one of the cleverest staff officers in the German army, and General von Mackensen, a commander of almost equal repute.

The Russian army in the north had been pretty well scattered. The Russian forces were now holding a front of nearly a thousand miles, with about two million men. The Russian right center, which now protected Warsaw from the new attack could hardly number more than two hundred thousand men. Von Hindenburg's aim was Warsaw only, and did not affect directly the Russian advance to Cracow, which was still going on. Indeed, by the end of the first week in December, General Dmitrieff had cavalry in the suburbs of Cracow, and his main force was on the line of the River Rava about twelve miles away. Cracow had been strongly fortified, and much entrenching had been done in a wide circle around the city.

[Illustration: Photograph] Copyright Press Illustrating Service. THE FAMOUS WITHERED ARM A most unusual photograph of the ex-Kaiser showing his withered left arm. The sale of this picture was forbidden in Germany. The other figure is the Hetman of the Ukrainia, Skoropadski.

[Illustration: Painting]
  THE FIRST STAGE HOMEWARDS
  Stretcher bearers bringing in wounded from the battlefield to the
  collecting posts.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  GERMAN FRIGHTFULNESS FROM THE AIR
  A gas attack on the eastern front photographed by a Russian airman.

The German plan was to use its field army in Cracow's defense rather than a garrison. Two separate forces were used; one moving southwest of Cracow along the Carpathian hills, struck directly at Ivanov's left; the other, operating from Hungary, threatened the Russian rear. These two divisions struck at the same time and the Russians found it necessary to fight rear actions as they moved forward. They were doing this with reasonable success and working their way toward Cracow, when, on the 12th of December, the Austrian forces working from Hungary carried the Dukla Pass. This meant that the Austrians would be able to pour troops down into the rear of the Russian advance, and the Russian army would be cut off. Dmitrieff, therefore, fell rapidly back, until the opening of the Dukla Pass was in front of his line, and the Russian army was once more safe.

Meanwhile the renewed siege of Przemysl was going on with great vigor, and attracting the general attention of the Allied world. The Austrians attempted to follow up their successes at the Dukla Pass by attempting to seize the Lupkow Pass, and the Uzzok Pass, still further to the east, but the Russians were tired of retreating. New troops had arrived, and about the 20th of December a new advance was begun.

With the right of the army swinging up along the river Nida, northeast of Cracow, the Russian left attacked the Dukla Pass in great force, driving Austrians back and capturing over ten thousand men. On Christmas Day all three great western passes were in Russian hands. The Austrian fighting, during this period, was the best they had so far shown, the brunt of it being upon the Hungarian troops, who, at this time, were saving Germany.

Meantime von Hindenburg was pursuing his movement in the direction of Warsaw. The Russian generals found it difficult to obtain information. Each day came the chronicle of contests, some victories, some defeats, and it soon appeared that a strong force was crushing in the Russian outposts from the direction of Thorn and moving toward Warsaw. Ruzsky found himself faced by a superior German force, and was compelled to retreat. The Russian aim was to fall back behind the river Bzura, which lies between the Thorn and Warsaw. Bzura is a strong line of defense, with many fords but no bridges. The Russian right wing passed by the city of Lowicz, moved southwest to Strykov and then on past Lodz. West of Lowicz is a great belt of marshes impossible for the movement of armies.

The first German objective was the city of Lodz. Von Hindenburg knew that he must move quickly before the Russians should get up reserves. His campaign of destruction had made it impossible for aid to be sent to the Russian armies from Ivanov, far in the south, but every moment counted. His right pushed forward and won the western crossings of the marshes. His extreme left moved towards Plock, but the main effort was against Piontek, where there is a famous causeway engineered for heavy transport through the marshes.

At first the Russians repelled the attack on the causeway, but on November 19th the Russians broke and were compelled to fall back. Over the causeway, then, the German troops were rushed in great numbers, splitting the Russian army into two parts; one on the south surrounding Lodz, and the other running east of Brezin on to the Vistula. The Russian army around Lodz was assailed on the front flank and rear. It looked like an overwhelming defeat for the Russian army. At the very last moment possible, Russian reinforcements appeared—a body of Siberians from the direction of Warsaw. They were thrown at once into the battle and succeeded in re-establishing the Russian line. This left about ninety thousand Germans almost entirely surrounded, as if they were in a huge sack. Ruzsky tried his best to close the mouth of the sack, but he was unsuccessful. The fighting was terrific, but by the 26th the Germans in the sack had escaped.

The Germans were continually receiving reinforcements and still largely outnumbered the Russians. Von Hindenburg therefore determined on a new assault. The German left wing was now far in front of the Russian city of Lodz, one of the most important of the Polish cities. The population was about half a million. Such a place was a constant danger, for it was the foundation of a Russian salient. When the German movement began the Russian general, perceiving how difficult it would have been to hold the city, deliberately withdrew, and on December 6th the Germans entered Lodz without opposition.

The retreat relieved the Russians of a great embarrassment. Its capture was considered in Germany as a great German victory, and at this time von Hindenburg seems to have felt that he had control of the situation. His movement, to be sure, had not interfered with the Russian advance on Cracow, but Warsaw must have seemed to him almost in his power. He therefore concentrated his forces for a blow at Warsaw. His first new movement was directed at the Russian right wing, which was then north of the Bzura River and east of Lowicz. He also directed the German forces in East Prussia to advance and attempted to cut the main railway line between Warsaw and Petrograd. If this attempt had been successful it would have been a highly serious matter for the Russians. The Russians, however, defeated it, and drove the enemy back to the East Prussian border. The movement against the Russian right wing was more successful, and the Russians fell back slowly. This was not because they were defeated in battle, but because the difficult weather interfered with communications. There had been a thaw, and the whole country was waterlogged. The Grand Duke was willing that the Germans should fight in the mud.

This slow retreat continued from the 7th of December to Christmas Eve, and involved the surrender of a number of Polish towns, but it left the Russians in a strong position. They were able to entrench themselves so that every attack of the enemy was broken. The Germans tried hard. Von Hindenburg would have liked to enter Warsaw on Christmas. The citizens heard day and night the sound of the cannon, but they were entirely safe.

The German attack was a failure. On the whole, the Grand Duke Nicholas had shown better strategy than the best of the German generals. Outnumbered from the very start, his tactics had been admirable. Twice he had saved Warsaw, and he was still threatening Cracow. The Russian armies were fighting with courage and efficiency, and were continually growing in numbers as the days went by.

During the first weeks of 1915 while there were a number of attacks and counter attacks both armies had come to the trench warfare, so familiar in France. The Germans in particular had constructed a most elaborate trench system, with underground rooms containing many of the ordinary comforts of life. Toward the end of the month the Russians began to move in East Prussia in the north and also far south in the Bukovina. The object of these movements was probably to prevent von Hindenburg from releasing forces on the west. Russia was still terribly weak in equipment and was not ready for a serious advance. An attack on sacred East Prussia would stir up the Germans, while Hungary would be likewise disturbed by the advance on Bukovina. Von Hindenburg, however, was still full of the idea of capturing Warsaw. He had failed twice but the old Field Marshal was stubborn and moreover he knew well what the capture of Warsaw would mean to Russia, and so he tried again.

The Russian front now followed the west bank of the Bzura for a few miles, changed to the eastern bank following the river until it met with the Rawka, from there a line of trenches passed south and east of Balinov and from there to Skiernievice. Von Mackensen concentrated a considerable army at Balinov and had on the 1st of February about a hundred and forty thousand men there. That night, with the usual artillery preparation, he moved from Balinov against the Russian position at the Borzymov Crest. The Germans lost heavily but drove forward into the enemy's line, and by the 3d of February had almost made a breach in it. This point, however, could be readily reinforced and troops were hurried there from Warsaw in such force that on February 4th the German advance was checked. Von Mackensen had lost heavily, and by the time it was checked he had become so weak that his forces yielded quickly to the counter-attack and were flung back.

This was the last frontal attack upon Warsaw. Von Hindenburg then determined to attack Warsaw by indirection. Austria was instructed to move forward along the whole Carpathian front, while he himself, with strong forces, undertook to move from East Prussia behind the Polish capital, and cut the communications between Warsaw and Petrograd. If Austria could succeed, Przemysl might be relieved, Lemberg recaptured, and Russia forced back so far on the south that Warsaw would have to be abandoned. On the other hand if the East Prussia effort were successful, the Polish capital would certainly fall. These plans, if they had developed successfully, would have crippled the power of Russia for at least six months. Meantime, troops could be sent to the west front, and perhaps enable Germany to overwhelm France. By this time almost all of Poland west of the Vistula was in the power of the Germans, while three-fourths of Galicia was controlled by Russia.

Von Hindenburg now returned to his old battle-ground near the Masurian Lakes. The Russian forces, which, at the end of January, had made a forward movement in East Prussia, had been quite successful. Their right was close upon Tilsit, and their left rested upon the town of Johannisburg. Further south was the Russian army of the Narev. Von Hindenburg determined to surprise the invaders, and he gathered an army of about three hundred thousand men to face the Russian forces which did not number more than a hundred and twenty thousand, and which were under the command of General Baron Sievers. The Russian army soon found itself in a desperate position. A series of bitter fights ensued, at some of which the Kaiser himself was present. The Russians were driven steadily back for a week, but the German stories of their tremendous losses are obviously unfounded. They retreated steadily until February 20th, fighting courageously, and by that date the Germans began to find themselves exhausted.

Russian reinforcements came up, and a counter-attack was begun. The German aim had evidently been to reach Grodno and cut the main line from Warsaw to Petrograd, which passes through that city. They had now reached Suwalki, a little north of Grodno, but were unable to advance further, though the Warsaw-Petrograd railway was barely ten miles away. The southern portion of von Hindenburg's army was moving against the railway further west, in the direction of Ossowietz. But Ossowietz put up a determined resistance, and the attack was unsuccessful. By the beginning of March, von Hindenburg ordered a gradual retreat to the East Prussian frontier.

While this movement to drive the Russians from East Prussia was under way, von Hindenburg had also launched an attack against the Russian army on the Narev. If he could force the lower Narev from that point, too, he could cut the railroad running east from the Polish capital. He had hoped that the attacks just described further east would distract the Russian attention so that he would find the Narev ill guarded. The advance began on February 22d, and after numerous battles captured Przasnysz, and found itself with only one division to oppose its progress to the railroad. On the 23d this force was attacked by the German right, but resisted with the utmost courage. It held out for more than thirty-six hours, until, on the evening of the 24th, Russian reinforcements began to come up, and drove the invaders north through Przasnysz in retreat.

It was an extraordinary fight. The Russians were unable to supply all their troops with munitions and arms. At Przasnysz men fought without rifles, armed only with a bayonet. All they could do was to charge with cold steel, and they did it so desperately that, though they were outnumbered, they drove the Germans before them. By all the laws of war the Russians should have been defeated with ease. As it was, the German attempt to capture Warsaw by a flank movement was defeated. While the struggle was going on in the north, the Austrian armies in Galicia were also moving, Russia was still holding the three great passes in the Carpathian Mountains, but had not been able to begin an offensive in Hungary.

The Austrians had been largely reinforced by German troops, and were moving forward to the relief of Przemysl, and also to drive Brussilov from the Galician mountains. Brussilov's movements had been partly military and partly political. From the passes in those mountains Hungary could be attacked, and unless he could be driven away there was no security for the Hungarian cornfields, to which Germany was looking for food supplies. Moreover, from the beginning of the Russian movement in Galicia, northern Bukovina had been in Russian hands. Bukovina was not only a great supply ground for petrol and grain, but she adjoined Roumania which, while still neutral, had a strong sympathy with the Allies, especially Italy. The presence of a Russian army on her border might encourage her to join the Allies. Austria naturally desired to free Roumania from this pressure. The leading Austrian statesmen, at this time, were especially interested in Hungary. The Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs was Baron Stephen Burian, the Hungarian diplomatist, belonging to the party of the Hungarian Premier, Count Tisza. It was his own country that was threatened. The prizes of a victorious campaign were therefore great.

The campaign began in January amid the deepest snow, and continued during February in the midst of blizzards. The Austrians were divided into three separate armies. The first was charged with the relief of Przemysl. The second advanced in the direction of Lemberg, and the third moved upon Bukovina. The first made very little progress, after a number of lively battles. It was held pretty safely by Brussilov. The second army was checked by Dmitrieff. Further east, however, the army of the Bukovina crossed the Carpathian range, and made considerable advances. This campaign was fought out in a great number of battles, the most serious of which, perhaps, was the battle of Koziowa. At that point Brussilov's center withstood for several days the Austrian second army which was commanded by the German General von Linsengen. The Russian success here saved Lemberg, prevented the relief of Przemysl and gave time to send reinforcements into Bukovina.

The Austrian third army, moving on Bukovina, had the greatest Austrian success. They captured in succession Czernowitz, Kolomea, and Stanislau. They did not succeed, however, in driving the Russians from the province. The Russians retired slowly, waiting for reinforcements. These reinforcements came, whereupon the Austrians were pushed steadily back. The passes in the Carpathians still remained in Austrian hands, but Przemysl was not relieved or Lemberg recaptured. On March 22d Przemysl fell.

The capture of Przemysl was the greatest success that Russia had so far attained. It had been besieged for about four months, and the taking of the fortress was hailed as the first spectacular success of the war. Its capture altered the whole situation. It released a large Russian army, which was sent to reinforce the armies of Ivanov, where the Austrians were vigorously attacked.

By the end of March the Russians had captured the last Austrian position on the Lupkow pass and were attacking vigorously the pass of Uzzok, which maintained a stubborn defense. Brussilov tried to push his way to the rear of the Uzzok position, and though the Austrians delivered a vigorous counter-attack they were ultimately defeated. In five weeks of fighting Ivanov captured over seventy thousand prisoners.

During this period there was considerable activity in East Prussia, and the Courland coast was bombarded by the German Baltic squadron. There was every indication that Austria was near collapse, but all the time the Germans were preparing for a mighty effort, and the secret was kept with extraordinary success. The little conflicts in the Carpathians and in East Prussia were meant to deceive, while a great army, with an enormous number of guns of every caliber, and masses of ammunition, were being gathered. The Russian commanders were completely deceived. There had been no change in the generals in command except that General Ruzsky, on account of illness, was succeeded by General Alexeiev. The new German army was put under the charge of von Hindenburg's former lieutenant, General von Mackensen. This was probably the strongest army that Germany ever gathered, and could not have numbered less than two millions of men, with nearly two thousand pieces in its heavy batteries.

On April 28th, the action began. The Austro-German army lay along the left of the Donajetz River to its junction with the Biala, and along the Biala to the Carpathian Mountains. Von Mackensen's right moved in the direction of Gorlice. General Dmitrieff was compelled to weaken his front to protect Gorlice and then, on Saturday, the 1st of May, the great attack began. Under cover of artillery fire such as had never been seen before bridges were pushed across the Biala and Ciezkowice was taken. The Russian positions were blown out of existence. The Russian armies did what they could but their defense collapsed and they were soon in full retreat.

The German armies advanced steadily, and though the Russians made a brave stand at many places they could do nothing. On the Wisloka they hung on for five days, but they were attempting an impossibility. From that time on each day marked a new German victory, and in spite of the most desperate fighting the Russians were forced back until, on the 11th, the bulk of their line lay just west of the lower San as far as Przemysl and then south to the upper Dniester. The armies were in retreat, but were not routed. In a fortnight the army of Dmitrieff had fallen back eighty-five miles.

The Grand Duke Nicholas by this time understood the situation. He perceived that it was impossible to make a stand. The only thing to do was to retreat steadily until Germany's mass of war material should be used up, even though miles of territory should be sacrificed. It should be a retreat in close contact with the enemy, so that the Austro-German troops would have to fight for every mile. This meant a retreat not for days, but perhaps for weeks. It meant that Przemysl must be given up, and Lemberg, and even Warsaw, but the safety of the Russian army was of more importance than a province or a city.

On May 18th the German War Office announced their successes in the following terms: "The army under General von Mackensen in the course of its pursuit of the Russians reached yesterday the neighborhood of Subiecko, on the lower Wisloka, and Kolbuezowa, northeast of Debica. Under the pressure of this advance the Russians also retreated from their positions north of the Vistula. In this section the troops under General von Woyrach, closely following the enemy, penetrated as far as the region northwest of Kielce. In the Carpathians Austro-Hungarian and German troops under General von Linsingen conquered the hills east of the Upper Stryi, and took 3,660 men prisoners, as well as capturing six machine guns. At the present moment, while the armies under General von Mackensen are approaching the Przemysl fortresses and the lower San, it is possible to form an approximate idea of the booty taken. In the battles of Tarno and Gorlika, and in the battles during the pursuit of these armies, we have so far taken 103,500 Russian prisoners, 69 cannon, and 255 machine guns. In these figures the booty taken by the Allied troops fighting in the Carpathians, and north of the Vistula, is not included. This amounts to a further 40,000 prisoners. Przemysl surrendered to the German's on June 3, 1915, only ten weeks after the Russian capture of the fortress, which had caused such exultation."

General von Mackensen continued toward Lemberg, the capital of Galicia. On June 18th, when the victorious German armies were approaching the gates of Lemberg, the Russian losses were estimated at 400,000 dead and wounded, and 300,000 prisoners, besides 100,000 lost before Marshal von Hindenburg's forces in Poland and Courland. On June 23d Lemberg fell. The weakness of Russia in this campaign arose from the exhaustion of her ammunition supplies, but great shipments of such supplies were being constantly forwarded from Vladivostock.

When the German army crossed the San, Wilhelm II, then German Emperor, was present. It is interesting to look back on the scene. Here is a paragraph from the account of the Wolff Telegraphic Bureau: "The Emperor had hurried forward to his troops by automobile. On the way he was greeted with loud hurrahs by the wounded, riding back in wagons. On the heights of Jaroslav the Emperor met Prince Eitel Friedrich, and then, from several points of observation, for hours followed with keen attention the progress of the battle for the crossing."

While the great offensive in Galicia was well under way, the Germans were pushing forward in East Prussia. Finding little resistance they ultimately invaded Courland, captured Libau, and established themselves firmly in that province. The sweep of the victorious German armies through Galicia was continued into Poland. On July 19th William the War Lord bombastically telegraphed his sister, the Queen of Greece, to the effect that he had "paralyzed Russia for at least six months to come" and was on the eve of "delivering a coup on the western front that will make all Europe tremble."

It would be futile to recount the details of the various German victories which followed the advance into Poland. On July 24th, the German line ran from Novgorod in the north, south of Przasnysz, thence to Novogeorgievsk, then swinging to the southeast below Warsaw it passed close to the west of Ivangorad, Lublin, Chelm, and then south to a point just east of Lemberg. Warsaw at that time was in the jaws of the German nutcracker.

On July 21st, the bells in all the churches throughout Russia clanged a call to prayer for twenty-four hours' continual service of intercession for victory. In spite of the heat the churches were packed. Hour after hour the people stood wedged together, while the priests and choirs chanted their litanies. Outside the Kamian Cathedral an open-air mass was celebrated in the presence of an enormous crowd. But the German victories continued.

On August 5th Warsaw was abandoned. Up to July 29th hope was entertained in military quarters in London and Paris that the Germans would stand a siege in their fortresses along the Warsaw salient, but on that date advices came from Petrograd that in order to save the Russian armies a retreat must be made, and the Warsaw fortresses abandoned. For some time before this the Russian resistance had perceptibly stiffened, and many vigorous counter-attacks had been made against the German advance, but it was the same old story, the lack of ammunition. The armies were compelled to retire and await the munitions necessary for a new offensive.

The last days of Russian rule in Warsaw were days of extraordinary interest. The inhabitants, to the number of nearly half a million, sought refuge in Russia. All goods that could be useful to the Germans were either removed or burned. Crops were destroyed in the surrounding fields. When the Germans entered they found an empty and deserted city, with only a few Poles and the lowest classes of Jews still left. Warsaw is a famous city, full of ancient palaces, tastefully, adorned shops, finely built streets, and fourscore church towers where the bells are accustomed to ring melodiously for matins and vespers. In the Ujazdowske Avenue one comes to the most charming building in all Warsaw, the Lazienki Palace, with its delicious gardens mirrored in a lovely lake. It is a beautiful city.

The fall of Warsaw meant the fall of Russian Poland, but Russia was not yet defeated. Von Hindenburg was to be treated as Napoleon was in 1812, The strategy of the Grand Duke was sound; so long as he could save the army the victories of Germany would be futile. It is true that the German armies were not compelled, like those of Napoleon, to live on the land. They could bring their supplies from Berlin day by day, but every mile they advanced into hostile territory made their task harder. The German line of communication, as it grew longer, became weaker and the troops needed for garrison duty in the captured towns, seriously diminished the strength of the fighting army, The Russian retreat was good strategy and it was carried on with extraordinary cleverness.

It is unnecessary to describe the events which succeeded the fall of Warsaw in great detail. There was a constant succession of German victories and Russian defeats, but never one of the Russian armies enveloped or destroyed. Back they went, day after day, always fighting; each great Russian fortress resisted until it saw itself in danger, and then safely withdrew its troops. Kovno fell and Novogeorgievsk, and Ivangorad, then Ossowietz was abandoned, and Brest-Litovsk and Grodno.

On September 5th the Emperor of Russia signed the following order:

Today I have taken supreme command of all the forces of the sea and land armies operating in the theater of war. With firm faith in the clemency of God, with unshakable assurance in final victory, we shall fulfil our sacred duty to defend our country to the last. We will not dishonor the Russian land.

The Grand Duke Nicholas was made Viceroy of the Caucasus, a post which took him out of the main theater of fighting but gave him a great field for fresh military activity. He had been bearing a heavy burden, and had shown himself to be a great commander. He had outmaneuvered von Hindenberg again and again, and though finally the Russian armies under his command had been driven back, the retreat itself was a proof of his military ability, not only in its conception, but in the way in which it was done.

The Emperor chose General Alexieff as his Chief of General Staff. He was the ablest of the great generals who had been leading the Russian army. With this change in command a new spirit seemed to come over Russia. The German advance, however, was not yet completely checked. It was approaching Vilna.

The fighting around Vilna was the bitterest in the whole long retreat. On the 18th of September it fell, but the Russian troops were safely removed and the Russian resistance had become strong. Munitions were pouring into the new Russian army. The news from the battle-front began to show improvement. On September 8th General Brussilov, further in the south, had attacked the Germans in front of Tarnopol, and defeated them with heavy loss. More than seventeen thousand men were captured with much artillery. Soon the news came of other advances. Dubno was retaken and Lutsk.

The end of September saw the German advance definitely checked. The Russian forces were now extended in a line from Riga on the north, along the river Dvina, down to Dvinsk. Then turning to the east along the river, it again turned south and so on down east of the Pripet Marshes, it followed an almost straight line to the southern frontier. Its two strongest points were Riga, on the Gulf of Riga, which lay under the protection of the guns of the fleet, and Dvinsk, through which ran the great Petrograd Railway line. Against these two points von Hindenburg directed his attack. And now, for the first time in many months, he met with complete failure. The German fleet attempted to assist him on the Gulf of Riga, but was defeated by the Russian Baltic fleet with heavy losses. A bombardment turned out a failure and the German armies were compelled to retire.

[Illustration: Map: Riga and Surroundings.]
  THE GERMAN ATTACK ON THE ROAD TO PETROGRAD

A more serious effort was made against Dvinsk but was equally unsuccessful and the German losses were immense. Again and again the attempt was made to cross the Dvina River, but without success; the German invasion was definitely stopped. By the end of October there was complete stagnation in the northern sector of the battle line, and though in November there were a number of battles, nothing happened of great importance.

During the year 1916 the Russian armies seemed to have had a new birth. At last they were supplied with guns and munitions. They waited until they were ready. In March a series of battles was fought in the neighborhood of Lake Narotch, and eight successive attacks were made against the German army, intrenched between Lake Narotch and Lake Vischenebski. The Germans at first were driven back and badly defeated. Later on, however, the Russian artillery was sent to another section, and the Germans were able to recover their position. During June the Russians attacked all along the southern part of their line. In three weeks they had regained a whole province. Lutsk and Dubno had been retaken; two hundred thousand men and hundreds of guns, had been captured, and the Austrian line had been pierced and shattered. Further south the German army had been compelled to retreat and the Russian armies were in Bukovina and Galicia. On the 10th of August Stanislau fell.

By this time two Austrian armies had been shattered, over three hundred and fifty thousand prisoners taken, and nearly a million men put out of action. Germany, however, was sending reinforcements as fast as possible, and putting up a desperate defense. Nevertheless everything was encouraging for Russia and she entered upon the winter in a very different condition from her condition in the previous year. Then she had just ended her great retreat. Now she had behind her a series of successes. But a new difficulty had arisen in the loss of the political harmony at home which had marked the first years of the war. Dark days were ahead.

CHAPTER XXII

HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED

For more than half a century the Balkans have presented a problem which disturbed the minds of the statesmen of Europe. Again and again, during that period, it seemed that in the Balkan mountains might be kindled a blaze which might set the world afire. Balkan politics is a labyrinth in which one might easily be lost. The inhabitants of the Balkans represent many races, each with its own ambition, and, for the most part, military. There were Serbs, and Bulgarians, and Turks, and Roumanians, and Greeks, and their territorial divisions did not correspond to their nationalities. The land was largely mountainous, with great gaps that make it, in a sense, the highway of the world. From 1466 to 1878 the Balkans was in the dominion of the Turks. In the early days while the Turks were warring against Hungary, their armies marched through the Balkan hills. The natives kept apart, and preserved their language, religion and customs.

In the nineteenth century, as the Turks grew weaker, their subject people began to seek independence. Greece came first, and, in 1829, aided by France, Russia and Great Britain, she became an independent kingdom. Serbia revolted in 1804, and by 1820 was an autonomous state, though still tributary to Turkey. In 1859, Roumania became autonomous. The rising of Bulgaria in 1876, however, was really the beginning of the succession of events which ultimately led to the World War of 1914-18. The Bulgarian insurrection was crushed by the Turks in such a way as to stir the indignation of the whole world. What are known as the "Bulgarian Atrocities" seem mild today, but they led to the Russo-Turkish War in 1877.

The treaty of Berlin, by which that war was settled in 1878, was one of those treaties which could only lead to trouble. It deprived Russia of much of the benefit of her victory, and left nearly every racial question unsettled. Roumania lost Bessarabia, which was mainly inhabited by Roumanians. Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed over to the administration of Austria. Turkey was allowed to retain Macedonia, Albania and Thrace. Serbia was given Nish, but had no outlet to the sea. Greece obtained Thessaly, and a new province was made of the country south of the Balkans called Eastern Rumelia. From that time on, quarrel after quarrel made up the history of the Balkan peoples, each of whom sought the assistance and support of some one of the great powers. Russia and Austria were constantly intriguing with the new states, in the hope of extending their own domains in the direction of Constantinople.

The history of Bulgaria shows that that nation has been continually the center of these intrigues. In 1879 they elected as their sovereign Prince Alexander of Battenburg, whose career might almost be called romantic. A splendid soldier and an accomplished gentleman, he stands out as an interesting figure in the sordid politics of the Balkans. He identified himself with his new country. In 1885 he brought about a union with Eastern Rumelia, which led to a disagreement with Russia.

Serbia, doubtless at Russian instigation, suddenly declared war, but was overwhelmed by Prince Alexander in short order. Russia then abducted Prince Alexander, but later was forced to restore him. However, Russian intrigues, and his failure to obtain support from one of the great powers, forced his abdication in 1886.

In 1887 Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha became the Prince of Bulgaria. He, also, was a remarkable man, but not the romantic of his predecessor. He seems to have been a sort of a parody of a king. He was fond of ostentation, and full of ambition. He was a personal coward, but extremely cunning. During his long reign he built up Bulgaria into a powerful, independent kingdom, and even assumed the title of Czar of Bulgaria. During the first days of his reign he was kept safely on the throne by his mother, the Princess Clementine, a daughter of Louis Phillippe, who, according to Gladstone, was the cleverest woman in Europe, and for a few years Bulgaria was at peace. In 1908 he declared Bulgaria independent, and its independence was recognized by Turkey on the payment of an indemnity. During this period Russia was the protector of Bulgaria, but the Bulgarian fox was looking also for the aid of Austria. Serbia more and more relied upon Russia.

[Illustration: Painting]
  Official Canadian War Records.
  "TIME'S UP! OVER YOU GO!"
  The word comes from the officer, watch in hand, "Time's up! Over you
  go!" and instantly the men from the Dominion begin to climb out of the
  trench. The picture shows the departure of the first of the three or
  more lines or "waves" that moves forward over "No Man's Land" against
  the enemy trenches.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Photo by International Film Service.
  TRANSPORTING WOUNDED AMID THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE ITALIAN MOUNTAIN FRONT
  The isolated mountain positions were only accessible to the bases of
  operations by these aerial cable cars. This picture, taken during the
  Austrian retreat, shows a wounded soldier being taken down the
  mountain by this means.

[Illustration: Photograph: Soldier working on a telephone connection.]
  Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.
  British Official Photo
  THE NERVE-SYSTEM OF THE FIGHTING ARMIES
  What the nerves are to the human body the signal system was to the
  armies, transmitting warnings of danger from the outposts to a central
  brain, and flashing back the thing to be done to meet it.

The Austrian treatment of the Slavs was a source of constant irritation to Serbia. Roumania had a divided feeling. Her loss of Bessarabia to Russia had caused ill feeling, but in Austria's province of Transylvania there were millions of Roumanians, whom Roumania desired to bring under her rule. Greece was fearful of Russia, because of Russia's desire for the control of Constantinople. All of these nations, too, were deeply conscious of the Austro-German ambitions for extension of their power through to the East. Each of these principalities was also jealous of the other. Bulgaria and Serbia had been at war; many Bulgarians were in the Roumanian territory, many Serbians, Bulgarians and Greeks in Macedonia. There was only one tie in common, that was their hatred of Turkey. In 1912 a league was formed, under the direction of the Greek statesman, Venizelos, having for its object an attack on Turkey. By secret treaties arrangements were made for the division of the land, which they hoped to obtain from Turkey.

War was declared, and Turkey was decisively defeated, and then the trouble began. Serbia and Bulgaria had been particularly anxious for an outlet to the sea, and in the treaty between them it had been arranged that Serbia should have an outlet on the Adriatic, while Bulgaria was to obtain an outlet on the AEgean. The Triple Alliance positively refused Serbia its share of the Adriatic coast. Serbia insisted, therefore, on a revision of the treaty, which would enable her to have a seaport on the AEgean.

An attempt was made to settle the question by arbitration, but King Ferdinand refused, whereupon, in July, 1913, the Second Balkan War began. Bulgaria was attacked by Greece and Serbia, and Turkey took a chance and regained Adrianople, and even Roumania, which had been neutral in the First Baltic War, mobilized her armies and marched toward Sofia. Bulgaria surrendered, and on the 10th of August the Treaty of Bucharest was signed by the Balkan States.

As a result of this Bulgaria was left in a thoroughly dissatisfied state of mind. She had been the leader in the war against Turkey, she had suffered heavy losses, and she had gained almost nothing. Moreover she had lost to Roumania, a territory containing a quarter of a million Bulgarians, and a splendid harbor on the Black Sea. Serbia and Greece were the big winners. Such a treaty could not be a final settlement. The Balkans were left seething with unrest. Serbia, though she had gained much, was still dissatisfied. Her ambitions, however, now turned in the direction of the Jugoslavs under the rule of Austria, and it was her agitation in this matter which directly brought on the Great War. But Bulgaria was sullen and ready for revenge. When the Great War began, therefore, Roumania, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece were strongly in sympathy with Russia, who had been their backer and friend. Bulgaria, in spite of all she owed to Russia in the early days, was now ready to find protection from an alliance with the Central Powers. Her feeling was well known to the Allies, and every effort was made to obtain her friendship and, if possible, her aid.

Viviani, then Premier of France, in an address before the French Chamber of
Deputies, said:

The Balkan question was raised at the outset of the war, even before it came to the attention of the world. The Bucharest Treaty had left in Bulgaria profound heartburnings. Neither King nor people were resigned to the loss of the fruits of their efforts and sacrifices, and to the consequences of the unjustifiable war they had waged upon their former allies. From the first day, the Allied governments took into account the dangers of such a situation, and sought a means to remedy it. Their policy has proceeded in a spirit of justice and generosity which has characterized the attitude of Great Britain, Russia and Italy as well as France. We have attempted to re-establish the union of the Baltic peoples, and in accord with them seek the realization of their principal national aspirations. The equilibrium thus obtained by mutual sacrifices really made by each would have been the best guarantee of future peace. Despite constant efforts in which Roumania, Greece and Serbia lent their assistance, we have been unable to obtain the sincere collaboration of the Bulgarian Government. The difficulties respecting the negotiations were always at Sofia.

At the beginning of the war it appears, therefore, that Bulgaria was entering into negotiations with the Allies, hoping to regain in this way, some of the territory she had lost in the Second Baltic War. Many of her leading statesmen and most distinguished generals favored the cause of Russia, but in May came the great German advance in Galicia, and the Allies' stalemate in the Dardanelles, and the king, and his supporters, found the way clear for a movement in favor of Germany. Still protesting neutrality they signed a secret treaty with Berlin, Vienna and Constantinople on July 17th. The Central Powers had promised them not only what they had been asking, in Macedonia, but also the Greek territory of Epirus. This treaty was concealed from those Bulgarian leaders who still held to Russia, and on the 5th of October Bulgaria formally entered into war on the side of Germany, and began an attack on Serbia.

The full account of the intrigue which led to this action has never been told. It is not improbable that King Ferdinand himself never had any other idea than to act as he did, but he dissembled for a long time. He set forth his claims in detail to the Allies, who used every effort to induce Roumania, Greece and Serbia to make the concessions that would be necessary. Such concessions were made, but not until it was too late. In a telegram from Milan dated September 24th, an account is given of an interview between Czar Ferdinand and a committee from those Bulgarians who were opposed to the King's policy.

"Mind your own head. I shall mind mine!" are the words which the King spoke to M. Stambulivski when he received the five opposition members who had come to warn him of the danger to which he was exposing himself and the nation.

The five members were received by the King in the red room at the Royal Palace and chairs had been placed for them around a big table. The King entered the room, accompanied by Prince Boris, the heir apparent, and his secretary, M. Boocovitch.

"Be seated, gentlemen," said the King, as he sat down himself, as if for a very quiet talk. His secretary took a seat at the table, a little apart to take notes, but the conversation immediately became so heated and rapid that he was unable to write it down.

The first to speak was M. Malinoff, leader of the Democratic party, who said: "The policy adopted by the Government is one of adventure, tending to throw Bulgaria into the arms of Germany, and driving her to attack Serbia. This policy is contrary to the aspirations, feeling and interests of the country, and if the Government obstinately continues in this way it will provoke disturbances of the greatest gravity." It was the first allusion to the possibility of a revolution, but the King listened without flinching. M. Malinoff concluded: "For these reasons we beg your Majesty, after having vainly asked the Government, to convoke the Chamber immediately, and we ask this convocation for the precise object of saving the country from dangerous adventures by the formation of a coalition Ministry."

The King remained silent, and, with a nod, invited M. Stambulivski to speak. M. Stambulivski was a leader of the Agrarian party, a man of sturdy, rustic appearance, accustomed to speak out his mind boldly, and exceedingly popular among the peasant population. He grew up himself as a peasant, and wore the laborer's blouse up till very recently. He stood up and looking the King straight in the face said in resolute tones: "In the name of every farmer in Bulgaria I add to what M. Malinoff has just said, that the Bulgarian people hold you personally responsible more than your Government, for the disastrous adventure of 1913. If a similar adventure were to be repeated now its gravity this time would be irreparable. The responsibility would once more fall on your policy, which is contrary to the welfare of our country, and the nation would not hesitate to call you personally to account. That there may be no mistake as to the real wishes of the country I present to your Majesty my country's demand in writing."

He handed the King a letter containing the resolution voted by the Agrarians. The King read it and then turned to M. Zanoff, leader of the Radical Democrats, and asked him to speak. M. Zanoff did so, speaking very slowly and impressively, and also looking the King straight in the face: "Sire, I had sworn never again to set foot inside your palace, and if I come today it is because the interests of my country are above personal questions, and have compelled me. Your Majesty may read what I have to say in this letter, which I submit to you in behalf of our party."

He handed the letter and the King read it and still remained silent. Then he said, turning to his former Prime Minister and ablest politician: "Gueshoff, it is now your turn to speak."

M. Gueshoff got up and said: "I also am fully in accord with what M. Stambulivski has just said. No matter how severe his words may have been in their simple unpolished frankness, which ignores the ordinary formalities of etiquette, they entirely express our unanimous opinion. We all, as representing the opposition, consider the present policy of the Government contrary to the sentiments and interests of the country, because by driving it to make common cause with Germany it makes us the enemies of Russia, which was our deliverer, and the adventure into which we are thus thrown compromises our future. We disapprove most absolutely of such a policy, and we also ask that the Chamber be convoked, and a Ministry formed with the co-operation of all parties."

After M. Gueshoff, the former Premier, M. Daneff also spoke, and associated himself with what had already been said.

The King remained still silent for a while, then he, also, stood up and said: "Gentlemen, I have listened to your threats, and will refer them to the President of the Council of Ministers, that he may know and decide what to do."

All present bowed, and a chilly silence followed. The King had evidently taken the frank warning given him as a threat to him personally, and he walked up and down nervously for a while. Prince Boris turned aside to talk with the Secretary, who had resumed taking notes. The King continued pacing to and fro, evidently very nettled. Then, approaching M. Zanoff, and as if to change the conversation, he asked him for news about this season's harvest.

M. Zanoff abruptly replied: "Your Majesty knows that we have not come here to talk about the harvest, but of something far more important at present, namely, the policy of your Government, which is on the point of ruining our country. We can on no account approve the policy that is anti-Russian. If the Crown and M. Radoslavoff persist in their policy we shall not answer for the consequences. We have not desired to seek out those responsible for the disaster of 1913, because other grave events have been precipitated. But it was a disaster due to criminal folly. It must not be repeated by an attack on Serbia by Bulgaria, as seems contemplated by M. Radoslavoff, and which according to all appearances, has the approval of your Majesty. It would be a premeditated crime, and deserve to be punished."

The King hesitated a moment, and then held out his hand to M. Zanoff, saying: "All right. At all events I thank you for your frankness." Then, approaching M. Stambulivski, he repeated to him his question about the harvest.

M. Stambulivski, as a simple peasant, at first allowed himself to be led into a discussion of this secondary matter, and had expressed the hope that the prohibition on the export of cereals would be removed, when he suddenly remembered, and said:

"But this is not the moment to speak of these things. I again repeat to your Majesty that the country does not want a policy of adventure which cost it so dear in 1913. It was your own policy too. Before 1913 we thought you were a great diplomatist, but since then we have seen what fruits your diplomacy bears. You took advantage of all the loopholes in the Constitution to direct the country according to your own views. Your Ministers are nothing. You alone are the author of this policy and you will have to bear the responsibility."

The King replied frigidly, "The policy which I have decided to follow is that which I consider the best for the welfare of the country."

"It is a policy which will only bring misfortune," replied the sturdy Agrarian. "It will lead to fresh catastrophes, and compromise not only the future of our country, but that of your dynasty, and may cost you your head."

It was as bold a saying as ever was uttered before a King, and Ferdinand looked astonished at the peasant who was thus speaking to him. He said, "Do not mind my head; it is already old. Rather mind your own!" he added with a disdainful smile, and turned away.

M. Stambulivski retorted: "My head matters little, Sire. What matters more is the good of our country."

The King paid no more attention to him, and took M. Gueshoff and M. Danoff apart, who again insisted on convoking the Chamber, and assured him that M. Radoslavoff's government would be in a minority. They also referred to the Premier's oracular utterances.

"Ah!" said the King. "Has Radoslavoff spoken to you, and what has he said?"

"He has said—" replied the leaders, "that Bulgaria would march with
Germany and attack Serbia."

The King made a vague gesture, and then said: "Oh, I did not know."

This incident throws a strong light upon the conflict which was going on in the Balkan states, between those Kings who were of German origin, and who believed in the German power, and their people who loved Russia. King Ferdinand got his warning. He did not listen, and he lost his throne. All this, however, took place before the Bulgarian declaration of war. Yet much had already shown what King Ferdinand was about to do. The Allies, to be sure, were incredulous, and were doing their best to cultivate the good will of the treacherous King, On September 23rd the official order was given for Bulgaria's mobilization. She, however, officially declared that her position was that of armed neutrality and that she had no aggressive intentions. As it has developed, she was acting under the direction of the German High Command.

It was at this period that Germany had failed to crush Russia in the struggle on the Vilna, and, in accordance with her usual strategy when one plan failed, another was undertaken. It seemed to her, therefore, that the punishment of Serbia would make up for other failures, and moreover would enable her to assist Turkey, which needed munitions, besides releasing for Germany supplies of food and other material which might come from Turkey. They therefore entrusted an expedition against Serbia to Field Marshal von Mackensen, and had begun to gather an army for that purpose, north of the Danube.

This army of course was mainly composed of Austrian troops, but was stiffened throughout by some of the best regiments from the German army. To assist this new army they counted upon Bulgaria, with whom they had already a secret treaty, and in spite of the falsehoods issued from Sofia, the Bulgarian mobilization was meant for an attack on Serbia. The condition of affairs was well understood in Russia.

On October 2, 1915, M. Sazonov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement: "The situation in the Balkans is very grave. The whole Russian nation is aroused by the unthinkable treachery of Ferdinand and his Government to the Slavic cause. Bulgaria owes her independence to Russia, and yet seems willing now to become a vassal of Russia's enemies. In her attitude towards Serbia, when Serbia is fighting for her very existence, Bulgaria puts herself in the class with Turkey. We do not believe that the Bulgarian people sympathize with the action of their ruler therefore, the Allies are disposed to give them time for reflection. If they persist in their present treacherous course they must answer to Russia." The next day the following ultimatum from Russia was handed the Bulgarian Prime Minister:

Events which are taking place in Bulgaria at this moment give evidence of the definite decision of King Ferdinand's Government to place the fate of its country in the hands of Germany. The presence of German and Austrian officers at the Ministry of War and on the staffs of the army, the concentration of troops in the zone bordering on Serbia, and the extensive financial support accepted from her enemies by the Sofia Cabinet, no longer leave any doubt as to the object of the present military preparations of Bulgaria. The powers of the Entente, who have at heart the realization of the aspirations of the Bulgarian people, have on many occasions warned M. Radoslavoff that any hostile act against Serbia would be considered as directed against themselves. The assurances given by the head of the Bulgarian Cabinet in reply to these warnings are contradicted by facts. The representative of Russia, bound to Bulgaria by the imperishable memory of her liberation from the Turkish yoke, cannot sanction by his presence preparations for fratricidal aggression against a Slav and allied people. The Russian Minister has, therefore, received orders to leave Bulgaria with all the staffs of the Legation and the Consulates if the Bulgarian Government does not within twenty-four hours openly break with the enemies of the Slav cause and of Russia, and does not at once proceed to send away the officers belonging to the armies of states who are at war with the powers of the Entente.

Similar ultimatums were presented by representatives of France and Great Britain. Bulgaria's reply to these ultimatums was described as bold to the verge of insolence. In substance she denied that German officers were on the staffs of Bulgarian armies, but said that if they were present that fact concerned only Bulgaria, which reserved the right to invite whomsoever she liked. The Bulgarian Government then issued a manifesto to the nation, announcing its decision to enter the war on the side of the Central Powers. The manifesto reads as follows:

The Central Powers have promised us parts of Serbia, creating an Austro-Hungarian border line, which is absolutely necessary for Bulgaria's independence of the Serbians. We do not believe in the promises of the Quadruple Entente. Italy, one of the Allies, treacherously broke her treaty of thirty-three years. We believe in Germany, which is fighting the whole world to fulfill her treaty with Austria. Bulgaria must fight at the victor's side. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians are victorious on all fronts. Russia soon will have collapsed entirely. Then will come the turn of France, Italy and Serbia. Bulgaria would commit suicide if she did not fight on the side of the Central Powers, which offer the only possibility of realizing her desire for a union of all Bulgarian peoples.

The manifesto also stated that Russia was fighting for Constantinople and the Dardanelles; Great Britain to destroy Germany's competition; France for Alsace and Lorraine, and the other allies to rob foreign countries; the Central Powers were declared to be fighting to defend property and assure peaceful progress. The manifesto filled seven columns in the newspapers, and discussed at some length Bulgaria's trade interests. It attacked Serbia most bitterly, declaring that Serbia had oppressed the Bulgarian population of Macedonia in a most barbarous manner; that she had attacked Bulgarian territory and that the Bulgarian troops had been forced to fight for the defense of their own soil. In fact it was written in quite the usual German manner.

Long before this M. Venizelos, the Greek Premier, had perceived what was coming. Greece was bound by treaty to assist Serbia if she were attacked by Bulgaria. On September 21st, Venizelos asked France and Britain for a hundred and fifty thousand troops. On the 24th, the Allies agreed to this and Greece at once began to mobilize. His policy was received with great enthusiasm in the Greek Chamber, and former Premier Gounaris, amid applause, expressed his support of the government.

On October 6th an announcement from Athens stated that Premier Venizelos had resigned, the King having informed him that he was unable to support the policy of his Minister. King Constantine was a brother-in-law of the German Emperor, and although professing neutrality he had steadily opposed M. Venizelos' policy. He had once before forced M. Venizelos' resignation, but at the general elections which followed, the Greek statesman was returned to power by a decisive majority.

Intense indignation was caused by the King's action, though the King was able to procure the support of a considerable party. Venizelos' resignation was precipitated by the landing of the Allied troops in Saloniki. They had come at the invitation of Venizelos, but the opposition protested against the occupation of Greek territory by foreign troops. After a disorderly session in which Venizelos explained to the Chamber of Deputies the circumstances connected with the landing, the Chamber passed a vote of confidence in the Government by 142 to 102. The substance of his argument may be found in his conclusion:

"We have a treaty with Serbia. If we are honest we will leave nothing undone to insure its fulfillment in letter and spirit. Only if we are rogues may we find excuses to avoid our obligations."

[Illustration: Map]
  TWELVE MILES EAST OF MONASTIR BEGAN THE GREAT ALLIED
  OFFENSIVE THAT DEFEATED BULGARIA IN SEPTEMBER, 1918

Upon his first resignation M. Zaimis was appointed Premier, and declared for a policy of armed neutrality. This position was sharply criticised by Venizelos, but for a time became the policy of the Greek Government. Meantime the Allied troops were arriving at Saloniki. On October 3d, seventy thousand French troops arrived. A formal protest was made by the Greek commandant, who then directed the harbor officials to assist in arranging the landing. In a short time the Allied forces amounted to a hundred and fifty thousand men, but the German campaign was moving rapidly.

The German Balkan army captured Belgrade on the 9th of October, and by that date two Bulgarian armies were on the Serbian frontier. Serbia found herself opposed by two hundred thousand Austro-Germans and a quarter of a million Bulgarians. Greece and Roumania fully mobilized and were watching the conflict, and the small allied contingent at Saloniki was preparing to march inland to the aid of Serbia.

The conduct of Greece on this occasion has led to universal criticism. The King himself, no doubt, was mainly moved by his German wife and the influence of his Imperial brother-in-law. Those that were associated with him were probably moved by fear. They had been much impressed by the strength of the German armies. They had seen the success of the great German offensive in Russia, while the French and British were being held in the West. They knew, too, the strength of Bulgaria. The national characteristic of the Greeks is prudence, and it cannot be denied that there was great reason to suppose that the armies of Greece would not be able to resist the new attack. With these views Venizelos, the greatest statesman that Greece had produced for many years, did not agree, and the election seemed to show that he was supported by the majority of the Greek people.

This was another case where the Allies, faced by a dangerous situation, were acting with too great caution. In Gallipoli they had failed, because at the very beginning they had not used their full strength. Now, again, knowing as they did all that depended upon it, bound as they were to the most loyal support of Serbia, the aid they sent was too small to be more than a drop in the bucket. It must be remembered, however, that the greatest leaders among the Allies were at all times opposed to in any way scattering their strength. They believed that the war was to be won in France. Military leaders in particular yielded under protest to the political leaders when expeditions of this character were undertaken.

Certainly this is true, that the world believed that Serbia had a right to Allied assistance. The gallant little nation was fighting for her life, and public honor demanded that she should be aided. It was this strong feeling that led to the action that was taken, in spite of the military opinions. It was, however, too late.

In the second week of October Serbia found herself faced by an enemy which was attacking her on three sides. She herself had been greatly weakened. Her losses in 1914, when she had driven Austria from her border, must have been at least two hundred thousand men. She had suffered from pestilence and famine. Her strength now could not have been more than two hundred thousand, and though she was fairly well supplied with munitions, she was so much outnumbered that she could hardly hope for success. On her west she was facing the Austro-German armies; on her east Bulgaria; on the south Albania. Her source of supplies was Saloniki and this was really her only hope. If the Allies at Saloniki could stop the Bulgarian movement, the Serbians might face again the Austro-Germans. They expected this help from the Allies.

At Nish the town was decorated and the school children waited outside the station with bouquets to present to the coming reinforcements. But the Allies did not come.

Von Mackensen's plan was simple enough. His object was to win a way to Constantinople. This could be done either by the control of the Danube or the Ottoman Railroad. To control the Danube he had to seize northeastern Serbia for the length of the river. This was comparatively easy and would give him a clear water way to the Bulgarian railways connected with Constantinople. The Ottoman railway was a harder route to win. It meant an advance to the southeast, which would clear the Moravo valley up to Nish, and then the Nishava valley up to Bulgaria. The movements involved were somewhat complex, but easily carried out on account of the very great numerical superiority of von Mackensen's forces.

On September 19th Belgrade was bombarded. The Serbian positions were gradually destroyed. On the 7th of October the German armies crossed the Danube, and on the 8th the Serbians began to retreat. There was great destruction in Belgrade and the Bulgarian General, Mishitch, was forced slowly back to the foothills of the Tser range.

For a time von Mackensen moved slowly. He did not wish to drive the Serbians too far south. On the 12th of October the Bulgarian army began its attack. At first it was held, but by October 17th was pushing forward all along the line. On the 20th they entered Uskub, a central point of all the routes of southern Serbia. This practically separated the Allied forces at Saloniki from the Serbian armies further north. Disaster followed disaster. On Tuesday, October 26th, a junction of Bulgarian and Austro-German patrols was completed in the Dobravodo mountains. General von Gallwitz announced that a moment of world significance had come, that the "Orient and Occident had been united, and on the basis of this firm and indissoluble union a new and mighty vierbund comes into being, created by the victory of our arms."

[Illustration: Map: Proposed railroad through Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Balkans, Turkey, to Bagdad and the Persian Gulf.] GERMANY'S DREAM: "THE BREMEN-BERLIN-BOSPORUS-BAGDAD-BAHN"

The road from Germany, through Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria to Turkey lay open. On October 31st, Milanovac was lost, and on November 2nd, Kraguyevac surrendered, the decisive battle of the war. On November 7th, Nish was captured. General Jecoff announced: "After fierce and sanguinary fighting the fortress of Nish has been conquered by our brave victorious troops and the Bulgarian flag has been hoisted to remain forever."

The Serbian army continued steadily to retreat, until on November 8th, advancing Franco-British troops almost joined with them, presenting a line from Prilep to Dorolovo on the Bulgarian frontier. At this time the Bulgarian army suffered a defeat at Izvor, and also at Strumitza. The Allied armies were now reported to number three hundred thousand men. The Austro-Germans by this time had reached the mountainous region of Serbia, and were meeting with strong resistance.

On November 13th, German despatches from the front claimed the capture of 54,000 Serbian prisoners. The aged King Peter of Serbia was in full flight, followed by the Crown Prince. The Serbians, however, were still fighting and on November 15th, made a stand on the western bank of the Morava River, and recaptured the town of Tatova.

At this time the Allied world was watching the Serbian struggle with interest and sympathy. In the House of Lords, Lord Lansdowne in a discussion of the English effort to give them aid said: "It is impossible to think or speak of Serbia without a tribute to the wondrous gallantry with which that little country withstood two separate invasions, and has lately been struggling against a third. She repelled the first two invasions by an effort which I venture to think formed one of the most glorious chapters in the history of this Great War."

Serbia, however, was compelled once more to retreat, and their retreat soon became a rout. Their guns were abandoned and the roads were strewn with fainting, starving men. The sufferings of the Serbian people during this time are indescribable. Men, women, and children struggled along in the wake of the armies without food or shelter. King Peter himself was able to escape, with the greatest difficulty. By traveling on horseback and mule back in disguise he finally reached Scutari and crossed to Brindisi and finally arrived at Saloniki on New Year's Day, crippled and almost blind, but still full of fight.

"I believe," he said, "in the liberty of Serbia, as I believe in God. It was the dream of my youth. It was for that I fought throughout manhood. It has become the faith of the twilight of my life, I live only to see Serbia free. I pray that God may let me live until the day of redemption of my people. On that day I am ready to die, if the Lord wills. I have struggled a great deal in my life, and am tired, bruised and broken from it, but I will see, I shall see, this triumph. I shall not die before the victory of my country."

The Serbian army had been driven out of Serbia. But the Allies who had come up from Saloniki were still unbeaten. On October 12th, the French General Serrail arrived and moved with the French forces, as has already been said, to the Serbian aid. They met with a number of successes. On October 19th they seized the Bulgarian town of Struminitza, and occupied strong positions on the left bank of the Vardar. On October 27th they occupied Krivolak, with the British Tenth Division, which had joined them on their right. They then occupied the summit of Karahodjali, which commanded the whole section of the valley. This the Bulgarians attacked in force on the 5th of November, but were badly repulsed. They then attempted to move toward Babuna Pass, twenty-five miles west of Krivolak, where they hoped to join hands with the Serbian column at that point.

They were being faced by a Bulgarian army numbering one hundred and twenty-five thousand men, and found themselves in serious danger. They were compelled to fall back into what is called the "Entrenched Camp of Kavodar" without bringing the aid to the Serbian army that they had hoped. The Allied expedition to aid Serbia had failed. It was hopeless from the start, and, if anything, had injured Serbia by raising false expectations which had interfered with their plans.

During the whole of this disastrous campaign a desperate political struggle was going on in Greece. On November 3rd, the Zaimis Cabinet tendered its resignation to King Constantine. The trouble was over a bill for extra pay to army officers, but it led to an elaborate discussion of the Greek war policy. M. Venizelos made two long speeches defending his policy, and condemning the policy of his opponents in regard to the Balkan situation. He said that he deplored the fact that Serbia was being left to be crushed by Bulgaria, Greece's hereditary enemy, who would not scruple later to fall on Greece herself. He spoke of the King in a friendly way, criticizing, however, his position. He had been twice removed from the Premiership, although he had a majority behind him in the Greek Chamber.

"Our State," he said, "is a democracy, presided over by the King, and the whole responsibility rests with the Cabinet. I admit that the Crown has a right to disagree with the responsible Government if he thinks the latter is not in agreement with the national will. But after the recent election, non-agreement is out of the question, and now the Crown has not the right to disagree again on the same question. It is not a question of patriotism but of constitutional liberty."

When the vote was taken the Government was defeated by 147 to 114. Instead of appointing Venizelos Premier, King Constantine gave the position to M. Skouloudis, and then dissolved the Greek Chamber by royal decree. Premier Skouloudis declared his policy to be neutrality with the character of sincerest benevolence toward the Entente Powers. The general conditions at Athens during this whole time were causing great anxiety in the Allied capitals, and the Allied expedition were in continual fear of an attack in the rear in case of reverse. They endeavored to obtain satisfactory assurances on this point, and while assurances were given, during the whole period of King Constantine's reign aggressive action was prevented because of the doubt as to what course King Constantine would take.

It was not till August 27th, 1916, that Roumania cast aside her role of neutral and entered the war with a declaration of hostilities on Austria-Hungary. Great expectations were founded upon the supposedly well-trained Roumanian army and upon the nation which, because of its alertness and discipline, was known as "the policeman of Europe." The belief was general in Paris and London that the weight of men and material thrown into the scale by Roumania would bring the to a speedy, victorious end.

Germany, however, was confident. A spy system excelling in its detailed reports anything that had heretofore been attempted, made smooth the path of the German army. Scarcely had the Roumanian army launched a drive in force into Transylvania on August 30th, when the message spread from Bucharest "von Mackensen is coming. Recall the army. Draft all males of military age. Prepare for the worst."

And the worst fell upon hapless Roumania. A vast force of military engineers moving like a human screen in front of von Mackensen's array, followed routes carefully mapped out by German spies during the period of Roumanians neutrality. Military bridges, measured to the inch, had been prepared to carry cannon, material and men over streams and ravines. Every Roumanian oil well, mine and storehouse had been located and mapped. German scientists had studied Roumanian weather conditions and von Mackensen attacked while the roads were at their best and the weather most favorable. As the Germans swept forward, spies met them giving them military information of the utmost value. A swarm of airplanes spied out the movements of the Roumanians and no Roumanian airplanes rose to meet them.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  THE USEFUL ROLE OF THE CARRIER PIGEON AT THE FRONT
  No one would think of giving a Distinguished Service Medal to a
  pigeon, but some of them performed service under fire that would have
  entitled a soldier to it. Here American officers heading a division
  are attaching a message to a pigeon in front of the headquarters
  dugout.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  BAGDAD THE MAGNIFICENT FALLS TO THE BRITISH
  General Maude is here shown making his formal entry at the head of his
  troops into the ancient city. This occurred on March 11, 1917, and was
  the most notable exploit of General Maude, commander of the British
  Mesopotamian expedition until his death by cholera nine months
  afterwards.

General von Falkenhayn, co-operating with von Mackensen, smashed his way through Vulkan Pass, and cut the main line running to Bucharest at Craiova. The Dobrudja region was over-run and the central Roumanian plain was swept clear of all Roumanian opposition to the German advance. The seat of government transferred from Bucharest to Jassy on November 28, 1916, and on December 6th Bucharest was entered by von Mackensen, definitely putting an end to Roumania as a factor in the war.

The result of the fall of Roumania was to release immense stores of petroleum for German use. British and Roumanian engineers had done their utmost by the use of explosives to make useless the great Roumanian oil wells, but German engineers soon had the precious fluid in full flow. This furnished the fuel which Germany had long and ardently desired. The oil-burning submarine now came into its own. It was possible to plan a great fleet of submersibles to attempt execution of von Tirpitz's plan for unrestricted submarine warfare. This was decided upon by the German High Command, the day Bucharest fell. It was realized that such a policy would bring the United States into the war, but the Kaiser and his advisers hoped the submarine on sea and a great western front offensive on land would force a decision in favor of Germany before America could get ready. How that hope failed was revealed at Chateau-Thierry and in the humiliation of Germany.

CHAPTER VII

THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA

In our previous discussion of the British campaign in Mesopotamia we left the British forces intrenched at Kurna, and also occupying Basra, the port of Bagdad. The object of the Mesopotamia Expedition was primarily to keep the enemy from the shores of the Gulf of Persia. If the English had been satisfied with that, the misfortune which was to come to them might never have occurred, but the whole expedition was essentially political rather than military in its nature.

The British were defending India. The Germans, unable to attack the British Empire by sea, were hoping to attack her by land. They had already attempted to stir up a Holy War with the full expectation that it would lead to an Indian revolution. In this they had failed, for the millions of Mohammedans in India cared little for the Turkish Sultan or his proclamations. Through Bagdad, however, they hoped to strike a blow at the English influence on the Persian Gulf. The English, therefore, felt strongly that it was not enough to sit safely astride the Tigris, but that a blow at Bagdad would produce a tremendous political effect. It would practically prevent German communication with Persia, and the Indian frontier.

As a matter of fact the Persian Gulf and the oil fields were safe so long as the English held Kurna and Basra, and the Arabs were of no special consequence. The real reason for the expedition was probably that about this time matters were moving badly for the Allies. Serbia was in trouble in the Balkans, Gallipoli was a failure, something it seemed ought to be done to restore the British prestige. Up to this time the Mesopotamia Expedition had been a great success, but it had made no great impression on the world. The little villages in the hands of the British had unknown names, but if Bagdad should be captured Great Britain would have something to boast of; something would keep up its prestige among its Mohammedan subjects.

Before the expedition to Bagdad was determined on, there had been several lively fights between the English forces and the Turks. On March 3d a Turkish force numbering about twelve thousand appeared at Ahwaz where the British had placed a small garrison to protect the pipe line of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The British retirement led to heavy fighting, with severe losses.

A number of lively skirmishes followed, and then the serious attack against Shaiba. The Turkish army numbered about eighteen thousand men, of whom eleven thousand were regulars. The fighting lasted for several days, the Turks being reinforced. On the 14th of April, however, the English attacked in turn and put the whole enemy force to flight. The British lost about seven hundred officers and men, reported a Turkish loss of about six thousand. In their retreat the Turks were attacked by their Arab allies, and suffered additional losses. From that time till summer there were no serious contests, although there were occasional skirmishes which turned out favorably to the British.

By this time the Turks had collected a considerable army north of Kurna, and on May 31st an expedition was made to disperse it. On June 3d the British captured Amara, seventy-five miles above Kurna, scattering the Turkish army. Early in July a similar expedition was sent against Nasiriyeh, which led to serious fighting, the Turks being badly defeated with a loss of over two thousand five hundred men.

Kut-el-Amara still remained, and early in August an expedition was directed against that point. The Turks were found in great force, well intrenched, and directed by German officers. The battle lasted for four days. The English suffered great hardship on account of the scarcity of water and the blinding heat, but on September 29th they drove the enemy from the city and took possession. More than two thousand prisoners were taken. The town was found thoroughly fortified, with an elaborate system of trenches extending for miles, built in the true German fashion. Its capture was the end of the summer campaign.

The British now had at last made up their minds to push on to Bagdad. General Townshend, whose work so far had been admirable, protested, but Sir John Nixon, and the Indian military authorities, were strongly in favor of the expedition. By October, Turkey was able to gather a large army. She was fighting in Transcaucasia, Egypt, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia. Little was going on in the first three of these fronts, and she was able therefore to send to Mesopotamia almost a quarter of a million men.

[Illustration: Map: Bagdad in the Northwest corner, Basra in the Southeast
corner.]
  THE MESOPOTAMIAN SECTOR, WHERE THE BRITISH ROUTED THE TURKISH ARMY
  Kut-el-Amara first besieged and captured by the Turks, was retaken by
  General Maude on February 26,1917; Bagdad the Magnificent felt on
  March 11th. It was here that General Maude, the hero of Mesopotamia,
  died on November 18, 1917.

To meet these, General Townshend had barely fifteen thousand men, of whom only one-third were white soldiers. He was backed by a flotilla of boats of almost every kind,—river boats, motor launches, paddle steamers, native punts. The British army was almost worn out by the fighting during the intense heat of the previous summer. But their success had given them confidence.

In the early days of October the advance began. For some days it proceeded with no serious fighting. On the 23d of October it reached Azizie, and was halted by a Turkish force numbering about four thousand. These were soon routed, and the advance continued until General Townshend arrived at Lajj, about seven miles from Ctesiphon, where the Turks were found heavily intrenched and in great numbers. Ctesiphon was a famous old city which had been the battle ground of Romans and Parthians, but was now mainly ruins. In these ruins, however, the Turks found admirable shelter for nests of machine guns. On the 21st of November General Townshend made his attack.

[Illustration: Map]
  Map of Gen. Townshend's Lines of Attack on Kut-El-Amara

The Turks occupied two lines of intrenchments, and had about twenty thousand men, the English about twelve thousand. General Townshend's plan was to divide his army into three columns. The first was to attack the center of the first Turkish position. A second was directed at the left of that position, and a third was to swing widely around and come in on the rear of the Turkish force. This plan was entirely successful, but the Turkish army was not routed, and retreated fighting desperately to its second line. There it was reinforced and counter-attacked with such vigor that it drove the British back to its old first trenches. The next day the Turks were further reinforced and attacked again. The British drove them back over and over, but found themselves unable to advance. The Turks had lost enormously but the English had lost about one-third of their strength, and were compelled to fall back. They therefore returned on the 26th to Lajj, and ultimately, after continual rear guard actions, to Kut. There they found themselves surrounded, and there was nothing to do but to wait for help.

By this time the eyes of the world were upon the beleaguered British army. Help was being hurried to them from India, but Germany also was awake and Marshal von Der Goltz, who had been military instructor in the Turkish army, was sent down to take command of the Turkish forces. The town of Kut lies in the loop of the Tigris, making it almost an island. There was an intrenched line across the neck of land on the north, and the place could resist any ordinary assault. The great difficulty was one of supplies. However, as the relieving force was on the way, no great anxiety was felt. For some days there was constant bombardment, which did no great damage. On the 23d an attempt was made to carry the place by assault, but this too failed. The relieving force, however, was having its troubles. These were the days of floods, and progress was slow and at times almost impossible. Moreover, the Turks were constantly resisting.

The relief expedition was composed of thirty thousand Indian troops, two Anglo-Indian divisions, and the remnants of Townshend's expedition, a total of about ninety thousand men. General Sir Percy Lake was in command of the entire force. The march began on January 6th. By January 8th the British had reached Sheikh Saad, where the Turks were defeated in two pitched battles. On January 22d he had arrived at Umm-el-Hanna, where the Turks had intrenched themselves.

After artillery bombardment the Turkish positions were attacked, but heavy rains had converted the ground into a sea of mud, rendering rapid movement impossible. The enemy's fire was heavy and effective, inflicting severe losses, and though every effort was made, the assault failed.

For weeks the British troops bivouacked in driving rain on soaked and sodden ground. Three times they were called upon to advance over a perfectly flat country, deep in mud, and absolutely devoid of cover against well-constructed and well-planned trenches, manned by a brave and stubborn enemy, approximately their equal in numbers. They showed a spirit of endurance and self-sacrifice of which their country may well be proud.

But the repulse at Hanna did not discourage the British army. It was decided to move up the left bank of the Tigris and attack the Turkish position at the Dujailah redoubt. This meant a night march across the desert with great danger that there would be no water supply and that, unless the enemy was routed, the army would be in great danger.

General Lake says: "On the afternoon of March 7th, General Aylmer assembled his subordinate commanders and gave his final instructions, laying particular stress on the fact that the operation was designed to effect a surprise, and that to prevent the enemy forestalling us, it was essential that the first phase of the operation should be pushed through with the utmost vigor. His dispositions were, briefly, as follows: The greater part of a division under General Younghusband, assisted by naval gunboats, controlled the enemy on the left bank. The remaining troops were formed into two columns, under General Kemball and General Keary respectively, a reserve of infantry, and the cavalry brigade, being held at the Corps Commander's own disposal. Kemball's column covered on the outer flank by the cavalry brigade was to make a turning movement to attack the Dujailah redoubt from the south, supported by the remainder of the force, operating from a position to the east of the redoubt. The night march by this large force, which led across the enemy's front to a position on his right flank, was a difficult operation, entailing movement over unknown ground, and requiring most careful arrangement to attain success."

Thanks to excellent staff work and good march discipline the troops reached their allotted position apparently undiscovered by the enemy, but while Keary's column was in position at daybreak, ready to support Kemball's attack, the latter's command did not reach the point selected for its deployment in the Dujailah depression until more than an hour later. This delay was highly prejudicial to the success of the operation.

When, nearly three hours later, Kemball's troops advanced to the attack, they were strongly opposed by the enemy from trenches cleverly concealed in the brushwood, and were unable to make further ground for some time, though assisted by Keary's attack upon the redoubt from the east. The southern attack was now reinforced, and by 1 P.M. had pushed forward to within five hundred yards of the redoubt, but concealed trenches again stopped further progress and the Turks made several counter-attacks with reinforcements which had by now arrived from the direction of Magasis.

It was about this time that the Corps Commander received from his engineer officers the unwelcome news that the water supply contained in rain-water pools and in Dujailah depression, upon which he had reckoned, was insufficient and could not be increased by digging. It was clear, therefore, that unless the Dujailah redoubt could be carried that day the scarcity of water would, of itself, compel the troops to fall back. Preparations were accordingly made for a further assault on the redoubt, and attacks were launched from the south and east under cover of a heavy bombardment.

The attacking forces succeeded in gaining a foothold in the redoubt. But here they were heavily counter-attacked by large enemy reinforcements, and being subjected to an extremely rapid and accurate shrapnel fire from concealed guns in the vicinity of Sinn After, they were forced to fall back to the position from which they started. The troops who had been under arms for some thirty hours, including a long night march, were now much exhausted, and General Aylmer considered that a renewal of the assault during the night could not be made with any prospect of success. Next morning the enemy's position was found to be unchanged and General Aylmer, finding himself faced with the deficiency of order already referred to, decided upon the immediate withdrawal of his troops to Wadi, which was reached the same night.

For the next month the English were held in their positions by the Tigris floods. On April 4th the floods had sufficiently receded to permit of another attack upon Umm-el-Hanna, which this time was successful. On April 8th the Turkish position at Sanna-i-yat was attacked, but the English were repulsed. They then determined to make another attempt to capture the Sinn After redoubt. On April 17th the fort of Beit-Aiessa, four miles from Es Sinn, on the left bank, was captured after heavy bombardment, and held against serious counter-attacks. On the 20th and 21st the Sanna-i-yat position was bombarded and a vigorous assault was made, which met with some success. The Turks, however, delivered a strong counter-attack, and succeeded in forcing the British troops back.

General Lake says: "Persistent and repeated attempts on both banks have thus failed, and it was known that at the outside not more than six days' supplies remained to the Kut garrison. The British troops were nearly worn out. The same troops had advanced time and again to assault positions strong by art and held by a determined enemy. For eighteen consecutive days they had done all that men could do to overcome, not only the enemy, but also exceptional climatic and physical obstacles, and this on a scale of rations which was far from being sufficient in view of the exertions they had undergone but which the shortage of river transports, had made it impossible to augment. The need for rest was imperative."

On April 28th the British garrison at Kut-el-Amara surrendered unconditionally, after a heroic resistance of a hundred and forty-three days. According to British figures the surrendered army was composed of 2,970 English and 6,000 Indian troops. The Turkish figures are 13,300. The Turks also captured a large amount of booty, although General Townshend destroyed most of his guns and munitions.

During the period in which Kut-el-Amara was besieged by the Turks, the British troops had suffered much. The enemy bombarded the town almost every day, but did little damage. The real foe was starvation. At first the British were confident that a relief expedition would soon reach them, and they amused themselves by cricket and hockey and fishing in the river. By early February, however, it was found necessary to reduce the rations, and a month later they were suffering from hunger. Some little help was given them by airplanes, which brought tobacco and some small quantities of supplies. Soon the horses and the mules were slaughtered and eaten. As time went on the situation grew desperate; till almost the end, however, they did not lose hope. Through the wireless they were informed about the progress of the relief expeditions and had even heard their guns in the distance. They gradually grew, however, weaker and weaker, so that on the surrender the troops in the first lines were too weak to march back with their kits.

The Turks treated the prisoners in a chivalric manner; food and tobacco was at once distributed, and all were interned in Anatolia, except General Townshend and his staff, who were taken to Constantinople. Later on it was General Townshend who was to have the honor of carrying the Turkish plea for an armistice in the closing days of the war.

The surrender of Kut created a world-wide sensation. The loss of eight thousand troops was, of course, not a serious matter, and the road to India was still barred, but the moral effect was most unfortunate. That the great British nation, whose power had been so respected in the Orient, should now be forced to yield, was a great blow to its prestige. In England, of course, there was a flood of criticism. It was very plain that a mistake had been made. A commission was appointed to inquire into the whole business. This committee reported to Parliament on June 26, 1917, and the report created a great sensation. The substance of the report was, that while the expedition was justifiable from a political point of view, it was undertaken with insufficient forces and inadequate preparation, and it sharply criticized those that were responsible.

It seems plain that the military authorities in India under-estimated their opponent. The report especially criticized General Sir John Eccles Nixon, the former commander of the British forces in Mesopotamia, who had urged the expedition, in spite of the objection of General Townshend. Others sharing the blame were the Viceroy of India, Baron Hardinge, General Sir Beauchamp Duff, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in India, and, in England, Major-General Sir Edmund Barrow, Military Secretary of the India office, J. Austen Chamberlain, Secretary for India, and the War Committee of the Cabinet. According to the report, beside the losses incurred by the surrender more than twenty-three thousand men were lost in the relieving expedition. The general armament and equipment were declared to be not only insufficient, but not up to the standard.

In consequence of this report Mr. Chamberlain resigned as secretary for India. In the House of Commons, Mr. Balfour, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, supported Lord Hardinge, who, at the time of the report, was Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He declared the criticism of Baron Hardinge to be grossly unjust. After some discussion the House of Commons supported Mr. Balfour's refusal to accept Baron Hardinge's resignation, by a vote of 176 to 81. It seems to be agreed that the civil administration of India were not responsible for the blunders of the expedition. Ten years before, Lord Kitchener, after a bitter controversy with Lord Curzon, had made the military side of the Indian Government free of all civilian criticism and control. The blunders here were military blunders.

The English, of course, were not satisfied to leave the situation in such a condition, and at once began their plans for a new attempt to capture Bagdad. The summer campaign, however, was uneventful, though on May 18th a band of Cossacks from the Russian armies in Persia joined the British camp. A few days afterwards the British army went up the Tigris and captured the Dujailah redoubt, where they had been so badly defeated on the 8th of March. They then approached close to Kut, but the weather was unsuitable, and there was now no object in capturing the city.

In August Sir Percy Lake was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude, who carefully and thoroughly proceeded to prepare for an expedition which should capture Bagdad. A dispatch from General Maude dated July 10, 1917, gives a full account of this expedition. It was thoroughly successful. This time with a sufficient army and a thorough equipment the British found no difficulties, and on February 26th they captured Kut-el-Amara, not after a hard-fought battle, but as the result of a successful series of small engagements. The Turks kept up a steady resistance, but the British blood was up. They were remembering General Townshend's surrender, and the Turks were driven before them in great confusion.

The capture of Kut, however, was not an object in itself, and the British pushed steadily on up the Tigris. The Turks occasionally made a stand, but without effect. On the 28th of February the English had arrived at Azizie, half way to Bagdad, where a halt was made. On the 5th of March the advance was renewed. The Ctesiphon position, which had defied General Townshend, was found to be strongly intrenched, but empty. On March 7th the enemy made a stand on the River Diala, which enters the Tigris eight miles below Bagdad. Some lively fighting followed, the enemy resisting four attempts to cross the Diala. However, on March 10th the British forces crossed, and were now close to Bagdad. The enemy suddenly retired and the British troops found that their main opponent was a dust storm. The enemy retired beyond Bagdad, and on March 11th the city was occupied by the English.

The fall of Bagdad was an important event. It cheered the Allies, and proved, especially to the Oriental world, the power of the British army. Those who originally planned its capture had been right, but those who were to carry out the plan had not done their duty. Under General Maude it was a comparatively simple operation, though full of admirable details, and it produced all the good effects expected. The British, of course, did not stop at Bagdad. The city itself is not of strategic importance. The surrounding towns were occupied and an endeavor was made to conciliate the inhabitants. The real object of the expedition was attained.

CHAPTER XXV

CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR

By COL. GEO. G. NASMITH, C. M. G., TORONTO

When, in August,1914, war burst suddenly upon a peaceful world like distant thunder in a cloudless summer sky, Canada, like the rest of the British Empire, was profoundly startled. She had been a peace-loving, non-military nation, satisfied to develop her great natural resources, and live in harmony with her neighbors; taking little interest in European affairs, Canadians, in fact, were a typical colonial people, with little knowledge even of the strength of the ties that linked them to the British Empire.

Upon declaration of war by Great Britain Canada immediately sprang to arms. The love of country and empire which had been no obvious thing burst forth in a patriotic fervor as deep as it was spontaneous and genuine. The call to action was answered with an enthusiasm the like of which had rarely, if ever, been seen in any British colony.

The Canadian Government called for 20,000 volunteers—enough for a single division—as Canada's contribution to the British army. In less than a month 40,000 men had volunteered, and the Minister of Militia was compelled to stop the further enrolment of recruits. From the gold fields of the Yukon, from the slopes of the Rockies on the west to the surf-beaten shores of the Atlantic on the east; from workshop and mine; from farm, office and forest, Canada's sons trooped to the colors.

It will be the everlasting glory of the men of the first Canadian contingent, that they needed no spur, either of victory or defeat: they volunteered because they were quick to perceive that the existence of their Empire was threatened by the action of the most formidable nation-in-arms that the world had ever seen. They had been stirred by the deepest emotion of a race—the love of country.

A site for a concentration camp was chosen at Valcartier, nestling among the blue Laurentian hills, sixteen miles from Quebec, and convenient to that point of embarkation. Within four days 6,000 men had arrived at Valcartier; in another week there were 25,000 men. From centers all over Canada troop trains, each carrying hundreds of embryo soldiers, sped towards Valcartier and deposited their burdens on the miles of sidings that had sprung up as though by magic.

The rapid evolution of that wild and wooded river valley into a model military camp was a great tribute to the engineering skill and energy of civilians who had never done the like before. One day an army of woodmen were seen felling trees; the next day the stumps were torn out and the hollows filled; on the third day long rows of tents in regular camp formation covered the ground, and on the fourth day they were occupied by civilian soldiers concentrated upon learning the rudiments of the art and science of war.

Streets were laid out; miles of water pipes, sunk in machine-made ditches, were connected to hundreds of taps and shower baths; electric light was installed; three miles of rifle butts completed, and in two weeks the camp was practically finished—the finest camp that the first Canadians were destined to see. The building of Valcartier camp was characteristic of the driving power, vision and genius of the Minister of Militia, General Sir Sam Hughes.

Of the 33,000 men assembled at Valcartier, the great majority were civilians without any previous training in warfare. About 7,000 Canadians had taken part in the South African war, fifteen years before, and some of these, together with a few ex-regulars who had seen active service, were formed into the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry. Otherwise, with the exception of the 3,000 regulars that formed the standing army of Canada, the men and most of the officers were amateurs.

It was therefore a feat that the Canadian people could well afford to be proud of, that in the great crisis they were able, through their aggressive Minister of Militia, not only to gather up these forces so quickly but that they willingly and without delay converted their industries to the manufacture of all necessary army equipment. Factories all over the country immediately began turning out vast quantities of khaki cloth, uniforms, boots, ammunition, harness, wagons, and the thousand and one articles necessary for an army.

Before the end of September, 1914, the Canadian Expeditionary Force had been roughly hewn into shape, battalions had been regrouped and remodeled, officers transferred and re-transferred, intensive training carried on, and all the necessary equipment assembled. On October 3, 1914, thirty-three Atlantic liners, carrying the contingent of 33,000 men, comprising infantry, artillery, cavalry, engineers, signalers, medical corps, army service supply and ammunition columns, together with horses, guns, ammunition, wagons, motor lorries and other essentials, sailed from Gaspe basin on the Quebec seaboard to the battle-field of Europe.

It was probably the largest convoy that had ever been gathered together. This modern armada in three long lines, each line one and one-half miles apart, led by cruisers and with battleships on the front, rear and either flank, presented a thrilling spectacle. The voyage proved uneventful, and on October 14th, the convoy steamed into Plymouth, receiving an extraordinary ovation by the sober English people, who seemed temporarily to have gone wild with enthusiasm. Back of that demonstration was the conviction that blood had proved thicker than water and that the apparently flimsy ties that bound the colonies to the empire were bonds that were unbreakable. The German conviction that the British colonies would fall away and the British Empire disintegrate upon the outbreak of a great war had proved fallacious. It was, moreover, a great demonstration of how the much-vaunted German navy had already been swept from the seas and rendered impotent by the might of Britain's fleet.

A few days later the Canadians had settled down on Salisbury Plain in southern England for the further course of training necessary before proceeding to France. There, for nearly four months in the cold and the wet, in the fog and mud, in crowded, dripping tents and under constantly dripping skies, they carried on and early gave evidence of their powers of endurance and unquenchable spirit.

Lord Roberts made his last public appearance before this division and addressing the men said in part: "Three months ago we found ourselves involved in this war—a war not of our own seeking, but one which those who have studied Germany's literature and Germany's aspirations, knew was a war which we should inevitably have to deal with sooner or later. The prompt resolve of Canada to give us such valuable assistance has touched us deeply. . . .

"We are fighting a nation which looks upon the British Empire as a barrier to her development, and has in consequence, long contemplated our overthrow and humiliation. To attain that end she has manufactured a magnificent fighting machine, and is straining every nerve to gain victory…. It is only by the most determined efforts that we can defeat her."

And this superb German military organization, created by years of tireless effort, was that which Canadian civilians had volunteered to fight. Was it any wonder that some of the most able leaders doubted whether men and officers, no matter how brave and intelligent, could ever equal the inspired barbarians who, even at that very moment, were battling with the finest British and French regulars and pressing them steadily towards Paris?

In a short chapter of this kind attempting to deal with Canada's effort in the great war it is obviously impossible to go into detail or give more than the briefest of historical pictures. Consequently much that is fascinating can be given but a passing glance: for greater detail larger works must be consulted. Nevertheless it is well to try and view in perspective events as they occurred, in order to obtain some idea of their relative importance.

In February, 1915, the first Canadian division crossed the Channel to France, and began to obtain front-line experiences in a section of the line just north of Neuve Chapelle.

While the first division had been going through its course of training in England a second division had been raised in Canada and arrived in England shortly after the first left it.

During that period the conflict in Europe had passed through certain preliminary phases—most of them fortunate for the Allies. The unexpected holding up of the German armies by the Belgians had prevented the enemy from gaining the channel ports of Calais and Boulogne in the first rush. Later on the battle of the Marne had resulted in the rolling back of the German waves until they had subsided on a line roughly drawn through Dixmude, Ypres, Armentieres, La Bassee, Lens, and southward to the French border and the trench phase of warfare had begun.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  ON VIMY RIDGE, WHERE CANADA WON LAURELS
  The Canadians took the important position of Vimy Ridge on Easter
  Monday, April 9, 1917. They advanced with brilliance, having taken the
  whole system of German front-line trenches between dawn and 6.30 A.
  M. This shows squads of machine gunners operating from shell-craters
  in support of the infantry on the plateau above the ridge.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Photo from Western Newspaper Union
  GENERAL SIR ARTHUR CURRIE
  Commander of the Canadian forces on the Western Front.

The British held the section of front between Ypres and La-Bassee, about thirty miles in length, the Germans, unfortunately, occupying all the higher grounds.

Shortly after the arrival of the Canadian division the British, concentrating the largest number of guns that had hitherto been gathered together on the French front, made an attack on the Germans at Neuve Chapelle. This attack, only partially successful in gains of terrain, served to teach both belligerents several lessons. It showed the British the need for huge quantities of high explosives with which to blast away wire and trenches and, that in an attack, rifle fire, no matter how accurate, was no match for unlimited numbers of machine guns.

It showed the enemy what could be done with concentrated artillery fire—a lesson that he availed himself of with deadly effect a few weeks later.

Though Canadian artillery took part in that bombardment the infantry was not engaged in the battle of Neuve Chapelle; it received its baptism of fire, however, under excellent conditions, and after a month's experience in trench warfare was taken out of the line for rest.

The division was at the time under the command of a British general and the staff included several highly trained British staff officers. Nevertheless the commands were practically all in the hands of Canadians—lawyers, business men, real-estate agents, newspapermen and other amateur soldiers, who, in civilian life as militiamen, had spent more or less time in the study of the theory of warfare. This should always be kept in mind in view of subsequent events, as well as the fact that these amateur soldiers were faced by armies whose officers and men—professionals in the art and science of warfare—regarded themselves as invincible.

In mid-April the Canadians took over a sector some five thousand yards long in the Ypres salient. On the left they joined up with French colonial troops, and on their right with the British. Thus there were Canadian and French colonial troops side by side.

Toward the end of April the Germans reverted to supreme barbarism and used poison gas. Undismayed, though suffering terrible losses, the heroic Canadians fought the second battle of Ypres and held the line in the face of the most terrific assaults.

When the news of the second battle of Ypres reached Canada her people were profoundly stirred. The blight of war had at last fallen heavily, destroying her first-born, but sorrow was mixed with pride and exaltation that Canadian men had proved a match for the most scientifically trained troops in Europe. As fighters Canadians had at once leaped into front rank. British, Scotch and Irish blood, with British traditions, had proved greater forces than the scientific training and philosophic principles of the Huns. It was a glorious illustration of the axiom "right is greater than might," which the German had in his pride reversed to read "might is right." It was prophetic of what the final issue of a contest based on such divergent principles was to be. So in those days Canadian men and women held their heads higher and carried on their war work with increased determination, stimulated by the knowledge that they were contending with an enemy more remorseless and implacable than those terrible creatures which used to come to them in their childish dreams. It was felt that, a nation which could scientifically and in cold blood resort to poison gases—contrary to all accepted agreements of civilized countries—to gain its object must be fought with all the determination, resources and skill which it was possible to employ.

Canada's heart had been steeled. She was now in the war with her last dollar and her last man if need be. She had begun to realize that failure in Europe would simply transfer the struggle with the German fighting hordes to our Atlantic provinces and the eastern American states.

The famous Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was originally composed of soldiers who had actually seen service and were therefore veterans. Incidentally they were older men and most of them were married but the call of the Empire was insistent.

In the winter of 1914-15 the British line in Flanders was very thin and the P. P. C. L. I's. being a trained regiment was sent over to France several weeks before the first Canadian division. It soon earned the name of a regiment of extraordinarily hard-fighting qualities and was all but wiped out before spring arrived. The immortal story of this gallant unit must be read in detail if one wishes to obtain any clear conception of their deeds of valor—of what it is possible for man to go through and live. However, it was but one regiment whose exploits were later equaled by other Canadian regiments and it would therefore be invidious to select anyone for special praise. After operating as a separate regiment for nearly two years and having been recruited from the regular Canadian depots in England, it became in composition like other Canadian regiments and was finally incorporated in the third Canadian division.

In the spring of 1915, a Canadian cavalry brigade was formed in France made up of Strathcona's Horse, King Edward's Horse, the Royal Canadian Dragoons and Canadian Mounted Rifles.

After the second battle of Ypres, the Canadians after resting and re-organization, were moved to a section of the line near LaBassee. Here they fought the battle of Festubert—a series of infantry attacks and artillery bombardments, which gained little ground.

Shortly afterwards they fought the battle of Givenchy, equally futile, as far as material results were concerned. Both of these battles had the double object of feeling out the strength of the German line and of obtaining the Aubers Ridge, should the attacks prove successful. In both battles the Canadians showed great aptitude for attack, and tenacity in their hold of captured trenches. They also learned the difficult lesson that if an objective is passed by the infantry the latter enter the zone of their own artillery fire and suffer accordingly.

In September, 1915, the Second Canadian Division arrived in Flanders and took its place at the side of the First Canadian Division, then occupying the Ploegsteert section in front of the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge. The rest of the winter was spent more or less quietly by both divisions in the usual trench warfare, and battling with mud, water and weather.

It was here that the Canadians evolved the "trench raid," a method of cutting off a section of enemy trench, killing or taking prisoners all the enemy inhabitants, destroying it and returning with little or no loss to the attacking party. This method was quickly copied from one end of the Franco-British line to the other; it proved a most valuable method of gaining information, and served to keep the troops, during the long cold winter months, stimulated and keen when otherwise life would have proved most dull and uninteresting.

The Third Canadian Division was formed in January and February, 1916. One infantry brigade was composed of regiments which had been acting as Canadian corps troops, including the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and the Royal Canadian Regiment. The second infantry brigade was made up of six Canadian mounted rifle regiments, which had comprised part of the cavalry brigade. These two brigades, of the Third Division, under the command of General Mercer of Toronto, almost immediately began front-line work.

During this period, the Germans, making desperate efforts extending over weeks of time, did their utmost to break through the French line at Verdun and exhaust the French reserves. To offset these objects, a fourth British army was assembled, which took over still more of the French line, while a series of British attacks, intended to pin down the German reserves all along the line, was inaugurated. One of these developed into a fight for the craters—a terrible struggle at St. Eloi, where, blasted from their muddy ditches, with rifles and machine guns choked with mud and water; with communications lost and lack of artillery support, the men of the Second Canadian Division fought gamely from April 6th to April 20th, but were forced to yield the craters and part of their front line system to the enemy.

Notwithstanding this the men of the Second Canadian Division at St. Eloi fought quite as nobly as had their brothers of the First Division just a year before, at the glorious battle of Ypres, a few miles farther north. But it was a bitter experience. The lesson of failure is as necessary in the education of a nation as that of success.

On June 2d and 3d, the Third Canadian Division, which then occupied part of the line in the Ypres salient, including Hooge and Sanctuary Wood, was smothered by an artillery bombardment unprecedented in length and intensity. Trenches melted into irregular heaps of splintered wood, broken sand bags and mangled bodies. Fighting gallantly the men of this division fell in large numbers, where they stood. The best infantry in the world is powerless against avalanches of shells projected from greatly superior numbers of guns. The Canadian trenches were obliterated, not captured.

By this time Britain had thoroughly learned her lesson, and now countless shells and guns were pouring into France from Great Britain where thousands of factories, new and old, toiled night and day, under the inspiring energy of Mr. Lloyd George.

On June 13th, in a terrific counter-attack, the Canadians in turn blasted the Huns from the trenches taken from them a few days before. The First Canadian Division recaptured and consolidated all the ground and trench systems that had been lost Thus ended the second year of Canadian military operations in the Ypres salient. Each of the three Canadian divisions had been tried by fire in that terrible region, from which, it was said, no man ever returned the same as he entered it. Beneath its torn and rifted surface, thousands of Canadians lie, mute testimony to the fact that love of liberty is still one of the most powerful, yet most intangible, things that man is swayed by.

A very distinguished French general, speaking of the part that Canada was playing in the war, said, "Nothing in the history of the world has ever been known quite like it. My countrymen are fighting within fifty miles of Paris, to push back and chastise a vile and leprous race, which has violated the chastity of beautiful France, but the Australians at the Dardanelles and the Canadians at Ypres, fought with supreme and absolute devotion for what to many must have seemed simple abstractions, and that nation which will support for an abstraction the horror of this war of all wars will ever hold the highest place in the records of human valor."

The Fourth Canadian Division reached the Ypres region in August, 1916, just as the other three Canadian divisions were leaving for the Somme battle-field farther south. For a while it occupied part of the line near Kemmel, but soon followed the other divisions to the Somme, there to complete the Canadian corps.

It may be stated here that though a fifth Canadian division was formed and thoroughly trained in England, it never reached France. Canada, until the passing of the Military Service Act on July 6,1917, depended solely on voluntary enlistment. Up to that time Canada, with a population of less than 9,000,000, had recruited 525,000 men by voluntary methods. Of this number 356,986 had actually gone overseas. Voluntary methods at last, however, failed to supply drafts in sufficient numbers to keep up the strength of the depleted reserves in England, and in consequence conscription was decided upon. By this means, 56,000 men were drafted in Canada before the war ended. In the meantime, through heavy fighting the demand for drafts became so insistent that the Fifth Canadian Division in England had to be broken up to reinforce the exhausted fighting divisions in France.

It would be an incomplete summary of Canada's part in the war that did not mention some of the men who have been responsible for the success of Canadian arms. It is obviously impossible to mention all of those responsible; it is even harder to select a few. But looking backward one sees two figures that stand forth from all the rest—General Sir Sam Hughes in Canada, and General Sir Arthur Currie commander of the Canadian corps.

To General Sir Sam Hughes must be given the credit of having foreseen war with Germany and making such preparations as were possible in a democracy like Canada. He it was of all others who galvanized Canada into action; he it was whose enthusiasm and driving power were so contagious that they affected not only his subordinates but the country at large.

Sir Sam Hughes will be remembered for the building of Valcartier camp and the dispatch of the first Canadian contingent. But he did things of just as great importance. It was he who sought and obtained for Canada, huge orders for munitions from Great Britain and thereby made it possible for Canada to weather the financial depression, pay her own war expenditures and emerge from the war in better financial shape than she was when the war broke out. It was easy to build up a business once established but the chief credit must go to the man who established it.

Sir Sam Hughes was also responsible for the selection of the officers who went overseas with the first Canadian contingent. Among those officers who subsequently became divisional commanders were General Sir Arthur Currie, General Sir Richard Turner, General Sir David Watson, Generals Lipsett, Mercer and Hughes.

Of these generals, Sir Arthur Currie through sheer ability ultimately became commander of the Canadian corps. This big, quiet man, whose consideration, prudence and brilliancy had won the absolute confidence of Canadian officers and men alike, welded the Canadian corps into a fighting force of incomparable effectiveness—a force which was set the most difficult tasks and, as events proved, not in vain.

When Canada entered the war she had a permanent force of 3,000 men. When hostilities ceased on November 11, 1918, Canada had sent overseas 418,980 soldiers. In addition to this about 15,000 men had joined the British Royal Air Service, several hundred physicians and veterinarians, as well as 200 nurses, had been supplied to the British army, while many hundreds of university men had received commissions in the imperial army and navy.

In September, October and November, 1916, the Canadian corps of four divisions, which had been welded by General Byng and General Currie into an exceedingly efficient fighting machine, took its part in the battle of the Somme—a battle in which the British army assumed the heaviest share of the fighting and casualties, and shifted the greatest burden of the struggle from the shoulders of the French to their own. The British army had grown vastly in power and efficiency and in growing had taken over more and more of the line from the French.

The battle of the Somme was long and involved. The Franco-British forces were everywhere victorious and by hard and continuous fighting forced the Hun back to the famous Hindenburg line. It was in this battle that the tanks, evolved by the British, were used for the first time, and played a most important part in breaking down wire entanglements and rounding up the machine gun nests. The part played in this battle by the Canadian corps was conspicuous, and it especially distinguished itself by the capture of Courcelette. Although the battles which the Canadian corps took part in subsequently were almost invariably both successful and important, they can be merely mentioned here. The Canadian corps now known everywhere to consist of shock troops second to none on the western front, was frequently used as the spearhead with which to pierce particularly tough parts of the enemy defenses.

On April 9th to 13th, 1917, the Canadian corps, with some British support, captured Vimy Ridge, a point which had hitherto proved invulnerable. When a year later, the Germans, north and south, swept the British line to one side in gigantic thrusts they were unable to disturb this key point, Vimy Ridge, which served as an anchor to the sagging line. The Canadian corps was engaged at Arleux and Fresnoy in April and May and was effective in the operations around Lens in June. Again on August 15th, it was engaged at Hill 70 and fought with conspicuous success in that toughest, most difficult, and most heart-breaking of all battles—Passchendaele.

In 1918, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade won distinction in the German offensive of March and April. On August 12, 1918, the Canadian corps was engaged in the brilliantly successful battle of Amiens, which completely upset the German offensive plan. On August 26th to 28th the Canadians captured Monchy-le-Preux, and, in one of the hammer blows which Foch rained on the German front, were given the most difficult piece of the whole line to pierce—the Queant-Drocourt line. This section of the famous Hindenburg line was considered by the enemy to be absolutely impregnable, but was captured by the Canadians on September 3d and 4th. With this line outflanked a vast German retreat began, which ended on November 11th with the signing of the armistice.

To the Canadians fell the honors of breaking through the first Hindenburg line by the capture of Cambrai, on October 1st to 9th. They also took Douai on October 19th, and Dena on October 20th. On October 26th to November 2d they had the signal honor of capturing Valenciennes thereby being the first troops to break through the fourth and last Hindenberg line.

It surely was a curious coincidence that Mons, from which the original British army—the best trained, it is said, that has taken the field since the time of Caesar—began its retreat in 1914, should have been the town which Canadian civilians were destined to recapture. The war began for the professional British army—the Contemptibles—when it began its retreat from Mons in 1914; the war ended for the British army at the very same town four years and three months later, when on the day the armistice was signed the men from Canada re-entered it. Was it coincidence, or was it fate?

During the war Canadian troops had sustained 211,000 casualties, 152,000 had been wounded and more than 50,000 had made the supreme sacrifice. Put into different language this means that the number of Canadians killed was just a little greater than the total number of infantrymen in their corps of four divisions.

The extent of the work involved in the care of the wounded and sick of the Canadians overseas may be gathered from the fact that Canada equipped and sent across the Atlantic, 7 general hospitals, 10 stationary hospitals, 16 field ambulances, 3 sanitary sections, 4 casualty clearing stations and advanced and base depots of medical stores: The personnel of these medical units consisted of 1,612 officers, 1,994 nursing sisters and 12,382 of other ranks, or a total of about 16,000. This will give some conception of the importance of the task involved in the caring for the sick and wounded of about 90,000 fighting troops, some 60,000 auxiliary troops behind the lines and the reserve depots in England.

[Illustration: Map]
  FROM THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS TO YPRES
  Map showing the Northeastern frontiers of France, and neutral Belgium
  through which the German armies poured in 1914. The battle line held
  straight from Belfort to Verdun, with the exception of the St. Mihiel
  salient. Above Verdun the line veered to the west, north of Rheims,
  marking a wide curve toward St. Quentin and Arras and bending back to
  Ypres, held by the Canadians throughout the war.

The work of the Canadian Red Cross Society included the building and equipping of auxiliary hospitals to those of the Canadian Army Medical Corps; providing of extra and emergency stores of all kinds, recreation huts, ambulances and lorries, drugs, serums and surgical equipment calculated to make hospitals more efficient; the looking after the comfort of patients in hospitals providing recreation and entertainment to the wounded, and dispatching regularly to every Canadian prisoner parcels of food, as well as clothes, books and other necessaries: The Canadian Red Cross expended on goods for prisoners in 1917 nearly $600,000.

In all the Canadian Red Cross distributed since the beginning of the war to November 23, 1918, $7,631,100.

The approximate total of voluntary contributions from Canada for war purposes was over $90,000,000.

The following figures quoted from tables issued by the Department of Public Information at Ottawa, show the exports in certain Canadian commodities, having a direct bearing on the war for the last three fiscal years before the war (1912-13-14), and for the last fiscal year (1918); and illustrates the increase, during this period, in the value of these articles exported:

                                   VALUES
                   Average for 1912-1913-1914 1918
Foodstuffs $143,133,374 $617,515,690
Clothing, metals, leather, etc 45,822,717 215,873,357
                                  —————- —————-
Total $188,956,091 $833,389,047

As practically all of the increase of food and other materials went to Great Britain, France and Italy, the extent of Canada's effort in upholding the allied cause is clearly evident and was by no means a small one.

The trade of Canada for 1914 was one billion dollars; for the fiscal year of 1917-18 it was two and one-half billion dollars.

Approximately 60,000,000 shells were made in Canada during the war. Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities a shell committee was formed in Canada to really act as an agent for the British war office in placing contracts. The first shells were shipped in December, 1914, and by the end of May, 1915, approximately 400 establishments were manufacturing shells in Canada. By November, 1915, orders had been placed by the Imperial Government to the value of $300,000,000, and an Imperial Munitions Board, replacing the shell committee, was formed, directly responsible to the Imperial Ministry of Munitions.

During the war period Canada purchased from her bank savings $1,669,381,000 of Canadian war loans.

Estimates of expenditures for the fiscal year ending March 31,1919, demonstrated the thoroughness with which Canada went to war. They follow:

                              Expenditure Expenditure Total
                              In Canada Overseas Expenditures
Pay of 110,000 troops in
Canada and 290,000
in England and France. $50,187,500 $70,312,500 $120,500,000

Assigned pay, overseas troops 54,000,000 —- 54,000,000

Separation allowances 21,750,000 6,000,000 27,750,000

Rations, Canada, 50 cents per day; England, 38-1/2 cents per day. 20,075,000 21,000,000 41,075,000

Clothing and necessaries 19,080,000 —- 19,080,000

Outfit allowances, officers and nurses 1,000,000 700,000 1,700,000

Equipment, including harness, vehicles, tents, blankets, but not rifles, machine guns, etc 20,000,000 —- 20,000,000

Ordnance service —- 1,800,000 1,800,000

Medical services 5,000,000 —- 5,000,000

Ammunition 5,000,000 —- 5,000,000

Machine guns 2,000,000 —- 2,000,000

Ocean transport 4,612,500 —- 4,612,500

Railway transport 11,062,500 450,000 11,512,500

Forage 450,000 —- 450,000

Veterinary service, remounts —- 3,000,000 3,000,000

Engineer works, housing 2,750,000 1,250,000 4,000,000

Civilian employees 2,920,000 750,000 8,670,000

Sundries, including recruiting, censors, customs dues, etc. 3,000,000 —- 3,000,000

Overseas printing and stationery —- 300,000 300,000

General expenses overseas —- 1,800,000 1,800,000

Maintenance of troops in France at 9s. 4d. each per day —- 115,000,000 115,000,000 —————- —————— —————— Total $217,887,500 $225,162,500 $443,050,000

CHAPTER VIII

IMMORTAL VERDUN

France was revealed to herself, to Germany and to the world as the heroic defender of civilization, as a defender defying death in the victory of Verdun. There, with the gateway to Paris lying open at its back, the French army, in the longest pitched battle in all history, held like a cold blue rock against the uttermost man power and resources of the German army.

General von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff and military dictator of the Teutonic allies, there met disaster and disgrace. There the mettle of the Crown Prince was tested and he was found to be merely a thing of straw, a weak creature whose mind was under the domination of von Falkenhayn.

For the tremendous offensive which was planned to end the war by one terrific thrust, von Falkenhayn had robbed all the other fronts of effective men and munitions. Field Marshal von Hindenburg and his crafty Chief of Staff, General Ludendorf, had planned a campaign against Russia designed to put that tottering military Colossus out of the war. The plans were upon a scale that might well have proved successful. The Kaiser, influenced by the Crown Prince and by von Falkenhayn, decreed that the Russian campaign must be postponed and that von Hindenburg must send his crack troops to join the army of the Crown Prince fronting Verdun. Ludendorf promptly resigned as Chief of Staff to von Hindenburg and suggested that the Field Marshal also resign. That grim old warrior declined to take this action, preferring to remain idle in East Prussia and watch what he predicted would be a useless effort on the western front. His warning to the General Staff was explicit, but von Falkenhayn coolly ignored the message.

[Illustration: Map: Verdun in the Southwest corner, to Maucourt toward
the Northeast.]
  IMMORTAL VERDUN, WHERE THE FRENCH HELD THE GERMANS WITH THE INSPIRING
  SLOGAN "THEY SHALL NOT PASS"

Why did Germany select this particular point for its grand offensive? The answer is to be found in a demand made by the great Junker associations of Germany in May, 1915, nine months before the attack was undertaken. That demand was to the effect that Verdun should be attacked and captured. They declared that the Verdun fortifications made a menacing salient thrust into the rich iron fields of the Briey basin. From this metalliferous field of Lorraine came the ore that supplied eighty per cent of the steel required for German and Austrian guns and munitions. These fields of Briey were only twenty miles from the great guns of Verdun. They were French territory at the beginning of the war and had been seized by the army of the Crown Prince, co-operating with the Army of Metz because of their immense value to the Germans in war making.

As a preliminary to the battle, von Falkenhayn placed a semicircle of huge howitzers and rifles around the field of Briey. Then assembling the vast forces drained from all the fronts and having erected ammunition dumps covering many acres, the great battle commenced with a surprise attack upon the village of Haumont on February 21, 1916.

The first victory of the Germans at that point was an easy one. The great fort of Douaumont was the next objective. This was taken on February 25th after a concentrated bombardment that for intensity surpassed anything that heretofore had been shown in the war.

Von Falkenhayn, personally superintending the disposition of guns and men, had now penetrated the outer defenses of Verdun. The tide was running against the French, and shells, more shells for the guns of all caliber; men, more men for the earthworks surrounding the devoted city were needed. The narrow-gauge railway connecting Verdun with the great French depots of supplies was totally inadequate for the transportation burdens suddenly cast upon it. In this desperate emergency a transport system was born of necessity, a system that saved Verdun. It was fleet upon fleet of motor trucks, all sizes, all styles; anything that could pack a few shells or a handful of men was utilized. The backbone of the system was a great fleet of trucks driven by men whose average daily rest was four hours, and upon whose horizon-blue uniforms the stains of snow and sleet, of dust and mud, were indelibly fixed through the winter, spring, summer and fall of 1916, for the glorious engagement continued from February 21st until November 2d, when the Germans were forced into full retreat from the field of honor, the evacuation of Fort Vaux putting a period to Germany's disastrous plan and to von Falkenhayn's military career.

Lord Northcliffe, describing the early days of the immortal battle, wrote:

"Verdun is, in many ways, the most extraordinary of battles. The mass of metal used on both sides is far beyond all parallel; the transformation on the Douaumont Ridge was more suddenly dramatic than even the battle of the Marne; and, above all, the duration of the conflict already looks as if it would surpass anything in history. More than a month has elapsed since, by the kindness of General Joffre and General Petain, I was able to watch the struggle from various vital viewpoints. The battle had then been raging with great intensity for a fortnight, and, as I write, four to five thousand guns are still thundering round Verdun. Impossible, therefore, any man to describe the entire battle. The most one can do is to set down one's impressions of the first phases of a terrible conflict, the end of which cannot be foreseen.

"My chief impression is one of admiration for the subtle powers of mind of the French High Command. General Joffre and General Castelnau are men with especially fine intellects tempered to terrible keenness. Always they have had to contend against superior numbers. In 1870, when they were subalterns, their country lost the advantage of its numerous population by abandoning general military service at a time when Prussia was completely realizing the idea of a nation in arms. In 1914, when they were commanders, France was inferior to a still greater degree in point of numbers to Prussianized Germany. In armament, France was inferior at first to her enemy. The French High Command has thus been trained by adversity to do all that human intellect can against almost overwhelming hostile material forces. General Joffre, General Castelnau—and, later, General Petain, who at a moment's notice displaced General Herr—had to display genius where the Germans were exhibiting talent, and the result is to be seen at Verdun. They there caught the enemy in a series of traps of a kind hitherto unknown in modern warfare—something elemental, and yet subtle, neo-primitive, and befitting the atavistic character of the Teuton. They caught him in a web of his own unfulfilled boasts.

"The enemy began by massing a surprising force on the western front. Tremendous energy and organizing power were the marks of his supreme efforts to obtain a decision. It was usually reckoned that the Germans maintain on all fronts a field army of about seventy-four and a half army corps, which at full strength number three million men. Yet, while holding the Russians from Riga to the south of the Pripet Marshes, and maintaining a show of force in the Balkans, Germany seems to have succeeded in bringing up nearly two millions and a half of men for her grand spring offensive in the west. At one time her forces in France and Flanders were only ninety divisions. But troops and guns were withdrawn in increasing numbers from Russia and Serbia in December, 1915, until there were, it is estimated, a hundred and eighteen divisions on the Franco-British-Belgian front. A large number of six-inch and twelve-inch Austrian howitzers were added to the enormous Krupp batteries. Then a large proportion of new recruits of the 1916 class were moved into Rhine-land depots to serve as drafts for the fifty-nine army corps, and it is thought that nearly all the huge shell output that had accumulated during the winter was transported westward.

"The French Staff reckoned that Verdun would be attacked when the ground had dried somewhat in the March winds. It was thought that the enemy movement would take place against the British front in some of the sectors of which there were chalk undulations, through which the rains of winter quickly drained. The Germans skilfully encouraged this idea by making an apparent preliminary attack at Lions, on a five-mile front with rolling gas-clouds and successive waves of infantry. During this feint the veritable offensive movement softly began on Saturday, February 19, 1916, when the enormous masses of hostile artillery west, east, and north of the Verdun salient started registering on the French positions. Only in small numbers did the German guns fire, in order not to alarm their opponents. But even this trial bombardment by shifts was a terrible display of power, calling forth all the energies of the outnumbered French gunners to maintain the artillery duels that continued day and night until Monday morning, February 21st.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  AMMUNITION FOR THE GUNS
  Canadian narrow-gauge line taking ammunition up the line through a
  shattered village.

[Illustration: Truck convoy running parallel to troops marching.]
  HOW VERDUN WAS SAVED
  The motor transport never faltered when the railroads were put out of
  action.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  NURSE EDITH CAVELL
  A victim of German savagery. An English lady whose life had been
  devoted to works of mercy, was shot after summary trial, at Brussels
  on October 11, 1915, for helping British and Belgian fugitives.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.
  CAPTAIN CHARLES A. FRYATT
  The martyred British Merchant-Marine Captain, who was executed by the
  Germans because his ship attempted to sink a German submarine which
  attacked her.

"The enemy seems to have maintained a bombardment all round General Herr's lines on February 21, 1916, but this general battering was done with a thousand pieces of field artillery. The grand masses of heavy howitzers were used in a different way. At a quarter past seven in the morning they concentrated on the small sector of advanced intrenchments near Brabant and the Meuse; twelve-inch shells fell with terrible precision every few yards, according to the statements made by the French troops. I afterwards saw a big German shell, from at least six miles distant from my place of observation, hit quite a small target. So I can well believe that, in the first bombardment of French positions, which had been photographed from the air and minutely measured and registered by the enemy gunners in the trial firing, the great, destructive shots went home with extraordinary effect. The trenches were not bombarded—they were obliterated. In each small sector of the six-mile northward bulge of the Verdun salient the work of destruction was done with surprising quickness.

"After the line from Brabant to Haumont was smashed, the main fire power was directed against the other end of the bow at Herbebois, Ornes, and Maucourt. Then when both ends of the bow were severely hammered, the central point of the Verdun salient, Caures Woods, was smothered in shells of all sizes, poured in from east, north and west. In this manner almost the whole enormous force of heavy artillery was centered upon mile after mile of the French front. When the great guns lifted over the lines of craters, the lighter field artillery placed row after row in front of the wreckage, maintained an unending fire curtain over the communicating saps and support intrenchments.

"Then came the second surprising feature in the new German system of attack. No waves of storming infantry swept into the battered works. Only strong patrols at first came cautiously forward, to discover if it were safe for the main body of troops to advance and reorganize the French line so as to allow the artillery to move onward. There was thus a large element of truth in the marvelous tales afterwards told by German prisoners. Their commanders thought it would be possible to do all the fighting with long-range artillery, leaving the infantry to act as squatters to the great guns and occupy and rebuild line after line of the French defenses without any serious hand-to-hand struggles. All they had to do was to protect the gunners from surprise attack, while the guns made an easy path for them.

"But, ingenious as was this scheme for saving the man-power of Germany by an unparalleled expenditure of shell, it required for full success the co-operation of the French troops. But the French did not co-operate. Their High Command had continually improved their system of trench defense in accordance with the experiences of their own hurricane bombardments in Champagne and the Carency sector. General Castelnau, the acting Commander-in-Chief on the French front, was indeed the inventor of hurricane fire tactics, which he had used for the first time in February, 1915, in Champagne. When General Joffre took over the conduct of all French operations, leaving to General Castelnau the immediate control of the front in France, the victor of the battle of Nancy weakened his advance lines and then his support lines, until his troops actually engaged in fighting were very little more than a thin covering body, such as is thrown out towards the frontier while the main forces connect well behind.

"We shall see the strategical effect of this extraordinary measure in the second phase of the Verdun battle, but its tactical effect was to leave remarkably few French troops exposed to the appalling tempest of German and Austrian shells. The fire-trench was almost empty, and in many cases the real defenders of the French line were men with machine guns, hidden in dug-outs at some distance from the photographed positions at which the German gunners aimed. The batteries of light guns, which the French handled with the flexibility and continuity of fire of Maxims, were also concealed in widely scattered positions. The main damage caused by the first intense bombardment was the destruction of all the telephone wires along the French front. In one hour the German guns plowed up every yard of ground behind the observing posts and behind the fire trench. Communications could only be slowly re-established by messengers, so that many parties of men had to fight on their own initiative, with little or no combination of effort with their comrades.

"Yet, desperate as were their circumstances, they broke down the German plan for capturing trenches without an infantry attack. They caught the patrols and annihilated them, and then swept back the disillusioned and reluctant main bodies of German troops. First, the bombing parties were felled, then the sappers as they came forward to repair the line for their infantry, and at last the infantry itself in wave after wave of field-gray. The small French garrison of every center of resistance fought with cool, deadly courage, and often to the death.

"Artillery fire was practically useless against them, for though their tunnel shelters were sometimes blown in by the twelve-inch shells, which they regarded as their special terror by reason of their penetrative power and wide blast, even the Germans had not sufficient shells to search out all their underground chambers, every one of which have two or three exits.

"The new organization of the French Machine-gun Corps was a fine factor in the eventual success. One gun fired ten thousand rounds daily for a week, most of the positions selected being spots from which each German infantry advance would be enfiladed and shattered. Then the French 75's which had been masked during the overwhelming fire of the enemy howitzers, came unexpectedly into action when the German infantry attacks increased in strength. Near Haumont, for example, eight successive furious assaults were repulsed by three batteries of 75's. One battery was then spotted by the Austrian twelve-inch guns, but it remained in action until all its ammunition was exhausted. The gunners then blew up their guns and retired, with the loss of only one man.

"Von Falkenhayn had increased the Crown Prince's army from the fourteen divisions—that battled at Douaumont Fort—to twenty-five divisions. In April he added five more divisions to the forces around Verdun by weakening the effectives in other sectors and drawing more troops from the Russian front. It was rumored that von Hindenburg was growing restive and complaining that the wastage at Verdun would tell against the success of the campaign on the Riga-Dvinsk front, which was to open when the Baltic ice melted.

"Great as was the wastage of life, it was in no way immediately decisive. But when the expenditure of shells almost outran the highest speed of production of the German munition factories, and the wear on the guns was more than Krupp and Skoda could make good, there was danger to the enemy in beginning another great offensive likely to overtax his shellmakers and gunmakers."

Immortal and indomitable France had won over her foe more power than she had possessed even after the battle of the Marne.

Throughout the entire summer Verdun, with the whole population of France roused to the supreme heights of heroism behind it, held like a rock. Wave after wave of Germans in gray-green lines were sent against the twenty-five miles of earthworks, while the French guns took their toll of the crack German regiments. German dead lay upon the field until exposed flesh became the same ghastly hue of their uniforms. No Man's Land around Verdun was a waste and a stench.

General Joffre's plan was very simple. It was to hold out. As was afterwards revealed, much to the satisfaction of the French people, Sir Douglas Haig had placed himself completely at the service of the French Commander-in-Chief, and had suggested that he should use the British army to weaken the thrust at Verdun. But General Joffre had refused the proffered help. No man knew better than he what his country, with its exceedingly low birthrate, was suffering on the Meuse. He had but to send a telegram to British Headquarters, and a million Britons, with thousands of heavy guns, would fling themselves upon the German lines and compel Falkenhayn to divide his shell output, his heavy artillery, and his millions of men between Verdun and the Somme. But General Joffre, instead of sending the telegram in question, merely dispatched officers to British Headquarters to assure and calm the chafing Scotsman commanding the military forces of the British Empire.

Throughout that long summer the battle cry of Verdun, "Ne passeront pas!" ("They shall not pass!"), was an inspiration to the French army and to the world. Then as autumn drifted its red foliage over the heights surrounding the bloody field, the French struck back. General Nivelle, who had taken command at Verdun under Joffre, commenced a series of attacks and a persistent pressure against the German forces on both sides of the Meuse. These thrusts culminated in a sudden sweeping attack which on October 24th, resulted in the recapture by Nivelle's forces of Fort Douaumont and on November 2d, in the recapture of Fort Vaux.

Thus ended in glory the most inspiring battle in the long and honorable history of France.

CHAPTER XXVII

MURDERS AND MARTYRS

Many examples might be cited to show that the Central empires were dead to the humanities. There were apparently no limits to the brutality of the German war-makers. Among the outstanding deeds of the Teutons that sickened the world was the killing of Miss Edith Cavell, an English nurse working in Belgian hospitals.

A shudder of horror circled the world when announcement was formally made that this splendid woman was sentenced to death and murdered by a German firing squad at two o'clock on the morning of October 12, 1915.

The killing of this gentle-natured, brave woman typified to the world Germany's essentially brutal militarism. It placed the German military command in a niche of dishonor unique in all history.

The specific charge against Miss Cavell was that she had helped English and French soldiers and Belgian young male civilians to cross the border into Holland. The direct evidence against her was in the form of letters intercepted by the Germans in which some of these soldiers and civilians writing from England thanked her for the aid she had given to them.

Upon the farcical trial that resulted in the predetermined sentence of death, Miss Cavell courageously and freely admitted her assistance in the specified cases of escape. When she was asked why she did it, she declared her fear that if she had not done so the men would have been shot by the Germans. Her testimony was given in a clear conversational tone that betrayed no nervousness and her entire bearing was such as to win the sympathy of everyone except her stony-hearted judges.

The German officers in command at Brussels made it impossible for Miss Cavell to see counsel before the trial, and a number of able lawyers who were solicited to undertake her defense declined to do so because of their fear of the Germans.

Sentence was imposed upon her at five o'clock on the afternoon of October 11th. In accordance with its terms, she was taken from her cell and placed against a blank wall at two o'clock the following morning—the darkness of the hour vying with the blackness of the deed. Mr. Gahan, the English clergyman connected with the prison, was permitted to see her a short time before her murder. He gave her Holy Communion at ten o'clock on the night of October 11th. To him she declared she was happy in her contemplation of death; that she had no regret for what she had done; and that she was glad to die for her country.

Brand Whitlock, American Minister to Belgium, and Hugh Gibson, Secretary of the Legation, did all that was humanly possible to avert the crime, but without avail. They were told that, "the Emperor himself could not intervene."

Defending the murder, Dr. Alfred Zimmermann, German Under Secretary for
Foreign Affairs, callously disposed of the matter thus:

"I see from the English and American press that the shooting of an Englishwoman and the condemnation of several other women in Brussels for treason has caused a sensation, and capital against us is being made out of the fact. Men and women are equal before the law, and only the degree of guilt makes a difference in the sentence for the crime and its consequences."

Monuments to Edith Cavell were reared in widely scattered communities. A mountain was named in her honor. Her murder multiplied enlistments and fed the fires of patriotism throughout the Allied countries. In the end, Germany lost heavily. The Teutons aimed to strike terror into the hearts of men and women. They only succeeded in arousing a righteous anger that ultimately destroyed the Imperial government.

Another instance equally flagrant of the utter callousness of the men who at that time ruled Germany, was the murder of Captain Fryatt, a gallant British seaman, who had dared to attack the pirates of the under-seas.

Captain Charles Fryatt was the master of the steamship Brussels, a merchant vessel owned by the Great Eastern Railway. It was captured by the Germans on June 23, 1916. Captain Fryatt was taken to Zeebrugge. A court-martial went through the motions of a trial at Bruges on July 27th. The charge against Captain Fryatt was that of attempting to ram the German submarine U-33.

Mute testimony against Captain Fryatt was a gold watch found upon his person. This carried an inscription testifying that the watch had been presented by the mayor and people of Harwich in recognition of the Captain's bravery in attempting to ram a submarine, and his successful escape when the U-boat called upon him to surrender.

The prisoners who were captured with Captain Fryatt were sent to the prison camp at Ruhlaben, but Captain Fryatt was condemned to death as a "franc-tireur." The news of the murder was sent to the world through a German communique dated July 28th. It stated:

The accused was condemned to death because, although he was not a member of a combatant force, he made an attempt on the afternoon of March 20, 1915, to ram the German submarine U-33 near the Maas lightship. The accused, as well as the first officer and the chief engineer of the steamer, received at the time from the British Admiralty a gold watch as a reward of his brave conduct on that occasion, and his action was mentioned with praise in the House of Commons.

On the occasion in question, disregarding the U-boat's signal to stop and show his national flag, he turned at a critical moment at high speed on the submarine, which escaped the steamer by a few meters only by immediately diving. He confessed that in so doing he had acted in accordance with the instructions of the Admiralty. One of the many nefarious franc-tireur proceedings of the British merchant marine against our war vessels has thus found a belated but merited expiation.

This brutal action by Germany coming after the murder of Edith Cavell created intense indignation throughout the world. It ranked with the poison gas at Ypres, the Lusitania, the Belgian atrocities, the killing of Edith Cavell and the unrestricted submarine sinkings, as a factor in arousing the democratic peoples of the world to a fighting pitch.

Germany sowed its seeds of destruction in the wind that bore the fumes of poison gas, and in the ruthless brutality that decreed the sinking of the Lusitania and the murders of Edith Cavell and Captain Fryatt.

It reaped the whirlwind in the world-wide wrath that brought America into the war, and that visited disgrace and defeat upon the German Empire.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES

First to feel the effects of German terrorism through poison gas were the gallant Canadian troops on the afternoon of April 22, 1915, at Ypres, Belgium. Gas had been used by the Germans previously to this, but they were mere experimental clouds directed against Belgian troops.

Before the battle, the English and Canadians held a line from Broodseinde to half a mile north of St. Julien on the crest of the Grafenstafel Ridge. The French prolonged the line to Steenstraate on the Yperlee Canal. The Germans originally planned the attack for Tuesday, April 20th, but with satanic ingenuity the offensive was postponed until between 4 and 5 o'clock on the afternoon of Thursday, the 22d. During the morning the wind blew steadily from the north and the scientists attached to the German Field Headquarters predicted that the strong wind would continue at least twelve hours longer.

The Canadian division held a line extending about five miles from the Ypres-Roulers Railway to the Ypres-Poelcapelle road. The division consisted of three infantry brigades, in addition to the artillery brigades. Upon this unsuspecting body of men the poison fumes were projected by means of pipes and force pumps. The immediate consequences were that the asphyxiating gas of great intensity rendered immediately helpless thousands of men. The same gas attack that was projected upon the Canadians also fell with murderous effect upon the French. The consequences were that the French division on the left of the Canadians gave way and the Third brigade of the Canadian division, so far as the left was concerned, was "up in the air," to use the phrase of its commanding officer.

It became necessary for Brigadier-General Turner, commanding the Third brigade, to throw back his left flank southward to protect his rear. This caused great confusion, and the enemy, advancing rapidly, took a number of guns and many prisoners, penetrating to the village of St. Julien, two miles in the rear of the original French trenches. The Canadians fought heroically, although greatly outnumbered and pounded by artillery that inflicted tremendous losses. The Germans, as they came through the gas clouds, were protected by masks moistened with a solution containing bi-carbonate of soda.

The tactics of General Turner off-set the numerical superiority of the enemy, and prevented a disastrous rout. General Curry, commanding the Second brigade of Canadians, repeated this successful maneuver when he flung his left flank southward and, presenting two fronts to the enemy, held his line of trenches from Thursday at 5 o'clock until Sunday afternoon. The reason the trenches were held no longer than Sunday afternoon was that they had been obliterated by heavy artillery fire. The Germans finally succeeded in capturing a line, the forward point of which was the village of St. Julien. Reinforcements under General Alderson had come up by this time and the enemy's advance was suddenly checked. Enemy attacks upon the line running from Ypres to Passchendaele completely broke down under the withering fire of the reinforced and reformed artillery and infantry brigades. The record officer of the Canadians makes this comment of the detailed fighting:

The story of the second battle of Ypres is the story of how the Canadian division, enormously outnumbered—for they had in front of them at least four divisions, supported by immensely heavy artillery, with a gap still existing, though reduced, in their lines, and with dispositions made hurriedly under the stimulus of critical danger, fought through the day and through the night, and then through another day and night; fought under their officers until, as happened to so many, those perished gloriously, and then fought from the impulsion of sheer valor because they came from fighting stock.

The enemy, of course, was aware—whether fully or not may perhaps be doubted—of the advantage his breach in the line had given him, and immediately began to push a formidable series of attacks upon the whole of the newly-formed Canadian salient. The attack was everywhere fierce, but developed with particular intensity at this moment upon the apex of the newly-formed line, running in the direction of St. Julien.

It has already been stated that some British guns were taken in a wood comparatively early in the evening of the 22d. In the course of that night, and under the heaviest machine-gun fire, this wood was assaulted by the Canadian Scottish, Sixteenth battalion of the Third brigade, and the Tenth battalion of the Second brigade, which was intercepted for this purpose on its way to a reserve trench. The battalions were respectively commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Leckie and Lieutenant-Colonel Boyle, and after a most fierce struggle in the light of a misty moon they took the position at the point of the bayonet. At midnight the Second battalion, under Colonel Watson, and the Toronto regiment, Queen's Own, Third battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Rennie, both of the First brigade, brought up much-needed reinforcement, and though not actually engaged in the assault, were in reserve.

All through the following days and nights these battalions shared the fortunes and misfortunes of the Third brigade. An officer who took part in the attack describes how the men about him fell under the fire of the machine guns, which, in his phrase, played upon them "like a watering pot." He added quite simply "I wrote my own life off." But the line never wavered. When one man fell another took his place, and with a final shout the survivors of the two battalions flung themselves into the wood. The German garrison was completely demoralized, and the impetuous advance of the Canadians did not cease until they reached the far side of the wood and intrenched themselves there in the position so dearly gained. They had, however, the disappointment of finding that the guns had been blown up by the enemy, and later on in the same night a most formidable concentration of artillery fire, sweeping the wood as a tropical storm sweeps the leaves from a forest, made it impossible for them to hold the position for which they had sacrificed so much.

The fighting continued without intermission all through the night, and, to those who observed the indications that the attack was being pushed with ever-growing strength, it hardly seemed possible that the Canadians, fighting in positions so difficult to defend and so little the subject of deliberate choice, could maintain their resistance for any long period. At 6 A. M. on Friday it became apparent that the left was becoming more and more involved, and a powerful German attempt to outflank it developed rapidly. The consequences, if it had been broken or outflanked, need not be insisted upon. They were not merely local.

It was there decided, formidable as the attempt undoubtedly was, to try and give relief by a counter-attack upon the first line of German trenches, now far, far advanced from those originally occupied by the French. This was carried out by the Ontario First and Fourth battalions of the First brigade, under Brigadier-General Mercer, acting in combination with a British brigade.

[Illustration: Map: Ypres and the surroundings.]
  THE TOWN OF YPRES IS FULL OF MEMORIES FOR THE CANADIANS

It is safe to say that the youngest private in the rank, as he set his teeth for the advance, knew the task in front of him, and the youngest subaltern knew all that rested upon its success. It did not seem that any human being could live in the shower of shot and shell which began to play upon the advancing troops. They suffered terrible casualties. For a short time every other man seemed to fall, but the attack was pressed ever closer and closer.

The Fourth Canadian battalion at one moment came under a particularly withering fire. For a moment—not more—it wavered. Its most gallant commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Burchill, carrying, after an old fashion, a light cane, coolly and cheerfully rallied his men and, at the very moment when his example had infected them, fell dead at the head of his battalion. With a hoarse cry of anger they sprang forward (for, indeed they loved him), as if to avenge his death. The astonishing attack which followed—pushed home in the face of direct frontal fire made in broad daylight by battalions whose names should live forever in the memories of soldiers—was carried to the front line of the German trenches. After a hand-to-hand struggle the last German who resisted was bayoneted, and the trench was won.

The measure of this success may be taken when it is pointed out that this trench represented in the German advance the apex in the breach which the enemy had made in the original line of the Allies, and that it was two and a half miles south of that line. This charge, made by men who looked death indifferently in the face (for no man who took part in it could think that he was likely to live) saved, and that was much, the Canadian left. But it did more. Up to the point where the assailants conquered, or died, it secured and maintained during the most critical moment of all the integrity of the allied line. For the trench was not only taken, it was held thereafter against all comers, and in the teeth of every conceivable projectile, until the night of Sunday, the 25th, when all that remained of the war-broken but victorious battalion was relieved by fresh troops.

CHAPTER XXIX

ZEPPELIN RAIDS ON FRANCE AND ENGLAND

The idea of warfare in the air has been a dream of romancers from a period long before Jules Verne. Indeed, balloons were used for observation purposes in the eighteenth century by the French armies. The crude balloon of that period, in a more developed form, was used in the Franco-Prussian War, and during the siege of Paris by its assistance communication was kept up between Paris and the outside world. Realizing its possibilities inventors had been trying to develop a balloon which could be propelled against the wind and so guided that explosives could be dropped upon a hostile army. Partially successful dirigible balloons have been occasionally exhibited for a number of years.

The idea of such a balloon took a strong hold upon the imagination of the German army staff long before the Great War, and Count Ferdinand Zeppelin gave the best years of his life to its development. From the beginning he met with great difficulties. His first ships proved mechanical failures, and after these difficulties were overcome he met with a series of accidents which almost put an end to his efforts. By popular subscription, and by government support, he was able to continue, and when the war began Germany had thirty-five dirigible balloons of the Zeppelin and other types, many of them as much as 490 feet long.

The Zeppelin balloon, called the Zeppelin from the name of its inventor, was practically a vast ship, capable of carrying a load of about fifteen thousand pounds. It would carry a crew of twenty men or more, fuel for the engines, provisions, a wireless installation, and armament with ammunition. For a journey of twenty hours such a vessel would need at least seven thousand pounds of fuel. It would probably be able to carry about two tons of explosives. These Zeppelins could travel great distances. Before the war one of them flew from Lake Constance to Berlin, a continuous flight of about one thousand miles, in thirty-one hours.

These great aerial warships were given a thorough trial by the Germans. They disliked to admit that they had made a costly mistake in adding them to their armament. It soon turned out, however, that the Zeppelins were practically useless in battle. Whatever they could do, either for scouting purposes or in dropping explosives behind the enemy's lines, could be better done by the airplane. The French and the English, who before the war had decided that the airplane was the more important weapon, were right. But the Germans did not give up their costly toy so easily, and they determined to use it in the bombardment of cities and districts situated far away from the German line, in dropping bombs, not upon fortifications, or armed camps where they might meet with resistance, but upon peaceful non-belligerents in the streets of great unfortified cities.

It was their policy of frightfulness once again. And once again they had made a mistake. The varied expeditions of the Zeppelin airships sent from Germany to bombard Paris, or to cross the Channel and, after dropping bombs on seaside resorts, to wander over the city of London in the hope of spreading destruction there, did little real damage and their net effects, from a military point of view, were practically nil.

The first Zeppelin raid upon England took place on January 19, 1915. The Zeppelins passed over the cities of Yarmouth, Cromer, Sherringham and King's Lynn. On this expedition there were two Zeppelins. They reached the coast of Norfolk about 8.30 in the evening and then steered northwest across the country toward King's Lynn, dropping bombs as they went. In these towns there were no military stations and the damage suffered was very slight. Nine persons were killed, all civilians. This raid was followed by many others, which at first usually wasted their ammunition, dropping their bombs on small country towns or in empty fields.

On the 31st of May an expedition reached London and killed six persons in the east end. The result of this raid was to stir the English to intense indignation. Mobs gathered in the London streets, and persons suspected of being Germans, or with German sympathies, were attacked. Other raids followed, none of them doing serious military damage, but usually killing or wounding innocent non-combatants. The stupid policy of secrecy which they maintained during the first year of the war unfortunately permitted great exaggeration of the real damages which they had suffered.

During the first year, according to Mr. Balfour, in eighteen Zeppelin raids there were only seventy-one civilian adults and eighteen children killed, one hundred and eighty-nine civilian adults and thirty-one children wounded. No soldier or sailor was killed and only seven wounded.

In France similar attacks had been made on Paris and Calais. On the 20th of March two Zeppelins dropped bombs on Paris, but Paris, unlike London, was a fortified city, and the sky soldiers were driven off by the anti-aircraft guns. The French also devised an efficient method of defense. On the appearance of an airship great searchlights flashed into the air and the enemy was made at once a target, not only for the guns of all the forts, but also for airplane attack. In order to attack successfully a Zeppelin it was necessary that an airplane should attain a position above the enemy. For an airplane to rise to such a height time was required, as the airplane rises slowly. The French, therefore, devised a scheme by which two or more airplanes were kept constantly circling at a very great height above the city. Relays were formed which relieved each other at regular intervals. When an airship approached it would therefore be compelled in the first place to pass through the fire of the guns on the great forts, and then would find in the air above airplanes in waiting. The Germans, therefore, practically gave up attacks upon Paris. They were dangerous.

London, practically unarmed, seemed to them an easy mark. But the British Lion was now awake. The English had been taken by surprise. They attempted at first, in an unorganized way, to protect their city, and, though occasionally successful in destroying an airship through the gallantry of some individual hero, they soon found that their defense must be organized, and Admiral Sir Percy Scott was entrusted with the task. Lights were extinguished on the streets and screened on the water front. Illumination for advertising purposes was forbidden; windows were covered, so that London became at night a mass of gloom. The Zeppelins, compelled to fly at a very great height, because of anti-aircraft guns, were blinded. As in Paris airplanes were constantly kept on the alert and searchlights and anti-airship guns placed at every convenient point.

The suggestion was made that the English should undertake reprisals, but the suggestion was strongly opposed on the ground that the British should not be a "party to a line of conduct condemned by every right-thinking man of every civilized nation."

The effect of the English improved defenses was soon obvious, when the German expeditions began to lose airship after airship. Under the new regime, when such an attack was signaled, the whole city immediately received warning and the sky was swept by dozens of searchlights. Safe retreats were ready for those who cared to use them, but ordinarily the whole population rushed out to watch the spectacle. Airplanes would dash at the incoming foe; the searchlights would be switched off and the guns be silent to avoid hindering the aviators. Then would come the attack and Zeppelin after Zeppelin would be seen falling, a great mass of flames, while their companions would hurry back across the Channel. Even there they would not be safe, for many an airship was brought down on English fields, or on the waters of the sea.

The Germans, however, did not confine their policy of frightfulness in the air to the performances of their Zeppelins. Before the Zeppelins had crossed the Channel their airplanes had visited England. On Christmas Day, 1914, an airplane attacked Dover, doing, however, no damage. Other airplanes also visited the British Isles from time to time, dropping bombs, and as the Germans began to lose faith in the efficacy of their Zeppelin fleets they began more and more to substitute airplanes for their airships.

On some of these expeditions much more damage was done than had ever been done by the Zeppelins. The airplane expedition grew serious in the year 1917; between May 23d and June 16th of that year there were five such aerial attacks. The airplanes could not only move with greater speed but with better direction. An attack on May 25th resulted in the killing of seventy-six persons and the injuring of one hundred and seventy-four, the principal victims being women and children. This was at the town of Folkestone on the southeast coast. In this attack there were about sixteen airplanes, and the time of the attack was not more than three minutes. Scarcely any part of Folkestone escaped injury. The attack was methodically organized. Four separate squadrons passed over the city, following each other at short intervals. It was impossible to tell when the attack would end, and people in shelters or cellars were kept waiting for hours without being able to feel certain that the danger had passed.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  AN AIRPLANE ALARM
  Sailors dashing to the fighting tops of a battleship and putting an
  anti-aircraft gun in action to repel a hostile airplane.

[Illustration: Painting]
  LONDON'S WELCOME TO A ZEPPELIN RAIDER
  In the early part of the war Zeppelin raids on England were frequent.
  The rapid perfecting of searchlights, anti-aircraft guns and airplane
  defenses soon discouraged them. This picture shows an airplane about
  to attack with flaming bullets.

[Illustration: Photograph] GUARDING PARIS FROM THE HUN Observation post fitted with instruments for gauging the height and speed of enemy aircraft, a giant searchlight, a listening post and a "75" gun installed on the outskirts of Paris.

It is probable that one of the motives of these raids was to keep at home fleets of English airplanes which might be more useful on the front. Indeed, many Englishmen, alarmed by the damage, urged such a policy, but the good sense of the English leaders prevented such a mistake from being made. Pitiful as must have been the suffering in individual cases, the whole of the damage caused by the German frightfulness was but a trifle as compared with the usefulness of the English air-fleets when directly sent against the German armies. Nevertheless, every squadron of German airplanes sent to England was attacked by British aviators, and in those attacks the Germans suffered many losses.

[Illustration: Map]
  THE FIRST GERMAN ARMY WHICH INVADED FRANCE (1,200,000) WOULD HAVE
  STRETCHED FROM PARIS INTO RUSSIA (1,200 MILES) IF MARCHING IN SINGLE
  FILE

The worst raid of all those made was one on June 13th, which was directed upon the city of London. On that occasion ninety-seven persons were killed and four hundred and thirty-seven wounded. These airplane operations differed from the Zeppelin expeditions in being carried on in the daytime, and this raid took place while the schools were in session and large numbers of people were in the street. Only one of the attacking airplanes was brought down. The raiding machines were of a new type, about three times the size of the ordinary machine, and there were twenty-two such machines in the squadron. The battle in the air was a striking spectacle and in spite of the danger was watched by millions of the population. The raiders were easily seen and their flight seemed like a flight of swallows as they dived and swerved through the air.

The raids on England were not the only raids conducted by the Germans during the war. Paris suffered, but as soon as the warning sounded, the sky over the city was alive with defense airplanes. An attack on the French capital took place on the 27th of July and began about midnight. The German airmen, however, never got further than a suburban section of the city, and their bombardment caused but little damage. In one of the suburbs, however, a German flyer dropped four bombs on a Red Cross Hospital, killing two doctors, a chemist and a male nurse, and injuring a number of patients. The raider was flying low and the distinguishing marks of the hospital were plainly apparent.

Almost every day during the bitter fighting of 1918, reports came in that Allied hospitals had been bombed by German raiders. Attacks on hospitals were, of course, strictly forbidden by the Hague Convention, and they caused bitter indignation. Such attacks were of a piece with those upon hospital ships which were made from time to time. From the very beginning of the war the Germans could not understand the psychology of the people of the Allied countries. They were not fighting with slaves, ready to cower under the lash, but with free people, ready to fight for liberty and roused to fury by lawlessness.

CHAPTER XXX

RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA

The Russian Revolution was not a sudden movement of the people. Long before the war it had raised its head. The Duma itself came into existence as one of its fruits; but when the war began all parties joined in patriotic support of the Russian armies and laid aside for the time their cherished grievances. The war was immensely popular. Slavonic nationalism turned against Austria-Hungary and Germany who were bent upon crushing the Slavonic sister state, Serbia. The Liberal elements saw in Germany the stronghold of reaction and of militarism, and trusted that its downfall would be followed by that of Russian autocracy. But so glaring was the incapacity of the old regime, that a union was formed during the war by all the Liberal parties. This group united on the single aim of pushing on the war, and silently preparing for the moment when the catastrophe to Czarism was to come.

This was long before the revolution. But a conviction of the necessity of immediate change gradually came to all. The Czar himself brought matters to an issue. His vacillation, his appointment of ministers who were not only reactionary, but were suspected of being German tools, were too much for even honest supporters of the Imperial regime. Some of these reactionaries, it is true, were easily driven from power. In 1915 Sukhomlinov and Maklakov were overthrown by the influence of the army and the Duma. But in 1916 the parasites came to life again. M. Boris Stuermer became Prime Minister, and appointed as Minister of the Interior the notorious Protopopov. On November 14, 1916, Miliukov, the leader of the Constitutional Democrats, or Cadet Party, attacked the Premier in one of the fiercest speeches ever made in the Russian Duma. Stuermer was compelled to resign, but his successor, M. Trepov, though an honest man with high ambitions, was forced to retain Protopopov at the Interior. For a moment there was calm. But it was the calm before the storm.

The Russian Revolution, now recognized as the most bloody revolution in history, began with the assassination of a single man. This man was Gregory Novikh, known throughout the world under the name of Rasputin. A Siberian peasant by birth, immoral, filthy in person, untrained in mind, he had early received the nickname of Rasputin, which means "ne'er-do-well," on account of his habits. A drunkard, and a libertine always, he posed as a sort of saint and miracle worker, let his hair grow long, and tramped about the world barefoot.

Rasputin had left his district of Tobolsk and at Moscow had started a new cult, where mystical seances were mingled with debauchery. Through Madame Verubova he had been introduced to the Empress herself. He became the friend of Count Witte, of Stuermer, and Protopopov was his tool. Rumor credited him with exercising an extraordinary influence upon the Czarina, and through her upon the Czar. This influence was thought to be responsible for many of the Czar's unpopular policies. In times of great public agitation the wildest rumors are easily taken for truth and the absurd legends which were easily associated with his name were greedily accepted by people of every rank. The influence of Rasputin over the Imperial family was denied again and again. It has been said from authoritative sources that the Czar did not know him by sight, and that the Czarina knew him only as a superstitious and neurotic woman might know some fortune teller or other charlatan. Nevertheless the credulous public believed him to be the evil spirit of the Imperial circle, and every false move, every unpopular act, was ascribed to his baneful influence. But such a career could not last long, and the end became a tragedy.

Several times Rasputin had been attacked, but had escaped. At last, on the 29th of December, 1916, Prince Yusapov, a young man of wealth and position, invited him to dine with him at his own home. The Prince came for him in his own car. Entering the dining-room, they found there the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovitch. M. Purishkevitch, a member of the Duma, had acted as chauffeur, and he followed him in. The three told him that he was to die and he was handed a pistol that he might kill himself; instead of doing so, he shot at the Grand Duke, but missed, and then was shot in turn by his captors. The noise attracted the attention of the police who inquired what had happened. "I have just killed a dog," was the reply.

His body was taken in an automobile to the Neva River, a hole cut in the ice, and weighted with stones, it was dropped into the waters. On the next day his executioners notified the police of what they had done, and the news was announced at the Imperial Theatre, whose audience went wild with enthusiasm, and sang the National Hymn. No legal action was ever taken against Rasputin's executioners. His body was recovered and given honorable burial. The Czarina, according to report, following the coffin to the grave. And so disappeared from the Imperial Court one evil force.

But his tool, Alexander Protopopov, still survived. Protopopov was an extraordinary man. In 1916 he had visited England and France and made a splendid impression. His speeches, full of fire and patriotism, were regarded as the best made by any deputation that had come from Russia. But on his return to Petrograd he fell completely into the hands of the Court party. He became associated with Rasputin, and his wild talk and restless conduct suggested to many that his mind had become affected.

After the death of Rasputin, the meeting of the Duma, which should have taken place on January 25, 1917, was postponed for a month. The censorship was drawn tighter, the members of the secret police were greatly increased, and a deliberate endeavor, under the direction of Protopopov was made to encourage an abortive revolution, so that its overthrow might establish the reactionaries in power. But the attempt failed.

During January and February the people were calm. No one wanted revolution then. On February 9th, the labor members of the War Industry Committee were arrested. This was regarded as plainly provocative, and M. Miliukov wrote appeals to the people for patience. These were suppressed, but no disturbance ensued. A British Commission, then on a visit to Russia, reported that there was no danger of revolution. But the people were hungry. Speakers in the Duma discussed the food problem. It became harder and harder to procure bread, and little that was practical seemed to be done to improve the situation, though in some parts of the country there were large surplus stocks. On March 8th crowds gathered around the bakery shops, and looted several of them. The next day the crowds in the streets increased. Groups of Cossacks rode here and there, fraternizing with the people. They, too, were hungry. In the afternoon two workmen were arrested for disorder by the police. A band of Cossacks freed them. Street speakers began to appear here and there, and crowds gathered to listen to their fiery denunciations of the government.

On March 11th, General Khabalov, military governor of the city, issued a proclamation announcing that the police had orders to disperse all crowds, and that any workman who did not return to work on Monday morning would be sent to the trenches. The main streets of the city were cleared and guarded by the police and soldiery. The crowds were enormous, and disorderly, and more than two hundred of the rioters were killed. Yet it seemed as if the government had the situation in a firm grasp, though an ominous incident was that the Pavlovsk regiment on being ordered to fire upon the mob, mutinied and had to be ordered to their quarters.

Meantime Rodzianko, the President of the Duma, had telegraphed to the
Czar:

Situation serious. Anarchy reigns in Capital. Government is paralyzed. Transport food and fuel supplies are utterly disorganized. General discontent is growing. Disorderly firing is going on in streets. Various companies of soldiers are shooting at each other. It is absolutely necessary to invest someone, who enjoys the confidence of the people, with powers to form a new government. No time must be lost, and delay may be fatal. I pray to God that in this hour responsibility may not fall on the wearer of the crown.

The Prime Minister, Prince Golitzin, acting under powers which he had received from the Czar, prorogued the Duma. But the Duma refused to be prorogued. Its President, Rodzianko, holding in his hand the order for dissolution, announced that the Duma was now the sole constitutional authority of Russia.

During the night following, the soldiers at the Capital, and the Socialists, decided upon their course. The soldiers determined that they would not fire upon their civilian brothers. The Socialists planned an alternative scheme of government.

On March the 12th, the city was taken possession of by a mob. The Preo Crajenski Guards refused to fire upon the crowd. The Volynsky regiment, sent to coerce them, joined in the mutiny. Followed by the mob, the two regiments seized the arsenal. A force of 25,000 soldiers was in the revolt. At 11 A. M., the Courts of Law were set on fire and the fortress of SS. Peter and Paul was seized. The police, fighting desperately, were hunted from their quarters, their papers destroyed and the prisoners, political and criminal, released from the jails.

During the day the Duma kept in constant session, awaiting the Emperor, who did not come. Telegram after telegram was sent him, each more urgent. There is reason to believe that these telegrams never reached the Czar. When information finally did come to him it was too late. Meantime the Duma appointed an executive committee. Their names were Rodzianko, Nekrasov, Konovalov, Dmitrikov, Lvov, Rjenski, Karaulov, Miliukov, Schledlovski, Schulgin, Tcheidze and Kerensky. The workmen and soldiers also formed a committee, which undertook to influence the troops now pouring into Petrograd. But the center of the revolution was still the Duma, and crowds gathered to listen to its speeches. In the evening Protopovo surrendered to the Russian guards, but General Khabalov still occupied the Admiralty building with such forces as were faithful.

On March 13th it became evident that the army in the field were accepting the authority of the provisional government. The Duma committee was composed mainly of men of moderate political views. They moved slowly, fearing on the one hand the Reactionaries who still preserved their loyalty to the Czar, and on the other hand the Council of Labor, with its extreme views, and its influence—with the troops. The siege of the Admiralty building was ended by the surrender of General Khabalov. The police, however, were still keeping up a desultory resistance, but the mob were hunting them like wild beasts. On Wednesday, the 14th of March, the revolution was over.

The Executive Committee of the Duma and the Council of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates, now universally known as the Soviet, were working in harmony. Every hour proclamations were issued, some of them foolish, some of them, it is thought, inspired by German agents, and some of them wise and patriotic. One of the most unfortunate of these proclamations was one to the army directing that "the orders of the War Committee must be obeyed, saving only on those occasions when they shall contravene the orders and regulations of the labor deputies and military delegates." This same proclamation abolished saluting for private soldiers off duty. It was the beginning of the destruction of the Russian military power. The proclamation of the Duma committee itself was admirable:

CITIZENS: The Provisional Executive Committee of the Duma, with the aid and support of the garrison of the capital and its inhabitants, has now triumphed over the baneful forces of the old regime in such a manner as to enable it to proceed to the more stable organization of the executive power. With this object, the Provisional Committee will name ministers of the first national cabinet, men whose past public activity assures them the confidence of the country.

The new cabinet will adopt the following principles as the basis of its policy:

1. An immediate amnesty for all political and religious offenses, including military revolts, acts of terrorism, and agrarian crimes.

2. Freedom of speech, of the press, of associations and labor organizations, and the freedom to strike; with an extension of these liberties to officials and troops, in so far as military and technical conditions permit.

3. The abolition of social, religious, and racial restrictions and privileges.

4. Immediate preparation for the summoning of a Constituent Assembly, which, with universal suffrage as a basis, shall establish the governmental regime and the constitution of the country.

5. The substitution for the police of a national militia, with elective heads and subject to the self-governing bodies.

6. Communal elections to be carried out on the basis of universal suffrage.

7. The troops that have taken part in the revolutionary movement shall not be disarmed, but they are not to leave Petrograd.

8. While strict military discipline must be maintained on active service, all restrictions upon soldiers in the enjoyment of social rights granted to other citizens are to be abolished.

Meantime the Emperor, "the Little Father," at first thoroughly incredulous of the gravity of the situation, had at last become alarmed. He appointed General Ivanov Commander-in-Chief of the army, and ordered him to proceed to Petrograd at the head of a division of loyal troops. General Ivanov set out, but his train was held up at Tsarkoe Selo, and he returned to Pskov. The Czar himself then started for the city, but he, too, was held up at the little station of Bologoi, where workmen had pulled up the track, and he returned to Pskov.

He sent for Ruzsky and declared that he was ready to yield to the Duma and grant a responsible ministry. Ruzsky advised him to get in touch with Rodzianko, and as a result of a telephone communication with Rodzianko and with several of his trusted generals, it became clear that there was no other course than abdication. Guchkov and Shulgin, messengers from the Duma, arrived on the evening of March 15th, and found the Emperor alone, except for his aide-de-camp, Count Fredericks.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"You must abdicate," Guchkov told him, "in favor of your son, with the
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch as Regent."

The Emperor sat for a long time silent. "I cannot be separated from my boy," he said. "I will hand the throne to my brother." Taking a sheet of paper he wrote as follows:

By the Grace of God, We, Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias, to all our faithful subjects:

In the course of a great struggle against a foreign enemy, who has been endeavoring for three years to enslave our country, it has pleased God to send Russia a further bitter trial. Internal troubles have threatened to compromise the progress of the war. The destinies of Russia, the honor of her heroic army, the happiness of her people, and the whole future of our beloved country demand that at all costs victory shall be won. The enemy is making his last efforts, and the moment is near when our gallant troops, in concert with their glorious Allies, will finally overthrow him.

In these days of crisis we have considered that our nation needs the closest union of all its forces for the attainment of victory. In agreement with the Imperial Duma, we have recognized that for the good of our land we should abdicate the throne of the Russian state and lay down the supreme power.

Not wishing to separate ourselves from our beloved son, we bequeath our heritage to our brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, with our blessing upon the future of the Russian throne. We bequeath it to him with the charge to govern in full unison with the national representatives who may sit in the legislature, and to take his inviolable oath to them in the name of our well-beloved country.

We call upon all faithful sons of our land to fulfil this sacred and patriotic duty in obeying their Emperor at this painful moment of national trial, and to aid him, together with the representatives of the nation, to lead the Russian people in the way of prosperity and glory.

May God help Russia.

So ended the reign of Nicholas the Second, Czar of all the Russias. The news of the Czar's abdication spread over the world with great rapidity, and was received by the Allies with mixed feelings. The Czar had been scrupulously loyal to the alliance. He was a man of high personal character, and his sympathies on the whole, liberal; but he was a weak man in a position in which even a strong man might have failed. He was easily influenced, especially by his wife. Warned again and again of the danger before him, he constantly promised improvement, only to fail in keeping his promises. He deeply loved his wife, and yielded continually to her unwise advice.

The Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is but another instance of a devoted queen who dethroned her consort. She believed in Divine Right and looked with suspicion upon popular leaders. Her one object in life was to hand on the Russian crown to her son, with no atom of its power diminished. She surrounded herself and her husband with scoundrels and charlatans.

On the whole, the feeling among the Allies was one of relief. There was a general distrust of the influences which had been surrounding the Czar. The patriotism of the Grand Duke Michael was well known, and a government conducted by him was sure to be a great improvement. But it was not to be. Before the news of the abdication reached Petrograd a new ministry had been formed by the Duma. Miliukov announced their names and explained their credentials. The Prime Minister was Prince George Lvov. Miliukov was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guchkov Minister of War and Marine, Kerensky, a new name in the government, Minister of Justice. The ministry included representatives of every party of the left and center.

Miliukov declared that their credentials came from the Russian revolution: "We shall not fight for the sake of power. To be in power is not a reward or pleasure but a sacrifice. As soon as we are told that the sacrifice is no longer needed, we shall give up our places with gratitude for the opportunity which has been accorded us."

He concluded by informing his hearers that the despot who had brought
Russia to the brink of ruin would either abdicate of his free will, or
be deposed. He added that the Grand Duke Michael would be appointed
Regent.

This announcement at once produced an explosion. A ministry of moderates and a continuance of the Imperial government under a regency stirred the delegates of the workmen and soldiers to revolt. For a time it seemed as if the new government would disappear in the horrors of mob rule. But Kerensky saved the situation. Making his way into the meeting of the Soviet he burst into an impassioned speech.

"Comrades!" he cried, "I have been appointed Minister of Justice. No one is a more ardent Republican than I, but we must bide our time. Nothing can come to its full growth at once. We shall have our Republic but we must first win the war. The need of the moment is organization and discipline and that need will not wait."

His eloquence carried the day. The Soviet passed a resolution supporting the provisional government with only fifteen dissenting votes. But it had been made clear that the people did not approve of the regency, and on the night of the 15th of March, Prince Lvov, Kerensky and other leaders of the Duma sought out the Grand Duke Michael and informed him of the situation. The Grand Duke yielded to the people, and on Friday, March the 16th, issued a declaration which ended the power of the Romanovs in Russia:

I am firmly resolved to accept the supreme power only if this should be the desire of our great people, who must, by means of a plebiscite through their representatives in the Constituent Assembly, establish the form of government and the new fundamental laws of the Russian state. Invoking God's blessing, I, therefore, request all citizens of Russia to obey the provisional government, set up on the initiative of the Duma, and invested with plenary powers, until within as short a time as possible the Constituent Assembly elected on a basis of equal, universal and secret suffrage, shall enforce the will of the nation regarding the future form of the constitution.

With this declaration the sacred monarchy had disappeared. In one week the people had come to their own and Russia was free. But what form of new government was to replace the old regime was still the question. There were two rival theories as to the principles to be followed, one that of the Moderates, the other of the Extremists. The Moderates, who controlled the provisional government were practical men. They realized that Russia was at war and that efficient administration was the great need.

The Extremists of the Soviet were a different type of men. They were profoundly ignorant of all practical questions of government; their creed was socialism. The Socialistic party in Russia may be divided into three different groups. The first, the Social Revolutionary party, came into prominence in Russia about 1900. It was composed of followers of the Russian Lavrov who believed in the socialist state, but a state which should not be a tyrant overriding the individual. Liberty was his watchword and he made his appeal not only to the workmen in the shops but with a special force to the peasant. He did not preach class war in the ordinary sense, and believed in the value of national life. To this party belonged Kerensky, more and more becoming the leader of the revolutionary movement.

The second group of the Socialist party were the Bolsheviki. This group were followers of the German Karl Marx. The revolution which they sought was essentially a class revolution. To the Bolsheviki the fate of their country mattered not at all. They were eager for peace on any terms. The only war in which they were interested was a class war; they recognized no political boundaries. The leader of this group was Vladimir Iljetch Uljanov, who, under his pen name of Lenine, was already widely known and who had now obtained the opportunity which he had long desired.

The third group were the Mensheviki. The Mensheviki believed in the importance of the working classes, but they did not ignore other classes. They were willing to use existing forms of government to carry out the reforms they desired. They saw that the Allied cause was their own cause, the cause of the workman as well as the intellectual.

The Soviet contained representatives of these three groups. It did not represent Russia, but it was in Petrograd and could exert its influence directly upon the government.

The attitude of the provisional government toward the Imperial family was at first not unkindly. The Czar and the Czarina were escorted to the Alexandrovsky Palace in Tsarskoe-Selo. The Czar for a time lived quietly as plain Nicholas Romanov. The Czarina and her children were very ill with measles, the case of the little Prince being complicated by the breaking out of an old wound in his foot. The Grand Duchess Tatiana was in a serious condition and oxygen had been administered. As his family improved in health the Czar amused himself by strolls in the palace yard, and even by shoveling snow. Later on Nicholas was transferred to Tobolsk, Siberia, and then, in May, 1918, to Yekaterinberg. His wife and his daughter Marie accompanied him to the latter place, while Alexis and his other three daughters remained in Tobolsk. On July 20th a Russian government dispatch announced his assassination. It read as follows:

At the first session of the Central Executive Committee, elected by the Fifth Congress of the Councils, a message was made public that had been received by direct wire from the Ural Regional Council, concerning the shooting of the ex-Czar, Nicholas Romanov. Recently Yekaterinberg, the Capital of the Red Urals, was seriously threatened by the approach of Czecho-Slovak bands, and a counter-revolutionary conspiracy was discovered, which had as its object the wresting of the ex-Czar from the hands of the Council's authority. In view of this fact the President of the Ural Regional Council decided to shoot the ex-Czar, and the decision was carried out on July 16th.

The wife and the son of Nicholas Romanov had been sent to a place of security. In a detailed account of the execution, published in Berlin, it appeared that the Czar had been awakened at five o'clock in the morning, and informed that he was to be executed in two hours. He spent some time with a priest in his bedroom and wrote several letters. According to this account, when the patrol came to take him out for execution he was found in a state of collapse. His last words, uttered just before the executioners fired, are reported to have been "Spare my wife and my innocent and unhappy children. May my blood preserve Russia from ruin."

The Russian press, including the Socialist papers, condemned the execution as a cruel and unnecessary act. The charges of conspiracy were utterly unproven, and were merely an excuse. The Central Executive Committee, however, accepted the decision of the Ural Regional Soviet as being regular, and a decree by the Bolshevist Government declared all the property of the former Emperor, his wife, his mother and all the members of the Imperial house, forfeit to the Soviet Republic.

Meantime the provisional government, which had taken power on the 16th of March, seemed as if it might succeed. Miliukov, whose announcement of the Regency had made him unpopular, declared for a Republic. The great army commanders for the most part accepted the revolution. The Grand Duke Nicholas was removed from his command and the other Grand Dukes were ordered not to leave Petrograd. Alexiev became commander-in-chief; Ruzsky had the northern group of armies, Brusilov the southern; Kornilov was in command of Petrograd, and the central group was put under the command of Lechitsky. Reports came that discipline was improving everywhere on the front.

[Illustration: Map of Petrograd]
  CAPITAL OF THE NEW REPUBLIC OF RUSSIA

The plans of the government, too, met with general approval. Their policy was announced by Prince Lvov. "The new government considers it its duty to make known to the world that the object of free Russia is not to dominate other nations and forcibly to take away their territory. The object of independent Russia is a permanent peace and the right of all nations to determine their own destiny."

Kerensky, in inspiring speeches, encouraged the country to war, and declared against a separate peace. The new government announced that Poland was to receive complete independence, with a right to determine its own form of government, and its relation, if any, to Russia. In Finland the Governor, Sein, was removed. A Liberal was appointed Governor and the Finnish Diet was convened. A manifesto was issued on March 21st, completely restoring the Finnish constitution. To the Armenians Kerensky expressed himself as in favor of an autonomous government for them, under Russia's protection, and on March 25th, absolute equality of the Jews was proclaimed by the new government. A number of Jews were made officers in the army, and two Jewish advocates were appointed members of the Russian Senate and of the Supreme Court. On April 4th full religious liberty was proclaimed, and on the same date the Prime Minister promised a delegation of women that women would be given the right to vote.

These acts caused a general subsidence of unrest, and public good feeling was increased by the return of the political exiles and prisoners from Siberia. A full hundred thousand of such prisoners were released, and their progress across Siberia to Russia was one grand triumphal march.

The most celebrated of these political prisoners were two women, Catherine Breshkovskaya and Marie Spiridonova. Catherine Breshkovskaya was known as the grandmother of the revolution. Forty-four years of her life were spent in exile. When she reached Petrograd she was met at the railroad depot by a military band, and carried in procession through the streets. Equally popular was Marie Spiridonova, who, though still young, had suffered martyrdom. She had been tortured with cruelty that is unprintable. Her face had been disfigured for life. The agents who had inflicted the torture were assassinated by the revolutionists.

It was a great day for Russia, and the outlook seemed full of promise.

CHAPTER XXXI

THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM

The hopes entertained for the new Republic of Russia were doomed to disappointment. For a short time, under the leadership of Lvov, the Russians marched along the path of true democracy. But the pace became too rapid.

The government prospered in Petrograd, and the economic organization of the country proceeded with great speed. An eight-hour day was introduced in the capital and in many other cities throughout the republic. The fever of organization spread even to the peasants. They formed a Council of Peasants' Deputies, modeled after the Council of Workmen and Soldiers. On the 13th of April, 1917, came the first meeting of the All-Russia Congress of Soviets, and with it a revival of the differences of opinion which ultimately were to destroy the government. The great majority were for war, but the minority, led by Lenine and the Bolsheviki element, demanded an immediate peace. They declared that the enemies of the Revolution were not the Central Powers; but the capitalists in all countries, and not least the Provisional Government of Russia.

Some clew to the meaning of the Bolsheviki movement in Russia is to be found in the life of Lenine, its leading spirit. It has been charged that he was the tool of the German Government. He undoubtedly received facilities from the German Government to return to Russia from Switzerland immediately after the Revolution in March. His whole career, however, suggests that he was not a tool, but a fanatic.

He was born in Simbirsk, in Central Russia, in the year 1870. Lenine was only one of the several aliases that he had found it necessary to adopt at various times. He was of good family, and received his education at the Petrograd University. From the very beginning he took an active interest in the political and social problems of the day. In 1887 his brother, A. Uljanov, was arrested, and after a secret trial condemned to death and hanged as a participant in a plot to wreck the imperial train carrying Alexander III. Lenine was also arrested, but was released on account of a lack of evidence. At this time the Russian Socialistic movement was still in its infancy.

[Illustration: Photograph: About 50 women in military uniforms.] Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y THE WOMEN'S "BATTALION OF DEATH" IN NATIONAL DANCE A unique outgrowth of the Russian revolution was this organization of women which came into prominence at the beginning of the Russian front's break-up.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y
  DEMONSTRATION OF CITIZENS BEFORE THIS WINTER PALACE
  The formation of the Red Guard adopting the propaganda of the
  Bolshevists resulted, which drove Russia into a chaos of Revolution.

[Illustration: Photograph]
Copyright International Film Service.
  SPOILS OF THE VICTORY AT ST. MIHIEL
  The Germans left everything behind when they fled to avoid being
  trapped in the St. Mihiel salient by the swift American advance. This
  shows a soldier examining an abandoned German machine-gun, fully
  loaded and not a shot fired.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  AN AERIAL BOMB
  British airmen examining a huge bomb which later scattered death among
  the Huns.

Lenine spent his Sundays in a circle of uneducated workmen, explaining to them the elements of socialistic economics. Along with this propaganda work he studied deeply the economic phases of Russian life, being especially interested in its working and peasant classes. He wrote several books on the subject, which are still accepted as valuable representatives of Russian economic literature. Because of his socialistic activities, Lenine was compelled to leave Russia on several occasions, when he lived in Switzerland, France and Austria. From these countries he directed the work of one of the groups of the Social Democratic party, and became an important leader.

In the General Russian Socialistic Convention, held in 1903, this group made a definite stand for its program and policies. This was the time when the word "Bolsheviki" was coined, meaning the "majority," who had voted in accord with Lenine's proposals. Lenine believed in the seizure of political power by means of violent revolution and in establishing a proletarian government. After the Revolution of 1905, the Lenine faction dwindled and it seemed as if Bolshevism was destined to die out. But in 1911, with the awakening of a new spirit in the political and social life of Russia, a new impetus was given to the activities of the Bolsheviki. The first Socialist daily paper, Pravda, ("the Truth,") was one of their efforts. In 1913 the Bolsheviki sent six representatives to the Duma.

At the outbreak of the war Lenine was in Cracow. Like other revolutionary leaders he was compelled to live in exile. He went to Switzerland where he remained until the news of the successful revolution caused his return to Russia. On his arrival in Petrograd he gathered together his followers and began the agitation in favor of the Bolshevist program and of peace.

The first sign of the conflict between the Provisional Government and the Soviet arose in connection with the joint note sent to the Allies by the Provisional Government on May 1st. This note was signed by Foreign Secretary Miliukov. It declared, among other things, that the Provisional Government would "maintain a strict regard for its engagements with the Allies of Russia."

The document aroused strong disapproval among many members of the Council of the Soviet, and serious anti-government demonstrations occurred in Petrograd on May 3d and 4th. These demonstrations were directed distinctly against Miliukov. Detachments of soldiers and workmen gathered in front of the headquarters of the Provisional Government, carrying banners, with inscriptions "Down with Miliukov! Down with the Provisional Government!" Miliukov appealed to the crowd for confidence, and his words were greeted with hearty cheering.

The Soviet Council ultimately voted confidence in the government by a narrow margin of 35 in a total of 2,500. But the agitation against the government persisted, and on May 16th Miliukov resigned. General Kornilov, Commander of the Petrograd Garrison, and Guchkov, Minister of War, finding their control of the army weakened by the interference of the Soviet Council, also resigned.

The situation became critical. As a result of this agitation a new coalition government was formed. Prince Lvov remained Prime Minister. Terestchenko became Foreign Minister. Most significant of all, Kerensky became the Minister of War. The new government issued a new declaration of policy, promising a firm support of the war with Germany, and an effort to call together at the earliest possible date a Constituent Assembly to deal with questions of land and of finance. This manifesto was received coldly by the Soviets and their press.

It was at this time that the Allies sent special missions to Russia to aid the Russian Government in forwarding the fight against the common enemy. The American mission to Russia was headed by Elihu Root, former Secretary of State. It was cordially received, and housed in the former Winter Palace of the Czar. On June 15th the American Ambassador, David R. Francis, presented the Root mission to the Council of Ministers in the Marinsky Palace, and Mr. Root made an eloquent address, declaring the sympathy of the American Republic with the new Russian Democracy. He declared that the liberty of both nations was in danger. "The armed forces of military autocracy are at the gates of Russia and the Allies. The triumph of Germans will mean the death of liberty in Russia. No enemy is at the gates of America, but America has come to realize that the triumph of German arms means the death of Liberty in the world."

At Moscow Mr. Root addressed representatives of the Zemstvo and the local Council of the Workmen and Soldiers. He was warmly applauded, and on motion of the Mayor a telegram was sent to President Wilson, thanking him for sending the Root Commission to Russia. The Root Mission returned to the United States early in August, and reported to Washington August 12th. At a public reception given by the citizens of New York, Senator Root expressed supreme confidence in the stability of the Revolution.

On July 1st, inspired by Kerensky, and under the personal leadership of General Kornilov, the Russian army began an offensive in Galicia. It first met with complete success, capturing Halicz, and sweeping forward close to Dolina in the Carpathian foothills. Then under a very slight hostile German pressure, the Russian armies, immediately to the north and south of Kornilov's army, broke and ran. This action was directly traced to orders subversive of discipline, emanating from the Petrograd Soviet. Kornilov's army was compelled to retire, and by July 21st was in full retreat from Galicia.

The Russian mutiny spread. Regiments refused to fight or to obey their officers.

One of the most picturesque episodes of this phase of the war was the formation of a woman's regiment, known as the "Command of Death," which was reviewed at Petrograd June 21st, by Minister of War, Kerensky. In front of the barracks assigned to this regiment a visitor found posted at the gate a little blue-eyed sentry in a soldier's khaki blouse, short breeches, green forage cap, ordinary woman's black stockings and neat shoes. The sentry was Mareya Skridlov, daughter of Admiral Skridlov, former commander of the Baltic fleet and Minister of Marines. In the courtyard three hundred girls were drilling, mostly between 18 and 25 years old, of good physique and many of them pretty. They wore their hair short or had their heads entirely shaved. They were drilling under the instruction of a male sergeant of the Volynsky regiment, and marched to an exaggerated goose step.

The girl commander, Lieutenant Buitchkarev, explained that most of the recruits were from the higher educational academies, with a few peasants, factory girls and servants. Some married women were accepted, but none who had children. The Battalion of Death distinguished itself on the field, setting an example of courage to the mutinous regiments during the retreat of Brusilov.

With the army thus demoralized the Russian Revolution encountered a perilous period toward the end of July, 1917, and civil war or anarchy seemed almost at hand, when out of the depths of the national spirit there arose a new revolution to save the situation and to maintain order. The country was everywhere the scene of riotous disturbances. Anarchists, radicals, and monarchists seemed to be working hand-in-hand to precipitate a reign of terror, when once more Kerensky saved the situation. On July 20th, it was announced that the Premier, Prince Lvov, had resigned, and that Alexander Kerensky had been appointed Premier, but would also retain his portfolio as Minister of War.

A new government was quickly formed. Kerensky was made practical Dictator, and his government received the complete endorsement of a joint Congress of the Soviets and the Council of peasant delegates. Kerensky acted with the utmost vigor. Orders were given to fire on deserters and warrants issued for the arrest of revolutionary agitators whoever they might be. Rear-Admiral Verdervski, commander of the Baltic fleet, was seized for communicating a secret government telegram to sailors' committees. Agitators from the Soviet were arrested, charged with inciting the Peterhof troops against the Federal Government. On July 22d, the following resolution was passed by the joint Congress.

Recognizing that the country is menaced by a military debacle on the front and by anarchy at home, it is resolved:

1. That the country and the revolution are in danger.

2. That the Provisional Government is proclaimed the Government of National Safety.

3. That unlimited powers are accorded the government for re-establishing the organization and discipline of the army for a fight to a finish against the enemies of public order, and for the realization of the whole program embodied in the governmental program just announced.

The reorganization of the Councils of the All-Russia, and Workmen's and Peasants' Organizations on the 23d, issued a ringing address to the army denouncing its mutinous spirit and warning it of the inevitable result. The Provisional Government also issued a proclamation on July 22d, charging that the disorders were precipitated to bring about a counter-revolution by the enemies of the country. But the army was demoralized. It disregarded discipline and refused to recognize military rule. A general retreat followed. The Germans and Austrians steadily advanced through Galicia and crossed the frontier before the Russian armies could be forced to make a stand.

The death penalty for treason or mutiny was restored in the army on July 25th, when Kerensky threatened to resign unless this was done. On that same date the government authorized the Minister of the Interior to suspend the publication of periodicals that incite to insubordination or disobedience to orders given by the military authorities. By July 28th the situation had become more hopeful. On that day General Ruzsky, formerly commander-in-chief of the northern armies of Russia, and General Gurko, ex-commander on the Russian southwestern front, were summoned to Petrograd. Each had retired on account of the interference of the Council of Workmen and Soldiers' delegates. Their return to the service was a hopeful sign. The Soviet also passed by an overwhelming majority a resolution censuring Lenine, and demanding that he should be publicly tried. Charges had been made that Lenine and his associates were working under German direction and financed by Germans. On August 2d, Kornilov became Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army. A disagreement in the Cabinet led to its reorganization. In the new Cabinet appeared again representatives of the Constitutional Democratic party. Conditions began to show improvement from this time forth.

An extraordinary National Council met at Moscow August 26th, 1917. This conference consisted of 2,500 delegates representing the Duma, the Soviets, the Zemstvos, and indeed all organized Russia. Kerensky opened the conference in a speech of great length in which he reviewed the general situation, declaring that the destructive period of the Revolution had past and that the time had come to consolidate its conquests.

Perhaps the most important address before the Council was that made by General Kornilov, Commander-in-Chief of the army. General Kornilov was received with prolonged cheers, which in the light of his subsequent action were especially significant. General Kornilov described with much detail the disorganization and insubordination in the army, and continued:

"We are implacably fighting anarchy in the army. Undoubtedly it will finally be repressed, but the danger of fresh debacles is weighing constantly on the country. The situation on the front is bad. We have lost the whole of Galicia, the whole of Bukowina, and all the fruits of our recent victories. If Russia wishes to be saved the army must be regenerated at any cost." General Kornilov then outlined the most important of the reform measures which he recommended, and concluded: "I believe that the genius and the reason of the Russian people will save the country. I believe in a brilliant future for our army. I believe its ancient glory will be restored."

General Kaledines, leader of the Don Cossacks, mounted the tribune and read a resolution passed by the Cossacks demanding the continuation of the war until complete victory was attained. He defied the extreme Radicals. "Who saved you from the Bolsheviki on the 14th of July?" he asked contemptuously. "We Cossacks have been free men. We are not made drunk by our new-found liberties and are unblinded by party or program. We tell you plainly and categorically, 'Remove yourselves from the place which you have neither the ability or the courage to fill, and let better men than yourselves step in, or take the consequences of your folly.'"

The conference took no definite action, being invested with no authority, but it served to bring out clearly the line of cleavage between the Radical or Socialistic element represented by Kerensky and the Conservatives represented by the generals of the army.

Immediately on the heels of the Moscow conference an important German advance was made in the direction of Riga, the most important Russian Baltic port. In spite of a vigorous defense the Germans captured the city.

The loss of Riga intensified the political excitement in Russia, and produced a profound crisis. A wave of unrest spread throughout the country. The Grand Duke Michael, and the Grand Duke Paul with their families, were arrested on a charge of conspiracy. The Provisional Government was charged with responsibility of the collapse of the army.

It was on September 9th, that the storm broke, and General Kornilov, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian armies, raised the flag of revolt against the Provisional Government. The details of the revolt are as follows:

At one o'clock Saturday afternoon, Deputy Lvov, of the Duma, called upon Premier Kerensky, and declared that he had come as the representative of General Kornilov to demand the surrender of all power into Kornilov's hands. M. Lvov said that this demand did not emanate from Kornilov only but was supported by an organization of Duma members, Moscow industrial interests, and other conservatives. This group, said M. Lvov, did not object to Kerensky personally, but demanded that he transfer the Portfolio of War to M. Savinkov, assistant Minister of War, who all along had supported Kornilov.

"If you agree," M. Lvov added, "we invite you to come to headquarters and meet General Kornilov, giving you a solemn guarantee that you will not be arrested."

Premier Kerensky replied that he could not believe Kornilov to be guilty of such an act of treason, and that he would communicate with him directly. In an exchange of telegrams Kornilov confirmed fully to the Premier his demands. Kerensky promptly placed Lvov under arrest, denounced Kornilov as a traitor and deposed him from his position as Commander-in-Chief, General Klembovsky being appointed in his place. General Kornilov responded to the order of dismissal by moving an army against the Capital.

Martial law was declared in Moscow and in Petrograd. Kerensky assumed the functions of Commander-in-Chief and took military measures to defend Petrograd and resist the rebels. On the 12th it was clear that the Kornilov revolt had failed to receive the expected support. Kornilov advanced toward Petrograd, and occupied Jotchina, thirty miles southwest of the Capital, but there was no bloodshed. On the night of the 13th, General Alexief demanded Kornilov's unconditional surrender, and the revolt collapsed. Kornilov was arrested and the Provisional Government reconstituted on stronger lines.

After the so-called Kornilov revolt, the Russian Revolution assumed a form which might almost be called stable. A democratic congress met at Moscow, September 27th, and adopted a resolution providing for a preliminary parliament to consist of 231 members, of whom 110 were to represent the Zemstvos and the towns. The congress refused its sanction to a coalition cabinet in which the Constitutional Democrats should participate, but Kerensky practically defied the congress, and named a coalition cabinet, in which several portfolios were held by members of the Constitutional Democratic Party. The new government issued a statement declaring that it had three principal aims: to raise the fighting power of the army and navy; to bring order to the country by fighting anarchy; to call the Constituent Assembly as soon as possible. The Constituent Assembly was called to assemble in December. It was to consist of 732 delegates to be elected by popular vote.

Meantime agitation against the Coalition Government continued. On November 1st, the Premier issued a statement through the Associated Press, to all the newspapers of the Entente, which conveyed the information that he almost despaired of restoring civil law in the distracted country. He said that he felt that help was needed urgently and that Russia asked it as her right. "Russia has fought consistently since the beginning," he said. "She saved France and England from disaster early in the war. She is worn out by the strain and claims as her right that the Allies now shoulder the burden."

On November 7th, an armed insurrection against the Coalition Government and Premier Kerensky was precipitated by the Bolsheviki faction. The revolt was headed by Leon Trotzky, President of the Central Executive Committee of the Petrograd Council, with Nicholas Lenine, the Bolsheviki leader. The Revolutionists seized the offices of the telephone and telegraph companies and occupied the state bank and the Marie Palace where the preliminary Parliament had been sitting. The garrison at Petrograd espoused the cause of the Bolsheviki and complete control was seized with comparatively little fighting. The government troops were quickly overpowered, except at the Winter Palace, whose chief guardians were the Woman's Battalion, and the Military Cadets. The Woman's Battalion fought bravely, and suffered terribly, and with the Military Cadets who also remained true, held the Palace for several hours. The Bolsheviki brought up armored cars and the cruiser Aurora, and turned the guns of the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul upon the Palace before its defenders would surrender.

That evening the Revolutionary Committee issued a characteristic proclamation, denouncing the government of Kerensky as opposed to the government and the people, and calling upon the soldiers in the army to arrest their officers if they did not at once join the Revolution. They announced the following program:

First: The offer of an immediate democratic peace.

Second: The immediate handing over of large proportional lands to the peasants.

Third: The transmission of all authority to the Council of Workmen's and
Soldiers' Delegates.

Fourth: The honest convocation of the Constituent Assembly.

At a meeting of the Council, Trotzky declared that the government no longer existed, and introduced Lenine as an old comrade whom he welcomed back. Lenine was received with prolonged cheers, and said: "Now we have a Revolution. The peasants and workmen control the government. This is only a preliminary step toward a similar revolution everywhere."

Proclamation after proclamation came from the new government. In one of them it was stated "M. Kerensky has taken flight, and all military bodies have been empowered to take all possible measures to arrest Kerensky and bring him back to Petrograd. All complicity with Kerensky will be dealt with as high treason."

A Bolsheviki Cabinet was named. The Premier was Nicholas Lenine; the Foreign Minister, Leon Trotzky. The other Cabinet members were all Bolsheviki, including Bibenko, a Kronstadt sailor, of the Committee on War and Marine, and Shliapnikov, a laborer, who was Minister of Labor. Lenine's personality has already been described. Trotzky, the chief aid of Lenine's rebellion, had been living in New York City three months before the Czar was overthrown, but he had previously been expelled from Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain. His real name was Leber Braunstein, and he was born in the Russian Government of Kherson, near the Black Sea.

When the insurrection occurred, Kerensky succeeded in escaping from Petrograd, and persuaded about two thousand Cossacks, several hundred Military Cadets, and a contingent of Artillery, to fight under his banner. He advanced toward Petrograd, but his forces were greatly outnumbered by the Bolsheviki. At Tsarskoe-Selo a battle took place, the Kerensky troops met defeat, and its leader saved himself by flight.

At Moscow the entire city passed into the control of the Bolsheviki but not without severe fighting in which more than three thousand people were slain. On the collapse of the Kerensky government conditions throughout Russia became chaotic. Ukraine declared its independence, and Finland also severed its connection with Russia. General Kaledines declared against the Bolsheviki, and organized an army to save the country. Siberia, Bessarabia, Lithuania, the Caucasus and other districts declared their complete independence of the Central Government.

The Bolsheviki, in control at Petrograd, opened negotiations with the Central Powers for an armistice along the entire front from the Baltic to Asia Minor, and on December 17th, such an armistice went into effect. Meanwhile they began negotiations for a treaty of peace. General Dukholin, the Commander-in-Chief, on November 20th, was ordered by Lenine to propose the armistice. To this request he made no reply, and on November 21st, he was deposed and Ensign Krylenko was appointed the new Commander-in-Chief. General Dukholin was subsequently murdered, by being thrown from a train after the Bolsheviki seized the general headquarters.

Trotzky sent a note to the representatives of neutral powers in Petrograd, informing them of his proposal for an armistice, and stating "The consummation of an immediate peace is demanded in all countries, both belligerent and neutral. The Russian Government counts on the firm support of workmen in all countries in this struggle for peace." Lenine, however, declared that Russia did not contemplate a separate peace with Germany, and that the Russian Government, before agreeing to an armistice, would communicate with the Allies and make a certain proposal to the imperialistic governments of France and England, rejection of which would place them in open opposition to the wishes of their own people.

A period of turmoil followed. In the meantime elections for the Constituent Assembly were held. The result in Petrograd was announced as 272,000 votes for the Bolsheviki, 211,000 for the Constitutional Democrats, and 116,000 for the Social Revolutionaries, showing that the Bolsheviki failed to attain a majority. Notwithstanding the prevailing chaos, the Lenine-Trotzky Government persisted in negotiations for an armistice, and it was arranged that the first conference be held at the German headquarters at Brest-Litovsk.

The Russian delegates were Kamenev, whose real name was Rosenfelt, a well known Bolshevist leader; Sokolnikov, a sailor; Bithenko, a soldier, and Mstislasky, who had formerly been librarian to the General Staff, but who was now a strong Socialist. Representatives were present of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria.

After many interchanges of opinion a suspension of hostilities for ten days was authorized, to be utilized in bringing to a conclusion negotiations for an armistice. On December 7th it was announced from Petrograd that for the first time since the war not a shot was fired on the Russian front. Foreign Secretary Trotzky, on the 6th of December, notified the allied embassies in Petrograd of these negotiations and added that the armistice would be signed only on condition that the troops should not be transferred from one front to another. He announced that negotiations had been suspended to afford the Allied Governments opportunity to define their attitude toward the peace negotiation; that is, their willingness or refusal to participate in negotiations for an armistice and peace. In case of refusal they must declare clearly and definitely before all mankind the aims for which the peoples of Europe had been called to shed their blood during the fourth year of the war.

No official replies were made to this note. On December 7th, Generals Kaledines and Kornilov raised the standard of revolt, but reports indicated that the Bolsheviki were extending their control over all Russia. A meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place on December 11th. Less than 50 of the 600 delegates attended. Meanwhile the negotiations for an armistice continued. On December 16th an agreement was reached and an armistice signed, to continue from December 17th to January 14th, 1918.

[Illustration: Map: All of Europe and Asia, showing the Trans-Siberian
Railway and other railroads.]
  RUSSIA'S GREAT RAILWAY LINK BETWEEN VLADIVOSTOK AND THE ARCTIC OCEAN
  The Czecho-Slovaks took possession of long stretches of the
  Trans-Siberian Railroad. Japan lent her aid in the east, and American
  and Allied troops swept down from the Murman coast in the northwest.

Within the first month in which the Bolsheviki conducted the government numerous edicts of a revolutionary character were issued. Class titles, distinctions and privileges were abolished; the corporate property of nobles, merchants and burgesses was to be handed over to the state, as was all church property, lands, money and precious stones; and religious instruction was to cease in the schools. Strikes were in progress everywhere, and disorder was rampant.

Kornilov, Terestchenko and other associates of Kerensky, were imprisoned in the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul; the Cadet Party was outlawed by decree and the houses of its leaders raided. On January 8, 1918, it was announced that the Bolsheviki had determined that all loans and Treasury bonds held by foreign subjects, abroad or in Russia, were repudiated.

During this period the Bolsheviki's Foreign Secretary astonished the world by making public the secret treaties between Russia and foreign governments in the early years of the war. These treaties dealt with the proposed annexation by Russia of the Dardanelles, Constantinople and certain areas in Asia Minor; with the French claim on Alsace-Lorraine and the left bank of the Rhine; with offers to Greece, for the purpose of inducing her to assist Serbia; with plans to alter her Western boundaries, with the British and Russian control of Persia; and with Italy's desire to annex certain Austrian territories. These treaties had been seized upon the Bolsheviki assumption of power, and were now repudiated by the new government.

During the period of the armistice Lenine began his move for a separate peace, in spite of the formal protests of the Allied representatives at Petrograd.

The first sitting took place on Saturday, December 22, 1917. Among the delegates were Dr. Richard von Kuhlmann, Foreign Minister, and General Hoffman, of Germany; Count Czernin, Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary; Minister Kopov, of Bulgaria; Nesimy Bey, former Foreign Minister of Turkey, and a large delegation from Russia, composed of Bolshevist leaders. Dr. von Kuhlmann was chosen as the presiding officer and made the opening speech. The Russian peace demands and the German counter-proposals were then read, and considered.

The German proposals proved unacceptable to Russia, and a second session of the peace conference was held at Brest-Litovsk on January 10, 1918. Trotzky himself attended this meeting as one of the representatives from Russia, and there was also a representative from Ukraine, which had declared its independence, and was allowed to join the conference. General Hoffman protested strongly against the Russian endeavor to make appeals of a revolutionary character to the German troops.

[Illustration: Map: Europe and Eastern Asia.]
  RUSSIA AS PARTITIONED BY THE BREST-LITOVSK TREATY

The armistice having expired, it was agreed it should be continued to February 12th. After a long and acrimonious debate the Conference broke up in a clash over the evacuation of the Russian provinces. On January 24th it was announced that the Russian delegates to the peace conference had unanimously decided to reject the German terms. They stated that when they asked Germany's final terms General Hoffman of the German delegation had replied by opening a map and pointing out a line from the shores of the Gulf of Finland to the east of the Moon Sound Islands, to Valk, to the west of Minsk, to Brest-Litovsk, thus eliminating Courland and all the Baltic provinces.

Asked the terms of the Central Powers in regard to the territory south of Brest-Litovsk General Hoffman replied that was a question which they would discuss only with Ukraine. M. Kaminev asked: "Supposing we do not agree to such condition, what are you going to do?"

General Hoffman's answer was, "Within a week we would occupy Reval."

On January 27th, Trotzky made his report to the Soviets at Petrograd.
After a thorough explanation of the peace debates, he declared that the
Government of the Soviets could not sign such a peace. It was then
decided to demobilize the Russian army and withdraw from the war.

[Illustration: Map]
  GENERAL MAP OF THE BALTIC SEA
  With the collapse of Russia German forces advanced from Riga, along
  the Gulf of Finland occupying Reval and threatening Petrograd.

Final sessions of the peace congress were resumed at Brest-Litovsk January 29th; a peace treaty was made between the Central Powers and the Ukraine, and the Bolsheviki yielded to the German demands without signing a treaty. Meanwhile the Russian Constituent Assembly which met at Petrograd on January 19th, was dissolved on January 20th, by the Bolsheviki Council.

Disorders continued throughout all Russia and counter-revolutionary movements were started at many places. On February 18th, the day when the armistice agreement between Russia and the Central Powers expired, German forces began a new invasion of Russia. The next day the Bolshevist Government issued a statement, announcing that Russia would be compelled to sign a peace. The German advance went on rapidly, and many important Russian cities were occupied. On February 24th, the Bolshevist Government announced that peace terms had been accepted, and a treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk on March 3d.

On March 14th the All-Russia Council of Soviets voted to ratify the treaty, after an all-night sitting. Lenine pronounced himself in favor of accepting the German terms; Trotzky stood for war, but did not attend the meetings of the Council. Lenine defended the step by pointing out that the country was completely unable to offer resistance, and that peace was indispensable for the completion of the social war in Russia.

The new treaty dispossessed Russia of territories amounting to nearly one-quarter of the area of European Russia, and inhabited by one-third of Russia's total population. Trotzky resigned on account of his opposition to the treaty and was succeeded by M. Tchitcherin. He became Chairman of the Petrograd Labor Commune. The treaty between Russia and the Central Powers was formally denounced by the Premiers and Foreign Ministers of Great Britain, France, and Italy, and was not recognized by the Allied nations.

A final revocation of its provisions by both sides did not put an end to the military operations of the Central Powers in Russia, nor did the Russians cease to make feeble and sporadic attempts at resistance. Germany was forced to keep large bodies of troops along the Russian front, but formally Russia's part in the war had come to an end.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  THREE MESSENGERS OF DESTRUCTION FOR TRIESTE
  This remarkable photograph was taken from one French aeroplane just as
  another had released three aerial torpedoes in a combined bombing and
  observation raid on Trieste, the great Austrian naval base. The
  photograph itself, showing details of enemy activity on the
  waterfront, was of considerable value to the intelligence division of
  the Italian army.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright G. V. Buck, Washington. D. C.
  THE CARGO SUBMARINE "DEUTSCHLAND"
  Shortly before the United States entered the war, Germany sent over a
  merchant submarine with a cargo of dye stuffs and drugs, an implied
  threat which was later realized in the U-boat attacks on the American
  coast.

CHAPTER XXXII

GERMANY'S OBJECT LESSON TO THE UNITED STATES.

During the first two years of the war many Americans, especially those in the West, observed the great events which were happening with great interest, no doubt, but with a feeling of detachment. The war was a long way off. The Atlantic Ocean separated Europe from America, and it seemed almost absurd to think that the Great War could ever affect us.

In the year 1916, however, two events happened which seemed to bring the war to our door. The first was the arrival at Baltimore, on July 9th, of the Deutschland, a German submarine of great size, built entirely for commercial purposes, and the second was the appearance, on the 7th of October, of a German war submarine in the harbor at Newport, Rhode Island, and its exploit on the following day when it sunk a number of British and neutral vessels just outside the three-mile line on the Atlantic coast.

The performances of these two vessels were equally suggestive, but the popular feeling with regard to what they had done was very divergent. The voyage of the Deutschland roused the widest admiration but the action of the U-53 stirred up the deepest indignation. Yet the voyages of each showed with equal clearness that, however much America might consider herself separated from the Great War, the new scientific invention, the submarine, had annihilated space, and America, too, was now but a neighbor of the nations at war.

The voyage of the Deutschland was a romance in itself. It was commanded by Captain Paul Koenig, a German officer of the old school. He had been captain of the Schleswig of the North German Lloyd, and of other big liners. When the power of the British fleet drove German commerce from the seas, he had found himself without a job, and, as he phrased it, "was drifting about the country like a derelict." One day, in September, 1915, he was asked to meet Herr Alfred Lohmann, an agent of the North German Lloyd Line, and surprised by an offer to navigate a submarine cargo ship from Germany to America. Captain Koenig, who seems to have been in every way an admirable personage, at once consented. He has told us the story of his trip in his interesting book called "The Voyage of the Deutschland."

The Deutschland itself was three hundred feet long, thirty feet wide, and carried one thousand tons of cargo and a crew of twenty-nine men. It cost a half a million dollars, but paid for itself in the first trip. According to Captain Koenig the voyage on the whole seems to have been most enjoyable. He understood his boat well and had watched its construction. Before setting out on his voyage he carefully trained his crew, and experimented with the Deutschland until he was thoroughly familiar with all its peculiarities. The cargo was composed of dye stuffs, and the ship was well supplied with provisions and comforts. In his description of the trip he lays most emphasis upon the discomfort resulting from heavy weather and from storms. He was able to avoid all danger from hostile ships by the very simple process of diving. No English ship approached him closely as he was always able to see them from a distance, usually observing their course by means of their smoke.

One of his liveliest adventures, however, occurred when attempting to submerge suddenly during a heavy sea on the appearance of a destroyer. The destroyer apparently never observed the Deutschland, but in the endeavor to dive quickly the submarine practically stood on its head, and dived down into the mud, where it found itself held fast. Captain Koenig however was equal to the emergency, and by balancing and trimming the tanks he finally restored the center of gravity and released his boat.

A considerable portion of his trip was passed upon the surface as he only submerged when there was suspicion of danger. According to his story his men kept always in the highest spirits. They had plenty of music, and doubtless appreciated the extraordinary nature of their voyage.

An amusing incident during the trip was the attempt to camouflage his ship by a frame work, made of canvas and so constructed as to give the outline of a steamer. One day a hostile steamer appeared in the distance and Captain Koenig proceeded to test his disguise.

After great difficulties, especially in connection with the production of smoke, he finally had the whole construction fairly at work. The steamer, which had been peacefully going its way, on seeing the new ship suddenly changed her course and steered directly toward the Deutschland. It evidently took the Deutschland for some kind of a wreck and was hurrying to give it assistance. Captain Koenig at once pulled off his super-structure and revealed himself as a submarine, and the strange vessel veered about and hurried off as fast as it could.

On the arrival of the Deutschland in America Captain Koenig and his crew found their difficulties over. All arrangements had been made by representatives of the North German Lloyd for their safety and comfort. As they ran up Chesapeake Bay they were greeted by the whistles of the neutral steamers that they passed. The moving-picture companies immortalized the crew and they were treated with the utmost hospitality.

The Allied governments protested that the Deutschland was really a war vessel and on the 12th of July a commission of three American naval officers was sent down from Washington to make an investigation. The investigation showed the Deutschland was absolutely unarmed and the American Government decided not to interfere.

The position of the Allies was that a submarine, even though without guns or torpedoes, was practically a vessel of war from its very nature, and for it to pretend to be a merchant vessel was as if some great German man-of-war should dismount its guns and pass them over to some tender and then undertake to visit an American port. They argued that if the submarine would come out from harbor it might be easily fitted with detachable torpedo tubes, and become as dangerous as any U-boat. Even without arms it might easily sink an unarmed merchant vessel by ramming. But the United States was not convinced, and American citizens rather admired the genial captain.

His return was almost as uneventful as his voyage out. At the very beginning he had trouble in not being able to rise after an experimental dive. This misadventure was caused by a plug of mud which had stopped up the opening of the manometer. But the difficulty was overcome, and he was able to pass under water between the British ships which were on the lookout. His return home was a triumph. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered along the banks of the Weser, filled with the greatest enthusiasm. Poems were written in his honor and his appearance was everywhere greeted with enthusiastic applause. The Germans felt sure that through the Deutschland and similar boats they had broken the British blockade.

Captain Koenig made a second voyage, landing at New London, Connecticut, on November 1st, where he took on a cargo of rubber, nickel and other valuable commodities. On November 16th, in attempting to get away to sea, he met with a collision with the tug T. A. Scott, Jr., and had to return to New London for repairs. He concluded his voyage, however, without difficulty. In spite of his success the Germans did not make any very great attempt to develop a fleet of submarine cargo boats.

The other German act which brought home to Americans the possibilities of the submarine, the visit of the U-53, was a very different sort of matter. U-53 was a German submarine of the largest type. On October 7, 1916, it made a sudden appearance at Newport, and its captain, Lieutenant-Captain Hans Rose, was entertained as if he were a welcome guest. He sent a letter to the German Ambassador at Washington and received visitors in his beautiful boat. The U-53 was a war submarine, two hundred and thirteen feet long, with two deck guns and four torpedo tubes. It had been engaged in the war against Allied commerce in the Mediterranean. Captain Rose paid formal visits to Rear-Admiral Austin Knight, Commander of the United States Second Naval District, stationed at Newport, and Rear-Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander of the American destroyer flotilla at that place, and then set out secretly to his destination.

On the next day the news came in that the U-53 had sunk five merchant vessels. These were the Strathdene, which was torpedoed; the West Point, a British freighter, also torpedoed; the Stephano, a passenger liner between New York and Halifax, which the submarine attempted to sink by opening its sea valves but was finally torpedoed; the Blommersdijk, a Dutch freighter, and the Christian Knudsen, a Norwegian boat. The American steamer Kansan was also stopped, but allowed to proceed. When the submarine began its work wireless signals soon told what was happening, and Admiral Knight, with the Newport destroyer flotilla, hurried to the rescue. These destroyers picked up two hundred and sixteen men and acted with such promptness that not a single life was lost.

The action of the U-53 produced intense excitement in America. The newspapers were filled with editorial denunciation, and the people were roused to indignation. The American Government apparently took the ground that the Germans were acting according to law and according to their promise to America. They had given warning in each case and allowed the crews of the vessels which they sunk to take to their boats. This was believed to be a fulfilment of their pledge "not to sink merchant vessels without warning and without saving human lives, unless the ship attempts to escape or offers resistance."

The general feeling, however, of American public opinion was that it was a brutal act. In the case of the Stephano there were ninety-four passengers. These, together with the crew, were placed adrift in boats at eight o'clock in the evening, in a rough sea sixty miles away from the nearest land. If the American destroyer fleet had not rushed to the rescue it is extremely likely that a great many of these boats would never have reached land. The German Government did not save these human lives. It was the American navy which did that. But, technicalities aside, the pride of the American people was wounded. They could not tolerate a situation in which American men-of-war should stand idly by and watch a submarine in a leisurely manner sink ships engaged in American trade whose passengers and crews contained many American citizens.

It was another one of those foolish things that Germans were constantly doing, which gave them no appreciable military advantage, but stirred up against them the sentiment of the world. The Germans perhaps were anxious to show the power of the submarines, and to give America an object lesson in that power. They wished to make plain that they could destroy overseas trade, and that if the United States should endeavor to send troops across the water they would be able to sink those troops.

The Germans probably never seriously contemplated a blockade of the American coast. The U-53 returned to its base and the danger was ended. American commerce went peacefully on, and the net result of the German audacity was in the increase of bitterness in the popular feeling toward the German methods.

CHAPTER XXXIII

AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR

When Germany threw down the gauge of battle to the civilized world, the German High Command calculated that the long, rigorous and thorough military training to which every male German had submitted, would make a military force invincible in the field. The High Command believed that a nation so trained would carve out victory after victory and would end the World War before any nation could train its men sufficiently to check the Teutonic rush.

To that theory was opposed the democratic conception that the free nations of earth could train their young men intensively for six months and send these vigorous free men into the field to win the final decision over the hosts of autocracy.

These antagonistic theories were tried out to a finish in the World War and the theory of democracy, developed in the training camps of America, Canada, Australia, Britain, France and Italy, triumphed. Especially in the training camps of America was the German theory disproved. There within six months the best fighting troops on earth were developed and trained in the most modern of war-time practices. Everything that Germany could devise found its answer in American ingenuity, American endurance and American skill.

The entrance of America into the tremendous conflict on April 6, 1917 was followed immediately by the mobilization of the entire nation. Business and industry of every character were represented in the Council of National Defense which acted as a great central functioning organization for all industries and agencies connected with the prosecution of the war. Executives of rare talent commanding high salaries tendered their services freely to the government. These were the "dollar a year men" whose productive genius was to bear fruit in the clothing, arming, provisioning, munitioning and transportation of four million men and the conquest of Germany by a veritable avalanche of war material.

Out of the ranks of business and science came Hurley, Schwab, Piez, Coonley to drive forward a record-breaking shipbuilding program, Stettinius to speed up the manufacture of munitions, John W. Ryan to coordinate and accelerate the manufacture of airplanes, Vance C. McCormick and Dr. Alonzo E. Taylor to solve the problems of the War Trade Board, Hoover to multiply food production, to conserve food supplies and to place the army and citizenry of America upon food rations while maintaining the morale of the Allies through scientific food distribution and a host of other patriotic civilians who put the resources of the nation behind the military and naval forces opposed to Germany. Every available loom was put at work to make cloth for the army and the navy, the leather market was drained of its supplies to shoe our forces with wear adapted to the drastic requirements of modern warfare.

German capital invested in American plants was placed under the jurisdiction of A. Mitchell Palmer as Alien Property Custodian. German ships were seized and transformed into American transports. Physicians over military age set a glorious example of patriotic devotion by their enlistment in thousands. Lawyers and citizens generally in the same category as to age entered the office of the Judge Advocate General or the ranks of the Four Minute Men or the American Protective League which rendered great service to the country in exposing German propaganda and in placing would-be slackers in military service. Bankers led the mighty Liberty Loan and War Savings Stamp drives and unselfishly placed the resources of their institutions at the service of the government.

Women and children rallied to the flag with an intensity of purpose, sacrifice and effort that demonstrated how completely was the heart of America in the war. Work in shops, fields, hospitals, Red Cross work rooms and elsewhere was cheerfully and enthusiastically performed and the sacrifices of food rationing, higher prices, lightless nights, gasolineless Sundays, diminished steam railway and trolley service were accepted with a multitude of minor inconvenience without a murmur. Congress had a free hand in making appropriations. The country approved without a minute's hesitation bills for taxation that in other days would have brought ruin to the political party proposing them. Billions were voted to departments where hundreds of thousands had been the rule.

[Illustration: Map of the United States] THE UNITED STATES AN ARMED CAMP The map shows the location of the camps where the National Army and the National Guard were trained for war. Afterwards the entire forces were known as the United States Army

The true temper of the American people was carefully hidden from the German people by the German newspapers acting under instructions from the Imperial Government. Instead of the truth, false reports were printed in the newspapers of Berlin and elsewhere that the passage of the American conscription law had been followed by rioting and rebellion in many places and that fully fifty per cent of the American people was opposed to the declaration of war. The fact that the selective service act passed in May, 1917, was accepted by everybody in this country as a wholly equitable and satisfactory law did not permeate into Germany until the first American Expeditionary Force had actually landed in France.

America's fighting power was demonstrated conclusively to the Germanic intellect at Seicheprey, Bouresches Wood, Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, and in the Forest of the Argonne. Especially was it demonstrated when it came to fighting in small units, or in individual fighting. The highly disciplined and highly trained German soldiers were absolutely unfitted to cope with Americans, Canadians and Australians when it came to matching individual against individual, or small group against small group.

This was shown in the wild reaches of the Forest of the Argonne. There the machine-gun nests of the Germans were isolated and demolished speedily. Small parties of Germans were stalked and run down by the relentless Americans. On the other hand, the Germans could make no headway against the American troops operating in the Forest. The famous "Lost Battalion" of the 308th United States Infantry penetrated so far in advance of its supports that it was cut off for four days without food, water or supplies of munitions in the Argonne. The enemy had cut its line of communication and was enforced both in front and in the rear. Yet the lost battalion, comprising two companies armed with rifles and the French automatic rifle known as the Chauchat gun, called by the doughboys "Sho Sho," held out against the best the overpowering forces of the Germans could send against them, and were ultimately rescued from their dangerous position.

The training of the Americans was also in modern efficiency that made America prominent in the world of industry. The reduction of the German salient at St. Mihiel was an object lesson to the Germans in American methods. General Pershing commanding that operation in person, assembled the newspaper correspondents the day before the drive. Maps were shown, giving the extent and locale of the attack. The correspondents were invited to follow the American troops and a time schedule for the advance was given to the various corps commanders.

In that operation, 152 square miles of territory and 72 villages were captured outright. For the reduction of the German defenses and for the creeping barrage preceding the American advance, more than 1,500,000 shells were fired by the artillery. Approximately 100,000 detail maps and 40,000 photographs prepared largely from aerial observations, were issued for the guidance of the artillery and the infantry. These maps and photographs detailed all the natural and artificial defenses of the entire salient. More than 5,000 miles of telephone wire was laid by American engineers immediately preceding the attack, and as the Americans advanced on the morning of the battle, September 12, 1918, 6,000 telephone instruments were connected with this wire. Ten thousand men were engaged in operating the hastily constructed telephone system; 3,000 carrier pigeons supplemented this work.

During the battle American airplanes swept the skies clear of enemy air-craft and signaled instructions to the artillery, besides attacking the moving infantry, artillery and supply trains of the enemy. So sure were the Americans of their success that moving-picture operators took more than 10,000 feet of moving picture film showing the rout of the Germans. Four thousand eight hundred trucks carried food, men and munitions into the lines. Miles of American railroads, both of standard and narrow gauge, carrying American-made equipment, assisted in the transportation of men and supplies. Hospital facilities including 35 hospital trains, 16,000 beds in the advanced sector, and 55,000 other beds back of the fighting line, were prepared. Less than ten per cent of this hospital equipment was used.

As the direct consequence of this preparation, which far outstripped anything that any other nation had attempted in a similar offensive, the Americans with a remarkably small casualty list took 15,188 prisoners, 111 guns, many of them of large caliber, immense quantities of munitions and other supplies, and inflicted heavy death losses upon the fleeing Germans.

Two selective service laws operated as manhood conscription. The first of these took men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one years inclusive. June 5, 1917, was fixed as registration day. The total number enrolled was 9,586,508. The first selective army drawn from this number was 625,000 men.

The second selective service legislation embraced all citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 inclusive, not included in the first draft. Over 13,000,000 men enrolled on September 12, 1918.

The grand total of registrants in both drafts was 23,456,021. Youths who had not completed their 19th year were set apart in a group to be called last and men between thirty-six and forty-five were also put in a deferred class. The government's plan was to have approximately 5,000,000 men under arms before the summer of 1919. The German armistice on November 11th found 4,000,000 men actually under arms and an assignment of 250,000 made to the training camps.

A most important factor in the training plans of the United States was that incorporated in the organization of the Students' Army Training Corps, by which 359 American colleges and universities were taken over by the government and 150,000 young men entered these institutions for the purpose of becoming trained soldiers. The following are the conditions under which the S. A. T. C. was organized:

The War Department undertook to furnish officers, uniforms, rifles, and equipment, and to assign the students to military duty, after a few months, either at an officers' training camp or in some technical school, or in a regular army cantonment with troops as a private, according to the degree of aptitude shown on the college campus.

At the same time a circular letter to the presidents of colleges arranged for a contract under which the government became responsible for the expense of the housing, subsistence, and instruction of the students. The preliminary arrangement contained this provision, among others:

The per diem rate of $1 for subsistence and housing is to govern temporarily, pending examination of the conditions in the individual institution and a careful working out of the costs involved. The amount so fixed is calculated from the experience of this committee during the last five months in contracting with over 100 collegiate institutions for the housing and subsistence of over 100,000 soldiers in the National Army Training Detachment. This experience indicates that the average cost of housing is 15 to 20 cents per day; subsistence (army ration or equivalent), 70 to 80 cents per day. The tuition charge is based on the regular per diem tuition charge of the institution in the year 1917-18.

A permanent contract was arranged later under these governing principles:

The basis of payment will be reimbursement for actual and necessary costs to the institutions for the services rendered to the government in the maintenance and instruction of the soldiers with the stated limitation as to cost of instruction. Contract price will be arrived at by agreement after careful study of the conditions in each case, in conference with authorities of the institution.

The War Department will have authority to specify and control the courses of instruction to be given by the institution.

The entity and power for usefulness of the institutions will be safeguarded so that when the contract ends the institutions shall be in condition to resume their functions of general education.

The teaching force will be preserved so far as practicable, and this matter so treated that its members shall feel that in changing to the special intensive work desired by the government they are rendering a vital and greatly needed service.

The government will ask from the institutions a specific service; that is, the housing, subsistence, and instruction along specified lines of a certain number of student soldiers. There will be no interference with the freedom of the institution in conducting other courses in the usual way.

The contract will be for a fixed term, probably nine months, subject to renewal for a further period on reasonable notice, on terms to be agreed upon and subject to cancellation on similar terms.

The story of the life of the American army behind the lines in France would fill a volume. The hospitality of the French people had something pathetic in it. They were expecting miracles of their new Allies. They were war sick. Nearly all of them had lost some father, or brother, or husband, and here came these big, hearty, joyous soldiers, full of ardor and confident of victory. It put a new spirit into all France. Their reception when they first landed was a scene of such fervor and enthusiasm as had never been known before and probably will not be known again. Soon the American soldier, in his khaki, with his wide-brimmed soft hat, became a common sight.

The villagers put up bunting, calico signs, flags and had stocks of American canned goods to show in their shop windows. The children, when bold, played with the American soldiers, and the children that were more shy ventured to go up and touch an American soldier's leg. Very old peasant ladies put on their Sunday black, and went out walking, and in some mysterious way talking with American soldiers. The village mayors turned out and made speeches, utterly incomprehensible to the American soldiers.

The engineering, building and machinery works the Americans put up were astonishing. Gangs of workers went over in thousands; many of these were college men. They dug and toiled as efficiently as any laborer. One American major told with glee how a party of these young workers arrived straight from America at 3.30 P. M. and started digging at 5 A. M. next morning, "and they liked it, it tickled them to death." Many of these draftees, in fact, were sick and tired of inaction in ports before their departure from America, and they welcomed work in France as if it were some great game.

Perhaps the biggest work of all the Americans performed was a certain aviation camp and school. In a few months it was completed, and it was the biggest of its kind in the world. The number of airplanes used merely for training was in itself remarkable. The flying men—or boys—who had, of course, already been broken-in in America, did an additional course in France, and when they left the aviation camp they were absolutely ready for air-fighting at the front. This was the finishing school. The aviators went through eight distinct courses in the school. They were perfected in flying, in observation, in bombing, in machine-gun firing. On even a cloudy and windy day the air overhead buzzed with these young American fliers, all getting into the pink of condition to do their stunts at the front. They lived in the camp, and it required moving heaven and earth for one of them to get leave to go even to the nearest little quiet old town.

An impression of complete businesslike determination was what one got when visiting the Americans in France. A discipline even stricter than that which applied in British and French troops was in force. In towns, officers, for instance, were not allowed out after 9 P. M. Some towns where subalterns discovered the wine of the country were instantly put "out of bounds." No officer, on any pretext whatsoever was allowed to go to Paris except on official business.

The postal censors who read the letters of the American Expeditionary Force were required to know forty-seven languages! Of these languages, the two least used were Chinese and German.

The announcement of the organization of the first American Field Army was contained in the following dispatch from France, August 11, 1918:

"The first American field army has been organized. It is under the
direct command of General John J. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the
American forces. The corps commanders thus far announced are
Major-Generals Liggett, Bullard, Bundy, Read, and Wright.

[Illustration: Chart]
  Key
  The state of German civilian morale.
  Variations in Germany's military position
  Decree of political unity in Germany.
  The Food situation In North Germany.
  Condition of Austria-Hungary.
  U-Boat sinkings. (Monthly reports of tonnage sunk.)
  SECRETARY OF WAR'S OFFICIAL CHART
  This reproduction of Secretary Baker's chart, which hung in his office
  at Washington, illustrates graphically Germany's success and failure
  in the war.

"The creation of the first field army is the first step toward the coordination of all the American forces in France. This does not mean the immediate withdrawal from the British and French commands of all American units, and it is probable that divisions will be used on the French and British fronts for weeks yet. It is understood, however, that the policy of organizing other armies will be carried out steadily."

This announcement marked a milestone in the military effort of the United States. When the American troops first arrived in France, they were associated in small units with the French to get primary training. Gradually regiments began to function under French division commanders. Then American divisions were formed and trained under French corps commanders. Next, American corps began to operate under French army commanders. Finally, the first American army was created, because enough divisions and corps had been graduated from the school of experience.

An American division numbers 30,000 men, and a corps consists of six divisions, two of which play the part of reserves. With auxiliary troops, air squadrons, tank sections, heavy artillery, and other branches, a corps numbers from 225,000 to 250,000 men.

[Illustration: Chart]
  The main line in this graph—the heavy broken line—represents the
  state of civilian morale in Germany.

  German morale is arbitrarily regarded as standing at 100 % in August.
  1914.

Zero, for the same line, is taken to be the point at which an effective majority of the German people will refuse longer to support the war.

The degree of movement of this line is determined mainly by a consideration of the deflections of the secondary lines which represent the forces exerting the greatest influence on the German state of mind.

SHOWING GERMANY'S ROAD TO DEFEAT

  Austria's fluctuations are indicated, as well as the morale, military
  position, political and food conditions and undersea enterprises of
  Germany.

The following were the general officers temporarily assigned to command
the first five corps:
First corps—Major-General Hunter Liggett.
Second corps—Major-General Robert L. Bullard
Third corps—Major-General William M. Wright.
Fourth corps—Major-General George W. Read.
Fifth corps—Major-General Omar Bundy.

Seven divisions and one separate regiment of American troops participated in the counter-offensive between Chateau-Thierry and Soissons and in resisting the German attack in the Champagne, it was officially stated on July 20. The 42d, or "Rainbow" Division, composed of National Guard troops from twenty-six states and the District of Columbia, including the New York 69th Infantry, now designated as the 165th Infantry, took part in the fighting in the Champagne east of Rheims. The six other divisions were associated with the French in the counter-offensive between Chateau-Thierry and Soissons. These divisions were the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th of the Regular Army, the 26th National Guard Division, composed of troops from the six New England States, and the 28th, composed of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Marines were included in this number. The separate regiment that fought in the Champagne was a negro unit attached to the new 93d Division, composed entirely of negro troops. It was also announced that the 77th Division was "in the line near Luneville" and was "operating as a division, complete under its own commander."

The 42d Division had the distinction, General March announced on August 3d, of defeating the 4th Division of the crack Prussian Guards, professional soldiers of the German standing army, who had never before failed. General March also disclosed the fact that another American division had been sent into that part of the Rheims salient where the Germans showed resistance. This was the 32d Division. "The American divisions in the Rheims salient," General March said, "have now been put in contiguously and are actually getting together as an American force. Southeast of Fere-en-Tardenois our 1st Corps is operating, with General Liggett in actual command."

The organization of twelve new divisions was announced by General March, Chief of Staff, in statements made on July 24th and July 31st. These divisions were numerically designated from 9 to 20, and organized at Camps Devens, Meade, Sheridan, Custer, Funston, Lewis, Logan, Kearny, Beauregard, Travis, Dodge, and Sevier. Each division had two infantry regiments of the regular army as nucleus, the other elements being made up of drafted men. The new divisions moved into the designated camps as the divisions already trained there moved out.

The composition of an American division is as follows:

Two brigades of infantry, each consisting of two regiments of infantry and one machine-gun battalion.

One brigade of artillery, consisting of three regiments of field artillery, and one trench mortar battery.

One regiment of engineers.

One field signal battalion.

The following trains: Headquarters and military police, sanitary, supply, engineer, and ammunition.

The following division units: Headquarters troop and one machine-gun battalion.

[Illustration: Photograph] Copyright International Film Service. SAFE ON SHORE AT LAST Arrival of American troops in Liverpool after defying the perils of the submarine. Note the bulk of the packs carried by each soldier in heavy marching order.

[Illustration: Photograph] Copyright International Film Service. THE FIRST OF THE TIDAL WAVE OF KHAKI Beginning with the handful of American soldiers who landed in France on June 8, 1917, the flood of troops poured across the ocean in ever-increasing volume until at the end of the war more than two million soldiers had been transported to France.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Committee on Public Information from Underwood and Underwood.
  AMERICANS ATTACKING A GERMAN TRENCH POSITION
  Company M and Company K of the 336th Infantry, 82d Division, advance
  on Germans entrenched at the edge of a woods. The 307th Engineers, 82d
  Division, clear the way by blowing up wire entanglements. The
  attacking companies can be seen rushing for the point where the breach
  in the wire obstacles has been made.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Photo by International Film Service.
  AMERICA GETS INTO THE WAR AT CANTIGNY
  On the morning of May 28, 1918, the 1st Division, A. E. F., launched
  its first attack, which took place at Cantigny. Within 45 minutes all
  objectives had been gained, serious losses inflicted on the enemy, and
  200 prisoners taken. General Pershing personally directed operations.
  This picture shows American troops going forward under support of
  tanks.

A general order of the War Department providing for the consolidation of all branches of the army into one army to be known as the "United States Army" was promulgated by General March on August 7th. The text of the order read:

1. This country has but one army—the United States Army. It includes all the land forces in the service of the United States. Those forces, however raised, lose their identity in that of the United States Army. Distinctive appellations, such as the Regular Army, Reserve Corps, National Army, and National Guard, heretofore employed in administration command, will be discontinued, and the single term, the United States Army, will be exclusively used.

2. Orders having reference to the United States Army as divided in separate and component forces of distinct origin, or assuming or contemplating such a division, are to that extent revoked.

3. The insignia now prescribed for the Regular Army shall hereafter be worn by the United States Army.

4. All effective commissions purporting to be, and described therein, as commissions in the Regular Army, National Guard, National Army, or the Reserve Corps, shall hereafter be held to be, and regarded as, commissions in the United States Army—permanent, provisional, or temporary, as fixed by the conditions of their issue; and all such commissions are hereby amended accordingly. Hereafter during the period of the existing emergency all commissions of officers shall be in the United States Army and in staff corps, departments, and arms of the service thereof, and shall, as the law may provide, be permanent, for a term, or for the period of the emergency. And hereafter during the period of the existing emergency provisional and temporary appointments in the grade of second lieutenant and temporary promotions in the Regular Army and appointments in the Reserve Corps will be discontinued.

5. While the number of commissions in each grade and each staff corps, department, and arm of the service shall be kept within the limits fixed by law, officers shall be assigned without reference to the term of their commissions solely in the interest of the service; and officers and enlisted men will be transferred from one organization to another as the interests of the service may require.

6. Except as otherwise provided by law, promotion in the United States Army shall be by selection. Permanent promotions in the Regular Army will continue to be made as prescribed by law.

CHAPTER XXXIV

HOW FOOD WON THE WAR

Food won the war. Without the American farmer the Entente Allies must have capitulated. Wheat, beef, corn, foods of every variety, hermetically sealed in tins, were thrown into the scales on the side of the Entente Allies in sufficient quantities to tip the balance toward the side of civilization and against autocracy. Late in the fall of 1918 when victory was assured to America and the Allies, there was received this message of appreciation from General Pershing to the farmers of America, through Carl Vrooman, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture:

AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES, Office of the Commander-in-Chief, France, October 16, 1918. Honorable CARL VROOMAN, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture: DEAR MR. VROOMAN:—Will you please convey to farmers of America our profound appreciation of their patriotic services to the country and to the Allied armies in the field. They have furnished their full quota of fighting men; they have bought largely of Liberty Bonds; and they have increased their production of food crops both last year and this by over a thousand million bushels above normal production. Food is of vital military necessity for us and for our Allies, and from the day of our entry into the war America's armies of food producers have rendered invaluable service to the Allied cause by supporting the soldiers at the front through their devoted and splendidly successful work in the fields and furrows at home. Very sincerely, JOHN J. PERSHING.

This tribute to the men and women on the farms of America from the head of the American forces in France is fit recognition of the important part played by American food producers in the war. It was early recognized by all the belligerent powers that final victory was a question of national morale and national endurance. Morale could not be maintained without food. The bread lines in Petrograd gave birth to the revolution, and Russian famine was the mother of Russian terrorism. German men and women, starved of fats and sweets, deteriorated so rapidly that the crime ratio both in towns and country districts mounted appallingly. Conditions in Austria-Hungary were even worse. Acute distress arising from threatening famine was instrumental in driving Bulgaria out of the war. The whole of Central Europe indeed was in the shadow of famine and the masses were crying out for peace at any price.

On the other hand, Germany's greatest reliance for a victorious decision lay in the U-boat blockade of Great Britain, France and Italy. Though some depredations came to these countries, the submarine blockade never fully materialized and with its failure Germany's hopes faded and died.

The Entente Allies and the United States were fortunate in securing Herbert C. Hoover to administer food distribution throughout their lands and to stimulate food production by the farmers of the United States. After his signal success in the administration of the Belgian Relief Commission, Mr. Hoover became the unanimous choice of the Allies for the victualing of the militant and civilian populations after America's entrance into the World War. His work divided itself into three heads:

First, stimulation of food production.

Second, elimination of food wastage in the homes and public eating places of the country.

Third, education of food dealers and the public in the use of such foods as were substitutes for wheat, rye, pork, beef and sugar.

After long and acrimonious debates in Congress, Mr. Hoover, as Federal Food Administrator, was clothed with extraordinary powers enabling him to fulfil the purposes for which he was appointed. The ability with which he and his associates performed their work was demonstrated in the complete debacle of Bulgaria, Turkey, Austria-Hungary and Germany. These countries were starved out quite as truly as they were fought out. The concrete evidence of the Food Administration's success is shown in the subjoined table which indicates the increase over normal in exporting of foodstuffs by the United States since it became the food reservoir for the world on account of the war.

TOTAL EXPORTS
    3-year 1916-17 1917-18 July, 1917 to July,1918 to
    pre-war fiscal fiscal
    average. year. year. Sept. 30,1917. Sept. 30,1918
Total beef products, lbs..
    186,375,372 405,427,417 565,462,445 93,962,477 171,986,147
Total pork products, lbs..
    996,930,627 1,498,302,713 1,691,437,435 196,256.750 540,946,324
Total dairy products, lbs..
     26,037,790 351,958,336 590,798,274 130,071,165 161,245,029
Total vegetable oils, lbs..
    332,430,537 206,708,490 151,029,893 27,719,553 26,026,701
Total grains, bushels…
    183,777,331 395,140,238 *349,123,235 66,383,084 121,668,823
Total sugar, pounds..
    621,745.507 3,084,390,281 2,149,787,050 1,108.559,519 1,065,398,247

* Wheat harvest 1917-18 was 200,217,333 bushels below the average of the three previous years.

Upon the same subject Mr. Hoover himself after the harvest of 1918 said:

It is now possible to summarize the shipments of foodstuffs from the United States to the allied countries during the fiscal year just closed—practically the last harvest year. These amounts include all shipments to allied countries for their and our armies, the civilian population, the Belgium relief, and the Red Cross. The figures indicate the measure of effort of the American people in support of allied food supplies.

The total value of these food shipments, which were in the main purchased through, or with the collaboration of the Food Administration, amounted to, roundly, $1,400,000,000 during the fiscal year.

The shipments of meats and fats (including meat products, dairy products, vegetable oils, etc.) to allied destinations were as follows:

    POUNDS
  Fiscal year 1916-17 2,166,500,000
  Fiscal year 1917-18 3,011,100,000
                      ————————-
  Increase 844,600,000

Our slaughterable animals at the beginning of the last fiscal year were not appreciably larger in number than the year before; and particularly in hogs, there were probably less. The increase in shipments is due to conservation and the extra weight of animals added by our farmers.

The full effect of these efforts began to bear their best results in the last half of the fiscal year, when the exports to the Allies were 2,133,100,000 pounds, as against 1,266,500,000 pounds in the same period of the year before. This compares with an average of 801,000,000 pounds of total exports for the same half years of the three-year pre-war period.

In cereals and cereal products reduced to terms of cereal bushels, our shipments to allied destinations have been:

    BUSHELS
  Fiscal year 1916-17 259,900,000
  Fiscal year 1917-18 340,800,000
                       ——————
  Increase 80,900,000

Of these cereals our shipments of the prime breadstuffs in the fiscal year 1917-18 to allied destinations were: Wheat, 131,000,000 bushels and rye 13,900,000 bushels, a total of 144,900,000 bushels.

The exports to allied destinations during the fiscal year 1916-17 were: Wheat, 135,100,000 bushels and rye, 2,300,000 bushels, a total of 137,400,000 bushels. In addition, some 10,000,000 bushels of 1917 wheat are now in port for allied destinations or en route thereto. The total shipments to allied countries from our last harvest of wheat will be, therefore, about 141,000,000 bushels, or a total of 154,900,000 bushels of prime breadstuffs.

In addition to this we have shipped some 10,000,000 bushels to neutrals dependent upon us and we have received some imports from other quarters. A large part of the other cereals exported has also gone into war bread.

It is interesting to note that since the urgent request of the Allied Food Controllers early in the year for a further shipment of 75,000,000 bushels from our 1917 wheat than originally planned, we shall have shipped to Europe, or have en route, nearly 85,000,000 bushels. At the time of this request our surplus was already more than exhausted.

This accomplishment of our people in this matter stands out even more clearly if we bear in mind that we had available in the fiscal year 1916-17 from net carryover and a surplus over our normal consumption about 200,000,000 bushels of wheat which we were able to export that year without trenching on our home loaf. This last year, however, owing to the large failure of the 1917 wheat crop we had available from net carry over and production and imports only just about our normal consumption. Therefore our wheat shipments to allied destinations represent approximately savings from our own wheat bread.

These figures, however, do not fully convey the volume of the effort and sacrifice made during the past year by the whole American people. Despite the magnificent effort of our agricultural population in planting a much increased acreage in 1917, not only was there a very large failure in wheat, but also the corn failed to mature properly, and corn is our dominant crop.

We calculate that the total nutritional production of the country for the fiscal year just closed was between seven per cent and nine per cent below the average of the three previous years, our nutritional surplus for export in those years being about the same amount as the shrinkage last year. Therefore the consumption and waste in food have greatly reduced in every direction during the year.

I am sure that the millions of our people, agricultural as well as urban, who have contributed to these results, should feel a very definite satisfaction that, in a year of universal food shortage in the Northern Hemisphere, all of these people joined together against Germany have come through into sight of the coming harvest not only with health and strength fully maintained, but with only temporary periods of hardship. The European Allies have been compelled to sacrifice more than our own people, but we have not failed to load every steamer since the delays of the storm months of last winter.

Our contributions to this end could not have been accomplished without effort and sacrifice, and it is a matter for further satisfaction, that it had been accomplished voluntarily and individually. It is difficult to distinguish between various sections of our people—the homes, public eating places, food trades, urban or agricultural populations—in assessing credit for these results, but no one will deny the dominant part of the American woman.

But the work of the Food Administration did not come to an end with the close of the war. Insistent cries for food came from the members of the defeated Teutonic alliance, as well as from the suffering Allied and neutral nations. To meet those demands, Mr. Hoover sailed for Europe to organize the food relief of the needy nations. The State Department, explaining his mission, stated that as the first measure of assistance to Belgium it was necessary to increase immediately the volume of foodstuffs formerly supplied, so as to physically rehabilitate this under-nourished population. The relief commission during the four years of war sent to the 10,000,000 people in the occupied area over 600 cargoes of food, comprising 120,000,000 bushels of breadstuffs and over 3,000,000,000 pounds of other foodstuffs besides 20,000,000 garments, the whole representing an expenditure of nearly $600,000,000. The support of the commission came from the Belgian, British, French and American governments, together with public charity. In addition to this some $350,000,000 worth of native produce was financed internally in Belgium by the relief organization.

The second portion of Mr. Hoover's mission was to organize and determine the need of foodstuffs to the liberated populations in Southern Europe—the Czecho-Slovaks, the Jugo-Slavs, and Serbians, Roumanians and others.

To meet the conditions in Europe following the armistice of November 11, 1918, the employment service of the United States set to work laying far-reaching plans for meeting the problem of world food shortage. The demands after the war were greater than they had been during the conflict but the nation that had fed the allies of civilization in war time performed the task of feeding the world, friend and foe alike, when peace at length came upon the earth.

CHAPTER XXXV

THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR

Long before war was declared the United States Government had been engaged in preparation. It had realized that unrestricted submarine warfare was sure to lead to war, and though for a time it was preserving what it was pleased to call "an armed neutrality" the President doubtless was well aware what such an "armed neutrality" would lead to. Merchant ships were being armed for protection against the submarine, and crews from the Navy assigned to work the guns. The first collision was sure to mean an active state of war. The Naval Department, therefore, was working at full speed, getting the Navy ready for active service as soon as war should be declared.

Secretary Daniels made every effort to obtain the crews that were necessary to man the new ships which were being fully commissioned with the greatest possible speed and called upon newspapers all through the country to do their utmost to stimulate enlistment.

On March 26th President Wilson issued an order increasing the enlisted strength of the United States Marine Corps to 17,400 men, the limit allowed under the law. On March 29th a hundred and three ensigns were graduated from the Naval Academy three months ahead of their time, and on April 6th, as soon as war was declared, the Navy was mobilized.

Within a few minutes after Secretary Daniels had signed the order for this purpose one hundred code messages were sent out from the office of Admiral W. S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, which placed the Navy on a war basis, and put into the control of the Navy Department the naval militia of all the states as well as the Naval Reserves and the Coast Guard Service. In the Naval Militia were about 584 officers, and 7,933 men. These were at once assembled and assigned to coast patrol service. All of the ships that were in active commission in the Navy were already ready for duty. But there were reserve battleships and reserve destroyers, besides ships which had been out of commission which had to be manned as quickly as possible.

At the beginning of the war there were 361 vessels ready for service, including twelve first-line battleships, twenty-five second-line battleships, nine armored cruisers, twenty-four other cruisers, seven monitors, fifty destroyers, sixteen coast torpedo vessels, seventeen torpedo boats, forty-four submarines, eight tenders to torpedo boats, twenty-eight gunboats, four transports, four supply ships, one hospital ship, twenty-one fuel ships, fourteen converted yachts, forty-nine tugs, and twenty-eight minor vessels. There were about seventy thousand regularly enlisted men, besides eight thousand five hundred members of the naval militia. Many yachts together with their volunteer crews had been offered to the government by patriotic citizens.

For the complete mobilization of the Navy, as it then stood, 99,809 regularly enlisted men and 45,870 reserves were necessary. About twenty-seven thousand of these were needed for coast defense, and twelve thousand at the various shore stations. Retired officers were called out, and assigned to duty which would permit officers on the active list to be employed in sea duty. The Navy therefore still lacked thirty-five thousand men to bring it up to its full authorized strength at the beginning, but after the declaration of war an active recruiting campaign brought volunteers by thousands. The service was a popular one and recruits were easily obtained.

One of the first phases of the mobilization was the organization of a large fleet of mosquito craft to patrol the Atlantic Coast, and keep on the watch for submarines. Many of these boats had been private yachts, and hundreds of young men volunteered from the colleges and schools of the country for this work. Many boat builders submitted proposals to construct small boats for this kind of patrol duty, and on March 31st a coast patrol fleet was organized by the government under the command of Captain Henry B. Wilson.

The Navy took possession immediately on the declaration of war of all wireless stations in the United States dismantling all that could not be useful to the government. War zones were established along the whole coast line of the United States, making a series of local barred zones extending from the larger harbors in American waters all along the line. These harbors were barred at night to entering vessels in order to guard against surprise by German submarines. Contracts were awarded for the construction of twenty-four destroyers even before war was declared, and many more were already under construction.

[Illustration: Map]
  MAP OF THE UNITED STATES SHOWING THE IMMENSE LENGTH OF COAST-LINE TO
  BE DEFENDED

The growth of the Navy in one year may give some idea of the efficiency of the Navy Department. In April, 1917, the regular Navy contained 4,366 officers and 64,680 men. In April, 1918, it contained 7,798 officers and 192,385 men. In the Marine Corps in 1917 there were 426 officers and 13,266 men. In one year this was increased to 1,389 officers and 38,629 men. In the organization of the Naval Reserves, naval volunteers and coast guards there were in 1917, 24,569 men, in 1918, 98,319 men, and 11,477 officers.

While personnel of the Navy was thus expanding the United States battle fleet had grown to more than twice the size of the fleet before the war. When war was declared there were under construction 123 new naval vessels. These were completed and contracts made for 949 new vessels. Among the ships completed are fifteen battleships, six battle cruisers, seven scout cruisers, twenty-seven destroyers, and sixty-one submarines. About eight hundred craft were taken over and converted into transports, patrol service boats, submarine chasers, mine sweepers and mine layers.

The government also seized 109 German ships which had been interned in American ports. The Germans had attempted to damage these ships so that they would be useless, but they were all repaired, and carried American troops and supplies in great quantities to France.

As the fleet grew the training of the necessary officers and crews was conducted on a grand scale. Naval camps were established at various points. The main ones were those at Philadelphia, (League Island); Newport, Rhode Island; Cape May, New Jersey; Charleston, South Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Key West, Florida; Mare Island, California; Puget Sound, Washington; Hingham, Massachusetts; Norfolk, Virginia; New Orleans, San Diego, New York Navy Yard; Great Lakes, Illinois; Pelham, New York; Hampton Roads, Virginia; and Gulfport, Mississippi. Schools in gunnery and engineering were established and thousands of gunners and engineers were trained, not only for the Navy but for the armed merchant vessels.

The training of gun crews by target practice was a feature of this work. Long before the war began systematic training of this kind had been done, but mainly in connection with the big guns, and great efficiency had been obtained by the steady practice. With the introduction of the submarine, it became necessary to pay special attention to the training of the crews of guns of smaller caliber, and it was not long before the officers of our Navy were congratulating themselves on the efficiency of their men. It is not easy to hit so small a mark as the periscope of a submarine, but it could be done and many times was done.

Twenty-eight days after the declaration of war a fleet of United States destroyers under the command of Admiral William S. Sims reported for service at a British port.

The American destroyer squadron arrived at Queenstown after a voyage without incident. The water front was lined with an excited crowd carrying small American flags, which cheered the destroyers from the time they were first seen until they reached the dock. They cheered again when Admiral Sims went ashore to greet the British senior officer who had come to welcome the Americans. It was a most informal function. After the usual handshakes the British commander congratulated the Americans on their safe voyage and then asked:

"When will you be ready for business?"

"We can start at once," was the prompt reply of Admiral Sims.

This rather took the breath away from the British commander and he said he had not expected the Americans to begin work so soon after their long voyage. Later after a short tour of the destroyers he admitted that the American tars looked prepared.

"Yes," said the American commander, "we made preparations on the way over. That is why we are ready."

Everything on board the destroyers was in excellent condition. The only thing lacking was heavier clothing. The American uniforms were too light for the cool weather which is common in the English waters. This condition, however, was quickly remedied, and the American ships at once put out to sea all in splendid condition and filled with the same enthusiasm that the Marines showed later at Chateau-Thierry.

"They are certainly a fine body of men, and what's more, their craft looked just as fit," declared the British commander.

One of the American destroyers, even before the American fleet had arrived at Queenstown, had begun war duty. It had picked up and escorted through the danger zone one of the largest of the Atlantic liners. The passengers on board the liner sent the commander of the destroyer the following message:

British passengers on board a steamer, bound for a British port, under the protection of an American destroyer, send their hearty greetings to her commander and her officers and crew, and desire to express their keen appreciation of this practical co-operation between the government and people of the United States and the British Empire, who are now fighting together for the freedom of the seas.

Moving pictures were taken by the official British Government photographer as the American flotilla came into the harbor, and sailors who received shore leave were plied with English hospitality. The streets of Queenstown were decorated with the Stars and Stripes. As soon as American residents in England learned that American warships were to cross the Atlantic they held a conference to provide recreation buildings, containing sleeping, eating, and recreation accommodations for the comfort of the American sailors. The destroyer flotilla was the first contribution of American military power to the Entente Alliance against Germany.

Admiral Sims is one of the most energetic and efficient of American naval officers and to him as much as to any other man is due the efficiency of the American Navy. During the period just before the Spanish-American War Lieutenant Sims was Naval Attache at Paris, and rendered invaluable services in buying ships and supplies for the Navy. In 1900 he was assigned to duty on the battleship Kentucky, then stationed in the Orient. In 1902 he was ordered to the Navy Department and placed in charge of the Office of Naval Practice, where he remained for seven years and devoted his attention to the improvement of the Navy in gunnery. During that time he made constant trips to England to consult with English experts in gunnery and ordnance, and became intimately acquainted with Sir Percy Scott, who had been knighted and made Rear-Admiral for the improvements he had introduced in connection with the gunnery of the British warships. In 1909 he was made commander of the battleship Minnesota, and in 1911 was a member of the college staff at the Naval War College. In 1913 he was made commander of the torpedo flotilla of the Atlantic fleet and in 1905 assigned to command the Dreadnaught Nevada. In 1916 he was President of the Naval War College. He was made Rear-Admiral in 1916 and Vice-Admiral in 1917 and assigned to the command of all American war vessels abroad.

Immediately upon their arrival the American vessels began operation in the submarine zone. Admiral Beatty then addressed the following message to Admiral Henry T. Mayo of the United States Atlantic Fleet:

The Grand Fleet rejoices that the Atlantic fleet will now share in preserving the liberties of the world and in maintaining the chivalry of the sea.

Admiral Mayo replied:

The United States Atlantic Fleet appreciates the message from the British fleet and welcomes opportunities for work with the British fleet for the freedom of the seas.

It may also be noted, as a fact which is not without significance, that the losses by submarine which had reached their highest mark in the last week in April began from that time steadily to diminish.

One of the main duties of the Navy was to convoy transports and supplies across the Atlantic. This was done with the assistance of Allied vessels with remarkable success. For a long period it seemed as if the U-boats would not be able to penetrate through the Allied convoy, but during 1918 four transports were torpedoed. The first was the Tuscania which was sunk in February off the north coast of Ireland, with 1,912 officers and men of the Michigan and Wisconsin guardsmen, of whom 204 were lost. The Oronsa, which was torpedoed in April, contained 250 men and all were saved except three of the crew. The Moldavia came next with five hundred troops, of whom fifty-five were lost. On September 6th the troopship Persic with 2,800 American soldiers was torpedoed but American destroyers rescued all on board, and the Persic, which was prevented from sinking by its water-tight bulkheads, was afterwards beached.

Several American ships, including the troop transport Mount Vernon, were torpedoed on return trips and a number of the men of their crews were lost, and several naval vessels were lost, including the destroyer Jacob Jones, and the patrol vessel Alcedo. The Cassin was torpedoed, but reached port under its own steam and later returned to service.

In September and October three more American transports were added to the list of American losses. On September 26th the United States steamer Tampa was torpedoed and sank with all on board, losing 118 men. On September 30th the Ticonderoga was also torpedoed, eleven naval officers and 102 enlisted men being lost.

In addition to these submarine losses several ships and a number of men were lost through collision. The United States steamer Westgate was sunk in a collision with the steamer American on October 7th, with the loss of seven men. On October 9th the United States destroyer Shaw lost fifteen men in a collision, though she later succeeded in reaching port. On October 11th the American steamer Otranto was sunk in a collision with the British liner Cashmere. Of seven hundred American soldiers who were on board 365 were lost. At this time about three thousand anti-submarine craft were in operation day and night around the British Isles, and about five thousand working in the open sea. This was what made it possible for the Allies to win the war.

Inasmuch as the illegal use of the submarine by Germany brought America into the war it was extremely appropriate that she should take an active part in the suppression of the submarine menace. The methods which were used in fighting the submarines differed much in different cases. The action of the government in arming merchantmen and in providing them with trained gun crews did much to lower the number of such ships sunk by the U-boats.

The submarine, which had formerly been able to stop the unarmed merchantman and sink him at leisure, after a few combats with an armed merchantman began to be very wary and to depend almost entirely upon his torpedoes. It was not always easy for the submarine to get in a position where her torpedo would be effective, and the merchantman was carefully directed, if attacked, to pursue a ziz-zag irregular course, and at the same time endeavor to hamper the submarine by shooting as near her periscope as possible.

Along the sea coasts and at certain points in the English Channel great nets were used effectively. Submarines, however, toward the end of the war were made sufficiently large to be able to force their way through these nets, and net-cutting devices were also used by them with considerable effect. The best way to destroy the submarines seemed to be in a direct attack by flotillas of destroyers.

By the end of the war the whole process of sinking or destroying submarines had been thoroughly organized. Practically every portion of the seas near Great Britain and France was carefully watched and the appearance of a submarine immediately reported. As the submarine would only travel at a certain well-understood speed during a given time, it was possible to calculate, after the locality of one was known, about how far from that point it would be found at any later period. Destroyers were therefore sent circling around the point where the submarine had been discovered, enlarging their distance from the center every hour. In the course of time the submarine would be compelled to come up for air, and then, if luck were with the destroyer, it might find its foe before it was seen itself. Having discovered the submarine the destroyer immediately endeavored to ram, dropping depth bombs at the point where they supposed the enemy to be.

These bombs were so constructed that at a certain depth in the water they would explode, and the force of the explosion was so great that even if they did not strike the submarine they would be sure to damage it seriously, sometimes throwing the submarine to the surface partly out of water, and at other times driving her to come to the surface herself ready to surrender.

In many cases it was not necessary to use the depth bomb at all. The gunners on board the destroyers had become extraordinarily expert, and though a shot might destroy the periscope of a submarine without doing much damage, most submarines carrying extra periscopes to use if necessary, yet it was soon found that it was possible by the use of plunging shells to do effective damage. Plunging shells are somewhat similar in their operation to bombs. Such a shell falling just short of a periscope and fused to burst both on contact and at a certain depth was extremely likely to do damage.

In the pursuit of the U-boat the airplane was also extremely effective. These were sent out to patrol large districts near the Allied coast, and also, in some cases, from ships themselves. It is possible in certain weather conditions for the observer on an airplane to detect a submarine even when it is submerged and the airplane can not only attack the submarine by dropping depth bombs, but it can signal at once the location of the enemy to the hurrying destroyers. Indeed, as the submarine warfare proceeded the main difficulty of the Allies was to locate the submarines. Many ingenious devices were used for this purpose, and many of the English vessels had listening attachments under water which were intended to make it possible to hear a submarine as it moved. These, however, do not seem to have been very effective. The submarine itself seems at times to have been fitted out in a similar way and to have thus been able to hear the sound of an approaching ship.

Many thrilling reports of naval actions against German submarines were given out officially by the British admiralty from time to time. In most of these cases the submarine was both rammed and attacked by depth bombs. In nearly all of them the only proof of success was the oil and air bubbles which came to the surface.

One interesting encounter was that in which a British submarine sighted a German U-boat, while both were on the surface. The British submarine dived and later was able to pick up the enemy through the periscope and discharge a torpedo in such a way as to destroy the German vessel. When the British submarine arose it found a patch of oil in which Germans were swimming.

Ordinarily, however, a submarine was of little service in a fight against another for the radius of sight from a periscope is so short that it is practically blind so far as another periscope is concerned. This blindness of the submarine was taken advantage of by the Allies in every possible way.

Merchant ships were camouflaged, that is painted in such a way that they could not be easily distinguished at a distance. In the great convoys ships were often hidden by great masses of smoke to prevent a submarine from finding an easy mark. At night all lights were put out or else so shaded as not to be seen by the enemy. The result of these methods was the gradual destruction of the U-boat menace.

In the summer of 1918, while occasionally some ship was lost, the production of new ships was much greater than those that were sunk. During the month of June it was announced that the completion of new tonnage by the Allies had outstripped the losses by thousands of tons. During this period the United States had attained its full stride in building ships, airplanes and ordnance.

[Illustration: Painting]
  "HAIL COLUMBIA"
  England greets the first American destroyer squadron to arrive in
  European waters after the United States entered the war. The British
  admiral asked Admiral Sims, who was in command, how long he needed to
  refit and get ready for action. He replied "We are ready now."

[Illustration: Painting]
  THE DAY'S WORK OF UNCLE SAM'S DESTROYERS
  More than 2,000,000 men were safely landed in France guarded by the
  destroyers, ready day or night whenever an enemy submarine threatened
  a convoy, as was the case here in a trip over of the Adriatic loaded
  with troops. In the foreground is the periscope of the attacking
  submarine trying to submerge before she is hit.

Archibald Hurd, the English naval expert, said: "When the war is over the nation will form some conception of the debt which we owe the American Navy for the manner in which it has co-operated, not only in connection with the convoy system, but in fighting the submarines. If the naval position is improving today, as it is, it is due to the fact that the British and American fleets are working in closest accord, supported by an immense body of skilled workers on both sides of the Atlantic, who are turning out destroyers and other craft for dealing with the submarine, as well as mines and bombs. Some of the finest battleships of the United States Navy are now associated with the British Grand fleet. They are not only splendid fighting ships but they are well officered and manned."

On May 13, 1918, in appreciation of some remarks which had been made by Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the British Admiralty, Josephus Daniels, the American Secretary of the Navy, addressed a letter to him in the following terms:

"Your reference to the splendid spirit of co-operation between the navies of our countries, and your warm praise of the officers and men of our navy, have been most grateful to me and to all Americans. The brightest spot in the tragedy of this war is this mutual appreciation of the men in the naval service. Our officers who have returned confirm the statements of Admiral Sims of the courtesies and kindness shown in every way by the admiralty and the officers of the British fleet. I had hoped to have the pleasure of visiting Great Britain and of personally expressing this feeling of mutual working together, but the task here of making ready more and more units for the fleet is a very serious one, and my duty chains me here. The order in all the Navy is 'Full speed ahead' in the construction of destroyers and other craft, and the whole service is keyed up to press this program forward. Therefore I shall not have the pleasure, until this program shall materialize, of a personal acquaintance and a conference which would be of such interest and value."

Sir Eric Geddes replied: "I am exceedingly grateful for your letter. As you know we, all of us here, have great admiration for your officers and men, and for the splendid help they are giving in European waters. Further, we find Admiral Sims invaluable in council and in co-operation. I fully appreciate how onerous your office must be and much though I regret that you do not see your way to visiting this country in the near future, I hope we may some day have the pleasure of welcoming you here."

Sir Eric afterward himself visited the United States and his visit was
made the occasion of a general expression of the high regard which the
United States felt for the splendid assistance which the great British
Navy had rendered in convoying its armies across the seas.

Secretary Daniels, in his report of December, 1918, said that American sea forces in European waters comprised 338 vessels, with 75,000 men and officers—a force larger than the entire Navy was before the war began.

From August, 1914, to September, 1918, German submarines sank 7,151,088 deadweight tons of shipping in excess of the tonnage turned out in that period by the allied and neutral nations. That total does not represent the depletion of the fleets at the command of the allied and neutral nations, however, as 3,795,000 deadweight tons of enemy ships were seized in the meantime. Actually, the allied and neutral nations on September 1, 1918, had only 3,362,088 less tons of shipping in operation than in August, 1914.

These details of the shipping situation were issued by the United States Shipping Board along with figures to show that, with American and allied yards under full headway, Europe's danger of being starved by the German submarine was apparently at an end. The United States took the lead of all nations in shipbuilding.

In all, the allied and neutral nations lost 21,404,913 deadweight tons of shipping since the beginning of the war, showing that Germany maintained an average destruction of about 445,000 deadweight tons monthly. During the latter months, however, the sinkings fell considerably below the average, and allied construction passed destruction for the first time in May, 1918.

The losses of the allied and neutral shipping in August, 1918, amounted to 327,676 gross tonnage, of which 176,401 was British and 151,275 allied and neutral, as compared with the adjusted figures for July of 323,772, and 182,524 and 141,248, respectively. British losses from all causes during August were 10,887 tons higher than in June, which was the lowest month since the introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare.

An official statement of the United States Shipping Board, issued
September 21, 1918, set forth the following facts:

STATUS OF WORLD TONNAGE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1918
(Germany and Austria excluded)
                                     Deadweight
                                                           Tons
Total losses (allied and neutral)
                August, 1914-September 1, 1918 21,404,913

Total construction (allied and neutral)
                August, 1914-September 1, 1918 14,247,825

Total enemy tonnage captured (to end of 1917) 3,795,000

Excess of losses over gains 3,362,088

Estimated normal increase in world's tonnage if war had not occurred (based on rate of increase, 1905-1914) 14,700,000

Net deficit due to war 18,062,088

In August, deliveries to the Shipping Board and other seagoing construction in the United States for private parties passed allied and neutral destruction for that month. The figures:

                                       Gross (Actual) Tone
Deliveries to the Shipping Board 244,121
Other construction over 1,000 gross 16,918
Total 261,039
Losses (allied and neutral) 259,400
America alone surpassed losses for month by 1,630

NOTE.—World's merchant tonnage, as of June 30, 1914, totaled 49,089,552 gross tons, or, roughly, 73,634,328 deadweight tons. (Lloyd's Register.)

The climax to Germany's piratical submarine adventure took place a few days after the armistice, when a mournful procession of shamefaced-looking U-boats sailed between lines of English cruisers to be handed over to the tender mercies of the Allied governments.

CHAPTER XXXVI

CHINA JOINS THE FIGHTING DEMOCRACIES

The circumstances connected with the entrance of the Republic of China into the World War were as follows: On February 4, 1917, the American Minister, Dr. Reinsch, requested the Chinese Government to follow the United States in protesting against the German use of the submarine against neutral ships. On February 9th Pekin made such a protest to Germany, and declared its intention of severing diplomatic relations if the protest were ineffectual. The immediate answer of Germany was to torpedo the French ship Atlas in the Mediterranean on which were over seven hundred Chinese laborers. On March 10th the Chinese Parliament empowered the government to break with Germany. On the same afternoon a reply was received from the German Government to the Chinese protest, of a very mild character. The reply produced a great deal of surprise in China.

A Chinese statesman made this comment on the German change of attitude: "The troops under Count Waldersee leaving Germany for the relief of Pekin were instructed by the War Lord to grant no quarter to the Chinese. On the other hand, the latter were to be so disciplined that they would never dare look a German in the face again. The whirligig of time brings its own revenge, and today, after the lapse of scarcely seventeen years, we hear the Vossiche Zeitung commenting on the diplomatic rupture between China and Germany, lamenting that even so weak a state as the Far Eastern Republic dares look defiantly at the German nation."

The breaking off of relations with Germany led to trouble between the President of the Republic and the Premier. The Premier desired to break off relations without consulting Parliament. The President insisted that Parliament should be consulted, which was actually done. The next move was to declare war, but here the Chinese statesmen hesitated, and their hesitation arose through their feeling toward Japan.

They sympathized with the Allies, but to Chinese eyes Japan has stood for all that Germany, as depicted by its worst enemies, stood for. The Japanese Government was professing friendliness to China, but that profession the Chinese could not reconcile with Japan's action in the Chino-Japanese War, and on many other occasions since that war. In Chinese hearts there was a strong feeling of distrust, fear and hatred for their Japanese neighbor. There were other reasons also why they hesitated to declare war. Indeed the devotion to peace, which is deep-rooted in the nation, would be a sufficient reason in itself.

Moreover, China, like other neutral nations, was a strong center for German propaganda. German consuls and diplomatic officers, who were scholars in Chinese literature and philosophy, and who also had sufficient funds to entertain Chinese officials as they liked to be entertained, were actively endeavoring to influence Chinese statesmen.

The Chinese Government, however, was determined to declare war, and to secure support the Chinese Premier summoned a council of military governors to consider the question. The majority of the conference agreed with the Premier, but a vigorous opposition began to develop. On May 7th the President sent a formal request to Parliament to approve of a declaration of war. Parliament delayed and was threatened by a mob. The Premier was accused of having instigated the riot and support began to gather for Parliament, and an attack was made on the Premier as being willing to sell China.

Day by day the differences between the militants and democrats became more bitter. The question of war was almost lost in the differences of opinion as to the comparative powers of Parliament and the Executive. A demand was made that the Premier resign. He refused to resign and was dismissed from office by the President, who was supported in his action by the Parliament. This was practically a success of the Parliamentary party, when suddenly several of the northern generals and governors declared their independence, and the movement gradually developed into a revolution in favor of the restoration of the Manchu Dynasty. This revolution was finally suppressed.

The Japanese declared themselves, not the enemies, but the protectors of China in terms that suggested the appearance of a Monroe Doctrine for Asia. They pledged themselves not to violate the political independence or territorial integrity of China, and declared strongly in favor of the principle of the open door and equal opportunity.

On August 14th China formally joined the Allies and declared war on Austria and Germany. She took no great part in the war, except to invade the German and Austrian settlements in Tientsin and Hankow, which were taken over by the Chinese authorities. The Chinese officials also seized the Deutsche Asiatiche Bank which had been the financing agent in China for the German Government, and fourteen German vessels which had been interned in Chinese ports. Thousands of Chinese coolies were sent to Europe to work in the Allied interests behind the battle lines, and China has in all respects been faithful to her pledges.

The official war proclamation of China which was signed by President Feng-kuo-chang reviewed China's efforts to induce Germany to modify her submarine policy. It declared that China had been forced to sever relations with Germany and with Austro-Hungary to protect the lives and property of Chinese citizens. It promised that China would respect the Hague Convention, regarding the humane conduct of the war, and asserted that China's object was to hasten peace.

On July 22d Siam officially entered the war and all German and Austrian subjects were interned and German ships seized. The Prince of Songkla, brother of the reigning monarch, declared that natural necessity and moral pressure forced Siam into the war on the side of the Entente. Neutrality had become increasingly difficult, and it had become apparent that freedom and justice in states which were not strong from a military standpoint were not to be secured through the policy of the Central Powers. Sympathy for Belgium and the popular aversion to Teutonic methods had left no doubt as to the duty of Siam. The motive of Siam had a curious fitness, though there was a certain quaintness in her expression of a desire to make, "the world safe for democracy."

The native name of Siam is Muang-Thai, which means the Kingdom of the Free. Siam is about as large as France, and has a population of about eight millions. Its people, who are of many shades of yellowish-brown, have descended into this corner of Asia from the highlands north of Burma and east of Tibet. The tradition among these people was that the further south they descended the shorter they would grow, that when they reached the southern plains they would be no larger than rabbits, and that when they came to the sea they would vanish altogether. As a fact the northern tribes are much taller than the southern.

The original population of the Siamese peninsula was a race of black dwarfs, remnants of whom still dwell in caves and nests of palm leaves, so shy that it is almost impossible to catch a glimpse of them. The literary and religious culture of Siam comes mainly from southern India. Buddhism is the dominant religion, but there are many Mohammedans also.

The accession of Siam to the ranks of the Allies did not make any great difference from a military point of view, but it was another evidence of the general world feeling with regard to the Germans and their encroachments in all parts of the world. Germany had tried its best to keep these nations from participation in the war, but not only had her propaganda failed but the feeling of these Oriental peoples was strongly anti-German. Much of this feeling, it is readily seen from their statements and their private letters, comes from a personal resentment of the boorish attitude of the individual German. By the end of 1918 the Teuton influence in the Orient had completely disappeared.

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE DEFEAT AND RECOVERY OF ITALY

None of the surprises of the World War brought such sudden and stunning dismay to the Entente Allies as the news of the Italian disaster beginning October 24, 1917, and terminating in mid-November. It is a story in which propaganda was an important factor. It taught the Allies the dangers lying in fraternization between opposing armies.

During the summer of 1917 the second Italian army was confronted by Austrian regiments composed largely of war-weary Socialists. During that summer skilful German propagandists operating from Spain had sown the seeds of pacificism throughout Italy. This was made easy by the distress then existing particularly in the villages where food was scanty and complaints against the conduct of the war were numerous. The propaganda extended from the civilian population to the army, and its channel was directed mainly toward the second army encamped along the Isonzo River.

As a consequence of the pacifists' preachments both by word of mouth and document, the second army was ready for the friendly approaches that came from the front lines of the Austrians only a few hundred yards away. Daily communication was established and at night the opposing soldiers fraternized generally. The Russian doctrine that an end of the fighting would come if the soldiers agreed to do no more shooting, spread throughout the Italian trenches.

This was all part of a plan carefully mapped out by the German High Command. When the infection had spread, the fraternizing Austrian troops were withdrawn from the front trenches and German shock troops took their places.

On October 24th these troops attacked in force. The Italians in the front line, mistaking them for the friendly Austrians, waved a greeting. German machine guns and rifles replied with a deadly fire, and the great flanking movement commenced. So well had the Germans played their game the Italians lost more than 250,000 prisoners and 2,300 guns in the first week. The attack began in the Julian Alps and continued along the Isonzo southwestward into the plain of Venice. The Italian positions at Tolmino and Plezzo were captured and the whole Italian force was compelled to retreat along a seventy-mile front from the Carnic Alps to the sea. The most important point gained by the enemy in its early assault was the village of Caporetto on the Upper Isonzo where General Cadorna held a great series of dams which could have drained the Isonzo River dry within twelve hours.

[Illustration: Map]
  AREA OF THE FLOW AND EBB OF ITALY'S MILITARY SUCCESS FROM THE CARSO
  PLATEAU TO THE PIAVE LINE.

The Italian retreat at places degenerated into a rout and it was not until the Italians, reinforced by French and British, reached the Piave River, that a stand was finally made. The defeat cost Cadorna his command, and he was succeeded by General Armando Diaz, whose brilliant strategy during the remainder of the war marked him as a national hero and one of the outstanding military geniuses of the war.

The order for a general retreat was issued on October 27th. Poison gas shells rained blindness and death upon the retreating Italians and upon the heroic rear-guards. The city of Udine and its environs were emptied of their inhabitants; and Goritzia, which had been wrested after a desperate effort from the Austrians, was retaken on October 28th.

That the entire Italian army escaped the fate that had come to the Russians at the Masurian Lakes was due mainly to the third army commanded by the Duke of Aosta. During the long running fight, it faced about from time to time and drove the Germans back in bloody encounters.

By November 10th the Italian forces had come to the hastily prepared
entrenchments on the west bank of the Piave River. The Austrians and the
Germans dug in on the east bank from the village of Susegana in the
Alpine foothills to the Adriatic Sea.

Here a long-drawn-out battle was fought, resulting in enormous losses to the Germans and Austrians. By this time reinforcements had come up from the French front and every attempt by the enemy to gain ground met a bloody check. The hardest fighting was on the Asiago Plateau. There, although the Italians were greatly outnumbered, the concentration of their artillery in the hills overlooking the great field completely dominated the situation.

A factor that was of the utmost value in checking the Austrians was the system of lagoon defenses running from the lower Piave to the Gulf of Venice.

From November 13th, when the Austrians in crossing the lower Piave in their headlong rush to Venice were suddenly checked by the Italian lagoon defenses, the entire Gulf of Venice, with its endless canals and marshes, with islands disappearing and reappearing with the tide, was the scene of a continuous battle. A correspondent described the fighting as absolutely without precedent. The Teutons were desperately trying to turn the Italian right wing by working their way around the northern limits of the Venetian Gulf. The Italians inundated the region and sealed all the entrances into the gulf by mine fields. The gulf, therefore, was converted into an isolated sea. Over this inland waterway the conflict raged bitterly. The Italians had a "lagoon fleet" ranging from the swiftest of motor boats, armed with machine guns, small cannon, and torpedo tubes, to huge, cumbersome, flat-bottomed British monitors, mounting the biggest guns.

The Italian vessels navigated secret channels dug in the bottom of the shallow lagoons. Only the Italian war pilots knew these courses. Even gondolas straying out of the channels were instantly and hopelessly stranded. Not only this, but as the muddy flats and marshy islands did not permit of artillery emplacements the Italians developed an immense fleet of floating batteries. The guns ranged from three-inch fieldpieces to great fifteen-inch monsters. Each was camouflaged to represent a tiny island, a garden patch, or a houseboat. Floating on the glasslike surface of the lagoons, the guns fired a few shots and then changed position, making it utterly impossible for the enemy to locate them. The entire auxiliary service of supplying this floating army was adapted to meet the lagoon warfare. Munition dumps were on boats, constantly moved about to prevent the enemy spotting them. Gondolas and motor boats replaced the automobile supply lorries customary in land warfare. Instead of motor ambulances, motor boats carried off the dead and wounded. Hydro-airplanes replaced ordinary fighting aircraft.

Along the northern limit of the Venetian Gulf, where the Austrians, having filtered into the Piave Delta, sought to cross both the Sile and the Piave, the enemy each night hooked up pontoons. At daybreak every morning one end of a huge pontoon structure was anchored to the east bank of the Piave and the other flung out to the strong current, which soon stretched the makeshift bridge across.

The moment this happened, the enemy infantry madly dashed across. Simultaneously the Italian floating batteries opened a terrific fire. Practically every morning the Austrians tried the trick, and every morning they failed, with heavy losses, to effect a crossing. At last they gave up the attempt as hopeless, and the armies remained locked on the Piave for several months.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

REDEMPTION OF THE HOLY LAND

From the beginning of the war the German General Staff and the British War Office planned the occupation of Palestine and Macedonia. Germany wanted domination of that territory because through it lay the open road to Egypt and British prestige in the East. Turkey was the cat's paw of the Hun in this enterprise. German officers and German guns were supplied to the Turks, but the terrible privations necessary in a long campaign that must be spent largely in the desert, and the inevitable great loss in human life, were both demanded from Turkey.

Great Britain made no such demands upon any of its Allies. Unflinchingly
England faced virtually alone the rigors, the disease and the deaths
consequent upon an expedition having as its object the redemption of the
Holy Land from the unspeakable Turk.

Volunteers for the expedition came by the thousands. Canada, the United States, Australia and other countries furnished whole regiments of Jewish youths eager for the campaign. The inspiration and the devotion radiating from Palestine, and particularly from Jerusalem and Bethlehem, drew Jew and Gentile, hardy adventurer and zealous churchman, into Allenby's great army.

It was a long campaign. On February 26, 1917, Kut-el-Amara was recaptured from the Turks by the British expedition under command of General Sir Stanley Maude, and on March 11th following General Maude captured Bagdad. From that time forward pressure upon the Turks was continuous. On September 29, 1917, the Turkish Mesopotamian army commanded by Ahmad Bey was routed by the British, and historic Beersheba in Palestine was occupied on October 31st. The untimely death of General Maude, the hero of Mesopotamia, on November 18, 1917, temporarily cast gloom over the Allied forces but it had no deterrent effect upon their successful operations. Siege was laid to Jerusalem and its environs late in November, and on December 8, 1917, the Holy City which had been held by the Turks for six hundred and seventy-three years surrendered to General Allenby and his British army. Thus ended a struggle for possession of the holiest of shrines both of the Old and New Testaments, that had cost millions of lives during fruitless crusades and had been the center of religious aspirations for ages.

[Illustration: Map: The Jordan river from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead
Sea.]
  HOW THE TWO WINGS OF THE BRITISH ARMY TRAPPED THE TURKS.

General Allenby's official report follows:

"I entered the city officially at noon December 11th with a few of my staff, the commanders of the French and Italian detachments, the heads of the political missions, and the military attaches of France, England, and America.

"The procession was all afoot, and at Jaffa gate I was received by the guards representing England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, India, France and Italy. The population received me well.

"Guards have been placed over the holy places. My military governor is in contact with the acting custodians and the Latin and Greek representatives. The governor has detailed an officer to supervise the holy places. The Mosque of Omar and the area around it have been placed under Moslem control, and a military cordon of Mohammedan officers and soldiers has been established around the mosque. Orders have been issued that no non-Moslem is to pass within the cordon without permission of the military governor and the Moslem in charge."

A proclamation in Arabic, Hebrew, English, French, Italian Greek and Russian was posted in the citadel, and on all the walls proclaiming martial law and intimating that all the holy places would be maintained and protected according to the customs and beliefs of those to whose faith they were sacred. The proclamation read:

PROCLAMATION

To the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Blessed and the People Dwelling in
Its Vicinity.

The defeat inflicted upon the Turks by the troops under my command has resulted in the occupation of your city by my forces. I, therefore, proclaim it to be under martial law, under which form of administration it will remain so long as military consideration makes necessary.

However, lest any of you be alarmed by reason of your experience at the hands of the enemy who has retired, I hereby inform you that it is my desire that every person should pursue his lawful business without fear of interruption.

Furthermore, since your city is regarded with affection by the adherents of three of the great religions of mankind and its soil has been consecrated by the prayers and pilgrimages of multitudes of devout people of these three religions for many centuries, therefore, do I make it known to you that every sacred building, monument, holy spot, shrine, traditional site, endowment, pious bequest, or customary place of prayer of whatsoever form of the three religions will be maintained and protected according to the existing customs and beliefs of those to whose faith they are sacred.

Guardians have been established at Bethlehem and on Rachel's Tomb. The tomb at Hebron has been placed under exclusive Moslem control.

The hereditary custodians at the gates of the Holy Sepulchre have been requested to take up their accustomed duties in remembrance of the magnanimous act of the Caliph Omar, who protected that church.

Jerusalem was now made the center of the British operations against the Turks in Palestine. Mohammed V, the Sultan of Turkey, died July 3, 1918, and many superstitious Turks looked upon that event as forecasting the end of the Turkish Empire. The Turkish army in Palestine was left largely to its fate by Germany and Austria, and although it was numerically a formidable opponent for General Allenby's forces, that distinguished strategist fairly outmaneuvered the Turkish High Command in every encounter. The beginning of the end for Turkish misrule in Palestine came on September 20th when the ancient town of Nazareth was captured by the British.

A military net was thereupon closed upon the Turkish army. The fortified towns of Beisan and Afule followed the fate of Nazareth. In one day's fighting 18,000 Turkish prisoners, 120 guns, four airplanes, a number of locomotives and cars, and a great quantity of military and food supplies were bagged by the victorious British. So well did Allenby plan that the British losses were far the smallest suffered in any large operation of the entire war. It was the swiftest and most decisive victory of any scored by the Allies. It ended the grandiose dream of Germany for an invasion of Egypt in stark disaster, and swept the Holy Land clear of the Turks.

This great battle on the Biblical field of Armageddon was remarkable in that it was virtually the only engagement during the entire war offering the freest scope to cavalry operations. British cavalry commands operated over a radius of sixty miles between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, sweeping the Turks before them.

By September 25th the total bag of Turkish prisoners exceeded 40,000.
Munition depots covering acres of ground were taken. Whole companies of
Turkish soldiers were found sitting on their white flags waiting for the
British to accept their terms. Two hundred sixty-five pieces of
artillery were captured.

Damascus was captured on Tuesday, October 1st, after an advance of 130 miles by General Allenby since September 1st, the day of his surprise attack north of Jerusalem. During that period a total of 73,000 prisoners was captured.

Palestine's delivery from the Turks was complete. Official announcement was made by the British War Office that the total casualties from all sources in this final campaign was less than 4,000.

Plans for the government of the people of Palestine were announced immediately. Their general scope was outlined in an agreement made between the British, French and Russian governments in 1916. Under that arrangement Republican France was charged with the preparation of a scheme of self-government. The town of Alexandretta was fixed upon as a free port of entry for the new nation.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. British Official Photo.
  JERUSALEM DELIVERED
  On December 11, 1917, the Holy City was entered by the British forces.
  Following the custom of the Crusaders, General Allenby, commander of
  the British and Allied forces, made his entry, with his staff and
  Allied officers, through the Jaffa Gate, on foot.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  British Official Photograph.
  ANCIENT AND MODERN WARFARE MINGLE IN THE HOLY LAND
  The distinctly modern British soldier uses the camel, that extremely
  ancient beast of burden, to get him over the desert in Palestine. The
  Imperial Camel Corps gave valuable service in the campaign that led to
  the capture of Jerusalem.

CHAPTER XXXIX

AMERICA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS

When America entered the war there was a very great increase in the volume of business of the railroads of the country. The roads were already so crowded by what the Allies had done in purchasing war supplies, that a great deal of confusion had resulted. The Allies had expended more than three billion dollars in the United States, and as nearly all of their purchases had to be sent to a few definite points for shipment to Europe, the congestion at those points had become a serious difficulty. Thousands of loaded cars had to stand for long periods awaiting the transfer of their contents to ships. This meant that thousands of cars which had been taken from lines in other parts of the country would be in a traffic blockade for weeks at a time. The main difficulty appeared to be that of getting trains unloaded promptly.

The declaration of war by the United States made the situation very much worse. Not only did the railroads have to handle the freight destined for the Allies, but there was a very large addition to the passenger movement on account of the thousands of men that were being sent to the various training camps, and the immense masses of supplies that had to be sent to these camps. This included not only the ordinary supplies to the men but thousands of carloads of lumber. Moreover, all over the country mills and factories were now being handed over to the government for war work; and to them, too, great quantities of raw material had to be sent, and the finished product removed to its destination.

A vigorous endeavor to meet the new difficulties was instituted by the railroads themselves. They themselves named a war board, which was to co-operate with the government and which was to have absolute authority. But this arrangement soon proved unsatisfactory. Each government official would do his best to obtain preference for what his department required, and to obtain that preference a system of priority tags was established which became a great abuse. The result was that priority freight soon began to crowd out the freight which the railroads could handle according to their own discretion, thus seriously interfering with business all over the country.

Naturally, the railroad executives and the government authorities studied the question with the greatest care, but they could not reach an understanding among themselves, nor with the Administration. At last the President settled the matter by announcing his decision to have the government take over complete control of the roads. The President derived his power from an Act of Congress dated August 29, 1916, which reads as follows:

The President in time of war is empowered, through the Secretary of War, to take possession and assume control of any system or systems of transportation, or any part thereof, and to utilize the same to the exclusion, as far as may be necessary, of all other traffic thereon, for the transfer or transportation of troops, war material and equipment, or for such other purposes connected with the emergency as may be needful or desirable.

The proclamation went into effect on December 28, 1917, and the President declared that it applied to "each and every system of transportation and the appurtenances thereof, located, wholly or in part, within the boundaries of the Continental United States, and consisting of railroads and owned or controlled systems of coastwise and inland transportation, engaged in general transportation, whether operated by steam, or by electric power, including also terminals, terminal companies, and terminal associations, sleeping and parlor cars, private cars, and private car lines, elevators, warehouses, telegraph and telephone lines, and all other equipment and appurtenances commonly used upon or operated as a part of such rail or combined rail and water systems of transportation…. That the possession, control, operation, and utilization of such transportation systems shall be exercised by and through William G. McAdoo, who is hereby appointed, and designated Director General of Railroads. Said Director may perform the duties imposed upon him so long and to such an extent as he shall determine through the boards of directors, receivers, officers and employees, of said system of transportation." President Wilson issued an explanation with this proclamation in which he said:

This is a war of resources no less than of men, perhaps even more than of men, and it is necessary for the complete mobilization of our resources that the transportation systems of the country should be organized and employed under a single authority and to simplify methods for coordination which have not proved possible under private management and control. A committee of railway executives who have been cooperating with the government in this all-important matter, have done the utmost that it was possible for them to do, but there were differences that they could neither escape nor neutralize. Complete unity of administration in the present circumstances involves upon occasion, and at many points, a serious dislocation of earnings, and the committee was, of course, without power or authority to rearrange charges or effect proper compensations in adjustments of earnings. Several roads which were willingly and with admirable public spirit accepting the orders of the committee, have already suffered from these circumstances, and should not be required to suffer further. In mere fairness to them, the full authority of the government must be substituted. The public interest must be first served, and in addition the financial interests of the government, and the financial interests of the railways, must be brought under a common direction. The financial operations of the railway need not, then, interfere with the borrowings of the government, and they themselves can be conducted at a great advantage. Investors in railway securities may rest assured that their rights and interests will be as scrupulously looked after by the government as they could be by the directors of the several railway systems. Immediately upon the reassembling of Congress I shall recommend that these different guarantees be given. The Secretary of War and I are agreed that, all the circumstances being taken into consideration, the best results can be obtained under the immediate executive direction of the Honorable William G. McAdoo, whose practical experience peculiarly fits him for the service, and whose authority as Secretary of the Treasury will enable him to coordinate, as no other man could, the many financial interests which will be involved, and which might, unless systematically directed, suffer very embarrassing entanglements.

President Wilson's proclamation stirred up great excitement on the stock market. Speculators rushed to buy back railroad stocks which they had previously sold short, and the market value of such stocks was raised more than three hundred and fifty million dollars as a result. The Federal Government's assumption of control of the railroads was generally recognized as the proper act under existing circumstances, and the guarantee of pre-war earnings made them a good investment.

The railroad system in the United States consists of 260,000 miles of railroad, owned by 441 distinct corporations, with about 650,000 shareholders. It employs 1,600,000 men and represents a property investment of $17,500,000,000. The outstanding capital in round numbers is $16,000,000,000, $9,000,000,000 of which is represented by a funded debt. The rolling stock comprises 61,000 locomotives, 2,250,000 freight cars, 52,000 passenger cars and 95,000 service cars. All this was now under the charge of William G. McAdoo. On January 4, 1918, President Wilson explained his plan to Congress, and recommended legislation to put the new system of control into effect, and to guarantee to the holders of railroad stocks and bonds a net annual income equal to the average net income for the three years ending June 30, 1917.

The wise recommendations of President Wilson were at once approved by Congress; provision was made for guaranteeing the railroads the income which he recommended, and for financing the roads. The railroads' war board was abolished and Mr. McAdoo appointed an advisory board to assist him. This board consisted of John Skelton Williams, Controller of the Currency; Hale Holden, President of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad; Henry Walters, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Coast Line; Edward Chambers, Vice-President of the Santa Fe Railroad and head of the transportation division of the United States Food Administration; Walter D. Hines, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Santa Fe. Specific duties were assigned to the various members of this committee. Mr. Williams was to deal with the financial problem; Mr. Holden to assume direction of committees and sub-committees, and other phases of the work were allotted to other members. Mr. Walter D. Hines was made assistant to the Director General.

Mr. McAdoo's first order was to pool all terminals, ports, locomotives, rolling stock and other transportation facilities. Another order had as its object to end the congestion of traffic in New York City and Chicago. It gave all lines entering these centers equal rights in trackage and water terminal facilities. This wiped out the identity of the great Pennsylvania Terminal Station in New York, and gave all railroads the use of the Pennsylvania tubes under the Hudson River.

The effect of government control of the railroads was felt from the very first. Coal was given the right of way, giving great relief to such sections as were suffering from fuel shortage. Many passenger trains were taken off, more than two hundred and fifty of such trains being dropped from the schedules of the eastern roads. This permitted a great increase in the freight traffic. Orders were also given that all empty box cars were to be sent to wheat-producing centers, so that wheat could be moved to the Atlantic sea coasts for shipment to England and France. These orders preceded the adoption of the railroad control bill, which was not passed by Congress until March 14th. A feature of the bill is the proviso that government control of the railroads shall not continue more than twenty-one months after the war. After the passing of the bill plans were made to make contracts with each railroad company for government compensation on the basis provided in the bill.

The action of the government in thus assuming control of the railroads very naturally led to wide differences of opinion, some of which were sharply expressed in the Congress of the United States. On the whole, however, public opinion decided that the government acted wisely. Certain inconveniences to the traveling public were easily excused when it was realized that the movement of troops throughout the country to the camps, or from the camps to the ports which were to take them across the sea, from "Texas to Toul," was being accomplished with great success; that the movement of war material was now possible, and that the gigantic railroad system was working without a hitch.

Many details, in connection with the railroad management, were not at once worked out, and many months passed without complete agreements regarding the railway operating contracts. But this was a matter of greater interest to the owners than it was to patriotic citizens, anxious for the winning of the war. Governmental control of the railroads, was only a beginning. On July 16th President Wilson took control, for the period of the war, of all telegraph, telephone, cable and radio lines, signing a bill on that day passed by Congress authorizing such action.

The transportation of the American army across the ocean was the greatest military feat of its kind ever accomplished in history. The transportation of English troops during the Boer War meant a longer journey, but the number of troops sent on that journey was but a small fraction of America's army.

The railroads in existence were not sufficient. The ships that were necessary could not be found in America's navy. It was necessary to build new roads, new docks, new terminals, new bases of supplies in America, and to send abroad thousands of trained workmen and experienced railroad engineers to build similar necessities in France. To convey the millions of men across the water England had to come to the rescue, and though hundreds of American ships were built with a speed that was almost miraculous, they were in constant need of the assistance of the Allies. But wonderful men were put in charge of the work, wonderful organizers with wonderful assistants, and the great task was accomplished.

As soon as the army was trained it was sent across—first by thousands, then by tens of thousands, then by hundreds of thousands, until before the war was over more than two million men had made the great trip "over there." And throughout that whole trip they were watched over as carefully as if they were at home. Every want was supplied; food, clothing, munitions were all where they were needed. Even their leisure hours were looked after, their health attended to. Books, games, theaters, classes for those who cared to study, all were there.

It was a wonderful performance, and the whole movement was conducted with clock-like precision. On such a day at such an hour the trained soldier would start. At such an hour he would report in some Atlantic port. At such an hour and such a minute he would board ship, and with equal precision that ship would sail upon the appointed moment. Perhaps on the journey over some submarine might delay the ship, but the destroyers were there on the alert, and the submarine was but an amusing episode. On the other side the process was carried on with equal efficiency. Before the American doughboy could realize that he was in France he was in his quarters, just like home, in the base camps behind the fighting line and it was this miracle of transportation that won the war.

A study of transportation construction in other countries showed that actual construction of railroads had been suspended in some cases, and in others retarded, but in not a few instances hastened by the war. Brazil experienced a more nearly complete suspension of railroad building than any of the other countries, but preparation was made for prompt resumption of construction, with the return of more normal conditions.

The Chinese building program also had been affected unfavorably by the war. Nevertheless, there were important additions made, aggregating approximately 800 miles during the war. Of the lines completed in 1917, two are of especial significance. One of these, a 140-mile section of the Canton-Hankow line, a link in the route between South China and Peking. The other is a 60-mile feeder of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Manchuria. A line was extended from South Manchuria into Mongolia, the first railroad to penetrate this territory. Financial arrangements were made for the early construction of a line across Southern Manchuria and for another connecting the Peking-Hankow and Tientsin-Pukow lines.

Construction in Siberia proceeded rapidly. The completion, in 1915, of the Amur River division of the Trans-Siberian in the east, together with the extension in 1913 of the Ekaterinburg-Tiumen line to Omsk in the west, gave virtually a double track from European Russia to Vladivostok.

The notable achievement in Africa was the continuation of the southern rail link in the Cape-to-Cairo route. This line was completed to Bukama on the navigable Congo, 2,600 miles from Capetown. The railway in German East Africa, was extended to Lake Tanganyika on the eve of the war, making a rail-water line across the center of the continent. The railroad from Lobito Bay was extended eastward to Katanga, a rich mineral region of the Belgian Congo, and, with the road already reaching the Indian Ocean at Beira, gave a second east and west transcontinental line. A permanent standard gauge railroad was laid by the British Expeditionary Forces from Egypt into Palestine.

Despite the magnitude of the Australian contribution to the Allied military and naval forces, the east and west transcontinental railway, begun in 1912, was completed in 1917. In all, more than 3,500 miles of track were built in the commonwealth in the years 1915-17.

In Canada, the work of providing two transcontinental railroads was completed; feeders were added, and a line from La Pas to Hudson Bay was under construction. From 1912 to 1916 more than 10,000 miles of track were put in operation, nearly 7,000 of which were added in the first two years of the war.

CHAPTER XL

SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM.

When the United States of America entered the World War she was confronted at once by a serious question. The great Allied nations were struggling against the attempt of the Germans, through the piratical use of submarines, to blockade the coast of the Allied countries. It was this German action which had led America to take part in the war. It is true that America had other motives. Few wars ever take place among democratic nations as a result of the calculation of the nation's leaders. The people must be interested, and the people must sympathize with the cause for which they are going to fight. The people of America had sympathized with Belgium, and had become indignant at the brutal treatment of that inoffensive nation. They had sympathized with France in its gallant endeavor to protect its soil from the inroads of the Hun. This feeling had become a personal one as they reviewed the lists of Americans lost in the sinking of the Lusitania, and this sympathy had gradually grown into indignation when the Germans, after having promised to conduct submarine warfare according to international law, again and again violated that promise. When, then, the Germans declared that they would no longer even pretend to treat neutral shipping according to the laws of maritime warfare the people with one accord approved the action of the President of the United States in declaring war. The Germans at this time were making a desperate effort to starve England, by destroying its commerce, and it was in the endeavor to accomplish this purpose that they thought it necessary to attack American ships.

The first effort of Americans, therefore, was naturally to use every power of the navy to destroy the lurking submarines, and in the second place to use every means in their power to supply the Allies with food. But America had for many years neglected to give encouragement to her merchant fleets. Her commerce was very largely carried in foreign bottoms.

Ships were needed, and needed urgently, and one of the very first acts of the American Government was to authorize their production. Congress therefore appropriated for this purpose what was then the extraordinary sum of $1,135,000,000 and General Goethals, recently returned from his work in building the Panama Canal, was appointed manager of the Emergency Fleet Corporation and entrusted with the execution of the government's ship-building program.

The Emergency Fleet Corporation, however, was then independent of the United States Shipping Board, of which Mr. William Denman was made chairman, and friction between General Goethals and Mr. Denman at the very start caused long delay. The difference of opinion between them arose over the comparative merits of wooden and steel ships. The matter was finally laid before President Wilson and ended in the resignation of both men and the complete reorganization of the board and the Fleet Corporation, in which reorganization the Fleet Corporation was made subordinate to the Shipping Board but given entire control of construction.

Rear-Admiral Capps succeeded General Goethals, but was compelled to resign on account of ill health. Rear-Admiral Harris, who had been chief of the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, then had the job for two weeks, but resigned because in his opinion he had not enough authority. Then came Mr. Charles Piez, who held the position for a longer period. Mr. Edward N. Hurley had been made chairman of the United States Shipping Board, and under the direction of these two men much progress was made.

In the spring of 1918 the boards themselves were not satisfied with their progress, and on April 16, 1918, Mr. Charles M. Schwab, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, was made Director General of the Emergency Fleet Corporation. Mr. Schwab was one of the most prominent business men in the United States and one of the best known, and his appointment was received all over the country with the greatest satisfaction. His wonderful work in building up the Bethlehem steel plant not only showed his great ability, but especially fitted him for a task in which the steel industry bore such a vital part. The official statement issued from the White House read as follows:

Edward N. Hurley, Charles M. Schwab, Bainbridge Colby and Charles Piez were received by the President at the White House today. It was stated that the subject discussed was the progress and condition of a national ship-building program. The carrying forward of the construction work in the one hundred and thirty shipyards now in operation is so vast that it requires a reinforcement of the ship-building organization throughout the country. Later in the day Chairman Hurley of the Shipping Board announced that a new office with wide powers had been created by the Trustees of the Emergency Fleet Corporation. The new position is that of Director General and Mr. Schwab has been asked, and has agreed, to accept this position in answer to the call of the nation. Charles Piez, Vice-President of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, recommended that the post of General Manager of the corporation be at once abolished, so that Mr. Schwab as Director General should be wholly unhampered in carrying on the large task entrusted to him. Mr. Piez, since the retirement of Admiral Harris, has been filling both the position of Vice-President and that of General Manager. Mr. Schwab will have complete supervision and direction of the work of ship-building. He agreed to take up the work at the sacrifice of his personal wishes in the matter. His services were virtually commandeered. His great experience as a steel maker and builder of ships has been drafted for the nation.

Although the fact that production during the month of March had not been as great as had been hoped probably brought about this change, it should also be said that those who had been responsible deserved much credit for what had actually been done. They had been handicapped constantly by poor transportation and shortage of materials, but had worked faithfully and with what under ordinary circumstances would be regarded as remarkable success. The call upon Mr. Schwab was simply an effort to draft into the service of the country its very highest executive ability. Mr. Schwab's name had been mentioned before for more than one government post, and it was thought that here was the place where his talents could have the fullest play. It was stated in Washington that he would receive a salary of one dollar a year.

Mr. Schwab at once proceeded to "speed up" the shipping-program. It took him just one day to arrange his own business affairs and then he began his work. His first day was spent in going over the details of his task with Chairman Hurley and Mr. Piez. He then received newspaper men, beginning the campaign of publicity which turned out to be so successful. He was full of compliments for the work which had already been done. "It is prodigious, splendid, magnificent!" he said. "It is far greater than any man who hasn't seen the inside of things can appreciate. The foundation is laid. That task is well done. We are going to get the results which are needed and I should be proud if I could have any part in the accomplishment. All I can say for myself is that I am filled with enthusiasm, energy and confidence. Mr. Hurley and I are in full accord on everything, and we are going to work shoulder to shoulder to make the work a success, but the large burden must fall upon the people at the yards, and they are entitled to any credit for success. I do not want to have any man in the shipyards working for me. I want them all working with me. Nothing is going to be worth while unless we win this war, and everyone must do the task to which he is called."

One of the first steps that Mr. Schwab took to speed up ship production was to establish his headquarters in Philadelphia, as the center of the ship-building region. Chairman Hurley remained at Washington, and the operating department, which included agencies such as the Inter-Allied Ship Control Committee, was removed to New York City. It was stated that nearly fifty per cent of the work in progress was within a short radius of Philadelphia.

The year before the war the total output of the United States shipyards was only two hundred and fifty thousand tons. The program of the shipping board contemplated the construction of one thousand one hundred and forty-five steel ships, with a tonnage of eight million one hundred and sixty-four thousand five hundred and eight, and four hundred and ninety wooden ships, with a tonnage of one million seven hundred and fifteen thousand. These of course could not be built in the shipyards then in existence. New shipyards had to be built in various parts of the country.

In the first year after the shipping board took control, one hundred and eighty-eight ships were put in the water and through requisition and by building, one hundred and three more were added to the American merchant fleet. By April, 1918, the government had at its service 2,762,605 tons of shipping. During the month of May, the first month after Mr. Schwab began his work, the record of production had mounted from 160,286 tons to 263,571. American shipyards had completed and delivered during that month forty-three steel ships and one wooden ship. Mr. Hurley, in an address on June 10th, said:

On June 1st, we had increased the American built tonnage to over 3,500,000 dead-weight tons of shipping. This gives us a total of more than one thousand four hundred ships with an approximate total deadweight tonnage of 7,000,000 now under the control of the United States Shipping Board. In round numbers and from all sources we have added to the American flag since our war against Germany began, nearly 4,500,000 tons of shipping. Our program calls for the building of 1,856 passenger, cargo and refrigerator ships and tankers, ranging from five thousand to twelve thousand tons each, with an aggregate dead-weight of thirteen million. Exclusive of these we have two hundred and forty-five commandeered vessels, taken over from foreign and domestic owners which are being completed by the Emergency Fleet Corporation. These will aggregate a total dead-weight tonnage of 1,715,000. This makes a total of two thousand one hundred and one vessels, exclusive of tugs and barges which are being built and will be put on the seas in the course of carrying out the present program, with an aggregate dead-weight tonnage of 14,715,000. Five billion dollars will be required to finish our program, but the expenditure of this enormous sum will give to the American people the greatest merchant fleet ever assembled in the history of the world. American workmen have made the expansion of recent months possible, and they will make possible the successful conclusion of the whole program.

In the wonderful work that followed his appointment Mr. Schwab constantly came before the public, mainly through his addresses to the working men of the different yards. His main endeavor was to stimulate enthusiasm and rivalry among the men. A ten-thousand-dollar prize was offered to the yard producing the largest surplus above its program, and he traveled throughout the country urging the employees at all the great yards to break their records. The result of his work was that it was not long before it was announced that the monthly tonnage of ships completed by the Allies exceeded the tonnage of those sunk by the German submarine. The menace of the submarine, which had seemed so formidable, had disappeared.

The most important of the great shipyards which were producing the American cargo ships was at Hog Island in the southwest part of Philadelphia. This shipyard may indeed be called the greatest shipyard in the world. Before Mr. Schwab became Director General much criticism had been launched at the work that was going on there, and an investigation had been made which resulted in a favorable report. On August 5th the new shipyard launched its first ship, the 7,500 ton freight steamer, Quistconck, in the presence of a distinguished throng among whom were the President of the United States and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. The ship was christened by Mrs. Wilson, and the President swung his hat and led the cheers as the great ship glided down the ways. The name "Quistconck" is the ancient Indian name of Hog Island. The crowd numbered more than sixty thousand people, and special trains from Washington and New York brought many notable guests. President and Mrs. Wilson were escorted by Mr. Hurley and Mr. Schwab, and apparently thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. An enormous bouquet was presented to Mrs. Wilson by Foreman McMillan, who had driven the first rivet in the Quistconck's keel.

Shortly after the armistice it was announced that the Hog Island plant would be acquired by the United States Government. The real estate, valued at $1,760,000, was owned by the American International Ship Building Company, and the government had invested about $60,000,000 in equipping the plant. At the time the war ended thirty-five thousand persons were at work and a hundred and eighty ships were in various stages of completion.

An interesting feature in connection with the endeavor to "speed up" was the competition in riveting. Early in the year in yard after yard expert riveters were reported as making extraordinary records, and prizes were offered to the winners of such records. Later, however, such contests were discouraged by Chairman Hurley and by others. The best record was made by John Omir, who drove twelve thousand two hundred and nine rivets in nine hours at the Belfast Yards of Workman and Clark. In the accomplishment of this feat on two occasions he passed the mark of one thousand four hundred rivets an hour. In his best minute he drove twenty-six rivets.

The ships constructed by the Shipping Board were of steel, of wood and of concrete, and at times considerable difference of opinion existed with regard to which form of ship should receive the most attention. The policy of the government seemed finally to favor the steel as it was claimed that the wooden type was not only more expensive, but that it was less efficient. However until the very end wooden ships in great numbers were being built.

On May 31st the steamship Agawam, described as the first fabricated ship in the world, was launched in the yards of the Submarine Boat Corporation at Newark. This was essentially a standardized steel cargo ship. "Fabricated" is the technical term applied to ships built from numbered shapes made from patterns.

President Carse, of the Submarine Boat Corporation, said that the Agawam was the first of a hundred and fifty vessels of that type which would be constructed in the yard. The parts were made, he said, in bridge and tank shops throughout the country and were assembled at the yard. "Ninety-five per cent of the work in forming the parts entering into the hull of this vessel, and punching rivet holes, is done at shops widely separated, from drawings furnished by this company, and these drawings have been of such exactitude, and the work has been so carefully performed by the different bridge shops that when they are brought together at this yard they fit perfectly and the ship as you see is absolutely fair. The construction of the hull of this vessel requires the driving of over four hundred thousand rivets, and by our method more then one quarter of these rivets are driven at the distant shops, the different parts being brought to the yard in sections as large as can be transported on the railroad. Each part is numbered and lettered and as they are shaped perfectly all that is necessary is to place them in position, bolt them, and finally fasten them with rivets."

Officials of the company said that they expected to launch in the course of time two such vessels in each week. A standard ship of this type has a dead-weight carrying capacity of five thousand five hundred tons. It is three hundred and forty-three feet long and forty-six feet wide and is expected to show an average speed of ten and a half knots. Fuel oil is used to generate steam, to drive a turbine operating three thousand, six hundred revolutions a minute. The oil is carried in compartments of the double bottom of the ship in sufficient quantity for more than a round trip to Europe. Twenty-seven steel mills, fifty-six fabricating plants, and two hundred foundries and equipment shops were drawn upon to construct the ship.

In addition to the steel and wood vessels the Emergency Fleet Corporation also constructed a number of concrete ships. The first step in this direction was taken on April 3d, when the construction of four 7,500-ton concrete ships at a Pacific coast shipyard was authorized. This action was taken as a result of a report on the trials made with the concrete ship, Faith, which was built in San Francisco by private capital. The test of this ship had been satisfactory and Mr. R. J. Wig, an agent of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, who had made a careful inspection of the Faith and watched the tests, reported his confidence in the new cargo carrier. The successful trial trip of the Faith led, on the 17th of May, to the government order that fifty-eight mere such ships be constructed. Sites for yards were leased and contracts awarded. The concrete ship turned out to be a great success.

The extraordinary success of the American ship-building program during the World War was due to the enthusiasm of the workmen employed at the government plants, and that same enthusiasm was found in connection with their work in every industry on which the Government made demands. American labor was thoroughly loyal. It recognized that in the war for democracy against autocracy it had a vital concern. The attitude of the great American labor unions must however be sharply distinguished from that of the extreme socialists who refused to take any part in helping to win the war.

From the very beginning, the American Federation of Labor took a patriotic stand. Its leader was Mr. Samuel Gompers, and it was fortunate for America that the leadership of this great organization was in such patriotic hands. Mr. Gompers had been for many years president of this great labor organization, and was so often called in consultation by the President of the United States in connection with labor affairs that he might almost be called an unofficial member of the President's cabinet. Mr. Gompers was by birth an Englishman, but he had left his home when still a boy and was thoroughly filled with true American patriotism. From the beginning he devoted himself with the greatest enthusiasm not only to the protection of the interests of which he was in charge, but to the prosecution of a successful war. He had to contend, as labor leaders in other countries had been compelled to contend, with socialistic and anarchistic organizations.

During the period of America's participation in the war there were certain disturbances caused by the I. W. W., but from such movements the American Federation of Labor held itself aloof. Occasional strikes, on account of special conditions, were easily settled. The governmental assumption of control over railroads and other essential industries had much to do with the peaceful attitude of the workmen. The very high wages which were offered to the workmen at munitions works, ship-building plants and other governmental enterprises enabled the workmen there to live in reasonable comfort, though it caused a great deal of trouble in private industry, and compelled an increase in pay to labor all over the land.

In the latter part of the war Mr. Gompers traveled abroad, as a representative of American labor, and was greeted everywhere with the utmost enthusiasm, while his influence was strongly felt in favor of moderate and sane views as to labor's rights.

The American situation with regard to labor was made much simpler by the organization of the United States Employment Service. This was made an arm of the Department of Labor, with branch offices in nearly all the large cities of every state. It had a large corps of traveling examiners, men skilled in determining the fitness of workers for particular jobs, and it undertook to recruit labor for the various war industries in which they were needed. During the last year of the war from a hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand workers of all kinds were given work each month. In addition to this the Employment Service was a clearing house of information for manufacturers. The Director General of this service was Mr. John B. Densmore.

Labor throughout the country, except when influenced by men of foreign birth who were not in touch with the spirit of America, was universally loyal, and its share in the winning of the war will always remain a matter for pride.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  THE GREATEST SHIPYARD IN THE WORLD
  View of Hog Island shipyard near Philadelphia, showing the forest of
  derricks rising from its fifty shipways. At the time the war ended,
  35,000 persons were at work and 180 ships were in course of
  completion.

[Illustration: Painting]
  THE LARGEST SHIP IN THE WORLD AS A U. S. TRANSPORT
  Among the German ships taken over by the United States at the outbreak
  of the war was the "Vaterland," the largest ship ever built. She was
  renamed the "Leviathan" and used as a transport, carrying 12,000
  American soldiers past the submarines on each trip. She is shown here
  entering a French harbor at the end of a passage.

CHAPTER XLI

GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT

In the spring of 1918 it must have been plain to the German High Command that if the war was to be won it must be won at once. In spite of all their leaders said of the impossibility of bringing an American army to France they must have been well informed of what the Americans were doing. They knew that there were already more than two million men in active training in the American army, and while at that time only a small proportion of them were available on the battle front, yet every day that proportion was growing greater and by the middle of the summer the little American army would have become a tremendous fighting force.

Their own armies on their western front had been enormously increased in size by the removal to that front of troops from Russia. Hundreds of thousands of their best regiments were now withdrawn from the east and incorporated under the command of their great Generals, Hindenburg and Ludendorf, in the armies of the west. They must, therefore, take advantage of this increased force and win the war before the Americans could come.

The problem of the Allies was also simple. It was not necessary for them to plan a great offensive. All they had to do was to hold out until, through the American aid which was coming now in such numbers, their armies would be so increased that German resistance would be futile. Under such circumstances began the last great offensive of the German army.

At that time it seems probable that the armies of Great Britain and France numbered about three million five hundred thousand men, and that, of these, six hundred and seventy thousand were on the front lines when the German attack began, leaving an army of reserve of about two million eight hundred and fifty thousand men. A considerable number of these were probably in England on leave. The number of French soldiers must have been between four and five million, of whom about one million five hundred thousand were on the front line. Adding to these the American, Belgian, Portuguese, Russian and Polish troops the Allied forces could not have been short of eight million five hundred thousand men.

[Illustration: Map: Lens on the North, St. Quentin on the East, Soissons
on the South, Amiens on the West.]
  HOW GERMANY ATTEMPTED TO DIVIDE THE ALLIED ARMIES
  The map shows the ground covered by the Germans in the terrific
  Picardy drive of March, 1918, which had for its object the capture of
  Amiens and the push forward along the Somme to the channel, thus
  dividing the British army in the north from the French and Americans
  in the south.

The strength of the Germans on the western front before the Russian Revolution was probably about four million five hundred thousand men, and the withdrawal of Russia from the war had added to that number probably as many as one million five hundred thousand men, making an army of six million men to oppose that of the Allies. The Allies, therefore, must have considerably outnumbered the Germans.

In spite of this fact in nearly all the engagements in the early part of the great offensive the Allied forces were outnumbered in a ratio varying from three to one to five to three. This was possible, first, because in any offensive the attacking side naturally concentrates as many troops as it can gather at the point from which the offense is to begin, and second, since the Allies were not under one command it was with great difficulty that arrangements could be made by which the forces of one nation could reinforce the armies of another.

The first difficulty of course could not be obviated, but the solution of the second difficulty was the appointment of General Foch as Commander-in-Chief of all the Allied forces.

The appointment was made on March 28th and all the influence of the United States had been exerted in its favor. General Pershing at once offered to General Foch the unrestricted use of the American force in France and it was agreed that a large part of the American army should be brigaded with the Allied troops wherever there were weak spots.

Foch was already famous as the greatest strategist in Europe. He comes of a Basque family and was born in the town of Tarbes, in the Department of the Hautes-Pyrenees, which is on the border of Spain, on October 2, 1851. Foch served as a subaltern in the Franco-Prussian War and at twenty-six was made captain in the artillery. Later he became Professor of Tactics in the Ecole de Guerre, where he remained for five years. He then returned to regimental work and won steady promotion until he became brigadier-general. He was sent back to the War College as Director and wrote two books, "The Principles of War" and "Conduct of War," which have been translated into English, German and Italian and are considered standard works. He was now recognized as a man of unusual ability and was appointed to the command first, of the Thirteenth division, then of the Eighth corps at Bourges, and then to the command of the Twentieth corps at Nancy.

Unlike Marshal Joffre who was cool, careful, slow moving, Marshal Foch is full of daring and impetuosity. Everything is calculated scientifically but his strategy is full of dash. Many of his sayings have been passed from mouth to mouth among the Allies.

"Find out the weak point of your enemy and deliver your blow there," he said once at a staff banquet.

"But suppose, General," said an officer, "that the enemy has no weak point?" "If the enemy has no weak point," replied the Commander, "make one."

It was he who telegraphed to Joffre during the first battle of the Marne: "The enemy is attacking my flank. My rear is threatened. I am therefore attacking in front."

Foch is a great student, an especial admirer of Napoleon, whose campaigns he had thoroughly studied. Even the campaigns of Caesar he had found valuable and had gathered from them practical suggestions for his own campaigns. He is the hero of the Marne, the man who on September 9th marched his army between Von Bulow and Von Hausen's Saxons, drove the Prussian Guards into the marshes of St. Gond and forced both Prussians and Saxons into their first great retreat. Later his armies fought on the Yser while the British were battling at Ypres. During the battle of the Somme he was on the English right pressing to Peronne.

For a time he became Chief of the French Staff, until he was called into the field again to his great command. Foch was one of those French officers who had felt that war was sure to come, and had constantly urged that France should be kept in a state of preparedness. The appointment of General Foch to the Supreme Command was largely the result of American urgency.

General March, the American Chief of Staff, in one of his weekly announcements, stated: "One of the most striking things noticeable in the situation as it is shown on the western front is the supreme importance of having a single command. The acceptance of the principle of having a single command, which was advocated by the President of the United States and carried through under his constant pressure, is one of the most important single military things that has been done as far as the Allies are concerned. The unity of command which Germany has had from the start of the war has been a very important military asset, and we already see the supreme value of having that central command which now has been concentrated in General Foch."

General March, who had earlier been appointed Chief of Staff of the
United States army, was sending a steady stream of American troops to
Europe, a fact whose importance was well understood by the new
Commander-in-Chief. On General March's promotion General Foch sent him
the following message:

I hear with deep satisfaction of your promotion to the rank of General. I associate myself to the just pride which you must feel in evoking the names of your glorious predecessors, Grant and Sheridan. I convey to you my sincere congratulations and I am happy to see you assume permanently the huge task of Chief of Staff of the United States army which you are already performing in so brilliant a way.

General March replied:

Your message of congratulation upon my promotion to the grade of General Chief of Staff, United States army, was personally conveyed to me by General Vignal, French Military Attache. I appreciate deeply your most kindly greetings and in expressing my most sincere thanks, avail myself of the opportunity to assure you of every assistance and constant support which may lie in my power to aid you in the furtherance and successful accomplishment of your great task.

General Foch took command at a very critical time. The Germans had prepared the most formidable drive in the history of the war. They had gathered immense masses of munitions and supplies. Their great armies had been refitted and they were in hopes of a victory which would end the war. Their great offensive had many phases. It resulted in the development of three great salients, the first in Picardy and in the direction of Amiens along the Somme, which was launched on March 21st; the second on the Lys, which was launched on April 9th; and the third which is called the Oise-Marne salient, launched on May 27th.

Between the attacks which developed these salients there were also some unsuccessful attacks of almost equal power. On March 28th there was a desperate struggle to capture Arras, preceded by a bombardment as great as any during the whole offensive, but this attack was defeated with enormous losses to the German troops. A fourth phase of the German offensive took place on June 9th, on a front of twenty miles between Noyon and Montdidier, which gained a few miles at an enormous cost.

[Illustration: Map: Belgium and Eastern France, show the front from
Ypres south to Rheims.]
  THE LAST DESPERATE DRIVES OF THE GERMANS

On July 15th came the last of the great offensives. It was a smash on a sixty-mile line from Chateau-Thierry up the Marne, around Rheims, and then east to a few miles west of the Argonne forest. This offensive at the start made a penetration of from three to five miles, but was held firmly and much of the gain lost, through the counter-attacks of the Allies. It was at this point that the American troops first began to be seriously felt, and it was at this point that General Foch took up the story, and began the great series of Allied drives which were to crush the German power. But there had been many days of great anxiety before the turn of the tide.

The objects of the German drives were doubtless more or less dependent upon their success. The first drive in Picardy, in the direction of Amiens had apparently as its object to drive a wedge between the French and British and the object was so nearly attained that only the heroic work of General Carey saved the Allies from disaster.

The Fifth British army, which had borne the brunt of the German attack, had found itself almost crushed by the sheer weight of numbers. The whole line was broken up and it seemed as if the road was open to Amiens. French reinforcements could not come up in time; bridges could not be blown up because the engineers were all killed. Orders came to General Carey at two o'clock in the morning, March 26th, to hold the gap. He at once proceeded to gather an extemporized army.

Every available man was rounded up, among others a body of American engineers. Laborers, sappers, raw recruits as well as soldiers of every arm. There were plenty of machine guns, but few men knew how to handle them. With this scratch army in temporary trenches, he lay for six days, and as Lloyd George said, "They held the German army and closed that gap on the way to Amiens."

During this fight General Carey rode along the lines shouting encouraging words to his hard-pressed men. He did not know whether he would get supplies of ammunition and provisions or not, but he stuck to it. Later on the regular troops arrived. The American engineers, who had been fighting, immediately returned to their base, and resumed work laying out trenches. General Rawlinson, Commander of the British army at that point, sent the commanding officer of the Americans engaged, the following letter:

The army Commander wishes to record officially his appreciation of the excellent work your regiment has done in assisting the British army to resist the enemy's powerful offensive during the last ten days. I fully realize that it has been largely due to your assistance that the enemy has been checked, and I rely on you to assist us still further during the few days that are still to come before I shall be able to relieve you in the line. I consider your work in the line to be greatly enhanced by the fact that for six weeks previous to your taking your place in the front line your men had been working at such high pressure erecting heavy bridges on the Somme. My best congratulations and warm thanks to all. RAWLINSON.

The demoralization of General Gough's Fifth army, which had thus left an eight-mile gap on the left, and which had been saved at that point by General Carey, permitted also the opening of another gap between its right wing and the Sixth French army. Here General Fayolle did with organized troops what Carey had done with his volunteers further north. The reason for the success of both Carey and Fayolle appears to have been that the German armies had been so thoroughly battered that they were unable to take advantage of the situation. Their regiments had been mixed up, their officers had been separated from their men in the rush of the attack, and before they could recover the opportunity was lost.

The first days of April saw the end of the drive toward Amiens. The Germans claimed the capture of ninety thousand prisoners and one thousand three hundred guns. They had penetrated into the Allies' territory in some points a distance of thirty-five miles. Their new line extended southwest from Arras beyond Albert to the west of Moreuil, which is about nine miles south of Amiens, and then went on west of Pierrepont and Montdidier, curving out at Noyon to the region of the Oise.

The first part of April was a comparative calm, when suddenly there developed the second drive of the German offensive. This drive was not so extensive as the first one, and its object appeared to be to break through the British forces in Flanders and reach the Channel ports. It resulted in a salient embracing an area about three hundred and twenty square miles, and the Germans claimed the capture of twenty thousand prisoners and two hundred guns. It was at this point that General Haig issued his famous order in which he described the British armies as standing with their "backs to the wall." It reads as follows:

Three weeks ago today the enemy began his terrific attacks against us on a fifty-mile front. Its objects are to separate us from the French, to take the Channel ports, and to destroy the British army. In spite of throwing already one hundred and six divisions into the battle and enduring the most reckless sacrifice of human life, he has yet made little progress toward his goals. We owe this to the determined fighting and self-sacrifice of our troops. Words fail me to express the admiration which I feel for the splendid resistance offered by all ranks of our army under the most trying circumstances. Many among us now are tired. To those I would say that victory will belong to the side which holds out the longest. The French army is moving rapidly and in great force to our support. There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man. There must be no retiring. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight to the end. The safety of our homes, and the freedom of mankind depend alike upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment.

The British commander's order made the situation clear to the British people and to the world. The Germans had given up for the moment their attempt to divide the British and French armies, and were now attempting to seize the Channel ports, and the British were fighting with true British pluck with their "backs to the wall."

One can imagine the anxiety in the villages of Flanders where they watched the German advance and heard the terrible bombardment which was destroying their beautiful little cities, and threatening to put them under the dominion of the brutal conquerors of Belgium. Town after town fell to the enemy until at last the German attack began to weaken.

Counter-attacks on April 17th recaptured the villages of Wytschaete and Meteren. At other points German attacks were repulsed, and the attack on the Lys had reached its limits. It had not only failed to reach the coast but it had not even reached so far as to force the evacuation of Ypres or to endanger Arras. On the contrary the Germans had paid for their advance by such terrible losses that the ground that they had gained meant almost nothing. They then made, on April 30th, a vigorous endeavor to broaden the Amiens salient in the region of Hangard and Noyon. This attack also failed.

On May 27th Ludendorf made his next move. This was in the south, and was preceded by the most elaborate preparations over a forty-mile front. At first it met with great success. German troops from a point northwest of Rheims to Montdidier were moving apparently with the purpose of breaking the French lines and clearing the way for a drive to Paris. Consternation reigned among Allied observers as the Germans carried, apparently with ease, first the formidable Chemin des Dames, which was believed invulnerable, and then the south bank of the Aisne, with its great fortifications at Soissons.

Criticism began to appear of General Foch, who was thought at first to have been taken by surprise. The Germans were using four hundred thousand of their best troops, and the greatest force of tanks, machine guns and poison-gas projectors which they had ever gathered. They captured over forty-five thousand prisoners and took four hundred guns. They penetrated thirty miles and gained six hundred and fifty square miles of territory, but they were held on the River Marne.

It is now apparent that General Foch knew exactly what he was about. He might easily, by sending in reinforcements, have put up the same desperate resistance to the German offensive which they were now meeting in other sectors. But he preferred to retreat and lead the enemy on to a position which would make them vulnerable to the great counter-attack he was preparing for them on their flank. The Germans reached the Marne, but they paid for it in the terrible losses which they incurred.

The German line now from Montdidier, the extreme point of the Amiens salient, to Chateau-Thierry, the point of the new Marne salient, was in the form of a bow, and on June 9th General Ludendorf attempted to straighten out the line. His new attack was made on a twenty-mile front between Montdidier and Noyon in the direction of Compiegne. This was another terrific drive and at first gained about seven miles. French counter-attacks, however, not only held him in a vise but regained a distance of about one mile. This battle was probably the most disastrous one fought by the Germans during their whole offensive. Nearly four hundred thousand men were completely used up, without gaining the slightest strategic success.

Then followed a period without battles of major importance, during which General Foch by periodic assaults on the Lys, the Somme, on the flanks of Montdidier and Soissons, on the Chateau-Thierry sector and southwest of Rheims, captured many important positions and kept the enemy in constant anxiety.

During the great German offensives the Germans had lost at least five hundred thousand men, while the casualties of the Allies were barely one hundred and fifty thousand. The Germans also were beginning to lose their morale. They were finding that however great might be their efforts, however terrible might be their losses, they were still being constantly held. Their troops were now apparently made of inferior material, and included boys, old men and even convicts.

The system of making attacks by means of shock troops was producing the inevitable result. The shock regiments were composed of selected men, picked here and there, from the regular troops. Their selection had naturally weakened the regiments from which they were taken. After three months of great offensives these shock troops were now in great part destroyed, and the German lines were being held mainly by the inferior troops which had been left. Moreover, in other parts of the world, the allies of Germany were being beaten. In Italy and Albania and Macedonia there was danger.

The Germans prepared for one more effort. On June 18th they had made a costly attempt to carry Rheims. On July 15th they made their last drive. Ludendorf took almost a month for preparation. He gathered together seventy divisions and great masses of munitions, and then drove in from Chateau-Thierry on a sixty-mile line up on the Marne, and then east to the Argonne forests. His line made a sort of semicircle around Rheims and then pushed south to the east and west of that fortress.

Once again he had temporary success. West of Rheims he penetrated a distance of five miles, and on the first day, had crossed the Marne at Dormans, but was held sharply by the Americans east of Chateau-Thierry. On the second day he made further gains, but with appalling losses. On the 17th he was still struggling on with minor successes but on July 18th the French and Americans launched the great counter-offensive from Chateau-Thierry along a twenty-five mile front, between the Marne and the Aisne. The Germans everywhere began their retreat and the war tide had turned.

The German attack east of Rheims had been a failure from the start. The Allied forces retired about two miles and then held firm. The country there is flat and sandy and gave little shelter to the attacking forces which lost terribly. In this sector, too, there were many American troops, who behaved with distinguished bravery.

By this time nearly seven hundred thousand men of the American army were on the battle line. They had been fighting here and there among the French and English but on June 22d General March made the announcement that five divisions of these troops had been transferred to the direct command of General Pershing as a nucleus for an American army.

In glancing back at the great German drives which have now been described, one is impressed by the terrific character of the fighting. This struggle undoubtedly was the greatest exertion of military power in the history of the world. Never before had such masses of munitions been used; never before had scientific knowledge been so drawn on in the service of war. Thousands of airplanes were patrolling the air, sometimes scouting, sometimes dropping bombs on hostile troops or on hostile stores, sometimes flying low, firing their machine guns into the faces of marching troops. Thousands upon thousands of great guns were sending enormous projectiles, which made great pits wherever they fell. Swarms of machine guns were pouring their bullets like water from a hose upon the charging soldiers.

One of the most noticeable artillery developments was the long-range gun which off and on during this period was bombarding Paris. This bombardment began on March 23d, when the nearest German line was more than sixty-two miles away. For a time the story was regarded as pure fiction, but it was soon established that the great nine-inch shells which were dropping into the city every twenty minutes came from the forests of St. Gobain, seven miles back of the French trenches near Laon, and about seventy-five miles from Paris. This was another of those futile bits of frightfulness in which the Germans reveled. Military advantage gained by such a gun was almost nothing, and the expense of every shot was out of all proportion to the damage inflicted. It only roused intense indignation and stirred the Allies to greater determination. The first day's casualties in Paris were ten killed and fifteen wounded. By the next day one would not have been able to tell from the Paris streets that such a bombardment was going on at all. The subway and surface cars were running, the streets were thronged and traffic was going on as usual. About two dozen shells were thrown into Paris every day, mainly in the Montmartre district, in a radius of about a mile. This seemed to show that the gun was immovable.

On March 29th, however, a shell struck the church of St. Gervais during the Good Friday service, killing seventy-five persons and wounding ninety. Fifty-four of those killed were women. The church had been struck at the moment of the Elevation of the Host. This outrage aroused special indignation, and Pope Benedict sent a protest to Berlin.

An examination of exploded shells indicated that the new German gun was less than nine inches in caliber, and that the projectiles, which weighed about two hundred pounds, contained two charges, in two chambers connected by a fuse which often exploded more than a minute apart. It took three minutes for each shell to travel to Paris and it was estimated that such a shell rose to a height of twenty miles from the earth. Three of these guns were used. One of these guns exploded on March 29th, killing a German lieutenant and nine men. The Kaiser was present when the gun was first used. It was said by American scientists that seismographs in the United States felt the shock of each discharge. On April 9th French aviators discovered the location of the new guns, and French artillery began to drop enormous shells weighing half a ton each near the German monsters. A few days later a French shell fell on the barrel of one of these guns and put it out of commission. Great craters were made around the other, interfering with its use, and toward the end of the period it was only occasionally that the remaining gun was fired, and no great damage resulted.

Another feature of the great German drives was the tremendous destruction that accompanied them. Not only were churches, public buildings, and private houses throughout almost the whole district turned into ruins, but the very ground itself was plowed up into craters and shell holes, and the trees smashed into mere splinters. During the whole campaign poison gas of various kinds was used in immense quantities, and it was constantly necessary for the troops to wear gas masks. Sometimes after a town had been evacuated by the enemy it was so filled with gas that it was impossible for victorious troops to enter. One of the fiercest bombardments was that directed against the Portuguese during the fighting along the Lys. The enemy made a special attempt to crush the Portuguese contingent which behaved with the utmost gallantry.

It was the season of the year when the orchards were covered with blossoms and the fields with flowers, but the horrors of war destroyed the beauty of the spring. In these battles men fought until they were completely exhausted and one could see troops staggering as they walked and leaning on each other from pure exhaustion.

These were days when wonders were performed by the Medical Departments of the Allied armies, and the work of the Red Cross was almost as important as the work of the soldiers. Relief for the wounded had to be undertaken and carried on a mammoth scale. Many of the doctors, nurses, orderlies and ambulance men lost their lives while making efforts to rescue the wounded.

These were days when the German leaders were filled with the pride of victory. They were talking now about a hard German peace. On June 17th the German Kaiser celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of his accession to the throne. He talked no more of a war of self-defense, but declared the war to be the struggle of two world views wrestling with each other. "Either German principles of right, freedom, honor and morality must be upheld, or Anglo-Saxon principles with their idolatry of Mammon must be victorious." He sent congratulations to Field Marshal von Hindenburg, to General Ludendorf and to the Crown Prince. Von Hindenburg assured the Kaiser of the unswerving loyalty until death of Germany's sons at the front, and concluded "May our old motto 'Forward with God for King and Fatherland, for Kaiser and Empire' result in many years of peace being granted to your Majesty after our victorious return home."

But the terrific attacks which the German commanders directed upon the Americans at Chateau-Thierry and at other points upon the southern lines show well that they knew that there was another danger rising to confront them; that during their great drives a million and a half American soldiers had been learning the art of war, and that every moment of delay meant a new danger. By the end of this period the Americans had arrived.

CHAPTER XLII

CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY

Nowhere in American history may be found a more glorious record than that which crowned with laurel the American arms at Chateau-Thierry. Here the American Marines and divisions comprising both volunteers and selected soldiers, were thrown before the German tide of invasion like a huge khaki-colored breakwater. Germany knew that a test of its empire had come. To break the wall of American might it threw into the van of the attack the Prussian Guard backed by the most formidable troops of the German and Austrian empires. The object was to put the fear of the Hun into the hearts of the Yankees, to overwhelm them, to drive straight through them as the prow of a battleship shears through a heavy sea. If America could be defeated, Germany's way to a speedy victory was at hand. If America held—well, that way lay disaster.

And the Americans held. Not only did they hold but they counter-attacked with such bloody consequences to the German army that Marshal Foch, seizing the psychological moment for his carefully prepared counter-offensive, gave the word for a general attack.

With Chateau-Thierry and the Marne as a hinge, the clamp of the Allies closed upon the defeated Germans. From Switzerland to the North Sea the drive went forward, operating as huge pincers cutting like chilled steel through the Hindenburg and the Kriemhild lines. It was the beginning of autocracy's end, the end of Der Tag of which Germany had dreamed.

The matchless Marines and the other American troops suffered a loss that staggered America. It was a loss, however, that was well worth while. The heroic young Americans who held the might of Germany helpless and finally rolled them back defeated from the field of battle, and who paid for that victory with their lives, made certain the speedy end of the world's bloodiest war.

The story of the American army's effective operations in France from Cantigny to the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient, is one long record of victories. To the glory of American arms must be recorded the fact that at no time and at no place in the World War did the American forces retreat before the German hosts.

In the latter days of May, 1918, the Allied forces in France seemed near defeat. The Germans were steadily driving toward Paris. They had swept over the Chemin des Dames and the papers from day to day were chronicling wonderful successes. The Chemin des Dames had been regarded as impregnable, but the Germans passed it apparently without the slightest difficulty. They were advancing on a forty-mile front and on May 28th had reached the Aisne, with the French and British steadily falling back. The anxiety of the Allies throughout the world was indescribable. This was the great German "Victory Drive" and each day registered a new Allied defeat. Newspaper headlines were almost despairing.

On May 29th, however, in quiet type, under great headlines announcing a German gain of ten miles in which the Germans had taken twenty-five thousand prisoners and crossed two rivers, had captured Soissons, and were threatening Rheims, there appeared in American papers a quiet little despatch from General Pershing. It read as follows:

"This morning in Picardy our troops attacked on a front of one and one-fourth miles, advanced our lines, and captured the village of Cantigny. We took two hundred prisoners, and inflicted on the enemy severe losses in killed and wounded. Our casualties were relatively small. Hostile counter-attacks broke down under our fire." This was the first American offensive.

The American troops had now been in Europe almost a year. At first but a small force, they had been greeted in Paris and in London with tremendous enthusiasm. Up to this point they had done little or nothing, but the small force which passed through Paris in the summer of 1917 had been growing steadily. By this time the American army numbered more than eight hundred thousand men. They had been getting ready; in camps far behind the lines they had been trained, not only by their own officers, but by some of the greatest experts in the French and the British armies. Thousands of officers and men who, but a few months before, had been busily engaged in civilian pursuits, had now learned something of the art of war. They had been supplied with a splendid equipment, with great guns and with all the modern requirements of an up-to-date army.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Committee on Public Information.
  From Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.
  CHATEAU-THIERRY; WHERE AMERICA INFLICTED A SECOND GETTYSBURG ON
  GERMANY
  Poilus and Yanks in the foreground looking over the roofs of
  Chateau-Thierry, where, in the middle of July in the last year of the
  war, the Americans at a crucial moment stopped the German advance in
  the second battle of the Marne. After that Germany never went forward
  on any field of battle again.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  French Official Photograph by International Film Service.
  WIPING OUT THE ST. MIHIEL SALIENT
  The first major exploit carried out independently by the American army
  was the obliteration of the St. Mihiel salient, which had been in
  German hands since 1914, a spectacular achievement, carried out in two
  days with great brilliance and precision. The picture shows U. S.
  troops following the Germans through Thiaucourt, one of the towns on
  the salient.

For some months, here and there, on the French and British lines small detachments of American troops flanked on both sides by the Allied forces, had been learning the art of war. Here and there they had been under fire. At Cantigny itself they had resisted attack. On May 27th General Pershing had reported "In Picardy, after violent artillery preparations, hostile infantry detachments succeeded in penetrating our advance positions in two points. Our troops counter-attacked, completely expelling the enemy and entering his lines." They had also been fighting that day in the Woevre sector where a raiding party had been repulsed. There had been other skirmishes, too, in which many Americans had won honors both from Great Britain and France. But the attack at Cantigny was the first distinct American advance.

The Americans penetrated the German positions to the depth of nearly a mile. Their artillery completely smothered the Germans, and its whirr could be heard for many miles in the rear. Twelve French tanks supported the American infantry. The artillery preparation lasted for one hour, and then the lines of Americans went over the top. A strong unit of flame throwers and engineers aided the Americans. The American barrage moved forward a hundred yards in two minutes and then a hundred yards in four minutes. The infantry followed with clock-like precision. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting occurred in Cantigny, which contained a large tunnel and a number of caves. The Americans hurled hand grenades like baseballs into these shelters.

The attack had been carefully planned and was rehearsed by the infantry with the tanks. In every detail it was under the direction of the Superior French Command, to whom much of the credit for its success was due. The news of the American success created general satisfaction among the French and English troops. The operation, of course, was not one of the very greatest importance. It was a sort of an experiment, but coming as it did, in the middle of the great German Drive, it was ominous. America had arrived.

On May 30th General Pershing announced the complete repulse of further enemy attacks from the new American positions near Cantigny. This time he says: "there was considerable shelling with gas, but the results obtained were very small. The attempt was a complete failure. Our casualties were very light. We have consolidated our positions."

The London Evening News commenting on this fact says: "Bravo the young Americans! Nothing in today's battle narrative from the front is more exhilarating than the account of their fight at Cantigny. It was clean cut from beginning to end, like one of their countrymen's short stories, and the short story of Cantigny is going to expand into a full-length novel which will write the doom of the Kaiser and Kaiserism. Cantigny will one day be repeated a thousand fold."

The Germans, in reporting this fight, avoided mention of the fact that the operation had been conducted by American troops. This seemed to indicate that they feared the moral effect of such an admission in Germany. Up to this time, with the exception of small brigades, the American army had been held as a reserve. After the Cantigny fight they were hurried to the front. The main point to which they were sent at first was Chateau-Thierry, north of the Marne, the nearest point to Paris reached by the enemy. There, at the very critical point of the great German Drive, they not only checked the enemy but, by a dashing attack, threw him back.

This may be said to be the turning point in the whole war. It not only stopped the German Drive at this point, but it gave new courage to the Allies and took the heart out of the Germans. The troops were rushed to the battle front at Thierry, arriving on Saturday, June 1st. They entered the battle enthusiastically, almost immediately after they had arrived. A despatch from Picardy says: "On their way to the battle lines they were cheered by the crowds in the villages through which they passed; their victorious stand with their gallant French Allies, so soon after entering the line, has electrified all France."

General Pershing's terse account of what happened reads as follows: "In the fighting northwest of Chateau-Thierry our troops broke up an attempt of the enemy to advance to the south through Veuilly Woods, and by a counter-attack drove him back to the north of the woods."

The American troops had gone, into the action only an hour or so after their arrival on the banks of the River Marne. Scarcely had they alighted from their motor trucks when they were ordered into Chateau-Thierry with a battalion of French-Colonial troops. The enemy were launching a savage drive, and at first succeeded in driving the Americans out of the woods of Veuilly-la-Poterie. But the Americans at once counter-attacked, driving their opponents from their position, and regaining possession of the woods. On the same day the Germans launched an attack of shock troops, attempting to gain a passage across the Marne at Jaulgonne. They obtained a footing on the southern bank but another American counter-attack forced them back across the river. The American soldiers were fighting with wonderful spirit, and the French papers were filled with praise of their work. As they came up to go into the line they were singing, and they charged, cheering.

[Illustration: Map: Paris is in Southwest corner. Amiens in the
Northwest corner and Rheims is on the East side.]
  WHERE THE "YANKS" FOUGHT THE SECOND BATTLE OF THE MARNE

On June 6th came a climax of the American fighting. It was the attack of the American Marines in the direction of Torcy. This gained more than two miles over a two and a half mile front. On the next day the advance continued over a front of nearly six miles, and during the night the Americans captured Bouresches and entered Torcy.

The fighting at Torcy was characteristically American; the Marines advanced yelling like Indians, using bayonet and rifle. From Torcy the Marines set forward and took strong ground on either side of Belleau Wood. They had reached all the objectives and pushed beyond them. The Germans were on the run, and surrendering right and left to the Americans. The attack by the Marines forestalled an attack by the enemy. German reports now noticed the Americans. Their report on June 9th referring to this attack, says: "Americans who attempted to attack northwest of Chateau-Thierry were driven back beyond their positions of departure with heavy losses and prisoners were captured." The Americans had lost heavily, and the hospitals were filled with their wounded, but the thorough American organization was giving the wounded every care, and the Americans were still moving forward.

On June the 10th, another attack was made on the German lines in the Belleau Wood, which penetrated for about two-thirds of a mile, leaving the Germans in possession of only the northern fringe of the Wood. On June 11th the official statement of the French War Office declared: "South of the Ourcq River the American troops this morning brilliantly captured Belleau Wood, and took three hundred prisoners."

Belleau Wood had been considered an almost impregnable position, but the valiant fighting of the American Marines had carried them past it. Fighting here was not merely a series of exciting engagements, but an important action, which may have turned, and very probably did turn, the whole tide of battle. The Americans put three German divisions out of business, and caused a change in the German plans, by preventing an extending movement to Meaux, which was the German objective.

From this time on the confidence shown in all reports from the Allies in France was strengthened. They had found that the Americans were all that they had hoped for, and they were sure now that they could hold on until the full American strength could be brought to bear. General Pershing himself was full of optimism and his fine example stimulated his troops. From this time on all dispatches show that the Americans were more and more getting in the game. Repeated German attacks against their forces, on the Belleau-Bouresches line were repulsed, in spite of the fact that crack German divisions, who had been picked especially to punish them, had been found on their front. It was later found that these divisions had been suddenly ordered to that point "in order to prevent at all costs the Americans being able to achieve success." The German High Command was apparently anxious to prevent American success from stimulating the morale of the Allied army.

During the rest of the summer the Americans took an active part in
Foch's great offensive which ultimately crushed the German army. They
were heard from at widely divergent points: in Alsace, about
Chateau-Thierry, at Montdidier, and in the British lines.

Most of the fighting during June indicated a slow advance at Chateau-Thierry. On June 19th the Americans crossed the Marne, near that city. But Chateau-Thierry itself was not captured until the middle of July. On June 29th they participated in a raid near Montdidier and on July 2d captured Vaux. In the week of July 4th news came of American success in the Vosges. On July 18th they advanced close to Soissons. On August 3d the Americans captured Fismes, and then for nearly a month made little actual progress, though bitter fighting went on in the country around Fismes and near Soissons. On August 29th after a furious battle they captured the plain of Juvigny, north of Soissons.

In all these battles the Americans were doing their part at difficult points, during the great French drive which was clearing out the Marne salient.

On the 12th of September, the first American army, assisted by certain French units, and under the direct command of General Pershing, launched an attack against the St. Mihiel salient. This was the most important operation of the American troops in the Great War. It was a complete success. September 12th was the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the salient, which reached out from the German line in the direction of Verdun.

The attack was fighting on a grand scale, and that such an operation should be intrusted to the American army indicated an entirely new phase of America's participation in the war. It was preceded by a barrage lasting four hours. The German troops, though probably suspecting that such an attack was coming, were nevertheless surprised. The American attack was on the southern leg of the salient along a distance of twelve miles. The French attacked on the western side from a front of eight miles. Each attack was eminently successful. On the southern front the Americans reached their first objectives at some points an hour ahead of schedule time. Thiaucourt was captured early in the drive; later the Americans gained possession of Nonsard, Pannes, and Bouillonville.

[Illustration: Map: Verdun in the Northwest corner, St. Mihiel in
Southwest, Metz in the Northeast]
  THE GREAT ST. MIHIEL SALIENT ESTABLISHED IN 1914 WAS OBLITERATED BY
  THE AMERICANS IN SEPTEMBER, 1918

At first the resistance of the Germans, without being tame, was not actually stiff, and the doughboys were able to sweep toward the second line of any position without difficulty. There, however, the Germans began to defend themselves sharply, which delayed, but did not stop the American advance. The attack was made in two waves and carried the American forces a distance of about five miles.

The next day the attack continued, and General Pershing's dispatch stated: "In the St. Mihiel sector we have achieved further successes. The junction of our troops advancing from the south of the sector with those advancing from the west has given us possession of the whole salient to points twelve miles northeast of St. Mihiel, and has resulted in the capture of many prisoners. Forced back by our steady advance the enemy is retiring, and is destroying large quantities of material as he goes. The number of prisoners counted has risen to 13,300. Our line now includes Herbeville, Thillet, Hattonville, St. Benoit, Xammes, Jaulny, Thiaucourt and Vieville."

The salient was wiped out, and the St. Mihiel front reduced from forty to twenty miles. Secretary Newton D. Baker, accompanied by Generals Pershing and Petain, visited St. Mihiel a few hours after its capture. They walked through the streets of the city, and heard many stories of the long German occupation.

As the attack proceeded it became more and more evident that the German defense had lost heart. Thousands of them surrendered, declaring they did not care to fight any more. It was also noted that a surprisingly large number of officers were among those captured. The only serious resistance was to the attack south of Fresnes, which was obviously for the purpose of protecting the German retreat.

The first American regiment stationed in the St. Mihiel sector was the 370th Infantry, formerly the Eighth Illinois, a Negro regiment officered entirely by soldiers of that race. This regiment was one of the three that occupied a sector at Verdun when a penetration there by the Germans would have been disastrous to the Allied cause.

The St. Mihiel salient had no great military value to the Germans, and was probably held by them from a sentimental motive. It represented the desperate efforts made by the Crown Prince in his early drive against Verdun. Its destruction, however, was of great importance to the French. It was not only a removal of a menace to the French citizens of Verdun, but it released the French armies at that point for active offensive operation. It also liberated the railway line from Verdun to Nancy, which was of the utmost value to General Pershing and the French armies to his left. It also later developed that the French command regarded the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient as the corner stone of a great encircling movement aimed at the German fortress of Metz. The moral effect of its reduction was also notable as it was one more sign of the weakening of the Germans.

[Illustration: Map: Verdun in the Northwest corner, St. Mihiel in
Southwest, Metz in the Northeast]
  HOW THE ST. MIHIEL SALIENT LOOKED SHORTLY AFTER THE ASSAULT BEGAN
  The map indicates the beginning of the great American drive, assisted
  by the French, in 1918, which resulted in the wiping out of the huge
  salient. The Americans attacked on the south, the French in the north;
  dotted lines indicate the advance in the first five hours.

History usually concerns itself with the deeds of humanity in the mass and with the leaders of these masses. It is eminently fitting, however, that this history should record the impressions made upon the mind of an American soldier by a modern battle. The United States Government singled out of all the letters received from the front, that written by Major Robert L. Denig, of Philadelphia, to his wife. The letter is now part of the archives of the War Department, and occupies the highest place of literary honor in the records of the Marines. It describes the operation against the Germans on the Marne on July 18th, 1918. This was the counter-attack led by the Marines which broke the back of the German invasion. Major Denig wrote:

The day before we left for this big push we had a most interesting fight between a fleet of German planes and a French observation balloon, right over our heads. We saw five planes circle over our town, then put on, what we thought afterwards, a sham fight. One of them, after many fancy stunts, headed right for the balloon. They were all painted with our colors except one. This one went near the balloon. One kept right on. The other four shot the balloon up with incendiary bullets. The observers jumped into their parachutes just as the outfit went up in a mass of flame.

The next day we took our positions at various places to wait for camions that were to take us somewhere in France, when or for what purpose we did not know. Wass passed me at the head of his company—we made a date for a party on our next leave. He was looking fine and was as happy as could be. Then Hunt, Keyser and a heap of others went by. I have the battalion and Holcomb the regiment. Our turn to en-buss did not come until near midnight.

We at last got under way after a few big "sea bags" had hit nearby. Wilmer and I led in a touring car. We went at a good clip and nearly got ditched in a couple of new shell holes. Shells were falling fast by now, and as the tenth truck went under the bridge a big one landed near with a crash, and wounded the two drivers, killed two marines and wounded five more. We did not know it at the time, and did not notice anything wrong till we came to a crossroad when we found we had only eleven cars all told. We found the rest of the convoy after a hunt, but even then were not told of the loss, and did not find it out until the next day.

We were finally, after twelve hours' ride, dumped in a big field and after a few hours' rest started our march. It was hot as Hades and we had had nothing to eat since the day before. We at last entered a forest; troops seemed to converge on it from all points. We marched some six miles in the forest, a finer one I have never seen—deer would scamper ahead and we could have eaten one raw. At 10 that night without food, we lay down in a pouring rain to sleep. Troops of all kinds passed us in the night—a shadowy stream, over a half-million men. Some French officers told us that they had never seen such concentration since Verdun, if then.

The next day, the 18th of July, we marched ahead through a jam of troops, trucks, etc., and came at last to a ration dump where we fell to and ate our heads off for the first time in nearly two days. When we left there, the men had bread stuck on their bayonets. I lugged a ham. All were loaded down.

Here I passed one of Wass' lieutenants with his hand wounded. He was pleased as Punch and told us the drive was on, the first we knew of it. I then passed a few men of Hunt's company, bringing prisoners to the rear. They had a colonel and his staff. They were well dressed, cleaned and polished, but mighty glum looking.

We finally stopped at the far end of the forest near a dressing station, where Holcomb again took command. This station had been a big fine stone farm but was now a complete ruin—wounded and dead lay all about. Joe Murray came by with his head all done up—his helmet had saved him. The lines had gone on ahead so we were quite safe. Had a fine aero battle right over us. The stunts that those planes did cannot be described by me.

Late in the afternoon we advanced again. Our route lay over an open field covered with dead.

We lay down on a hillside for the night near some captured German guns, and until dark I watched the cavalry—some four thousand, come up and take positions.

At 3.30 the next morning Sitz woke me up and said we were to attack. The regiment was soon under way and we picked our way under cover of a gas infested valley to a town where we got our final instructions and left our packs. I wished Sumner good luck and parted.

We formed up in a sunken road on two sides of a valley that was perpendicular to the enemy's front; Hughes right, Holcomb left, Sibley support. We now began to get a few wounded; one man with ashen face came charging to the rear with shell shock. He shook all over, foamed at the mouth, could not speak. I put him under a tent, and he acted as if he had a fit.

I heard Overton call to one of his friends to send a certain pin to his mother if he should get hit.

At 8.30 we jumped off with a line of tanks in the lead. For two "kilos" the four lines of Marines were as straight as a die, and their advance over the open plain in the bright sunlight was a picture I shall never forget. The fire got hotter and hotter, men fell, bullets sung, shells whizzed-banged and the dust of battle got thick. Overton was hit by a big piece of shell and fell. Afterwards I heard he was hit in the heart, so his death was without pain. He was buried that night and the pin found.

A man near me was cut in two. Others when hit would stand, it seemed, an hour, then fall in a heap. I yelled to Wilmer that each gun in the barrage worked from right to left, then a rabbit ran ahead and I watched him wondering if he would get hit. Good rabbit—it took my mind off the carnage. Looked for Hughes way over to the right; told Wilmer that I had a hundred dollars and be sure to get it. You think all kinds of things.

About sixty Germans jumped out of a trench and tried to surrender, but their machine guns opened up, we fired back, they ran and our left company after them. That made a gap that had to be filled, so Sibley advanced one of his to do the job, then a shell lit in a machine-gun crew of ours and cleaned it out completely.

At 10.30 we dug in—the attack just died out. I found a hole or old trench and when I was flat on my back I got some protection. Holcomb was next to me; Wilmer some way off. We then tried to get reports. Two companies we never could get in touch with. Lloyd came in and reported he was holding some trenches near a mill with six men. Cates, with his trousers blown off, said he had sixteen men of various companies; another officer on the right reported he had and could see forty men, all told. That, with the headquarters, was all we could find out about the battalion of nearly 800. Of the twenty company officers who went in, three came out, and one, Cates, was slightly wounded.

From then on to about 8 P. M. life was a chance and mighty uncomfortable. It was hot as a furnace, no water, and they had our range to a "T." Three men lying in a shallow trench near me were blown to bits.

I went to the left of the line and found eight wounded men in a shell hole. I went back to Cates' hole and three shells landed near them. We thought they were killed, but they were not hit. You could hear men calling for help in the wheat fields. Their cries would get weaker and weaker and die out. The German planes were thick in the air; they were in groups of from three to twenty. They would look us over and then we would get a pounding. One of our planes got shot down; he fell about a thousand feet, like an arrow, and hit in the field back of us. The tank exploded and nothing was left.

We had a machine gun officer with us and at six a runner came up and reported that Sumner was killed. He commanded the machine-gun company with us. He was hit early in the fight by a bullet, I hear; I can get no details. At the start he remarked: "This looks easy—they do not seem to have much art." Hughes' headquarters were all shot up. Turner lost a leg.

Well, we just lay there all through the hot afternoon.

It was great—a shell would land near by and you would bounce in your hole.

As twilight came, we sent out water parties for the relief of the wounded. Then we wondered if we would get relieved. At 9 o'clock we got a message congratulating us and saying the Algerians would take over at midnight. We then began to collect our wounded. Some had been evacuated during the day, but at that, we soon had about twenty on the field near us. A man who had been blinded wanted me to hold his hand. Another, wounded in the back, wanted his head patted, and so it went; one man got up on his hands and knees. I asked him what he wanted. He said, "Look at the full moon," then fell dead. I had him buried, and all the rest I could find. All the time bullets sung and we prayed that shelling would not start until we had our wounded on top.

The Algerians came up at midnight and we pushed out. They went over at daybreak and got all shot up. We made the relief under German flares and the light from a burning town.

We went out as we came, through the gulley and town, the latter by now all in ruins. The place was full of gas, so we had to wear our masks. We pushed on to the forest and fell down in our tracks and slept all day. That afternoon a German plane got a balloon and the observer jumped and landed in a high tree. It was some job getting him down. The wind came up and we had to dodge falling trees and branches. As it was, we lost— two killed and one wounded from that cause.

That night the Germans shelled us and got three killed and seventeen wounded. We moved a bit further back to the crossroad and after burying a few Germans, some of whom showed signs of having been wounded before, we settled down to a short stay.

It looked like rain, and so Wilmer and I went to an old dressing station to salvage some cover. We collected a lot of bloody shelter halves and ponchos that had been tied to poles to make stretchers, and were about to go, when we stopped to look at a new grave. A rude cross made of two slats from a box had written on it:

"Lester S. Wass, Captain U. S. Marines, July 18, 1918"

The old crowd at St. Nazaire and Bordeaux, Wass and Sumner killed, Baston and Hunt wounded, the latter on the 18th, a clean wound, I hear, through the left shoulder. We then moved further to the rear and camped for the night. Dunlap came to look us over. His car was driven by a sailor who got out to talk to a few of the marines, when one of the latter yelled out, "Hey, fellows! Anyone want to see a real live gob, right this way." The gob held a regular reception. A carrier pigeon perched on a tree with a message. We decided to shoot him. It was then quite dark, so the shot missed. I then heard the following as I tried to sleep: "Hell; he only turned around;" "Send up a flare;" "Call for a barrage," etc. The next day further to the rear still, a Ford was towed by with its front wheels on a truck.

We are now back in a town for some rest and to lick our wounds.

As I rode down the battalion, where once companies 250 strong used to march, now you see fifty men, with a kid second lieutenant in command; one company commander is not yet twenty-one.

After the last attack I cashed in the gold you gave me and sent it home along with my back pay. I have no idea of being "bumped off" with money on my person, as if you fall into the enemy's hands you are first robbed then buried perhaps, but the first is sure.

Baston, the lieutenant that went to Quantico with father and myself, and of whom father took some pictures, was wounded in both legs in the Bois de Belleau. He nearly lost his legs, I am told, but is coming out O. K. Hunt was wounded in the last attack, got his wounds fixed up and went back again till he had to be sent out. Coffenburg was hit in the hand,—all near him were killed. Talbot was hit twice, but is about again. That accounts for all the officers in the company that I brought over. In the first fight 103 of the men in that outfit were killed or wounded. The second fight must have about cleaned out the old crowd.

The tanks, as they crushed their way through the wet, gray forest looked to me like beasts of the pre-stone age.

In the afternoon as I lay on my back in a hole that I dug deeper, the dark gray German planes with their sinister black crosses, looked like Death hovering above. They were for many. Sumner, for one. He was always saying, "Denig, let's go ashore!" Then here was Wass, whom I usually took dinner with—dead, too. Sumner, Wass, Baston and Hunt—the old crowd that stuck together; two dead, one may never be any good any more; Hunt, I hope, will be as good as ever.

The officers mentioned in Major Denig's letter, with their addresses and next of kin, are:

Lieutenant Colonel Berton W. Sibley; Harriet E. Sibley, mother; Essex
Junction, Vt.

First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates; Mrs. Willis J. Cates, mother;
Tiptonville. Tenn.

First Lieutenant Horace Talbot, no next of kin; Woonsocket, R.I.

Captain Arthur H. Turner; Charles S. Turner, father, 188 West River St.,
Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Captain Bailey Metcalf Coffenberg; Mrs. Elizabeth Coffenberg, 30 Jackson
St., Staten Island, N. Y.

Captain Albert Preston Baston; Mrs. Ora Z. Baston, mother; Pleasant
Avenue, St. Louis Park, Minn.

Captain Lester Sherwood Wass; L. A. Wass, father. Gloucester, Mass.

Captain Allen M. Sumner; Mrs. Mary M. Sumner, wife; 1824 S Street, N.
W., Washington, D. C.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Holcomb; Mrs. Thomas Holcomb, wife, 1535 New
Hampshire Avenue, Washington, D. C.

Second Lieutenant John Laury Hunt; Etta Newman, sister; Gillet, Texas.

Captain Walter H. Sitz; Emil H. Sitz, father; Davenport, Iowa.

First Lieutenant John W. Overton, son of J. M. Overton, 901 Stahlman
Building, Nashville, Tenn.

Major Egbert T. Lloyd; Mrs. E. T. Lloyd, wife; 4900 Cedar Avenue,
Philadelphia, Pa.

Major Ralph S. Keyser; Charles E. Keyser, father; Thoroughfare, Va.

Captain Pere Wilmer; Mrs. Alice Emory Wilmer, mother; Centreville, Md.

Lieutenant Colonel John A. Hughes; Mrs. A. J. Hughes, wife, care of
Rear-Admiral William Parks, Post Office Building, Philadelphia, Pa.

Lieutenant Overton was the famous Yale athlete, the intercollegiate one-mile champion.

CHAPTER XLIII

ENGLAND AND FRANCE STRIKE IN THE NORTH

Up to July 18, 1918, the Allied armies in France had been steadily on the defensive, but on that date the tide turned. General Foch, who had been yielding territory for several months in the great German drives, now assumed the offensive himself and began the series of great drives which was to crush the German power and drive the enemy in defeat headlong from France.

The first of these great blows was the one which began with the appearance of the Americans at Chateau-Thierry. The Germans had formed a huge salient whose eastern extremity lay near Rheims, and its western extremity west of Soissons. It was like a great pocket reaching down in the direction of Paris from those two points. Against this salient the French and Americans had directed a tremendous thrust. The Germans resisted with desperation. It was the turning point of the war, but they were compelled to yield. Town after town was regained by the French and American troops, until, by August 5th, the Crown Prince had been driven from the Marne to the Vesle, and the salient obliterated.

On August 7th General Foch delivered his second blow. During the fighting on the Marne it had often been wondered by those who were observing the great French general's strategy, why the British seemed to make no move. Occasionally there had been reports of minor assaults, either on the Lys salient, far north, or on the Somme and Montdidier sectors, lying between. It had not been noticed that in these minor assaults the English had been obtaining positions of strategic importance, and that they were steadily getting ready for an English offensive.

But their time had now come, and on August 7th the armies of Sir Douglas
Haig began an attack against the armies of Prince Rupprecht on the Lys
salient. This was followed, on August 8th, by another still greater
Allied advance in Picardy, between Albert and Montdidier.

Both of these attacks met with notable success. On the Lys salient the English penetrated a distance of one thousand yards over a four-mile front, and followed up this advance by persistent attacks which led to the reoccupation, on August 19th, of Merville, and on August 31st, of Mont Kemmel. On this front the Germans had weakened their strength by withdrawing troops to aid other parts of their front, and the British were constantly taking advantage of this weakening.

The Germans had found this salient a failure. It had failed to attain its objective, the flanking of the Lens line south. They therefore were steadily retreating without any intention other than to extricate themselves from positions of no value, in the most economical manner. The quick operations of the British, however, led to the capture of many prisoners and guns.

The English offensive in Picardy was a more serious matter, and from some points of view was the greatest offensive in the war. The Allied front had been prepared for offensive operations by minor attacks which had secured for the Allied troops dominating positions. The attack was a surprise attack. The Germans were expecting local attacks but not a movement of this magnitude. The surprise was increased because it was made through a heavy mist which prevented observation. It was preceded by tremendous artillery fire which lasted for four minutes, and which was followed by the charge of infantry and tanks. The German artillery hardly replied at all, and only the resistance of a few rifles and machine guns fired vaguely through the fog met the charging troops.

The attack was on a twenty-five-mile front and on the first day gained seven miles, captured seven thousand men and a hundred guns. On the following day there was an advance of about five miles and seventeen thousand more prisoners were captured.

The Germans were now retiring in great haste, blowing up ammunition dumps and abandoning an enormous quantity of stores of all kinds. The English were using cavalry and airplanes, which were flying low over the field and throwing the German troops into confusion. Over three hundred guns, including many of heavy caliber, were captured. The ground had been plowed up by shells and thousands of bodies of men and horses were found lying where they fell. A feature of the attack was the swift whippet tanks which advanced far ahead of the infantry lines.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Western Newspaper Union
  British Official Photo
  FORWARD WITH THE TANKS AGAINST BAPAUME
  This picture gives an excellent idea of the method of combined tank
  and infantry attack. Behind a low ridge among artillery positions they
  are forming their line. A company falls in behind one of the waddling
  monsters that will break a way for it through all obstacles, while on
  both sides of the road other detachments await the arrival of the tank
  they are to accompany.

[Illustration: Photograph: Line of marching soldiers stretching back to
the horizon. Several men resting in the foreground.]
  Canadian Official Photograph.
  From Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.
  CANADIANS IN THE GREAT CAMBRAI DRIVE
  One of the busy scenes just preceding the victorious attack by the
  Canadians upon Cambrai. In the center can be seen captured Germans
  carrying in one of their wounded comrades.

In the French official report occurred the following statement:

"The brilliant operation which we, in concert with British troops, executed yesterday has been a surprise for the enemy. As occurred in the offensive of July 18th the soldiers of General Debeney have captured enemy soldiers engaged in the peaceful pursuit of harvesting the fields behind the German lines."

By August 10th the Germans had fallen back to a line running through Chaulnes and Roye. Montdidier had been captured, and eleven German divisions had been smashed. By August 12th the number of prisoners was 40,000, and by the 18th the Allied front was almost in the same line as it was in the summer of 1916, before the battle of the Somme.

The next step was to capture Bapaume and Peronne. The French, on August 19th, captured the Lassigny Massif, and continued to press on their attack. Noyon fell on the 29th, Roye on the 27th, Chaulnes on the 29th. Further north the British had captured Albert, and on the 29th occupied Bapaume. On September 1st they took Peronne with two thousand prisoners.

The advance still continued, and the German weakness was becoming more and more apparent. On September 6th the whole Allied line swept forward, with an average penetration of eight miles. Chauny was captured and the fortress of Ham. On September 17th the British were close to St. Quentin and the French in their own old intrenchments before La Fere. On September 18th a surprise advance over a twenty-two-mile front crossed the Hindenburg line at two points north of St. Quentin, Villeret and from Pontru to Hollom.

The first and third British armies, a little further to the north, were moving toward Cambrai and Douai, threatening not only them, but to get in the rear of Lens. This force proceeded up the Albert-Bapaume highway, and on August 27th captured a considerable portion of the Hindenburg line. On the 30th they reached Bullecourt and on September 2d crossed the Drocourt-Queant line on a six-mile-front. This was the famous switch line, meant to supplement the Hindenburg line and its capture meant the complete overthrow of the German intrenched positions at this point.

[Illustration: MAP: Arras in the Southwest corner, Douai in the
Northeast.]
  THE FAMOUS HINDENBURG LINE THAT CRUMBLED IN 1918.

The Germans retreated hastily to the Canal du Nord, and on September 3d Queant was captured by an advance on a twenty mile front, along with ten thousand prisoners. The Allied forces were moving steadily forward. On September 18th the British reached the defenses of Cambrai and were encircling the city of St. Quentin. On October 3d the advance upon Cambrai forced the Germans to evacuate the Lens coal fields, and on October 9th another advance over a thirty-mile front enabled the Allies to occupy Cambrai and St. Quentin. On the 11th they had reached the suburbs of Douai. By this time the whole of the Picardy salient had been wiped out.

The preceding summary of this great movement gives little idea of the tremendous struggle which had gone on during these two critical months, and hardly does more than suggest the tremendous importance of the British operations. The Hindenburg line was like a great fortification, and for more than a year had been regarded as impregnable. At Bullecourt there were two main lines. One hundred and twenty-five yards in front of the first line was a belt of wire twenty-five feet broad, so thick that it could not be seen through. The line itself contained double machine-gun emplacements of ferro-concrete, one hundred and twenty-five yards apart, with lesser emplacements between them. More belts of wire protected the support line. Here a continuous tunnel had been constructed at a depth of over forty feet. Every thirty-five yards there were exits with flights of forty-five steps. The tunnels were roofed and lined and bottomed with heavy timber, and numerous rooms branched off. They were lighted by electricity. Large nine-inch trench mortars stood at the traverses and strong machine-gun positions covered the line from behind.

The Hindenburg line was really only one of a series of twenty lines, each connected with the others by communicating trenches. The main lines were solid concrete, separated by an unending vista of wire entanglements. At points this barrier barbed wire extended in solid formation for ten miles. This tremendous system of defenses was originally called by the Germans the Siegfried line, and in the spring of 1917 they found it wise, at points where a strong offensive was expected, to fall back to it for protection. It had been their hope that it would prove an impassable barrier to the Allied troops, but now it had been broken, and the moral effect of the British success was even greater than the material.

One of the most noticeable results of the British advance had been the capture of Lens. It had been captured without a fight, because of the British threat upon its rear, but its capture was of tremendous importance. Lens had been the scene of bitter fighting in the latter part of August, 1917, when the Canadians had specially distinguished themselves. This city had been heavily fortified by the Germans who had recognized its importance as being the center of the great Lens coal fields, and they had never given it up. It had sometimes been described as the strongest single position that had ever confronted the Allies on the western front. It had been made a sort of citadel of reinforced concrete. Even the courage and power of the Canadians had only given them possession of some of its suburbs. Between these suburbs and the concrete citadel were the coal pits, with their fathomless depths of ages and the mysteries of kultural strategy. The struggle became a succession of avalanches of gas, burning oil, rifle and machine-gun fire. Both sides lost terrifically, but the Germans had held the town. Now it was given up without a blow and its great coal fields were once more in possession of the French. Before retreating the Germans showed their usual destructive energy and the mines were found flooded as a result of consistent and scientific use of dynamite.

The recapture of Lens was cheering news in Paris. Not the least of the many sufferings of the French during the last two years of the war was that which came from the scarcity of coal. Indeed, more than once during those two winters coal could not be obtained at any price. These periods unfortunately came in the latter part of the winter, and it happened they were unusual periods of intense cold. Thousands of people stayed in bed all day in order to keep warm. The capture of Lens, therefore, had been anxiously desired. Nearly the whole of the French coal supply had come from Lens and the adjacent Bethune coal fields. The Bethune field, although steadily working, had never produced enough coal for even the pressing necessities of the French munition works.

The news that Bapaume had fallen on August 29th brought back, especially to the British, memories not only of the previous year and of the great forward movement which, on March 17th, had swept them over Bapaume and Peronne, but also bitter memories of the retreat in the previous March, which had carried them back under the overwhelming German pressure. The capture therefore was balm to their spirits, and an English correspondent, Mr. Philip Gibbs, who had accompanied the British on their previous advance, found officers and men full of laughter and full of memories.

On all sides were the battle-fields of 1916 and 1917; Mametz Wood, Belleville Wood, Usna Hill, Ginchy, Morval, Guillemont. The fields were covered with battle debris, and yet to the English it was sacred ground from the graves of the men who fell there. Those graves still remained. The British shell fire had not touched them, but as the English advanced there were many bodies of gray-clad men on the roads and fields, and dead horses, and a litter of barbed wire, and deep shelters dug under banks, and shell craters, and helmets, gas masks, and rifles thrown here and there by the enemy as they fled. Now it was the Germans that were fleeing, and fleeing hopelessly, sullen, bitter at their officers, impatient of discipline.

One of the great differences between the attacks of the Allies in their last year of the war and those of preceding years, was the increased use and the improved character of the tanks. The tanks were a development of the war. Before the war, however, the development of the caterpillar tractor had suggested to a few farsighted people the possibility of evolving from this invention a machine capable of offensive use over rough country in close warfare. Experiments were made in behalf of the English War Office for some time without practical results.

At last, after these experiments had resulted in various failures, a type of tractor was finally designed which produced satisfactory results. It was a caterpillar tractor, with an endless self-laid track, over which internal driving wheels could be propelled by the engines. It was not until July, 1916, that the first consignment of these new engines of warfare arrived at the secret maneuver ground.

There were two kinds. One called the male was armed with two Hotchkiss quick-fire guns, as well as with an armament of machine guns. The other type, called the female, was armed only with machine guns. The male tank was designed for dealing with the concrete emplacements for the German machine guns. The other was more suitable for dealing with machine-gun personnel and riflemen. Some time was taken in training men to use these tanks, for the crew of a tank must suffer a great deal of hardship on account of the noise of the engine every command had to be made by signs, and the motion of the tank being like that of a ship on a heavy sea, was likely to produce seasickness.

The tanks were painted with weird colors for the purpose of concealment, and when they first appeared caused a great deal of wonder and amusement. They were first used in battle on September 15, 1916, in a continuation of the battle of the Somme, and proved a great surprise to the Germans. The Germans directed all available rifle and machine-gun fire upon them without success. A correspondent narrates that: "As the 'Creme de Menthe' moved on its way, the bullets fell from its sides harmlessly. It advanced upon a broken wall, leaned up against it heavily, until it fell with a crash of bricks, and then rose on to the bricks and passed over them and walked straight into the midst of factory ruins." They were an immense success and had come to stay.

CHAPTER XLIV

BELGIUM'S GALLANT EFFORT

For more than four years Belgium suffered under the iron heel of the German invaders. One little corner in the far west was occupied by her gallant army, fighting with the utmost courage and a patriotism which has won the admiration of the world under its great King Albert, whose heroic leadership had turned the little commercial nation into a nation of heroes. Conditions of life in the Belgian cities were almost intolerable. The great Belgian Relief Commission, under the direction of Mr. Hoover, had kept the people from starvation, but it could not secure them their rights. They lived in the midst of brutality and injustice.

On Belgian Independence Day at London, Arthur J. Balfour, the British Foreign Minister, made an address in which he commented upon the German treatment of Belgium. In the course of his address he said: "Bitter must be the thought in every Belgian heart of what Belgians in Belgium are now suffering. Let them however, take courage. Let their spirits rise in a mood of profound cheerfulness, for these dark days are not going to last forever, and when they come to a conclusion, when again peace dawns upon this much tormented and cruelly tried world, when Belgium is again free and prosperous, then Belgians, whether they have spent these unhappy years in exile, or, an even harder fate, have spent them in their own country, they will be able to look back upon this time of cruel and unexampled trial, and they will say to themselves, to their children and to their descendants, that Belgium, though her existence as a political entity is less than a century, has within that period shown an example of courage, constancy and virtue to mankind for which all the world should be grateful."

The English Foreign Minister was perhaps not prophesying. He knew something of what was coming. The Great Offensive which was to free Belgium of her German oppressor was already under way. The first move, however, was not upon land, but upon the sea. In the autumn of 1914 the little Belgian port of Zeebrugge, with the neighboring port of Ostend, was captured by the Germans. The Germans, who had already seized the shipbuilding plants at Antwerp, then began to build submarines, and sent them down the canals through Bruges to Zeebrugge and Ostend. From these ports they proceeded to attack the English commerce.

In the spring of 1918 submarine attacks on English shipping were so serious that England was using every possible effort to destroy these piratical craft, and it was determined to make an attempt to block the entrances to the canals at Zeebrugge and at Ostend, by sinking old ships in the channels.

The expedition took place during the night of April 22d, under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. Six obsolete British cruisers took part in the expedition. These were the Brilliant, Iphigenia, Sirius, Intrepid, Thetis and Vindictive. The Vindictive carried storming parties to destroy the stone mole at Zeebrugge; the remaining five cruisers were filled with concrete, and it was intended that they should be sunk in the entrances of the two ports. A large force of monitors and small fast craft accompanied the expedition. An observer thus describes the heroic exploit:

The night was overcast and there was a drifting haze. Down the coast a great searchlight swung its beam to and fro in the small wind and short sea. From the Vindictive's bridge, as she headed in toward the mole, there was scarcely a glimmer of light to be seen shoreward. Ahead as she drove through the water rolled the smoke screen, her cloak of invisibility, wrapped about her by small craft. This was the device of Wing-Commander Brock, without which, acknowledged the Admiral in command, the operation could not have been conducted. A northeast wind moved the volume of it shoreward ahead of the ships. Beyond it was the distant town, its defenders unsuspicious.

It was not until the Vindictive, with bluejackets and marines standing ready for landing, was close upon the mole, that the wind lulled and came away again from the southeast, sweeping back the smoke screen and laying her bare to eyes that looked seaward, There was a moment immediately afterward when it seemed to those on the ships as if the dim harbor exploded into light. A star shell soared aloft, then a score of star shells. Wavering beams of the searchlights swung around and settled into a glare. A wild fire of gun flashes leaped against the sky; strings of luminous green beads shot aloft, hung and sank. The darkness of the night was supplemented by a nightmare daylight of battle-fired guns, and machine guns along the mole. The batteries ashore woke to life.

It was in a gale of shelling that the Vindictive laid her nose against the thirty-foot-high concrete side of the mole, let go her anchor, and signaled to the Daffodil to shove her stern in. The Iris went ahead and endeavored to get alongside likewise.

The fire was intense while the ships plunged and rolled beside the mole in the seas, the Vindictive, with her greater draft, jarring against the foundations of the mole with every lunge. They were swept diagonally by machine-gun fire from both ends of the mole and by the heavy batteries on shore. Captain Carpenter conned the Vindictive from the open bridge until her stern was laid in, when he took up his position in the flame thrower hut on the port side. It is marvelous that any occupant should have survived a minute in this hut, so riddled and shattered was it.

The officer of the Iris, which was in trouble ahead of the Vindictive, described Captain Carpenter as handling her like a picket boat. The Vindictive was fitted along her port side with a high, false deck, from which ran eighteen brows, or gangways, by which the storming and demolition parties were to land. The men gathered in readiness on the main lower decks, while Colonel Elliott, who was to lead the marines, waited on the false deck just abaft the bridge. Captain Hallahan, who commanded the bluejackets, was amidships. The word for the assault had not yet been given when both leaders were killed.

The mere landing on the mole was a perilous business. It involved a passage across the crashing and splintering gangways, a drop over the parapet into the field of fire of the German machine-guns which swept its length, and a further drop of some sixteen feet to the surface of the mole itself. Many were killed and more wounded as they crowded up the gangways, but nothing hindered the orderly and speedy landing by every gangway. The lower deck was a shambles, as the commander made the round of the ship, yet the wounded and dying raised themselves to cheer as he made his tour.

The Iris had trouble of her own. Her first attempts to make fast to the mole ahead of the Vindictive failed, as her grapnels were not large enough to span the parapet. Two officers, Lieutenant-Commander Bradford, and Lieutenant Hawkins, climbed ashore and sat astride the parapet trying to make the grapnels fast, till each was killed, and fell down between the ship and the wall. Commander Valentine Gibbs had both legs shot away, and died next morning. Lieutenant Spencer though wounded, took command and refused to be relieved.

[Illustration: Layout of harbor; North sea at top, with lighthouse, quay
and wireless station. Foreground shows harbor facilities and submarine
pens.]
  ZEEBRUGGE HARBOR, BLOCKED BY BRITISH

The Iris was obliged at last to change her position and fall in astern of the Vindictive, which suffered very heavily from fire. Her total casualties were eight officers and sixty-nine men killed, and three officers and 103 men wounded.

The storming parties upon the mole met with no resistance from the Germans other than an intense and unremitting fire. One after another buildings burst into flames, or split and crumbled as dynamite went off. A bombing party working up toward the mole in search of the enemy destroyed several machine gun emplacements but not a single prisoner awarded them. It appears that upon the approach of the ships and with the opening of fire the enemy simply retired and contented themselves with bringing machine guns to the short end of the mole.

The object of the fighting on the mole was in large part to divert the enemy's attention while the work of blocking the canals was being accomplished.

Of this operation the official narrative says: "The Thetis came first steaming into a tornado of shells from great batteries ashore. All her crew save a remnant who remained to steam her in and sink her, already had been taken off her by a ubiquitous motor launch. The remnant spared hands enough to keep her four guns going. It was hers to show the road to the Intrepid and Iphigenia which followed. She cleared a string of armed barges, which defends the channel from the tip of the mole, but had the ill-fortune to foul one of her propellers upon a net defense which flanks it on the shore side. The propeller gathered in the net and it rendered her practically unmanageable. Shore batteries found her and pounded her unremittingly. She bumped into the bank, edged off and found herself in the channel again, still some hundreds of yards from the mouth of the canal in practically a sinking condition. As she lay she signaled invaluable directions to others, and her commander blew charges and sank it. Motor launches took off her crew. The Intrepid, smoking like a volcano, and with all her guns blazing, followed. Her motor launch had failed to get alongside, outside the harbor, and she had men enough for anything. Straight into the canal she steered, her smoke blowing back from her into the Iphigenia's eyes so that the latter was blinded, and going a little wild, ran into the dredger, with her barge moored beside it, which lay at the western arm of the canal. She was not clear though, and entered the canal, pushing the barge before her.

"It was then that a shell hit the steam connections of her whistle and the escape of steam which followed drove off some of the smoke, and let her see what she was doing. Lieutenant Carter, commanding the Intrepid, placed the nose of his ship neatly on the mud of the western bank, ordered his crew away, and blew up his ship by switches in the chart room. Lieutenant Leake, commanding the Iphigenia, beached her according to arrangement on the eastern side, blew her up, saw her drop nicely across the canal, and left her with her engines still going to hold her in position till she should have bedded well down on the bottom. According to the latest reports from air observation the two old ships, with their holds full of concrete, are lying across the canal in a V-position, and it is probable that the work they set out to do has been accomplished and that the canal is effectively blocked."

At Ostend an attempt was also made to block the canal on the same night, but it was unsuccessful owing to a shift of wind which blew away the smoke screen behind which the British craft were acting, and enabled the German gun fire to destroy the flares which had been lit to mark the entrance to the harbor. The cruisers tried to act by guess work, and one of the block ships was sunk, but it was not in a position to obstruct the canal.

On May 9th another attempt was made, and the Vindictive, filled with concrete was sunk in the Ostend channel.

This daring exploit of the English fleet, though it had destroyed the value of Zeebrugge and Ostend as submarine bases, had left the Germans in possession. In September, however, General Foch determined that the time had come to throw his armies against the German forces in the distracted little country. He planned two widely separated thrusts. On the south he sent Pershing against the Germans between the Argonne and the Meuse. They made rapid progress, capturing Montfaucon, Varennes and driving on until they had destroyed the German control of the Paris-Chalons-Verdun Railroad.

This was a serious blow to the Germans, for a further push northward would cut the vital lateral railway connecting the German armies in Belgium and France with those in Alsace-Lorraine. Ludendorf hastened reserves to this front, and the American operation was slowed down. Meanwhile at the other end of the line the Belgians, with General Plumer's Second British Army, suddenly attacked on a front which extended all the way from the canal at Dixmude to the Lys, swept the Germans out of all the famous fighting ground of the Ypres salient, pushed across the Passchendaele Ridge and down into the Flanders plain below.

The situation of the Germans in the Lille regions of the south and also along the Belgian coast became at once dangerous. Once more Ludendorf was compelled to send reserves, and this thrust began to slow up but it was not checked permanently, and the Belgian armies were to move on. While this advance was being conducted the British fleet were bombarding the coastal defenses. The Belgian army, fighting with the utmost spirit under command of King Albert, made a penetration of five miles and captured four thousand prisoners and an immense amount of supplies.

On September 30th they captured the city of Roulers. For ten days there was a consolidation of position by the Allies, but on October 14th they made a furious attack in the general direction of Ghent and Courtrai. Thousands of prisoners and several complete batteries of guns were captured. In this attack British, Belgian and French troops took part, and the troops of the three nations went over the top without preliminary bombardment, taking the enemy by surprise.

On October 15th the news from Flanders showed that the victory was growing in extent, the Allied armies were advancing on a front of about twenty-five miles, and in some places had penetrated the enemy's positions six or seven miles. The Belgians had captured seven thousand prisoners and the British and French about four thousand. In French Flanders the British advanced to a point about three miles west of Lille.

The battle was carried on in a heavy rain which turned the battle-fields into seas of mud; while this hampered the Allied troops it hindered even more the Germans in trying to move away their material through the mired ground of the Flanders Lowland.

On the next day dispatches indicated that a retreat on a tremendous scale in northern Belgium was under way. The Germans were retreating so fast that the Allies lost touch with the enemy. The gallant little Belgian army, assisted by crack British and French troops, had driven the despoilers of its country from a large section which the Germans had occupied since the early days of the war, and had gained positions of such importance as to make it probable that the Germans would have to abandon the entire coast of Belgium.

Moreover, on the south, the city of Lille, with the great mining and manufacturing districts around it, was being left in a salient which was growing deeper every hour and which the enemy could not hope to hold. At certain points the resistance of the Germans was extraordinarily fierce. This was especially true in the region of Thouret. The battle here was from street to street and from house to house. The Germans had placed machine-guns in the windows of houses and cellars and fired murderous streams of bullets into the advancing Belgians but were unable to stop them.

The Belgians fought with a dogged determination such as only troops fighting to regain their outraged country could display. Nothing could stop them. At other points, especially in the northern part of the battle area, the Germans surrendered freely. Many civilians were rescued from the towns and districts captured, and little processions of these were straggling rearward out of range of the guns, and out of the way of the fighting troops. At times liberated Belgian women could see their sons, brothers or husbands going forward into battle. On October 17th the German retreat in Flanders became a rout. The enemy were fleeing rapidly on their entire front. The British entered Lille.

The Germans fled from Ostend and British naval forces were landed there. The Belgian infantry were sweeping up the coast, and Belgian patrols entered Bruges. In the afternoon of the day King Albert of Belgium, and Queen Elizabeth entered Ostend. The splendid fighting of the Belgian troops and their magnificent victory was now attracting universal attention. It was one of the revelations of the war. They were bearing the giant's share of the work of the Allied armies in their own country, and had already liberated territory which more than doubled the area of that part of Belgium which had been in their possession.

With the Belgian coast cleared of invaders it became open to British transports which would afford relief to the whole Allied armies from the resultant decrease in the congestion of the channel ports. On October 19th the progress continued. Zeebrugge was occupied by the Allies, the last Belgian port remaining in German hands.

The Belgian advance continued along the whole line. King Albert entered Bruges. Day after day the advance continued. The reception of the King and Queen of Belgium in the recovered towns was something to remember. In Bruges they rode in amid the tumultuous cheering of the frenzied population. On the central square they were received by the burgomaster with an escort of a solitary gendarme, who had refused to give up his uniform and old-fashioned rifle to the enemy; though fined and imprisoned he had kept their hiding place secret. As he stood there alone with fixed bayonet the King and the Queen shook him by the hand and congratulated him. Greatly moved, he stammered, "It is too great an honor, too great an honor."

And with all this happiness came the happiness arising from the return of the soldiers to the homes from which they had been absent so long, the reunions of husband and wife, of parents and children. Belgium was now to reap the reward for her heroism.

CHAPTER XLV

ITALY'S TERRIFIC DRIVE

For many months after the great Italian stand on the Piave there was inactivity on both fronts in Italy. The Italians had been reinforced by troops from France and Great Britain and their own army was now larger than it had been at any other time. On June 15th, about the time when the Germans were being driven back on the Marne and the Oise, the Austrians, urged to action by the Germans, suddenly undertook a great offensive on a front from the Asiago Plateau to the sea, a distance of ninety-seven miles.

From the very start it was plain that the Italians were resisting magnificently. The offensive was not unexpected, either in time or locality, and had been openly discussed in the Italian press. The Italians therefore were not taken by surprise, and moreover since the disaster of Caparetto the Italians had learned by a patient campaign of education what they were fighting for.

On the second day of the battle the Austrian troops made a desperate effort to break through the Italian lines, particularly in the eastern sector of the Asiago Plateau, and crossed the Piave River at two places. They also attacked the French positions between Osteria di Monfenera and Maranzine, but were driven back with heavy loss. At every point where the Austrians were able to advance the Italians initiated vigorous counter-attacks. The order to Italy's army was, "Hold at any cost."

On the third day of the battle the Austrian offensive was being strongly checked. They had established three bridgeheads on the Piave, but had not been able to advance. The most notable of these crossings was that in the Montello sector. Montello is of particular importance, because it is the hinge between the mountains and the Piave sectors of the Italian front. If it could be held the Austrians would be in a position to dominate from the flank and rear all the Italian positions defending the line of the Piave in the dead flat plain to the south.

[Illustration: Painting]
  STORMING THE MOLE AT ZEEBRUGGE
  One of the most brilliant and spectacular feats in naval history was
  the British blocking of the submarine harbor at Zeebrugge. The picture
  shows one of the detachments of marines that braved the terrific
  German defense fire and swarmed up the mole that protects the harbor,
  planting explosives that made a great breach and let the tides in.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  ITALIAN TROOPS TREKKING THE SNOW-FIELDS OF THE ALPS
  The Alpine troops of the Italian army have for years developed a
  military technique peculiar to the regions they must cover. Here a
  battalion of Alpini is seen on skis, the best method for traveling
  over the frozen snow crusts of the mountain region.

On the Lower Piave the Austrians had made gains and had captured Capo Sile. The Austrians were using a million men and were using liquid fire and gas bombs, but their every move was resisted strongly. Vienna was claiming the capture of 30,000 men, but the Italian reports claimed that the Austrian losses were stupendous. Thousands of dead were heaped before the Italian line in the mountain sectors, blocking the mule paths and choking the defiles. No fewer than nine desperate onslaughts upon Monte Grappa, always with fresh reserves, were broken upon Grappa heights, with terrific losses.

On July 19th the dispatches from Rome were emphasizing the Italian counter-attacks. Not only were the Italians preventing the enemy from making further gains, but they were beginning to crowd him back at the points where he had crossed the river, and were raining bombs and machine-gun bullets upon the Austrian troops at the bridgehead. They were also taking the initiative in the fighting in the mountain sectors.

By June 20th the Austrian defeat was clear. Their forces were backed against the flooded Piave, which had carried away their bridges and left them to the mercy of the Italians. Thousands were being killed and other thousands captured. Czecho-Slovak troops, it was reported, had joined in the fighting, and had given their first tribute of blood to the generous principles of freedom and independence for which they were in arms. In the Piave delta the Italians had regained Capo Sile, which had been captured early in the drive, and it was reported that all along the Piave line they had won complete control of the air, not a single Austrian machine being still aloft. The spirits of the Austrian troops had been definitely weakened. They were war wearied, and evidence began to accumulate that Austria's drive was a "hunger offensive."

As the battle continued reports began to arrive of the gallant deeds of American airmen, who were helping in the fighting along the front. The airmen were assisting in destroying the bridges that the Austrians were trying to throw across the river. The Piave was now a vast cataract and the bridges which it had not washed down were constantly destroyed by the aviators. The Austrians on the western bank were finding it difficult to obtain supplies and were resorting to hydroplanes for that purpose. On June 24th the Austrian attack had definitely failed and they were fleeing in disorder across the Piave. One hundred and eighty thousand men had already been lost and forty thousand were hemmed in on the western side of the river. The Austrian communications were emphasizing the difficulties they were meeting with through the heavy rains.

The victory of the Italians, which was now apparent, was received all over Italy with great public rejoicing. Italy had been repenting in sackcloth and ashes her defeat of the previous fall. Now they had made amends and were showing what the Italian soldier could really do. In America, and among the Allied Powers, there was great enthusiasm, and Secretary of War Baker sent this congratulatory message to the Italian Minister of War:

Your Excellency: The people of the United States are watching with enthusiasm and admiration the splendid exploits of the great army of Italy in resisting and driving back the enemy forces which recently undertook a major offensive on the Italian front. I take great pleasure in tendering my own hearty congratulations, and would be most happy to have a message of greeting and congratulation transmitted to General Diaz and his brave soldiers. NEWTON D. BAKER, Secretary of War of the United States.

In announcing to his victorious army the repulse of the Austrians
General Diaz, the Italian Commander-in-Chief, said:

"The enemy who, with furious impetuosity, used all means to penetrate our territory has been repulsed at all points. His losses are very heavy. His pride is broken. Glory to all commands, all soldiers, all sailors."

On the 26th of June the Italian troops, having forced the last rear guard of the retreating Austrians to surrender and completely occupied the west bank of the Piave, began an offensive on the mountain front in the Monte Grappa sector. They gained more than 3,000 prisoners, and considerable territory. On the southern part of the Piave front they were carrying on a vigorous offensive against the Austrian positions within the Piave delta. The Austrian troops, at that point, were being prevented from retreat by the high water, and suffered terrible losses. On July 6th the Italians drove the last of the enemy from the delta.

The campaign in Italy now languished, until, on October 27th, Italy began her last terrible drive. The great Italian offensive was made not only by their own forces and the French and British troops, which had assisted them the previous June, but during the intervening period a large force of Americans had arrived in Italy. On June 27th Secretary Baker had made the announcement that General Pershing had been instructed to send into Italy a regiment that was then in training in France. The regiment thus sent was augmented considerably later. The purpose of sending troops to Italy, Mr. Baker explained, was rather political than military. It was desired to demonstrate again that the Allied nations and the United States were one in their purposes on all fronts, and to extend the intercourse between the troops of all the powers at war with Germany.

On the second day of the Italian offensive their success increased. More than nine thousand Austrians were taken prisoners and fifty-one guns were captured. The Piave River had been crossed, and the Italians had advanced four miles to its east. The attacks in the mountain region were being more bitterly contested, and counter-attacks had enabled the enemy to regain some of their lost positions.

On October 30th the Italian advance was continuing. The Austrian front appeared to be breaking under the heavy blows of the Allied troops. Dispatches indicated striking successes, not only on the Italian front but at the points where the British and the French were holding the line. The Americans were being held in reserve, but American airplanes were actively participating in the work at the front. By this time the last lines of the Austro-Hungarian resistance on the central positions along the Piave River had been broken, and more than fifteen thousand prisoners been taken. The Austrians, however, had been desperately resisting, and their artillery fire at many points was very effective, especially that which had been directed at the pontoon bridges thrown across the Piave.

King Victor Emanuel had been present in person during the crossing, and
was often under the fire of the Austrian guns. On October 30th, 33,000
Austrians had been captured and the Italians had reached Vittorio.
Americans had now joined in the fighting.

The Austrian retreat reached the proportion of a rout. They were still fighting, especially in the mountain region, but in the plains east of the Piave they were in full flight. Taking into consideration the numbers of troops in the Austrian lines and their apparently plentiful supplies, it began to seem probable that their break was due more to political maneuvers than to military force. The Austrians at this time were making a great peace drive, and the dissatisfaction at home had affected the morale of the troops at the front. The conditions in Italy were in close resemblance to those in Bulgaria just before Bulgaria applied for an armistice.

On the 1st of November the Austrians were completely routed, and were streaming in confusion down the valleys of the Alpine foothills, and fleeing northward from the Piave. Reports from Austria indicated riots at Vienna and Budapest. In Vienna people were parading the streets, shouting "Down with the Hapsburgs!" On October 29th, the Austrians asked for an armistice. Their announcement read as follows:

The High Command of the armies, early Tuesday, by means of a Parliamentaire, established communication with the Italian army command. Every effort is to be made for the avoidance of further useless sacrifice of blood, for the cessation of hostilities, and the conclusion of an armistice. Toward this step which is animated by the best intentions the Italian High Command at first assumed an attitude of unmistakable refusal, and it was only on the evening of Wednesday that, in accord with the Italian High Command, General Weber, accompanied by a deputation, was permitted to cross the fighting line for preliminary pourparlers.

General Diaz, the Italian Commander, had referred the Austrian request to the Versailles Conference, and had acted in accordance with their direction. In proposing the armistice the Austrians had also expressed their resolve to bring about peace and to evacuate the occupied territory of Italy. This was the beginning of the end.

The northern part of Italy is bounded by the Alps, and between those lofty ranges and the deep valleys there had been constant fighting. In this fighting, both on mountain and in valley, there were the most extraordinary deeds of individual heroism, constantly exhibited.

The Alpine regiments, known in Italy as the Alpini, were men of extraordinary physical powers, accustomed to mountain climbing, and filled with courage and patriotism. Owing to the nature of the territory in such contests, only a limited number of men could be used at one time, and the fighting went on over masses of snow or solid rock. Guns were hauled up precipices and dugouts excavated in the rock itself. The Italian troops, clothed in white overalls to prevent their being seen, moved with great rapidity from point to point, and forced their enemy to keep constantly on the alert. In the great Italian drive just described the most bitter fighting was that which occurred in these mountainous regions.

The work of the Italian aviators is also worthy of special attention. They not only secured entire command of the air, but by flying low they often threw into confusion with their machine guns the Austrian infantry. Their wonderful work in bringing in military information, and in bombing expeditions, was not excelled, if it was equaled, by the airmen of any other country. The Italian airplanes themselves were engineering triumphs. The inventive genius so notable in these days in Italy found expression in their development. Some of their machines were the biggest made during the whole war, and the long journeys made by such machines deserve special mention. The most interesting feat of this kind was performed on August 9th by the famous poet, Captain Gabrielle D'Annunzio. Accompanied by eight Italian machines, he flew to the city of Vienna, a total distance of 620 miles, and dropped copies of an Allied manifesto over the city. They crossed the Alps in a great wind storm at a height of ten thousand feet, and all but one returned safely. The manifesto, which was written by D'Annunzio reads as follows:

People of Vienna, you are fated to know the Italians. We are flying over Vienna and could drop tons of bombs. On the contrary we leave a salutation and the flag with its colors of liberty. We Italians do not make war on children, the aged and women. We make war on your government, which is the enemy of the liberty of nations,—on your blind, wanton, cruel government, which gives you neither peace nor bread, and nurtures you on hatred and delusions. People of Vienna, you have the reputation of being intelligent, why then do you wear the Prussian uniform? Now you see the entire world is against you, do you wish to continue the war? Keep on, then, but it will be your suicide. What can you hope from the victory promised to you by the Prussian generals? Their decisive victory is like the bread of the Ukraine,—one dies while awaiting it. People of Vienna, think of your dear ones, awake! Long live Italy, Liberty and the Entente!

It was said that copies of this proclamation in Vienna had a value of fifty dollars a copy. D'Annunzio's great fame had seized upon the popular imagination. His career in the war would have been interesting in itself, but when one recognizes that he was already a world figure, the greatest modern Italian dramatist and novelist, his life seems almost like a fairy story. Before the war began he made addresses all over his country, urging Italy's participation in the war, and when war was declared, to him, as much as to any other man, was due the credit. He entered the navy, and has written some fascinating descriptions of his life on board ship. Later he joined the airplane corps, and now was showering down upon the gaping populace of Vienna appeals to rise against its Hapsburg masters. D'Annunzio was extraordinary in his literary career. He had been the poet of passion, a writer of novels and plays, which, although artistic in the highest degree, showed him to be an egotist and a decadent. But long before the war he had tired of his erotic productions and had begun to write the praises of Nature and of heroes. He had been singing the praises of his country. "La Nave" symbolizes the glory of Venice. He had become more wholesome. War was making him not only a man but a hero.

Of course D'Annunzio was not the only great literary man who had left the study for the battle-field. AEschylus fought at Marathon and Salamis; Ariosto put down a rebellion for his prince between composition of cantos of Orlando Furioso; Sir Philip Sydney was scholar, poet and soldier, and many a soldier when his wars were over has turned to the labors of the pen. Yet it is not without surprise that one sees D'Annunzio join this distinguished company, and one's admiration grows as it becomes plain that he was not a mere poseur. He was a poet, but he was a soldier too. Not every great poet could drive an airplane to Vienna.

CHAPTER XLVI

BULGARIA DESERTS GERMANY

During the year 1916 there was little movement in the Balkans. The Allies had settled down at Saloniki and intrenched themselves so strongly that their positions were practically impregnable. These intrenchments were on slopes facing north, heavily wired and with seven miles of swamp before them, over which an attacking army would have to pass. It was obviously inadvisable to withdraw entirely the armies at Saloniki. So long as they were there it was possible at any time to make an attack on Bulgaria in case Russia or Roumania should need such assistance. And moreover, it was evident that it was only the presence of the Saloniki army that kept Greece neutral. During the year there were a few fights which were little more than skirmishes; almost all of the German soldiers had been withdrawn, and it was chiefly the Bulgarian army that was facing the Allies. On May 26th Bulgarian forces advanced into Greece and occupied Fort Rupel, with the acquiescence of the Greek Government.

The Greeks were in a difficult position. It was not unnatural that King Constantine and the Greek General Staff believed that the Allies had small chance of victory. Moreover, they had no special ambitions which could be satisfied by a war against the Central Powers. On the other hand, Turkey was an hereditary enemy, and the big sea coast would put them at the mercy of the British navy in case they should join their fortunes to those of Austro-Germany. To an impartial observer their policy of neutrality, if not heroic, was at least wise. The Greek Government, therefore, did its best to preserve neutrality. The surrender of Fort Rupel was not, however, a neutral act and roused in Greece a strong popular protest.

Venizelos, who at all times was strongly friendly to the Allies and who was the one great Greek statesman who not only believed in their ultimate victory but who saw that the true interests of Greece were in Anatolia and the Islands of the AEgean, was strongly opposed to King Constantine's action. The Allies showed their resentment by a pacific blockade, to prevent the export of coal to Greece, with the object of preventing supplies from reaching the enemy. This led to a certain amount of excitement and the Allied embassies in Athens were insulted by mobs. The governments, therefore, presented an ultimatum commanding the demobilization of the Greek army, the appointment of a neutral Ministry, and the calling of a new election for the Greek Chamber of Deputies, as well as the proper punishment of those who were guilty of the disorder.

In substance, the Greeks yielded to the Allied demand, but before a new election could be held an attack by the Bulgarians on the 17th of August changed the situation. The Bulgarian armies entered deep in Greek territory in the eastern provinces and captured the city of Kavalla without resistance from the armies of Greece. A portion of the Greek army at Kavalla surrendered and was taken to Germany as "guests" of the German Government.

This action of the Greek army led to a Greek revolution which broke out at Saloniki on the 30th of August. The King pursued a tortuous policy, professing neutrality and yet constantly bringing himself under suspicion. The Revolutionists organized an army and finally M. Venizelos, after strong efforts to induce the King to act, became the head of the Provisional Government of the Revolutionists. The Allies pursued a policy almost as tortuous as that of King Constantine. They could not agree among themselves as to the proper policy, and took no decided course. King Constantine apparently had the support of Russia and of Italy.

Meantime the fighting against Bulgaria was still proceeding. The main force of the Allies was directed against the city of Monastir, which, after considerable fighting, was captured on November 19th. This gave the Serbians possession of an important point in their own country and naturally proved a great stimulus to the Serbian armies.

From that time on, and during the year 1917, little was done. Minor offensives were undertaken, some of which, like the Allied attack upon Doiran, deserve mention, but on the whole the fighting was a stalemate. Meanwhile the action of the Greek Government had become so unsatisfactory that it was finally determined to demand the abdication of King Constantine, and on June 11th he found himself compelled to yield. In his proclamation he said:

Obeying necessity of fulfilling my duty toward Greece, I am departing from my beloved country accompanied by the heir to the crown, and I leave my son Alexander on the throne. I beg you to accept my decision with calm.

Early the next morning the King and his family set sail for Italy on his way to Switzerland, where he became another "King in exile." His son Alexander accepted the throne and issued the following proclamation:

At the moment when my august father, making a supreme sacrifice to our dear country, entrusted to me the heavy duties of the Hellenic throne I express but one single wish—that God, hearing his prayer, will protect Greece, that He will permit us to see her again united and powerful. In my grief at being separated in circumstances so critical from my well-beloved father I have a single consolation: to carry out his sacred mandate which I will endeavor to realize with all my power, following the lines of his brilliant reign, with the help of the people upon whose love the Greek dynasty is supported. I am convinced that in obeying the wishes of my father the people by their submission will do their part in enabling us together to rescue our dear country from the terrible situation in which it finds itself.

The whole country to all appearances received the abdication with satisfaction. On June 21st, M. Venizelos came to Athens and the Greek Chamber, which was illegally dissolved in 1915, was convoked and Venizelos once again became Prime Minister. At last he had succeeded, and he proceeded at once to join the whole of the Grecian forces to the cause of the Allies. Of all the statesmen prominent in the Great War, there was none more wise, more consistent or more loyal than the great Greek statesman.

For more than a year the Allied armies facing Bulgaria remained upon the defensive, when, suddenly, on the 16th of September, 1918, in the midst of the wonderful movements that were forcing back the German armies in France, a dispatch was received from the Allied forces in Macedonia. The Serbian army, in co-operation with French and English forces, had attacked the Bulgarian positions on a ten-mile front, had stormed those positions and progressed more than five miles. On the next day news was received that the advance was continuing; that the Allies had occupied an important series of ridges, and had pierced the Bulgarian front; that more than three thousand prisoners had been captured and twenty-four guns. The movement took place about twelve miles east of Monastir and the ridge of Sokol, and the town of Gradeshnitsa were captured by the Allied troops.

It soon became evident that one of the most important movements in the whole war was being carried on. The Bulgarian armies were crumbling, and the German troops sent to aid them had been put to flight. The Allied troops had advanced on an average of ten miles and were continuing to advance. The Serbs, fighting at last near their own homes, were showing their real military strength. Four thousand prisoners had been taken, with an enormous quantity of war supplies. The Bulgarian positions which had yielded so easily were positions which they had been fortifying for three years, and had been previously thought to be impregnable.

On September 23d it became evident that the retreat of the Bulgarians had turned into a rout. Notwithstanding reinforcements of Germans and Bulgars rushed down in a frantic effort to check them, the Allied armies were advancing on an eighty-five mile front, crushing all resistance. The Italian army, on the west, was meeting with equal success, and the news dispatches reported that the first Bulgarian army in the region of Prilep had been cut off. A dispatch received by the British War Office reported "As the result of attacks and continual heavy pressure by British and Greek troops, in conjunction with the French and Serbian advance farther west, the enemy has evacuated his whole line from Doiran to the west of the Vardar." As it retreated the Bulgarian army was burning supplies and destroying ammunition dumps, burning railway stations and ravaging the country.

By this time it was felt throughout the Allied world that the Bulgarian defeat would have important political consequences. It was remembered that a short time before King Ferdinand had paid a visit to Germany, and after long conferences with the German War Lord, had hastily returned to Bulgaria. It was recalled that there had been many signs of serious disorder in Bulgaria, where the Socialist party had been in close touch with the advance parties in the Ukrainian Republic. It seemed possible that the Bulgarian defeats had been brought about by Bulgarian dissension and it was also evident that Germany was in no position to offer effective support to its Bulgarian accomplice.

As the days passed by the news from this front became more and more favorable. At all points the Bulgarian armies were retreating in the most disorderly manner, closely pursued by the Serbians, French, English, Italians, and Greeks. Bulgarian troops were deserting in thousands, and thousands of others were surrendering without resistance.

On September 26th it was announced that the Bulgar front had disappeared; that the armies had been cut into a number of groups and were fleeing before the Allied troops. Town after town was being captured, with enormous quantities of stores. On Friday, September 27th, it was announced that Bulgaria had asked the Allies for an armistice of forty-eight hours, with a view to making peace.

The situation was now causing intense excitement. The Germans tried to minimize the Bulgarian surrender. A dispatch from Berlin declared that Premier Malinoff's offer of an armistice was made without the support of other members of the Cabinet or of King Ferdinand, and that Germany would make a solemn protest against it. German newspapers were demanding that Malinoff be dismissed immediately and court-martialed for high treason. The Berlin message asserted that the Premier's offer had created great dissatisfaction in Bulgaria and that strong military measures had been taken to support the Bulgarian front. According to statements from Sofia it was added a counter-movement against the action of the Premier had already been set on foot. It was declared in Germany that the Premier's act was the result of Germany's refusal to send sufficient reinforcements to Bulgaria. Secretary Lansing made the announcement that the United States Government had received a proposal for an armistice.

It appeared that Bulgaria had been maneuvering toward peace for some time. The Bulgarians had foreseen their inability to meet the expected Allied attack, and had made every effort to obtain German reinforcements. Moreover, they were highly dissatisfied with the treatment they had received from Germany in connection with Bulgaria's dispute with Turkey as to territorial dispositions to be made after the war. Probably the most important reason, however, for the Bulgarian overthrow was that by this time they were sick of the war. They had not, in the first place, gone into it with any enthusiasm, and though they could fight bravely enough against their Serbian foe, no true Bulgarian could ever feel himself in a natural position facing his old-time Russian friend.

Bulgaria had come to the end. Malinoff, the Premier, had from the beginning been opposed to the war. Mobs in Sofia were demanding surrender. Ferdinand was compelled to give way to the wishes of his Cabinet and his people, and in spite of the fact that he had promised the Kaiser to remain faithful to the Alliance, he gave his consent to the movement for unconditional surrender.

An official Bulgarian statement read as follows: "In view of the conjunction of circumstances which have recently arisen, and after the position had been jointly discussed with all competent authorities, the Bulgarian Government, desiring to put an end to the bloodshed, has authorized the Commander-in-Chief of the army to propose to the Generalissimo of the armies of the Entente at Saloniki, a cessation of hostilities, and the entering into of negotiations for obtaining an armistice and peace. The members of the Bulgarian delegation left yesterday evening in order to get into touch with the Plenipotentiaries of the Entente belligerents." This statement was dated September 24th.

When the Bulgarian officers entrusted with the proposal for an armistice presented themselves at Saloniki, General d'Esperey gave the following reply: "My response cannot be, by reason of the military situation, other than the following. I can accord neither an armistice nor a suspension of hostilities tending to interrupt the operations in course. On the other hand, I will receive with all due courtesy the delegates duly qualified of the Royal Bulgarian Government." The Bulgarian delegates were General Lonkhoff, commander of the Bulgarian Second Army, M. Liapcheff, Finance Minister, and M. Radeff, a former member of the Bulgarian Cabinet.

On the evening of the 29th an armistice was signed. The terms of the surrender were approved by the Entente governments, and hostilities ceased at noon September 30th. The terms of the armistice were as follows:

Bulgaria agrees to evacuate all the territory she now occupies in Greece and Serbia; to demobilize her army immediately and surrender all means of transport to the Allies. Bulgaria also will surrender her boats and control of navigation on the Danube, and concede to the Allies free passage through Bulgaria for the development of military operations. All Bulgarian arms and ammunition are to be stored under the control of the Allies, to whom is conceded the right to occupy all important strategic points. The military occupation of Bulgaria will be entrusted to British, French and Italian forces, and the evacuated portions of Greece and Serbia, respectively, to Greek and Serbian troops.

This armistice meant a complete military surrender, and Bulgaria ceased to be a belligerent. All questions of territorial rearrangement in the Balkans were purposely omitted from the Convention. The Allies made no stipulation concerning King Ferdinand, his position being considered an internal matter, one for the Bulgarians themselves to deal with. The armistice was to remain in operation until the final general peace was concluded.

The request of Bulgaria for an armistice and peace, stunned Germany, which at that time was living in an atmosphere of political crisis and military misfortune. The German papers laid much of the blame on the desperate economic conditions in Bulgaria, which had been made worse by political strife.

After the Bulgarian collapse the Serbians, with the other Allied troops who had just captured Uskub, swept northward to drive the remaining Germans and Austrians out of Serbia and beyond the Danube. On October 13th they captured Nish, thus cutting the famous Orient railroad from Berlin to Constantinople. German authorities announced that henceforth trains on this line would run only to the Serbian border.

On October 4th King Ferdinand abdicated his throne in favor of his son Crown Prince Boris, and left Sofia the same night for Vienna. Before leaving he issued the following manifesto renouncing the Bulgarian crown:

By reason of the succession of events which have occurred in my kingdom, and which demand a sacrifice from each citizen, even to the surrendering of oneself for the well being of all, I desire to give as the first example the sacrifice of myself. Despite the sacred ties, which for thirty-two years have bound me so firmly to this country, for whose prosperity and greatness I have given all my powers, I have decided to renounce the royal Bulgarian crown in favor of my eldest son, His Highness the Prince Royal Boris of Tirnovo. I call upon all faithful subjects and true patriots to unite as one man about the throne of King Boris, to lift the country from its difficult situation, and to elevate new Bulgaria to the height to which it is predestined.

Before signing his declaration of abdication he had consulted with the party leaders and received their approval. King Ferdinand had lost his popularity ever since it became apparent that he had made a mistake in siding with the Teutonic Powers. He was undoubtedly in fear that a revolution might upset the whole dynasty. Premier Malinoff announced the abdication to the Bulgarian Parliament, and the accession of Prince Boris to the throne was received with much enthusiasm. The church bells were rung, and great crowds gathered in the streets.

Speaking from the steps of the Palace the new King said; "I thank you for your manifestation of patriotic sentiments. I have faith in the good star of Bulgaria, and I believe that the Bulgar people, by their good qualities and co-operation, are directed to a brilliant future." King Ferdinand, it was given out, had renounced politics and was intending in the future to devote himself to his favorite pursuits, chiefly to botany.

The surrender of Bulgaria was at once recognized as the overthrow of Germany's "Mittel-Europa" threat, which had apparently been carried into effect when Turkey and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers. It had for a long time been one of Germany's most coveted aims. After the Franco-Prussian war the German people had grown enormously in wealth and in numbers. It had become one of the greatest manufacturing powers in the world. Its ships were transporting its commerce on every sea, but it was not satisfied. The German leaders, most of whom were young men at the time of the war with France, and had been deeply impressed by a sense of the German power, were full of the idea that Germany was the greatest of nations, and that she should impress her will on all the world.

They might have done this peacefully, for the seas were free, but German self-esteem was not satisfied with peaceful progress. They felt that it was necessary to reach out in the world for colonies. They seized a province in China. They meddled with affairs in Morocco. They annexed colonies in Africa, but none of these projects were wholly satisfactory. They provided no great outlet for the products of their workshops, nor for their overflow population, which largely went to North and South America and became citizens of these foreign nations.

Their eyes finally turned to the great East. There in China and India and the neighboring countries were three hundred millions of men whose trade would be a worthy prize for even Germany's ambition. Then began the development of what is sometimes called Germany's Mittel-Europa dream. Her scholars encouraged it; her travelers brought reports which stimulated the interest, and soon she began practically to carry it into effect. It meant the building of a great railroad down to the Persian Gulf; a railroad to be controlled by nations where her influence would be all-powerful. She needed Austria, she needed Serbia, she needed Bulgaria and Turkey.

[Illustration: Map: Most of Asia, Africa and Australia, showing
Germany's hoped for rail and ship routes from the North Sea to Australia,
South Africa and China.]
  HOW THE PAN-GERMANS PLANNED TO EXTEND THEIR "MITTEL-EUROPA" DREAM

At first the project was carried out peacefully. Friendly relations were stimulated with Turkey and the other necessary powers; permits were obtained to build the railroad. But Germany was not the only power that had dreamed this dream. Alexander the Great had done it. Napoleon had done it, and England had carried it out. From the days of Queen Elizabeth the English control of India was one of its greatest assets.

Through most of the nineteenth century the English power in the East was threatened, not by Germany, but by Russia. It was because of this threat that England had always protected Turkey. Turkey and Constantinople were her barrier against Russia. The literature of England in the last days of the nineteenth century shows clearly her fear of Russian intrigues in India. Kipling's Indian stories are full of it. But now that fear had passed. It was no longer the imaginary danger which might come from the great Slavic Empire, but a trade weapon in the grasp of the most efficient military power ever developed that was threatening. Against this threat England had been doing her best. Here and there near the Persian Gulf she had been extending her influence. Here and there, as German Consuls obtained concessions, they would find them later withdrawn, because England had stepped in. Yet just before the war England, anxious for peace, had come to an agreement with Germany practically admitting the German plans to be carried out as far as Bagdad.

It looked as though it were only a question of time, but when the Balkan wars established Serbia as the greatest of the Balkan powers, and gave Russia a preponderating influence among the Balkan nations, and when it began to look as if some great Balkan state might be established which should be friendly to Russia and consequently a hindrance to the German scheme, then it was that it was necessary that war should come. The Germans had been wonderfully successful. For a time they controlled Austria, Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey, but with Bulgaria's fall the end had come. They were compelled to awake from their Mittel-Europa dream.

[Illustration: Photograph] Copyright Press Illustrating Service BULGARIANS CELEBRATE PEACE The first peace picture. The Bulgarian army is holding a solemn thanksgiving mass on the battlefield just after the signing of the armistice which ended their participation in the war.

[Illustration: Photograph] Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. French Official Photograph AMERICAN COLORED SOLDIERS IN ALSACE Inspection of arms before going into action. Colored troops were in battles with the Germans many times and succeeded in beating the enemy in every instance.

CHAPTER XLVII

THE CENTRAL EMPIRES WHINE FOR PEACE

The Allied victories in France during the months of August and September of 1918, led to a new peace offensive among the Central Powers. It was very plain to the German High Command, as well as to the Allied leaders, that Germany's great ambitions had now been definitely thwarted. It seems clear that, in spite of the hopeful and encouraging words which they addressed to their own armies, the expert soldiers, who were controlling the destinies of Germany, understood well the conditions they were facing. Putting aside all sentiment, therefore, they deliberately set out to obtain a peace which would leave them an opportunity to gain by diplomacy what they were sure that they were about to lose on the field of battle. They had made pleas for peace before, but their pleas had been rejected.

The Allied leaders were fighting for a principle. They could not be satisfied with a draw. They could not be satisfied if Germany were left in a position which would enable her after a rest of a few years to renew her effort to impose her will upon the world. It was unanimously recognized that the war must be carried on to the very end. The Allies took this position when the fortunes of war seemed to have gone against them, when Russia was defeated, Roumania and Serbia crushed, and the German lines in France were approaching the capital. It was unlikely that now, when Germany was suffering defeat and every day was yielding the Allied armies encouraging gains, there should be any change in the strong determination of the Allied leaders. Nevertheless, it was necessary to make the attempt.

On September 15th, the Austro-Hungarian Government addressed a communication to the Allied Powers and to the Holy See suggesting a meeting for a confidential and non-binding discussion of war aims, with a view to the possible calling of a peace conference.

The official communication from the Austro-Hungarian Government was handed to Secretary of State Lansing in Washington at 6.20 o'clock on September 16th.

At 6.45 the following abbreviated reply of the United States Government was made public, by the Secretary of State:

I am authorized by the President to state that the following will be the reply of this government to the Austro-Hungarian note proposing an unofficial conference of belligerents. "The Government of the United States feels that there is only one reply which it can make to the suggestion of the Austro-Hungarian Government. It has repeatedly and with entire candor stated the terms upon which the United States would consider peace, and can and will entertain no proposal for a conference upon the matter concerning which it has made its position and purpose so plain."

Arthur J. Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, in a statement made September 16th said: "It is incredible that anything can come of this proposal…. This cynical proposal of the Austrian Government is not a genuine attempt to obtain peace. It is an attempt to divide the Allies." Premier Clemenceau in France took similar grounds, and stated in the French Senate: "We will fight until the hour when the enemy comes to understand that bargaining between crime and right is no longer possible. We want a just and a strong peace, protecting the future against the abominations of the past." Italy joined with her Allies and declared that a negotiated peace was impossible.

The refusal on the part of the Allies to respond to the Austrian peace proposal evidently greatly disturbed the German leaders. The continued German reverses, and the surrender of Bulgaria had taken away all hope. They were anxious to conclude some kind of peace before meeting irretrievable disaster. They therefore determined to appoint as Chancellor of the Empire some statesman who might be represented as a supporter of an honest peace, and Count von Hertling, whose previous utterances might put under suspicion any peace move coming from him, was removed and Prince Maximilian of Baden appointed as his successor on September 30th.

Prince Maximilian was put forward as a Moderate, in accordance with the evident purpose of the government to continue peace proposals. He was the heir apparent to the Grand Ducal throne of Baden, and was the first man in public life in Germany to declare that the Empire could not conquer by the sword alone. He did this in an address to the Upper Chamber in Baden, of which he was President, on December 15, 1917. "Power alone can never secure our position," he said, "and our sword alone will never be able to tear down the opposition to us."

At the same time he made an attack upon the ideals set up by President Wilson. "President Wilson," he continued, "after three years of war gathers together all the outworn slogans of the Entente of 1914, and denounces Germany as the disturber of the peace, proclaiming a crusade for humanity, liberty and the rights of small nations." Then, forgetting that the United States had entered the war nearly a month after the abdication of the Czar of Russia, he added: "President Wilson has no right to speak in the name of democracy and liberty, for he was the mighty war ally of Russian Czardom, but he had deaf ears when the Russian democracy appealed to him to allow it to discuss peace conditions." The Baden address created a great sensation all over Germany, which was increased when, in an interview in January, he declared that all ideas of conquest must be abandoned, and that Germany must serve as a bulwark to prevent the spread of Bolshevism among the western nations.

There can be no doubt that the appointment of Prince Maximilian was a definite attempt to seek peace. It was thought that he would be recognized by the Allied leaders as an honest friend of peace, and that any effort he would make would be treated with respect. He was, however, a vigorous supporter of the Kaiser and of German autocracy, and while his appointment might mean that Germany was desirous of peace it did not mean that she had changed her ways. Three days before the appointment of Prince Maximilian, President Wilson, in an address delivered in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, had restated the issues of the war, declaring (1) for impartial justice, (2) settlement to be made in the common interests of all, (3) no leagues within the common family of the league of nations, (4) no selfish economic combination within that league, and (5) all international agreements and treaties of every kind must be made known in their entirety to the rest of the world.

Prince Maximilian, coming into power undoubtedly for the purpose of arranging a peace, proceeded at once to make a new peace offer. He based his action on President Wilson's speech and on October 4th sent to President Wilson, through the Swiss Government, the following note:

The German Government requests the President of the United States to take in hand the restoration of peace, acquaint all the belligerent states with this request, and invite them to send plenipotentiaries for the purpose of opening negotiations. It accepts the program set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress on January 8th, and in his later pronouncements, especially his speech of September 27th, as a basis for peace negotiations. With a view to avoiding further bloodshed the German Government requests the immediate conclusion of an armistice on land and on water and in the air.

He followed this note on October 5th with an address before the German
Reichstag, of which the following are the most important points:

In accordance with the Imperial decree of September 30th, the German Empire has undergone a basic alteration of its politic leadership. As successor to Count George F. von Hertling, whose services in behalf of the Fatherland deserve the highest acknowledgment, I have been summoned by the Emperor to lead the new government. In accordance with the governmental method now introduced I submit to the Reichstag, publicly and without delay, the principles by which I propose to conduct the grave responsibilities of the office. These principles were firmly established by the agreement of the federated governments and the leaders of the majority parties in this honorable House before I decided to assume the duties of Chancellor. They contain therefore not only my own confession of political faith, but that of an overwhelming portion of the German people's representatives—that is, of the German nation—which has constituted the Reichstag on the basis of a general, equal, and secret franchise and according to their will.

Only the fact that I know the conviction and will of the majority of the people are back of me, has given me strength to take upon myself conduct of the Empire's affairs in this hard and earnest time in which we are living. One man's shoulders would be too weak to carry alone the tremendous responsibility which falls upon the government at present. Only if the people take active part in the broader sense of the word in deciding their destinies, in other words, if responsibility also extends to the majority of their freely elected political leaders, can the leading statesman confidently assume his part of the responsibility in the service of folk and Fatherland.

My resolve to this has been especially lightened for me by the fact that prominent leaders of the laboring class have found a way in the new government to the highest offices of the Empire. I see therein a sure guarantee that the new government will be supported by the confidence of the broad masses of the people, without whose true support the whole undertaking would be compelled to failure in advance. Hence what I say today is not only in my own name, and those of my official helpers, but in the name of the German people.

The program of the majority parties, upon which I take my stand, contains first, an acceptance of the answer of the former Imperial Government to Pope Benedict's note of August 1, 1916, and an unconditional acceptance of the Reichstag resolution of July 19th, the same year. It further declares willingness to join the general league of nations based on the foundation of equal rights for all, both strong and weak. It considers the solution of the Belgian question to lie in the complete rehabilitation of Belgium, particularly of its independence and territorial integrity. An effort shall also be made to reach an understanding on the question of indemnity. The program will not permit the peace treaties hitherto concluded to be a hindrance to the conclusion of the general peace. Its particular aim is that popular representative bodies shall be formed immediately on a broad basis in the Baltic provinces, in Lithuania and Poland. We will promote the realization of necessary preliminary conditions therefore without delay by the introduction of civilian rule. All these lands shall regulate their constitutions and their relations with neighboring peoples without external interference.

He went on to point out the progressive political developments in Prussia and declared that the "message of the King of Prussia promising the democratic franchise must be fulfilled quickly and completely."

President Wilson did not find Prince Maximilian's proposal wholly satisfactory, and on October 8th, he inquired of the Imperial Chancellor whether the meaning of the proposal was that the German Government accepted the terms laid down in his address to the Congress of the United States and in subsequent addresses; and whether its object in entering into discussions would be only to agree upon the practical details of their application. He also suggested that so long as the armies of the Central Powers were upon the soil of the governments with which the United States was associated, he would not feel at liberty to propose a cessation of arms to those governments. He also inquired whether the Imperial Chancellor was speaking merely for the constituted authorities of the Empire, who had so far conducted the war.

President Wilson's reply aroused much difference of opinion among the
Allies, but on the whole was regarded as a clever diplomatic move.

The German Government responded to these questions of the President on October 12th, by a message signed by Dr. W. S. Solf, who had just been appointed Imperial Foreign Secretary. In this reply the German Government declared that it did accept President Wilson's terms; that it was ready to comply with the suggestion of the President and withdraw its troops from Allied territory, and that the German Government was representing in all its actions the will of the great majority of the German people.

Germany had, indeed, made enormous concessions, and the German people appeared to have taken for granted that such an offer would be accepted. An Amsterdam despatch declared: "People in Berlin are kissing one another in the street, though they are perfect strangers and shouting peace congratulations to each other. The only words heard anywhere in Germany are 'Peace at last'."

The President however, had been struck by the news coming in from day to day of new atrocities in France, and of new cases of submarine murders, and in his reply of October 14th, he declared that while he was ready to refer the question of an armistice to the judgment and advice of military advisers of the government of the United States and the Allied governments, he felt sure that none of those governments would consent to consider an armistice as long as the armed forces of Germany continued the illegal and inhuman practices which they were persisting in. He also emphasized the fact that no armistice would be accepted that would not provide absolutely satisfactory safeguards and guarantees of the maintenance of the military supremacy of the armies of the United States and of the Allies in the field. The President also called the attention of the Government of Germany to that clause of his address on the Fourth of July in which he had demanded "the destruction of every arbitrary power that can separately, secretly and of its single choice disturb the peace of the world, or, if it cannot be presently destroyed, at least its reduction to virtual impotency." He declared that the power which had hitherto controlled the German nation was of the sort thus described, and that its alteration actually constituted a condition precedent to peace.

This answer of the President was greeted with approval in the United States and everywhere in the Allied countries. It meant that the Imperial Power of Germany was not to be allowed to hide itself behind a so-called reorganization done under its own direction. As one of the Senators of the United States expressed it: "It is an unequivocal demand that the Hohenzollerns shall get out."

During these negotiations the Allied armies under Marshal Foch had been driving the enemy before them. When Baron Burian was making his peace offer on behalf of Austria-Hungary the Americans were engaged in pinching off the St. Mihiel salient, and about that date the British were launching their great attack on the St. Quentin defenses. The reports of the great Allied drive indicated a constant succession of Allied victories.

On September 19th, the British advanced into the Hindenburg line, northwest of St. Quentin, and on September 20th, while the American guns were shelling Metz, the British were advancing steadily near Cambrai and La Bassee.

Day by day the advance proceeded. On September 26th, the first American army smashed through the Hindenburg line for an average gain of seven miles, between the Meuse and the Aisne rivers on a twenty-mile front. On September 27th, the French gained five miles in an advance east of Rheims, and the British were attacking in the Cambrai sector on a fourteen-mile front, crossing the Canal du Nord and piercing the Hindenburg line at several points. On September 28th, the Americans reached the Kriemhilde line, while the British were close in on Cambrai. On September 30th, the British took Messines Ridge, while the French were still advancing between the Aisne and Vesle Rivers. On October 1st, the French troops entered St. Quentin and the British took the northern and western suburbs of Cambrai. During the next week an enveloping movement was instituted north and south of Lille. On October 5th, the Germans evacuated Lille, on October 9th the British took Cambrai.

In these drives the American colored troops played a conspicuous part. The entire Three hundred and sixty-fifth regiment, composed wholly of colored troops, was later awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre, or War Cross, by the French Government. It was a well-deserved honor, for the boys of the Three hundred and sixty-fifth bore themselves with great gallantry in the September and October offensive in the Champagne sector and suffered heavy losses. In conferring the Croix de Guerre, the citation dealt in considerable detail with the valor of particular officers and praised the courage and tenacity of the whole regiment.

The Germans were retreating in Belgium day by day, under the attacks of the Belgian and French armies. On October 11th the Germans evacuated the Chemin des Dames. On October 16th the Germans began the evacuation of the Belgian coast region and each day increased the number of Belgian towns once more in Allied control.

CHAPTER XLVIII

BATTLES IN THE AIR

He who conquers the fear of death is master of his fate. Upon this philosophy fifty thousand young men of the warring nations went forth to do battle among the clouds. The story of these battles is the real romance of the World War. In 1914 no one had ever known and history had never recorded a struggle to the death in the air. When the war ended a new literature of adventure had been created, a literature emblazoned with superb heroisms, with God-like daring, and with such utter disdain of death that they were raised out of the olden ranks of mere earth-crawling mankind and became supermen of the air.

Some of these heroic names became household words during the war. These were the aces of the French, American and German air-forces. The British adopted a policy in news concerning their airmen similar to that governing their publication of submarine sinkings. They argued that the naming of British, Canadian and Australian aces would direct the attacks of German aviators against the most useful men in the British forces. They also felt that publicity would tend toward the swagger which in English slang was "swank" and toward a deterioration in discipline.

Raoul Lufberry, Quentin Roosevelt, son of ex-President Roosevelt, and
Edward Rickenbacher were names that figured extensively in news of the
American air forces.

Lufberry and Roosevelt were killed in action. Rickenbacher, after dozens of hair-raising escapes from death, came through the war without injury. The pioneer of American aviators in the war was William Thaw of Yale, who formed the original Lafayette Escadrille.

Besides these men, America produced a number of other brilliant aces, an ace being one who brought down five enemy planes, each victory being attested by at least three witnesses.

The French had as their outstanding aces Georges Guynemer and Rene Fonck. Guynemer went into the flying game as a mechanician. He became the most formidable human fighting machine on the western front before he was sent to death in a blazing airplane.

Lieut. Rene Fonck ended the war with a total of seventy-five official aerial victories. He had an additional forty Huns to his credit but not officially confirmed. His greatest day was when he brought down six planes. His quickest work was the shooting down of three Germans in twenty seconds.

He fought three distinct battles in the air when, on May 8, 1918, he brought down six German airplanes in one day. All three engagements were fought within two hours. In all, Fonck fired only fifty-six shots, an average of little more than nine bullets for each enemy brought down—an extraordinary record, in view of the fact that aviators often fired hundreds of rounds without crippling their opponent.

The first fight, in which Lieutenant Fonck brought down three German machines, lasted only a minute and a half, and the young Frenchman fired only twenty-two shots. Fonck was leading two other companions on a patrol in the Moreuil-Montdidier sector on May 8th, when the French squadron met three German two-seater airplanes coming toward them in arrow formation. Signaling to his companions, Lieutenant Fonck dived at the leading German plane and, with a few shots sent it down in flames. Fonck turned to the left, and the second enemy flier followed in an effort to attack him from behind, but the Frenchman made a quick turn above him and, with five shots, sent the second German to death. Ten seconds had barely elapsed between the two victories.

The third enemy pilot headed for home, but when Lieutenant Fonck apparently gave up the chase and turned back toward the French lines the German went after him, and was flying parallel and a little below, when Fonck made a quick turn, drove straight at him and sent him down within half a mile of the spot where his two comrades hit the earth.

The German heroes were the celebrated Captain Boelke, and the no less famous inventor of the "flying circus," Count von Richthofen. Captain Boelke caused a great many Allied "crashes" by hiding in clouds and diving straight at planes flying beneath him. As he came within range, he opened up with a stream of machine-gun bullets. If he failed to get his prey, his rush carried him past his opponent into safety. He rarely re-attacked. Count von Richthofen was responsible for many airplane squadron tactics that later were used on both sides. The planes under his command were gaily painted for easy identification during the thick of a fight. Their usual method was to cut off single planes or small groups of Allied planes, and to circle around them in the method employed by Admiral Dewey for the reduction of the Spanish forts and ships in the Battle of Manila Bay.

The dangers of aerial warfare were instrumental in producing high chivalry in all the encampments of air men. Graves of fallen aviators were marked and decorated by their former foes, and captured aviators received exceptionally good treatment, where foemen aviators could procure such treatment for them.

Until the advent of America into the war, neither side had a marked advantage in aircraft. At first Germany had a slight advantage; then the balance swung to the Allied side; but at no time was the scale tipped very much. American quantity production of airplanes, however, gave to the Entente Allies an overwhelming advantage. Final standardization of tools and design for the "Soul of the American Airplane" was not accomplished until February, 1918. Yet within eight months more than 15,000 Liberty engines, each of them fully tested and of the highest quality, were delivered.

The United States did not follow European types of engines, but in a wonderfully short time developed an engine standardized in the most recent efficiency of American industries.

According to Secretary of War Baker, an inspiring feature of this work was the aid rendered by consulting engineers and motor manufacturers, who gave up their trade secrets under the emergency of war needs. Realizing that the new design would be a government design and no firm or individual would reap selfish benefit because of its making, the motor manufacturers, nevertheless, patriotically revealed their trade secrets and made available trade processes of great commercial value. These industries also contributed the services of approximately two hundred of their best draftsmen. Parts of the first engine were turned out at twelve different factories, located all the way from Connecticut to California. When the parts were assembled the adjustment was perfect and the performance of the engine was wonderfully gratifying.

Thirty days after the assembling of the first engine preliminary tests justified the government in formally accepting the engine as the best aircraft engine produced in any country. The final tests confirmed the faith in the new motor.

British and French machines as a rule were not adapted to American manufacturing methods. They were highly specialized machines, requiring much hand work from mechanics, who were, in fact, artisans.

The standardized United States aviation engine, produced under government supervision, said Secretary of War Baker, was expected "to solve the problem of building first-class, powerful and yet comparatively delicate aviation engines by American machine methods—the same standardized methods which revolutionized the automobile industry in this country."

The manufacture of De Haviland airplanes equipped with Liberty motors was a factor in the war. One of these De Havilands without tuning up, made a non-stop trip on November 11, 1918, from Dayton, Ohio, to Washington, D. C., a distance of 430 miles, in three hours and fifty minutes. Great battle squadrons of these De Haviland planes equipped with Liberty motors made bombing raids over the German lines in the Verdun sector. Others operated as scouting and reconnaissance planes and as spotters for American artillery.

In the period from September 12th to 11 o'clock on the morning on November 11th, the American aviators brought down 473 German machines. Of this number, 353 were confirmed officially. Day bombing groups, from the time they began operations, dropped a total of 116,818 kilograms of bombs within the German lines.

Bombing operations were begun in August by the 96th Squadron, which in five flying days dropped 18,080 kilograms of bombs. The first day bombardment group began work in September, the group including the 96th, the 20th and 11th Squadrons. The 166th Squadron joined the group in November.

In twelve flying days in September the bombers dropped 3,466 kilograms of bombs; in fifteen flying days in October, 46,133 kilograms, and in four flying days in November, 17,979 kilograms.

On November 11th, the day of the signing of the armistice, there were actually engaged on the front 740 American planes, 744 pilots, 457 observers and 23 aerial gunners.

Of the total number of planes, 329 were of the pursuit type, 296 were for observation and 115 were bombers. In addition, several hundred planes of various types were being used at the instruction camps when the war ended.

America, although the last of the great nations to embark upon a great aircraft production program, was the birthplace of the airplane, the Wright Brothers being the undisputed inventors of the modern type.

Wilbur and Orville Wright made their first experiments in flying at Kittyhawk, N. C. Their first attempts were of a gliding nature and were accomplished by starting from the top of a dune or sand hill, the operator lying full length, face downward, on the under plane of the machine. During these experiments they succeeded in flying six hundred feet.

Their first flight with an airplane driven by a motor was on December 17, 1903, when they succeeded in flying about two hundred and seventy yards in fifty-nine seconds. This machine was driven by a sixteen-horse-power motor.

Santos Dumont was one of the early pioneers in aeronautical experiments. After showing a marked talent with balloons, he turned his attention to heavier-than-air machines, and in 1906 created a world's record in a flight of 230 yards at a speed of twenty-five miles an hour.

In 1907 Henry Farnum made a half circular flight in a Voisin biplane, using a fifty-horse-power motor, returning to his starting point. About this time a flight of nine minutes and fifteen seconds was recorded by Delagrande on a Voisin constructed biplane.

The first previously announced public flight was made on July 4, 1908, by Glenn H. Curtiss at Hammondsport, N. Y., and was witnessed by a number of New Yorkers who had gone to Hammondsport to see the flight.

In the winter of 1913-14 Mr. Rodman Wanamaker gave Glenn H. Curtiss a commission to build a flying boat which would fly across the Atlantic. Commander Porte was brought from England, and he, with Mr. Curtiss, worked out the designs for a flying boat much larger than any previously built, and fitted with two motors instead of one. As entirely separate power plants would be used, one motor would naturally run somewhat faster than the other, and it was freely predicted that the machine could not be handled. The first trial, however, proved that it would not only fly, but that after it was once in the air, one motor could be slowed down and even stopped and the machine continue to fly. This machine was the forerunner of the seaplane, used by the American, British and other navies in the war, although somewhat changed in detail. The beginning of the war stopped the transatlantic experiments and this machine found its way into the British navy. It was christened the "America," and the larger flying boats or seaplanes which are now being built and used by the British and American navies are still known as the "America" or super-American type.

At first fighting operations were carried out by individual aviators or comparatively small squadrons, but the battles of March, 1918, witnessed the definite development of larger squadrons, maneuvering as effectively as bodies of cavalry, and in massed formation attacking infantry columns. The possibilities of the new aerial arm were further demonstrated in the creation of a barrage, as effective as that of heavy artillery, for the purpose of holding back advancing bodies of infantry.

In the first days of the German offensive there took place an aerial battle which up to that time was unique in the annals of warfare. It was a battle not merely for the purpose of gaining the mastery of the air, but to aid Allied infantry and artillery in stemming the tide of the German advance, and when the drive finally slowed down and came to a halt in Picardy, the Allied airmen had undoubtedly contributed largely to the result.

During March 21 and 22, 1918—the opening days of the great German drive—there was comparatively little aerial activity. The aviators of both sides were preparing for the impending battle, which actually began on the morning of March 23d and lasted all that day and the day following.

The story of the air battle of March 23d-24th reads like one of the most extraordinary adventure tales ever imagined. The struggle began with squadrons of airplanes ascending and maneuvering as perfectly as cavalry. They rose to dizzy heights, and, descending, swept the air close to the ground. The individual pilots of the opposing sides then began executing all manner of movements, climbing, diving, turning in every direction, and seeking to get into the best position to pour machine-gun fire into enemy airplanes. Every few minutes a machine belonging to an Allied or German squadron crashed to the ground, often in flames. At the end of the first day's fighting wrecked airplanes and the mangled bodies of aviators lay strewn all over the battle-field.

All next day, March 24th, the struggle in the air went on with unabated fury. The Allied air squadrons were now on the offensive and penetrated far inside the German lines. The German aviators counter-attacked whenever they could, and more than once succeeded in crossing the French lines. But at the close of the second day victory rested with the Allied airmen, and during the next five scarcely a German airplane took the air.

The sudden termination of the war caused speculation throughout the world concerning the future of the airplane. When rumor declared that America's newly-won pre-eminence in aviation would disappear, Captain Roy N. Francis, of the Division of Military Aeronautics, made this statement.

America cannot afford to junk the airplane fleet which has cost her so many millions of dollars. I do not believe that any other nation will do so. Even if the peace congress should decide on universal disarmament, there are still any number of uses to which airplanes can be put in time of peace.

Take the air mail service, for instance. This is now only in its infancy, but it is destined to become as common as the railway mail service. It will employ hundreds of airplanes and aviators all over the country.

Then there is the possibility of our machines being used for seacoast patrol work, a valuable addition to our coast-guard forces which save many ocean vessels from disaster every year.

They will be largely used for army dispatch work. Instead of sending official messages from post to post by the present methods, airplanes will be used after the war as they are now being used at the front.

On the Great Lakes, airplanes can be used for coast-guard work, as on the seacoast, and they can also be used for patrolling the lakes themselves. Think how many wrecked lake vessels might have been saved in the past had there been an airplane nearby to carry its message of distress and guide rescue ships to the scene.

Forest patrol is still another opening for the use of expert aviators. Every year, almost, our great forest fires in the northwest demonstrate that our present methods of prevention of forest fires are faulty; chiefly because the fires are not discovered while they are still smoldering. Constant airplane patrol over our great forests would make forest fires a thing of the past.

Then there are any number of commercial uses to which airplanes can be put. Instead of a cargo of bombs, a commercial airplane could carry a cargo of small package freight for which immediate delivery is necessary.

The use of the airplane for passenger carrying is now being developed. The huge Caproni and Handley-Page machines will be used for this purpose in the future. Thousands of persons will want to fly just for the novelty, and the possibility of accidents will be reduced to the minimum.

Again, there is the need for scientific research and improvement of the airplane, which will keep scores of men and machines busy for years.

It will not be necessary, of course, to maintain the numerous government training fields for aviators after the war, but some of the best of them should be retained. I do not believe it will be necessary to discharge a single pilot or observer from the army or to junk a single undamaged airplane after the war.

Henry Woodhouse, Governor of the Aero Club of America and a world-wide authority on aeronautics, made the following forecast:

Aircraft capable of lifting fifteen tons, with a speed of one hundred miles an hour, are now in actual production. The first of the American-built Caproni planes, equipped with four Liberty motors and developing 1,750 horse-power has just been successfully tested. This giant plane has a total lifting capacity of 40,000 pounds, or twenty tons. The super-Handley-Page or the Caproni could easily carry fifty bags, or more than a ton of mail. This means 100,000 letters. Judging the future development of aircraft by what has taken place in the last two years, we may look for the building of a 5,000-horse-power airplane, possibly within a year.

If the people of the various cities along the eight great air-ways already proposed insist on it, at least a dozen additional aerial mail lines can be established within twelve months. This can be done by utilizing only machines not needed by the army or navy. That means it will be possible to send by postplane at least 50,000,000 of the 100,000,000 day and night letters, and at least 25,000,000 of the 50,000,000 special delivery letters that are sent each year in the United States.

Postoffice officials estimate that the average cost of telegraphic day and night letters now going over the wires is close to one dollar each. Special delivery letters average about thirteen cents apiece.

This makes a total of more than fifty million dollars' worth of potential aerial mail business that is simply waiting for the establishment of aerial mail routes which can easily be established within the next twelve months.

Four hundred miles is the distance over which postplane day mail is most effective. Aerial mail letters are effective over any distance, since, with proper stations, light signals and guides for night postplane flying, the air mail can be carried more than one thousand miles between the hours of 6 P. M. and 8 A. M.

The cost of aerial mail night and day letters will be less than that of wire communication. The cost of an aerial mail letter is sixteen cents for two ounces. For this price there can be sent a message that would cost five dollars to send by telegraph.

The estimate of $50,000,000 of potential postplane business takes no account of the possibilities of transporting parcel post aerial mail. One of the Caproni 2,100-horse-power machines now in operation could easily transport 2,500 pounds of mail. At least $25,000,000 worth of parcel post could be sent by airplane.

Enthusiasts who look forward to the transatlantic transportation of aerial mail as certain to come within the next twelve-month assert that there is another twenty-five million dollars' worth of transatlantic mail waiting for an aerial mail service. They point out that Uncle Sam now pays eighty cents a pound to American steamships to carry transatlantic mail and that a charge of one dollar per letter across the Atlantic would be a paying proposition.

[Illustration: Painting]
  Copyright Illustrated London News.
  PICKING ONE "OFF THE TAIL"
  The German Albatross airplane going down in flames was in pursuit of
  the light British "Quick" machine seen on the left, when suddenly a
  British Nieuport (at the right) dived through the clouds. The
  Albatross nose-dived, the British following with his guns working, and
  soon the German burst into flames and crashed to earth, his pursuer
  straightening out his course.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  CARRYING THE WAR INTO GERMANY
  Mechanics "tuning up" one of the giant British bombing machines
  developed in 1918 that raided Germany. The size is shown by comparison
  with the human figures. Note the forward gunner, the pilot, the rear
  gunner and the window of the commodious cock-pit within which the
  airmen could stand upright.

Charges of mismanagement and graft were investigated by the United States Senate and by the Department of Justice. Former Justice of the United States Supreme Court Charles E. Hughes was named by President Wilson to conduct the latter inquiry. Waste was found, due largely to the emergency nature of the contract. Justice Hughes recommended that Col. Edward Deeds, of the United States Signal Corps, be tried by court martial for his connection with certain contracts, and recommended that several other persons be tried in the United States courts. Justice Hughes and the Senate Investigation Committee gave their unqualified approval to the management of America's aircraft production by John D. Ryan. Mr. Ryan resigned his charge as head of the Aircraft Production Board in November, 1918. His last public announcement was of the invention of an aerial telephone, by which the commander of a squadron standing on the ground could communicate with-aviators flying in battle formation.

CHAPTER XLIX

HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OF THE AMERICAN FORCES

Since the fateful day when Cain slew Abel, thereby setting a precedent for human warfare, no fighter has been so well protected from disease and discomfort of mind and body, so speedily cured of his wounds, as the American soldier and sailor during the World War.

The basis of this remarkable achievement was sanitary education preached first by competent physicians and sociologists; then by newspapers to the civilian population; and ultimately by the soldiers and sailors themselves, each man acting as an evangel of personal and community health and sanitation. In 1914, before war was declared, the words "venereal diseases" were relegated to the advertisements of quacks and patent medicines. When the war ended, virtually every young and old man and woman knew the meaning of the words and the miseries that come in their train. So it was with other details of the care of the human body, with sewage problems, with the grave community question of pure water, with the use of intoxicating beverages, and with other problems inter-woven with the health and happiness of humanity.

Among the leaders in this wide-flung campaign of education was the American Red Cross. Starting with a mere nominal membership before the war, its roster rose to the mighty total of more than 28,000,000 American men, women and children when the war ended. More than $300,000,000 was poured into the American Red Cross treasury. In addition to these contributions of money, came the free services of millions of Americans, mostly women. Red Cross workshops dotted the land, and from these came bandages, sweaters, comfort-kits, trench necessities, clothing for homeless refugees, and a vast quantity of material aid in every conceivable form. American Red Cross workers during the war knitted 14,089,000 garments for the army and navy. In addition, the workers turned out 253,196,000 surgical dressings, 22,255,000 hospital garments and 1,464,000 refugee garments. Sewing chapters repaired old clothing and sent it overseas to the orphaned and the widowed, and millions of Americans learned the sublime lesson of sacrifice through the Red Cross—a lesson that left its imprint upon America for generations.

The work of the American Red Cross extended through many lands. It followed the flags of the Entente Allies into Palestine, Mesopotamia, India, South Africa, and other battle-grounds. Its work on the western front was a miracle of achievement. In Russia through the Red Terror of the Revolution the workers of the American Red Cross went serenely about their tasks of mercy, relieving the hungry, aiding the sick, and clothing the ragged peasants.

Henry P. Davidson left the firm of J. P. Morgan & Company to devote his administrative genius to the affairs of the American Red Cross. Other men and women of rare executive ability joined in the free tender of their services to the work of the Red Cross.

While the organization strove mightily against famines, wounds and disease overseas, it was suddenly confronted during the period from September 8th to November 9th, 1918, with the severest epidemic America had experienced in generations. Returning American troops brought the germs of the malady known as "Spanish influenza" into New York and Boston. Thence it spread throughout the country. During its brief career the epidemic claimed a total of 82,306 deaths in forty-six American cities, having a combined population of 23,000,000. Philadelphia, a great center of war industry, with the Philadelphia Navy Yard harboring thousands of sailors and marines, showed the highest mortality in proportion to population, 7.4 per 1,000; Baltimore with 6.7 per 1,000 showed the next greatest mortality.

The record of the Red Cross in this epidemic was one of instant service. Hundreds of thousands of masks were made in Red Cross workrooms, and these were worn by nurses and by members of families in afflicted homes.

On May 1, 1917, just before the appointment of the War Council, the American Red Cross had 486,194 members working through 562 chapters. On July 31, 1918, the organization numbered 20,648,103 annual members, besides 8,000,000 members of the Junior Red Cross—a total enrollment of over one-fourth the population of the United States. These members carried on their Red Cross work through 3,854 chapters, which again divided themselves into some 30,000 branches and auxiliaries.

The total actual collections from the first war fund amounted to more than $115,000,000. The subscriptions to the second war fund amounted to upward of $176,000,000. From membership dues the collections approximated $24,500,000.

The Home Service of the Red Cross with its more than 40,000 workers, extended its ministrations of sympathy and counsel each month to upward of 100,000 families left behind by soldiers at the front.

Supplementing, but not duplicating, the work of the American Red Cross, were the services of the Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., Knights of Columbus, Jewish Welfare Association, Salvation Army, American Library Association and other bodies.

These operated under the general supervision of the War and Navy departments: Commissions on Training Camp Activities. Raymond B. Fosdick was the chairman of both these bodies. Concerning these commissions, President Wilson declared:

I do not believe it an exaggeration to say that no army ever before assembled has had more conscientious and painstaking thought given to the protection and stimulation of its mental, moral and physical manhood. Every endeavor has been made to surround the men, both here and abroad, with the kind of environment which a democracy owes to those who fight in its behalf. In this work the Commissions on Training Camp Activities have represented the government and the government's solicitude that the moral and spiritual resources of the nation should be mobilized behind the troops. The country is to be congratulated upon the fine spirit with which organizations and groups of many kinds, some of them of national standing, have harnessed themselves together under the leadership of the government's agency in a common ministry to the men of the army and navy.

Afloat and ashore the organizations operating under the supervision of the two commissions gave to the men of the American forces home care, suitable recreation, and constant protection. The club life of the army and navy, both in the training camps and after the men went into the service, was most capably directed by the Y. M. C. A., Knights of Columbus, and the Jewish Welfare Association. Non-sectarianism was the rule in all of the huts and clubs conducted by these organizations. Catholic, Protestant and Jewish chaplains mingled with workers of the Salvation Army, with professional prize-fighters who became athletic instructors, with actors and actresses who contributed their talents freely to the entertainment of soldiers and sailors. Moving-picture shows, boxing contests, continuation schools, canteens where women workers served American-made dishes—these were some of the activities following the men. The Y. M. C. A. and Knights of Columbus bore the largest share of this work. More than $300,000,000 was contributed by the people of America to the maintenance of these activities.

The other organizations rounded out the work of the first two organizations and filled in with special attention to needs on which the others did not specialize.

The larger organization, the Y. M. C. A., was chosen by the government to carry out a portion of the government program—the conducting of the canteens.

The Knights of Columbus specialized in comforts less considered by other war relief organizations.

Nothing gave greater relaxation to the fighting man, coming from the trenches, or the battle line caked with mud and blood and weary with long hours, than a shower bath, and generous facilities were provided close to the fighting front.

Back of the lines in the rest billets and concentration camps, provisions were less generous than at the front until the Knights of Columbus took up the task of seeing that the men who were temporarily away from the active fighting had these facilities for bathing. It was but one of the many activities of the Knights of Columbus, but one of the most appreciated.

One of the first requisitions made by Rev. John B. De Valles, one of the first chaplains sent over by the Knights of Columbus, was for a shower bath and he set it up in connection with his headquarters in a little French town and it was overworked from the first. From this spread the movement for establishing shower baths in club houses being opened behind the lines and in villages.

There was no preaching in a Knights of Columbus hall or club room, but there was clean moral environment and healthy recreation and amusement, for this was proven the thing to keep up the morale of fighting men.

The Y. M. C. A. built 1,500 huts in Europe costing from $2,000 to $20,000 each, equipped with canteen, reading and writing and recreational facilities to soldiers. It operated twenty-eight different leave areas with hotels that had a total of 35,000 beds. In addition, in Paris, port towns, and several big centers in the war zone there were "Y" hotels for transient soldiers where one could get a clean bed and a good meal at about half the price charged by French hotels. Over 3,000 movie and theatrical shows a week were provided free, and 300 "Y" athletic directors had charge of the sports in the American army, operating 836 athletic fields. Enormous quantities of cookies and chocolate and cigarettes were supplied.

A hundred of the best known educators from America directed educational work. The staff consisted of Professor Erskine of Columbia University, Professor Daly of Harvard, Professor Coleman of Chicago University, Professor Appleton of the University of Kansas and Frank Spaulding, superintendent of the Cleveland public schools.

Seconding the work of the Y. M. C. A., its sister organization, the Y. W. C. A., extended its activities from the training camps of America to the battle-fields of Europe.

At the close of its first year of America's participation in the war, the Y. W. C. A. had six established lines of work in France:

Hostess Houses, clubs for French working women and business girls, clubs for nurses with the American army, clubs for women of the signal corps, clubs for British women (Waac's) working with the American army, and recreation work for all women employed in any way by the American Expeditionary Force. In one year its activities spread to twenty-five cities, and it had forty-three units.

The Hostess Houses were at Paris and Tours. The Hotel Petrograd, on the Rue Caumartin, was leased in Paris and turned out to be one of the most interesting centers of American life in France. It was run on the most liberal lines, in a thoroughly democratic way. The meals were good and in the big dining-room men were admitted on the same footing as women. There were two of these Hostess Houses at Tours.

For the girls of the signal corps twenty-two homes were opened and there were huts for the Waacs at Bourges and Tours. Y. W. C. A. secretaries were attached to twenty base hospital units and opened fourteen clubs for nurses.

The most interesting and unique work of the Y. W. C. A. was that of its foyers for French working women and business girls. There were thirteen of these in Lyons, Rouen, Bourges, Tours, Ste. Etienne, Paris and Mont Lucon.

The Salvation Army erected hotels at the various large training camps in
America, and its workers made American doughnuts for the soldiers close
to the battle-lines in France. The work done by the men and women of the
Salvation Army aided materially in bringing the heart of America into
France.

The Jewish Welfare Association not only performed notable service in following the men from training camps into actual service, but it also planned and executed a great reconstruction program under the direction of Felix M. Warburg, chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee.

The American Library Association solved the grave problem of providing the soldiers and sailors with suitable reading matter. Each of the cantonments had its special library building in charge of a trained librarian, and interesting literature followed the men into the field through the services of this organization.

Some idea of the work of these various organizations is gained by reading the following order received by Raymond B. Fosdick at his headquarters in Washington after the steamship Kansas carrying supplies for the various huts at American field quarters, was sunk:

Send 20 tons plain soap, 20 tons condensed milk, 10 tons chocolate, 5 tons cocoa, 2 tons tea, 5 tons coffee, 5 tons vanilla wafers, 50 tons sugar, 20 tons flour, 2 tons fruit essences, 2 tons lemonade powder, 120,000 Testaments, 120,000 hymn-books, tons of magazines and other literature, 30 tons writing-paper and envelopes, 50,000 folding chairs, 500 camp cots, 2,000 blankets, 20 typewriters, 60 tents, 75 moving-picture machines, 200 phonographs, 5,000 records, 1 ton ink blotters, $75,000 worth athletic goods, 30 automobiles and trucks.

The order was filled at once.

Besides the associations above enumerated, other volunteer organizations contributed to the health and happiness of American soldiers and sailors. The Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania established two clubs, one in Paris, the other in Tours, both of which performed notable services in feeding and restoring the spirits of American soldiers and sailors. The club in Paris was under the direction of the Rev. Frederick W. Beekman, and that at Tours was directed by Amos Tuck French. Mrs. Barclay Warburton of Philadelphia was designated by Governor Brumbaugh as Commissioner-General of Overseas Work for the Emergency Aid. Other states had similar organizations looking after the comfort of the men.

But it was upon the professional doctors, nurses and sanitarians that the bulk of the task devolved. This task included the prevention as well as the cure of maladies menacing the American forces. It reached out into years after the war into the problems of re-education and re-habilitation of the shell-shocked and the wounded. Major-General William C. Gorgas, former Surgeon General of the Army, stated this concept when he said:

"The whole conception of governmental and national responsibility for caring for the wounded has undergone radical change during the months of study given the subject by experts serving with the Medical Officers' Reserve Corps and others consulting with them. Instead of the old idea that responsibility ended with the return of the soldier to private life with his wounds healed and such pension as he might be given, it is now considered that it is the duty of the government to equip and re-educate the wounded man, after healing his wounds, and to return him to civil life ready to be as useful to himself and his country as possible."

To carry out this idea reconstruction hospitals were established in large centers of population. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Paul, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Memphis, Richmond, Atlanta and New Orleans were sites of these institutions. Each was planned as a 500-bed hospital but with provision for enlargement to 1,000 beds if needed.

These hospitals were not the last step in the return of the wounded soldiers to civil life. When the soldiers were able to take up industrial training, further provision was ready.

Arrangements were made by the Department of Military Orthopedics to care for soldiers, so far as orthopedics (the prevention of deformity) was concerned, continuously until they were returned to civil life. Orthopedic surgeons were attached to the medical force near the firing line and to the different hospitals back to the base orthopedic hospital which was established within one hundred miles of the firing line. In this hospital, in addition to orthopedic surgical care, there was equipment for surgical reconstruction work and "curative workshops" in which men acquired ability to use injured members while doing work interesting and useful in itself. This method supplanted the old and tiresome one of prescribing a set of motions for a man to go through with no other purpose than to re-acquire use of his injured part.

Instructors and examiners for all the troops were furnished by the Department of Military Orthopedic Surgery. A number of older and more experienced surgeons acted as instructors and supervisors for each of the groups into which the army was divided.

A peculiar condition arising from the use of heavy artillery in the war was that called "shell-shock."

The most pathetic wrecks of war were soldiers suffering from shattered nerves. Paris had many of them. They appeared to be normal. But they were human wrecks.

Shell-shock or the aftermath of illness from wounds left them in weakened health, subject to violent heart attacks. Most of them lacked energy and perseverance. They became awkward, like big children. If employment was found for them—for many had large families to support—they quickly lost their jobs through apathy or collapse.

A society in Paris did everything possible to relieve the sufferings of these victims of the war. It operated with the authorization of the French Government under the name "L'Assistance aux Blesses Nerveux de la Guerre."

American hospitals after the war contained many of these cases. Some of the victims became incurably insane.

Besides the noble work done by the great army of American physicians, surgeons and nurses, in caring for soldiers and sailors, a service of scarcely less magnitude was rendered to the civilian populations of France, Belgium and Italy. Tuberculosis in France was a real plague, taking a toll of 80,000 lives every year. American physicians and nurses preached the doctrine of fresh air, care of the teeth and proper food for children. Almost immediately this campaign of sanitation had its effect in a decreasing death-rate from tuberculosis.

European nations generally were benefited by the stay of the American army overseas. The straightforward manner in which the social evil was attacked had direct benefits. The important detail of dental care also received an interest through the advent of the American soldier. The London Daily Mail made this comment on that question:

"One thing about the American soldiers and sailors must strike English people when they see these gallant fighters, and that is the soundness and general whiteness of their teeth. From childhood the 'Yank' is taught to take care of his teeth. He has 'tooth drill' thrice daily and visits his dentist at fixed periods, say, every three or four months. If by chance a tooth does decay, the rot is at once arrested by gold or platinum filling. American dentists never extract a tooth. No matter how badly decayed it may be, they save the molar by crowning it with gold.

"The United States soldiers have set us a splendid example in this matter. They fairly shame the ordinary 'Tommy' by the brilliance of their molars, but they will do so no longer if young English mothers will only wake up to the fact that bad teeth cause bad health, and that doctors' and dentists' bills will be saved by the regular use of the tooth-brush."

CHAPTER L

THE PIRATES OF THE UNDER-SEAS

Germany relied upon the submarine to win the war. This in a nut-shell explains the main reason why the United States was drawn into the World War. Von Tirpitz, the German Admiral, obsessed with the theory that no effective answer could be made to the submarine, convinced the German High Command and the Kaiser that only through unrestricted submarine warfare could England be starved and the war brought to an end with victory for Germany. Since August, 1914, the theory held by von Tirpitz and his party of extremists had been combated by Prince Maximilian of Baden and by Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg and by others high in the council of the Kaiser. These men pointed out that, leaving out such questions as piracy on the high seas, the drowning of women and children, the destruction of the property of neutrals, there still remained the question of expediency. America, they asserted, was certain to enter the war if unrestricted submarine warfare was decreed. These men were denounced as cowards and von Tirpitz finally triumphed.

The submarine employed by the Germans was of the type designed by Simon Lake, an American. The Germans bought two submarines built by Mr. Lake at Kronstadt for the Russians during the Russian-Japanese war. Various improvements upon the Diesel engine and special training for submarine crews enabled the German navy to strike terrible blows during the early part of the war.

Little by little, however, the Allies discovered the answer to the submarine menace. One of these was the convoy: fleets of merchant vessels surrounded by fast destroyers made life a misery for the submarine crews. In the early days vessels of all character fled from the approach of the submarine. The destroyers of the convoys, however, adopted a different method. They rushed at the periscopes in efforts to ram the submarine, and as they raced over the spot where the submarine had been at the rate of twenty-two knots or more an hour, they dropped huge containers, dubbed "ash cans", containing depth charges of trinitrotoluol.

Sea planes carrying bombs, small dirigible balloons known as "blimps," observation balloons moored on the decks of warships, steel nets, and especially devised anti-submarine mines, were also factors in the general work of submarine destruction.

In addition to all these, every ship, both cargo carrier and war vessel, had its well-trained gun crew, and hundreds of thousands of keen-eyed mariners daily and nightly swept the seas with binoculars watching for anything that resembled a periscope.

As a consequence of this combination of destructive agencies the British Admiralty was enabled to announce at the close of the war that more than 150 German submarines had been destroyed.

The names of the commanding officers of the German submarines which had been disposed of were given out by the government in order to substantiate to the world the statement made by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons on August 7th, and denied in the German papers, that "at least 150 of these ocean pests had been destroyed." The statement included no officers commanding the Austrian submarines, of which a number had been destroyed, and did not exhaust the list of German submarines put out of action.

The fate of the officers was given, and of these the majority (116) were dead; twenty-seven were prisoners of war, six were interned in neutral countries where they took refuge, and one succeeded in returning to Germany.

Further light on the subject of German submarines was given on September 18, 1918, by Senator William H. Thompson of Kansas in a speech in which he told the Senate:

The submarine is no longer a serious menace to transportation across the seas. It is, of course, an annoyance and a great hindrance, and as long as there is a single submarine in the waters of the sea every effort must be made by the allied powers to destroy it, for it is an outlaw and must not exist. The truth is that Germany never had more than 320 submarines all told, including all construction before and since the war.

We have positive knowledge of the destruction of more than one-half of these submarines, and we also know that it is practically impossible for Germany to keep in operation more than 10 per cent of those remaining. It is therefore reduced to a negligible quantity so far as its ultimate effect upon the result of the war is concerned.

1 saw a reliable statement in France to the effect that there is one ship of some character leaving the eastern shores of America for the war zone every six minutes, and it is only a few vessels which are ever torpedoed, estimated at about one per cent. This is less than the loss by storm and accident in the earlier days of transportation and is not much greater than such loss now. We must bear in mind that we read only of the ships which have been torpedoed and see but little account of the hundreds of ships which pass over the ocean safely and undisturbed. Three hundred thousand soldiers are conveyed across the Atlantic every thirty days, and an average of about 500,000 tons of freight carried to the French coast. There are warehouses in only one of the many ports of France with a capacity of over 2,000,000 tons.

It is to the navy that the credit for the destruction of this outlaw seagoing craft is due. The navy is and has been the backbone of this war, the same as it has been of almost every great war in history. Without the allied navy the submarine would have perhaps accomplished its nefarious purpose in starving the European allies and in preventing them from securing the necessary munitions of war to defend themselves. It has utterly failed in this respect. The Allies are amply supplied with food, and there are provisions enough on hand now, if every ship should be sunk, to last the Allies and armies for months. The destroyer is the ship which has brought Germany to her knees in submarine warfare and will keep her there. We have not enough destroyers, and it is for this reason we are obliged in this great transportation problem to run risks which would not be taken under ordinary conditions. If every ship was escorted by a sufficient number of destroyers I doubt if there would be a single ship of any consequence sunk, except by the merest accident.

Upon the same subject, Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the British Admiralty, on October 14th, reviewing the British effort in the war said that during 1918 the casualties of the British on the western front equaled those of all the Allies combined. The British navy, he said, since the beginning of the war had lost in fighting ships of all classes a total of 230, more than twice the losses in war vessels of all the Allies.

In addition to these, Great Britain had lost 450 auxiliary craft, such as mine-sweepers and trawlers, making a total of 680. He revealed the fact that the effective warship barrage, which had been drawn between the Orkneys and Norway against German submarines and surface craft, was, during the later months of the war, maintained largely by ships of the United States.

The British merchant ships lost since 1914 exceeded 2,400, representing a gross tonnage of 7,750,000, nearly three times the aggregate loss of all other allied and neutral countries.

In his statement on the submarine situation he said:

In February, 1917, the ruthless submarine warfare confronted us, whilst the armies in France at that time were feeling a sense of superiority over the enemy which was illustrated by the successes of the battle of Arras, the taking of Vimy Ridge, the advance between the Ancre and the Somme, the offensive in Champagne, Chemin des Dames, Messines and Passchendaele Ridges. Thus we felt, and rightly felt, that the weakest front at that time was the sea—not on the surface, but under water.

The whole of the available energies of the Allies were consequently thrown into overcoming the submarine and the menace which threatened to destroy the lines of communication of the Alliance. The reduced sinkings which have been published since that period show how we gradually overcame that menace—and today most men say that the submarine menace is a thing of the past.

That it is a thing of the past in so far as it can never win the war for the enemy or enable the enemy to prevent us from winning the war, provided we do not underrate the danger but take adequate steps against it, I affirm now as the opinion of the British Admiralty; but it is a menace that comes and goes.

The end of the great submarine menace came on November 20th, when twenty German submarines were officially surrendered to Rear-Admiral Tyrwhitt of the British Navy, thirty miles off Harwich, England. Within the following week more than eighty other German submarines and a number of Austrian craft were also surrendered to the British. The spectacle of the surrender was most impressive.

After steaming some twenty miles across the North Sea, the Harwich forces, which consisted of five light cruisers and twenty destroyers, were sighted. The flagship of Admiral Tyrwhitt, the commander, was the Curacao. High above about the squadron hung a big observation balloon.

The squadron, headed by the flagship, then steamed toward the Dutch coast, followed by the Coventry, Dragoon, Danal and Centaur. Other ships followed in line with their navigation lights showing. The picture was a noble one as the great vessels, with the moon still shining, plowed their way to take part in the surrender of the German U-boats.

Soon after the British squadron started the "paravanes" were dropped overboard. These devices are shaped like tops and divert any mines which may be encountered, for the vessels were now entering a mine field.

Almost everyone on board donned a life belt and just as the red sun appeared above the horizon the first German submarine appeared in sight.

Soon after seven o'clock twenty submarines were seen in line, accompanied by two German destroyers, the Tibania and the Sierra Ventana, which were to take the submarine crews back to Germany after the transfer.

All the submarines were on the surface with their hatches open and their crews standing on deck. The vessels were flying no flags whatever and their guns were trained fore and aft, in accordance with the terms of surrender.

A bugle sounded on the Curacao and all the gun crews took up their stations, ready for any possible treachery.

The leading destroyer, in response to a signal from the admiral, turned and led the way towards England and the submarines were ordered to follow. They immediately did so. The surrender had been accomplished.

Each cruiser turned, and, keeping a careful lookout, steamed toward Harwich. On the deck of one of the largest of the submarines, which carried two 5.9 guns, twenty-three officers and men were counted. The craft was estimated to be nearly 300 feet in length. Its number had been painted out.

Near the Ship Wash lightship three large British seaplanes, followed by an airship, were observed. One of the submarines was seen to send up a couple of carrier pigeons and at once a signal was flashed from the admiral that it had no right to do this.

When the ships had cleared the mine field and entered the war channel the "paravanes" were hauled aboard. On reaching a point some twenty miles off Harwich the ships dropped anchor and Captain Addison went out on the warship Maidstone.

British crews were then put on board the submarines to take them into harbor. With the exception of the engine staffs all the German sailors remained on deck. The submarines were then taken through the gates of the harbor and the German crews were transferred to the transports and taken back to Germany.

As the boats went through the gates a white signal was run up on each of them with the German flag underneath.

Each German submarine commander at the transfer was required to sign a declaration to the effect that his vessel was in running order, that its periscope was intact, that its torpedoes were unloaded and that its torpedo heads were safe.

Orders had been issued forbidding any demonstration and these instructions were obeyed to the letter. There was complete silence as the submarines surrendered and as the crews were transferred.

On November 21st, the German High Seas fleet that had been protected by the submarines surrendered to the combined fleet consisting of British, American and French battleships. The British admiralty's terse statement concerning the historic spectacle follows:

The commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet has reported that at 9.30 o'clock this morning he met the first and main installment of the German high seas fleet, which is surrendering for internment. Admiral Sir David Beatty is Commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet.

On the same day another flotilla of German U-boats also was surrendered to a British squadron. There were nineteen submarines in all; the twentieth broke down on the way.

The Grand Fleet, accompanied by five American battleships and three French cruisers, steamed out at 3 o'clock on the morning of November 21st, from its Scottish base to accept the surrender. The vessels moved in two long columns.

The German fleet which surrendered consisted of nine battleships, five cruisers, seven light cruisers and fifty destroyers, Seventy-one vessels in all. There remained to be surrendered two battleships, which were under repair, and fifty modern torpedo-boat destroyers.

One German destroyer while on its way across the North Sea with the other ships of the German High Seas fleet to surrender struck a mine. It was so badly damaged that it sank.

Describing the surrender of the German warships to Sir David Beatty, the Commander-in-Chief of the grand fleet, correspondents said that after all the German ships had been taken over, the British admiral went through the line on the Queen Elizabeth, every Allied vessel being manned and greeting the admiral and the flagship with loud and ringing cheers.

[Illustration: Painting]
  GERMAN PIRACY ON THE HIGH SEAS
  After torpedoing their ship the submarine shelled the lifeboats and
  jeered at the struggles of the helpless crew.

[Illustration: Painting]
  Courtesy of Joseph A. Steinmetz, Phila.
  THE EYE OF THE SUBMARINE
  Diagram of a periscope, showing how, when its tip is lifted out of
  water, a picture of the sea's surface is reflected downward from a
  prism, through lenses, and then a lower prism, hence to the officer's
  eye. It turns in any direction.

The British grand fleet put to sea in two single lines six miles apart, and so formed as to enable the surrendering fleet to come up the center. The leading ship of the German line was sighted between 9 and 10 o'clock in the morning. It was the Seydlitz, flying the German naval ensign.

A telegram received in Amsterdam from Berlin gave this list of surrendered warships, which includes one more battleship than later reports showed:

Battleships—Kaiser, 24,113 tons; Kaiserin, 24,113 tons; Koenig Albert, 24,113 tons; Kronprinz Wilhelm, 25,000 tons; Prinzregent Luitpold, 24,113 tons; Markgraf, 25,293 tons; Grosser Kurfuerst, 25,293 tons; Bayern, 28,000 tons; Koenig, 25,293 tons, and Friedrich der Grosse, 24,113.

Battle Cruisers—Hindenburg, 27,000 tons; Derflinger, 28,000 tons; Seydlitz, 25,000 tons; Moltke, 23,000 tons, and Van Der Tann, 18,800 tons.

Light Cruisers—Bremen, 4,000 tons; Brummer, 4,000 tons; Frankfurt, 5,400 tons; Koeln, tonnage uncertain; Dresden, tonnage uncertain, and Emden, 5,400 tons.

CHAPTER LI

APPROACHING THE FINAL STAGE

The might and pride of Germany were smashed and humbled by Foch in frontal attacks divided roughly into three great sectors. The first of these attacks was delivered by the French and Americans in the southern sector which included Verdun and the Argonne. The second smash was delivered by British, French and Americans in the Cambrai sector. The third was delivered by British, Belgians, French and Americans in the Belgian sector on the north of the great battle line.

The Cambrai operation had as its first objectives the possession of the strategic railways both of which ran from Valenciennes, one to the huge distribution center at Douai; the other to Cambrai itself. To reach these objectives the Allies were obliged to cross the Sensee and the Escaut canals under infantry and artillery fire. Besides these natural obstacles, there was the famous Hunding line of fortifications erected by the Germans between the Scarpe and the Oise River.

The attack was opened in force on September 18, 1918, by the Fourth British army under General Rawlinson and the First French army under General Debeney. The assault was successful northwest of St. Quentin and determined German counter-attacks were broken down by French and British artillery fire.

The Third British army under General Byng and the Thirtieth American division co-operating with the First British army under Sir Henry Horne, attacked furiously over a fourteen-mile front toward Cambrai. The net result of this operation was the possession of the Canal du Nord, the taking of several villages, and 6,000 prisoners. This was on September 27th. The following day the same forces captured Fontaine-Notre Dame, Marcoing, Noyelles, and Cantaing. More than 200 guns were captured and 10,000 prisoners. On September 29th the Americans took Bellecourt and Nauroy, and invested the suburbs of Cambrai. The British crossed the Escaut canal and the Canadians penetrated some of the environs of Cambrai.

The resolution and ferocity of the attack thoroughly dismayed the Germans, and the salient produced by the smash forced the Teutons to evacuate the greatly prized Lens coal fields on October 3d. Horne and Byng continued their advance, the former occupying Biache-St. Vaast southwest of Douai, and the latter reaching a position five miles northwest of Cambrai.

Caught between the jaws of the pincers, the German forces occupying Cambrai made haste to escape outright capture. The city that had been the objective of British hopes and thrusts for two years, fell into the hands of the Allies. The German retreat extended over a thirty-mile front and included both St. Quentin and Cambrai. Simultaneously the German forces between Arras and St. Quentin fell steadily backward. Le Cateau and Zazeuel fell into the hands of the British October 17th, three thousand prisoners and a quantity of war material being included in the bag.

In the meantime General Mangin attacking in the Laon sector, drove the Germans from the strategic Chemin des Dames and with General Berthelot captured Berry-au-Bac, the St. Gobain massif and completed contact with Generals Pershing and Gouraud on the right and with Generals Rawlinson and Debeney on the left.

The Allied advance now became a huge steel broom, sweeping the Germans irresistibly before it. The operation extended from the Oise southeast to the Aisne, broadening thence until it included the entire front. The Hindenburg line, the Somme battle-field, the Hunding line, were all quickly overrun. The fortress of Maubeuge, fifty miles northeast of St. Quentin, which was connected with that city by a triple railway connection, was evacuated as a direct result of this operation.

When St. Quentin itself fell into the hands of Debeney, it was found that the Germans had deported the entire civilian population of 50,000.

This was the crux of the operations by Foch. Germans were given no rest; night and day the pressure continued. Every clash showed the increasing superiority of the Allies both in men and material and the corresponding deterioration of the German forces. This demoralization of the Germans extended from the High Command to the private soldier. Prisoners poured into the hands of the Allies. Evacuation of Lille was commenced on October 2d and Roubaix and Turcoing also fell.

It was the beginning of Germany's military debacle. The time was ripe for the coup-de-grace soon to be delivered by Americans co-operating with the Allies on a seventy-one mile front.

The Kaiser, Ludendorf and von Hindenburg abandoned hope. The command went forth from the German general headquarters to retreat, retreat, retreat, while Prince Maximilian of Baden appealed to America for an armistice. The sword in Germany's hand was broken. Autocracy, defeated in the eyes of its deluded subjects and discredited in the eyes of the world, was in headlong flight. Its only concern was to save as much as possible from the ruins of the ostentatious temple it had reared.

CHAPTER LII

LAST DAYS OF THE WAR

From November 1st until November 11th, the day when the armistice granting terms to Germany was signed, the collapse of the German defensive was complete. The army that under von Hindenburg and Ludendorf had smashed its way over Poland, Roumania, Serbia, Belgium, and into the heart of France, was now a military machine in full retreat. It is only justice to that machine to say that the great retreat at no place degenerated into a rout. Von Hindenburg and the German General Staff had planned a series of rear-guard actions that were effective in protecting the main bodies of infantry and artillery. Machine-gun nests and airplane attacks were the main reliance of the Germans in these maneuvers of delay, but the German field artillery also did its share.

Immense quantities of material and many thousands of prisoners were captured by the British, Canadians and Australians in the north, and by the French and Americans in the south. Simultaneously with this wide and savage drive upon the Germans along the Belgian and French fronts, came the heaviest Italian attack of the war. Before it the Austrians were swept in a torrent that was irresistible. French, English and American troops co-operated in this thrust that extended from the plains of the Piave into Trentino. The immediate effect of the Italian offensive was to force Austria to her knees in abject surrender. An armistice, humiliating in its terms, was signed by the Austrian representatives, and the back door to Germany was opened to the Allies.

Germany's frantic plea for an armistice followed. There were those in the Allied countries who maintained that nothing short of unconditional surrender should be permitted. Cooler counsel prevailed, and an armistice was offered to the German High Command through General Foch, the terms of which far exceeded in severity those granted to Turkey and Austria. These were read for the first time by Germany's representatives on Friday, November 8th. General Foch, when he gave the document to the German delegation, declared that Germany's decision must be made within seventy-two hours. Eleven o'clock on Monday, November 11th, was the time limit permitted to Germany. The armistice was signed by General Foch and the German representatives on the morning of November 11th, but fighting did not actually cease until eleven o'clock, several hours after the terms had been agreed to. This was in accordance with arrangement made between the signers.

Sedan, where Marshals McMahon and Bazaine, commanding the armies of Napoleon III, surrendered to the King of Prussia in 1870, marked the last notable victory of the American forces in France. The Sedan of 1870 marked the birth of German militarism. The Sedan of 1918 marked its death.

Preceding the advance of the Americans upon Sedan, came a cloud of aviators in pursuit and bombing planes, headed by the famous aces of the American forces. The First and Second divisions of the First army led the way. In the van of the Second division were the Marines, whose heroism in Belleau Wood marked the beginning of Germany's end. The famous Rainbow division made the most savage thrust of the action, pursuing the foe for ten miles and sweeping the Freya Hills clear of machine nests and German artillery.

The last action of the war for the Americans followed immediately on the heels of the battle of Sedan. It was the taking of the town of Stenay. The engagement was deliberately planned by the Americans as a sort of battle celebration of the end of the war. The order fixing eleven o'clock as the time for the conclusion of hostilities, had been sent from end to end of the American lines. Its text follows:

1. You are informed that hostilities will cease along the whole front at 11 o'clock A. M., November 11, 1918, Paris time.

2. No Allied troops will pass the line reached by them at that hour in date until further orders.

3. Division commanders will immediately sketch the location of their line. This sketch will be returned to headquarters by the courier bearing these orders.

4. All communication with the enemy, both before and after the termination of hostilities, is absolutely forbidden. In case of violation of this order severest disciplinary measures will be immediately taken. Any officer offending will be sent to headquarters under guard.

5. Every emphasis will be laid on the fact that the arrangement is an armistice only and not a peace.

6. There must not be the slightest relaxation of vigilance. Troops must be prepared at any moment for further operations.

7. Special steps will be taken by all commanders to insure strictest discipline and that all troops be held in readiness fully prepared for any eventuality.

8. Division and brigade commanders will personally communicate these orders to all organizations.

Signal corps wires, telephones and runners were used in carrying the orders and so well did the big machine work that even patrol commanders had received the orders well in advance of the hour. Apparently the Germans also had been equally diligent in getting the orders to the front line. Notwithstanding the hard fighting they did Sunday to hold back the Americans, the Germans were able to bring the firing to an abrupt end at the scheduled hour.

The staff and field officers of the American army were disposed early in the day to approach the hour of eleven with lessened activity. The day began with less firing and doubtless the fighting would have ended according to plan, had there not been a sharp resumption on the part of German batteries. The Americans looked upon this as wantonly useless. It was then that orders were sent to the battery commanders for increased fire.

Although there was no reason for it, German ruthlessness was still rampant Sunday, stirring the American artillery in the region of Dun-sur-Meuse and Mouzay to greater activity. Six hundred aged men and women and children were in Mouzay when the Germans attacked it with gas. There was only a small detachment of American troops there and the town no longer was of strategical value. However, it was made the direct target of shells filled with phosgene. Every street reeked with gas.

Poorly clad and showing plainly evidences of malnutrition, the inhabitants crowded about the Americans, kissing their hands and hailing them as deliverers. They declared they had had no meat for six weeks. They virtually had been prisoners of war for four years and were overwhelmed with joy when they learned that an armistice was probable.

The last French town to fall into American hands before the armistice went into effect was Stenay. Patrols reported they had found it empty not more than a quarter of an hour before eleven o'clock. American troops rushed through the town and in a few minutes Allied flags were beginning to appear from the windows. As the church bell solemnly tolled the hour of eleven, troops from the Ninetieth division were pouring into the town.

The inhabitants told the usual stories of German treatment. They were forced to work at all sorts of tasks from seven in the morning until six at night. In return they received paper bills with which they were unable to purchase milk and similar necessities. The majority, however, were so overjoyed at their deliverance that they were almost incoherent in discussing the enemy occupation.

The inhabitants of Stenay remained hiding in their cellars even after the Americans had entered the town. They came out hesitatingly and in small groups.

Hostilities along the American front ended with a crash of cannon.

The early forenoon had been marked by a falling off in fire all along the line, but an increasing bombardment from the retreating Germans at certain points stimulated the Americans to a quick retort. From their positions north of Stenay to southeast of the town the Americans began to bombard fixed targets. The firing reached a volume at times almost equivalent to a barrage.

Two minutes before eleven o'clock the firing dwindled, the last shells shrieking over No Man's Land precisely on time.

There was little celebration on the front line, where American routine was scarcely disturbed over the cessation of fighting. In the areas behind the battle zone there were celebrations on all sides. Here and there there were little outbursts of cheering, but even those instances were not on the immediate front.

Many of the French soldiers went about singing.

"Well, I don't know," drawled a lieutenant from Texas while the artillery was sending its last challenge to the Germans, "but somehow I can't help wondering if we have licked them enough."

The Germans were manifestly so glad over the cessation of hostilities that they could not conceal their pleasure. Prisoners taken at Stenay grinned with satisfaction. Their demeanor was in sharp contrast to that of the American doughboys who took the matter philosophically and went about their appointed tasks.

In the front line it was the same. The Americans were happy, but quiet. They made no demonstrations. The Germans, on the other hand, were in a regular hysteria of joy. They waited only until nightfall to set off every rocket in their possession. In the evening the sky was ablaze with red, green, blue and yellow flares all along the line.

Flags appeared like magic over the shell-torn buildings of Verdun,
French and American colors flying side by side.

In every village, even those from which the Germans had been driven, there were flags and decorations which were brought up to the front by the soldiers. In the villages back of the line there were impromptu celebrations and the civilians in holiday spirit saluted the Americans, shouting "the war is finished."

Northeast of Verdun, just before 11 o'clock, American artillery-men in loading a six-inch howitzer, wrote "good-luck" on a ninety-pound shell and "let 'er go." The shot was aimed at the crossroad at Ornas, just ahead of the American lines.

While the bells of the ancient Verdun Cathedral were ringing the news of peace the fortress city was illuminated and a military procession headed by the drum corps of the Twenty-sixth American division swung along the crowded streets accompanied by a French detachment of buglers representing the famed defenders of Verdun.

Only a half hour before the Germans had thrown large shells within the city walls, apparently as a reminder that Verdun was still within the range of their guns to the hills to the northeast.

Monday afternoon and night virtually was the first time that Verdun had not been shelled in many hours almost since the war began.

CHAPTER LIII

THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER

The end of the war came with almost the dramatic suddenness of its beginning. Bulgaria, hemmed in by armies through which no relief could penetrate, asked for terms. The reply came in two words, "Unconditional Surrender."

Turkey, witnessing the rout of her army in Palestine by the great strategist, General Allenby, and a British army, asked for an armistice. The Porte signed without hesitation an agreement comprising twenty-five severe requirements.

The surrender of Bulgaria and Turkey forced Austria's hand. The terms under which it was permitted to capitulate were even harder than those granted to Turkey. They comprised eighteen requirements divided into military and naval clauses.

Germany, proud, imperial Germany, met the greatest humiliation of all the Teutonic allies when the Kaiser and the German High Command were brought to their knees. Thirty-five clauses, the most severe and drastic ever demanded from a great power, were included in the armistice agreement. Only the imminent menace of an invasion of Germany would have sufficed to compel the German representatives to sign such a document. Following are the drafts of the Turkish, Austrian and German armistice agreements.

THE TURKISH AGREEMENT

1. The opening of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus and access to the Black Sea. Allied occupation of the Dardanelles and Bosporus forts.

2. The positions of all mine fields, torpedo tubes and other obstructions in Turkish waters are to be indicated, and assistance given to sweep or remove them, as may be required.

3. All available information concerning mines in the Black Sea is to be communicated.

4. All Allied prisoners of war and Armenian interned persons and prisoners are to be collected in Constantinople and handed over unconditionally to the Allies.

5. Immediate demobilization of the Turkish army, except such troops as are required for surveillance on the frontiers and for the maintenance of internal order. The number of effectives and their disposition to be determined later by the Allies.

6. The surrender of all war vessels in Turkish waters or waters occupied by Turkey. These ships will be interned in such Turkish port or ports as may be directed, except such small vessels as are required for police and similar purposes in Turkish territorial waters.

7. The Allies to have the right to occupy any strategic points in the event of any situation arising which threatens the security of the Allies.

8. Use by Allied ships of all ports and anchorages now in Turkish occupation and denial of their use by the enemy. Similar conditions are to apply to Turkish mercantile shipping in Turkish waters for the purposes of trade and the demobilization of the army.

9. Allied occupation of the Taurus Tunnel system.

10. Immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Persia to behind the pre-war frontier already has been ordered and will be carried out.

11. A part of Transcaucasia already has been ordered to be evacuated by Turkish troops. The remainder to be evacuated, if required by the Allies, after they have studied the situation.

12. Wireless, telegraph and cable stations to be controlled by the Allies. Turkish Government messages to be excepted.

13. Prohibition against the destruction of any naval, military or commercial material.

14. Facilities are to be given for the purchase of coal, oil, fuel and naval material from Turkish sources, after the requirements of the country have been met. None of the above materials are to be exported.

15. The surrender of all Turkish offices in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica to the nearest Italian garrison. Turkey agrees to stop supplies and communication with these officers if they do not obey the order to surrender.

16. The surrender of all garrisons in Hedjaz, Assir, Yemen, Syria and Mesopotamia to the nearest Allied commander, and withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cilicia, except those necessary to maintain order, as will be determined under Clause 6.

17. The use of all ships and repair facilities at all Turkish ports and arsenals.

18. The surrender of all ports occupied in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, including Mizurata, to the nearest Allied garrison.

19. All Germans and Austrians, naval, military or civilian, to be evacuated within one month from Turkish dominions, and those in remote districts as soon after that time as may be possible.

20. Compliance with such orders as may be conveyed for the disposal of equipment, arms and ammunition, including the transport of that portion of the Turkish army which is demobilized under Clause 5.

21. An Allied representative to be attached to the Turkish Ministry of Supplies in order to safeguard Allied interests. This representative to be furnished with all aid necessary for this purpose.

22. Turkish prisoners are to be kept at the disposal of the Allied Powers. The release of Turkish civilian prisoners and prisoners over military age is to be considered.

23. An obligation on the part of Turkey to cease all relations with the Central Powers.

24. In case of disorder in the six Armenian vilayets the Allies reserve to themselves the right to occupy any part of them.

25. Hostilities between the Allies and Turkey shall cease from noon, local time, Thursday, the 31st of October, 1918.

THE AUSTRIAN AGREEMENT
Military Clauses

1. The immediate cessation of hostilities by land, sea and air.

2. Total demobilization of the Austro-Hungarian army and immediate withdrawal of all Austro-Hungarian forces operating on the front from the North Sea to Switzerland. Within Austro-Hungarian territory, limited as in Clause 3 below, there shall only be maintained as an organized military force reduced to pre-war effectiveness. Half the divisional, corps and army artillery and equipment shall be collected at points to be indicated by the Allies and United States of America for delivery to them, beginning with all such material as exists in the territories to be evacuated by the Austro-Hungarian forces.

3. Evacuation of all territories invaded by Austro-Hungary since the beginning of the war. Withdrawal within such periods as shall be determined by the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces on each front of the Austro-Hungarian armies behind a line fixed as follows:—

From Pic Umbrail to the north of the Stelivo it will follow the crest of the Rhetian Alps up to the sources of the Adige and the Eisaeh, passing thence by Mounts Reschen and Brenner and the heights of Oetz and Zoaller. The line thence turns south, crossing Mount Toblach and meeting the present frontier Carnic Alps. It follows this frontier up to Mount Tarvis and after Mount Tarvis the watershed of the Julian Alps by the Col of Predil, Mount Mangart, the Terglou and the watershed of the Cols di Podberdo, Podlaniscam and Idria. From this point the line turns southeast towards the Schneeberg, excludes the whole basin of the Save and its tributaries. From Schneeberg it goes down towards the coast in such a way as to include Castua, Mattuglia and Volosca in the evacuated territories.

It will also follow the administrative limits of the present province of Dalmatia, including the north Lisarica and Trivania and, to the south, territory limited by a line from the Semigrand of Cape Planca to the summits of the watersheds eastwards, so as to include in the evacuated area all the valleys and water course flowing towards Sebenaco, such as the Cicola, Kerka, Butisnica and their tributaries. It will also include all the islands in the north and west of Dalmatia from Premuda, Selve, Ulbo, Scherda, Maon, Paga and Puntadura in the north up to Meleda in the south, embracing Santandrea, Busi, Lisa, Lesina, Tercola, Curzola, Cazza and Lagosta, as well as the neighboring rocks and islets and passages, only excepting the islands of Great and Small Zirona, Bua, Solta and Brazza. All territory thus evacuated shall be occupied by the forces of the Allies and of the United States of America.

All military and railway equipment of all kinds, including coal belonging or within those territories, to be left in situ and surrendered to the Allies, according to special orders given by the commander-in-chief of the forces of the associated Powers on the different fronts. No new destruction, pillage or requisition to be done by enemy troops in the territories to be evacuated by them and occupied by the forces of the associated Powers.

4. The Allies shall have the right of free movement over all road and rail and waterways in Austro-Hungarian territory and of the use of the necessary Austrian and Hungarian means of transportation. The armies of the associated Powers shall occupy such strategic points in Austria-Hungary at times as they may deem necessary to enable them to conduct military operations or to maintain order. They shall have the right of requisition on payment for the troops of the associated Powers whatever they may be.

5. Complete evacuation of all German troops within fifteen days not only from the Italian and Balkan fronts, but from all Austro-Hungarian territory. Internment of all German troops which have not left Austro-Hungary within the date.

6. The administration of the evacuated territories of Austria-Hungary will be entrusted to the local authorities under the control of the Allied and associated armies of occupation.

7. The immediate repatriation without reciprocity of all Allied prisoners of war and internal subjects and of civil populations evacuated from their homes on conditions to be laid down by the commander-in-chief of the forces of the associated Powers on the various fronts. Sick and wounded who cannot be removed from evacuated territory will be cared for by Austria-Hungary personnel, who will be left on the spot with the medical material required.

Naval Clauses

1. Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea and definite information to be given as to the location and movements of all Austro-Hungarian ships. Notification to be made to neutrals that freedom of navigation in all territorial waters is given to the naval and mercantile marine of the Allied and associated Powers, all questions of neutrality being waived.

2. Surrender to Allies and the United States of fifteen Austro-Hungarian submarines completed between the years 1910 and 1918 and of all German submarines which are in or may hereafter enter Austro-Hungarian territorial waters. All other Austro-Hungarian submarines to be paid off and completely disarmed and to remain under the supervision of the Allies and United States.

3. Surrender to Allies and United States with their complete armament and equipment of three battleships, three light cruisers, nine destroyers, twelve torpedo boats, one mine layer, six Danube monitors, to be designated by the Allies and United States of America. All other surface warships, including river craft, are to be concentrated in Austro-Hungarian naval bases to be designated by the Allies and United States of America and are to be paid off and completely disarmed and placed under the supervision of Allies and United States of America.

4. Freedom of navigation to all warships and merchant ships of Allied and associated Powers to be given in the Adriatic and up the River Danube and its tributaries in the territorial waters and territory of Austria-Hungary. The Allies and associated Powers shall have the right to sweep up all mine fields and obstructions, and the positions of these are to be indicated. In order to insure the freedom of navigation on the Danube, the Allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to occupy or to dismantle all fortifications or defense work.

5. The existing blockade conditions set up by the Allied and associated Powers are to remain unchanged and all Austro-Hungarian merchant ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture, save exceptions may be made by a commission nominated by the Allies and the United States of America.

6. All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and impactionized in Austro-Hungarian bases to be designated by the Allies and United States of America.

7. Evacuation of all the Italian coasts and of all ports occupied by Austria-Hungary outside their national territory and the abandonment of all floating craft, naval materials, equipment and materials for inland navigation of all kinds.

8. Occupation by the Allies and the United States of America of the land and sea fortifications and the islands which form the defenses and of the dockyards and arsenal at Pola.

9. All merchant vessels held by Austria-Hungary belonging to the Allies and associated Powers to be returned.

10. No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted before evacuation, surrender or restoration.

11. All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of the Allied and associated Powers in Austro-Hungarian hands to be returned without reciprocity.

THE GERMAN AGREEMENT

1. Cessation of operations by land and in the air six hours after the signature of the armistice.

2. Immediate evacuation of invaded countries: Belgium, France, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxemburg, so ordered as to be completed within fourteen days from the signature of the armistice. German troops which have not left the above-mentioned territories within the period fixed will become prisoners of war. Occupation by the Allied and United States forces jointly will keep pace with evacuation in these areas. All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated in accordance with a note annexed to the stated terms.

3. Repatriation beginning at once and to be completed within fifteen days of all inhabitants of the countries above mentioned, including hostages and persons under trial or convicted.

4. Surrender in good condition by the German armies of the following equipment: Five thousand guns (two thousand five hundred heavy, two thousand five hundred field), twenty-five thousand machine guns, three thousand minenwerfers, seventeen hundred airplanes. The above to be delivered in situ to the Allies and the United States troops in accordance with the detailed conditions laid down in the annexed note.

5. Evacuation by the German armies of the countries on the left bank of the Rhine. These countries on the left bank of the Rhine shall be administered by the local troops of occupation under the control of the Allied and United States armies of occupation. The occupation of these territories will be carried out by Allied and United States garrisons holding the principal crossings of the Rhine, Mayence, Coblenz, Cologne, together with bridgeheads at these points in thirty kilometer radius on the right bank and by garrisons similarly holding the strategic points of the regions.

A neutral zone shall be reserved on the right of the Rhine between the stream and a line drawn parallel to it forty kilometers (twenty-six miles) to the east from the frontier of Holland to the parallel of Gernsheim and as far as practicable a distance of thirty kilometers (twenty miles) from the east of stream from this parallel upon Swiss frontier. Evacuation by the enemy of the Rhine lands shall be so ordered as to be completed within a further period of sixteen days, in all thirty-one days after the signature of the armistice. All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated according to the note annexed.

6. In all territory evacuated by the enemy there shall be no evacuation of inhabitants; no damage or harm shall be done to the persons or property of the inhabitants. No destruction of any kind to be committed. Military establishments of all kinds shall be delivered as well as military stores of food, munitions, equipment not removed during the periods fixed for evacuation. Stores of food of all kinds for the civil population, cattle, etc., shall be left in situ. Industrial establishments shall not be impaired in any way and their personnel shall not be moved. Roads and means of communication of every kind, railroad, waterways, main roads, bridges, telegraphs, telephones, shall be in no manner impaired. No person shall be prosecuted for offenses of participation in war measures prior to the signing of the armistice.

7. All civil and military personnel at present employed on them shall remain. Five thousand locomotives, one hundred fifty thousand wagons and five thousand motor lorries in good working order with all necessary spare parts and fittings shall be delivered to the associated Powers within the period fixed for the evacuation of Belgium and Luxemburg. The railways of Alsace-Lorraine shall be handed over within thirty-six days, together with all pre-war personnel and material. Further material necessary for the working of railways in the country on the left bank of the Rhine shall be left in situ. All stores of coal and material for the upkeep of permanent ways, signals and repair shops left entire in situ and kept in an efficient state by Germany during the whole period of armistice. All barges taken from the Allies shall be restored to them. All civil and military personnel at present employed on such means of communication and transporting including waterways shall remain.

8. The German command shall be responsible for revealing within forty-eight hours all mines or delay acting fuses disposed on territory evacuated by the German troops and shall assist in their discovery and destruction. The German command shall also reveal all destructive measures that may have been taken (such as poisoning or polluting of springs, wells, etc.) under penalty of reprisals.

9. The right of requisition shall be exercised by the Allies and the United States armies in all occupied territory, "subject to regulation of accounts with those whom it may concern." The upkeep of the troops of occupation in the Rhine land (excluding Alsace-Lorraine) shall be charged to the German Government.

10. An immediate repatriation without reciprocity according to detailed conditions which shall be fixed, of all Allied and United States prisoners of war. The Allied Powers and the United States shall be able to dispose of these prisoners as they wish. This condition annuls the previous conventions on the subject of the exchange of prisoners of war, including the one of July, 1918, in course of ratification. However, the repatriation of German prisoners of war interned in Holland and in Switzerland shall continue as before. The repatriation of German prisoners of war shall be regulated at the conclusion of the preliminaries of peace.

11. Sick and wounded, who cannot be removed from evacuated territory will be cared for by German personnel who will be left on the spot with the medical material required.

12. All German troops at present in any territory which before the war belonged to Roumania, Turkey or Austria-Hungary shall immediately withdraw within the frontiers of Germany as they existed on August 1, 1914. German troops now in Russian territory shall withdraw within the frontiers of Germany, as soon as the Allies, taking into account the internal situation of those territories, shall decide that the time for this has come.

13. Evacuation by German troops to begin at once and all German instructors, prisoners and civilian as well as military agents now on the territory of Russia (as defined before 1914) to be recalled.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  French Official Photograph.
  DRAFTING THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER
  The above French official photograph is the first received in this
  country showing the statesmen of the Allied Powers at Versailles
  drafting the armistice terms, which later were accepted by the German
  plenipotentiaries, and virtually brought the World War to an end. The
  men in the photograph are: Left side of table, left to right—General
  di Robilant of Italy; Baron Sidney Sonnino, Italian Foreign Minister;
  Vittorio Orlando, Italian Premier; Colonel E. M. House, representative
  of President Wilson; General Tasker H. Bliss, U. S. A.; (next man
  unknown); Eleutherios Venizelos, Greek Premier; Vesnitch, Serbian
  Premier. Right, side of table, left to right—Admiral Wemyss, R. N.
  (with back turned); General Sir Henry Wilson; Field Marshal Sir
  Douglas Haig; General Sackville-West; Andrew Bonar Law, British
  Chancellor of the Exchequer; David Lloyd George, British Premier;
  Georges Clemenceau, French Premier; Stephen Pichon, French Foreign
  Minister.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Press Illustrating Service.
  GERMANS FLEEING BEFORE ALLIED ADVANCE
  To speed their retreat the German engineers built a temporary bridge
  using a British tank as a foundation.

[Illustration: Photograph] Copyright Press Illustrating Service. THE GERMAN GOOSE-STEP The Kaiser reviews his troops marching with the goose-step. This photograph shows the pick of the German army. Most of these men were killed by the end of the first year of the war.

14. German troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures and any other undertakings with a view to obtaining supplies intended for Germany in Roumania and Russia (as defined on August 1, 1914).

15. Renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk and of the supplementary treaties.

16. The Allies shall have free access to the territories evacuated by the Germans on their eastern frontier either through Danzig or by the Vistula in order to convey supplies to the populations of those territories and for the purpose of maintaining order.

17. Evacuation by all German forces operating in East Africa within a period to be fixed by the Allies.

18. Repatriation, without reciprocity, within maximum period of one month, in accordance with detailed conditions hereafter to be fixed, of all civilians interned or deported who may be citizens of other Allied or associated states than those mentioned in clause three, paragraph nineteen.

19. The following financial conditions are required: Reparation for damage done. While such armistice lasts no public securities shall be removed by the enemy which can serve as a pledge to the Allies for the recovery or repatriation of the cash deposit, in the National Bank of Belgium, and in general immediate return of all documents, specie, stocks, shares, paper money together with plant for the issue thereof, touching public or private interests in the invaded countries. Restitution of the Russian and Roumanian gold yielded to Germany or taken by that Power. This gold to be delivered in trust to the Allies until the signature of peace.

20. Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea and definite information to be given as to the location and movements of all German ships. Notification to be given to neutrals that freedom of navigation in all territorial waters is given to the naval and merchant marines of the Allied and associate Powers, all questions of neutrality being waived.

21. All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of war of the Allied and associated Powers in German hands to be returned without reciprocity.

22. Surrender to the Allies and the United States of America of all German submarines now existing (including all submarine cruisers and mine-laying submarines), with their complete armament and equipment, in ports which will be specified by the Allies and the United States of America. Those which cannot take the sea shall be disarmed of the material and personnel and shall remain under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. All the conditions of the article shall be carried into effect within fourteen days. Submarines ready for sea shall be prepared to leave German ports immediately upon orders by wireless, and the remainder at the earliest possible moment.

23. The following German surface warships which shall be designated by the Allies and the United States of America shall forthwith be disarmed and thereafter interned in neutral ports, to be designated by the Allies and the United States of America and placed under the surveillance of the Allies and the United States of America, only caretakers being left on board, namely:

Six battle cruisers, ten battleships, eight light cruisers, including two mine layers, fifty destroyers of the most modern type. All other surface warships (including river craft) are to be concentrated in naval bases to be designated by the Allies and the United States of America, and are to be paid off and completely disarmed and placed under the supervision of the Allies and the United States of America. All vessels of the auxiliary fleet (trawlers, motor vessels, etc.) are to [be] disarmed. Vessels designated for internment, shall be ready to leave German ports within seven days upon directions by wireless, and the military armament of all vessels of the auxiliary fleet shall be put on shore.

24. The Allies and the United States of America shall have the right to sweep all mine fields and obstructions laid by Germany outside German territorial waters, and the positions of these are to be indicated.

25. Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the naval and mercantile marine of the Allied and associated Powers. To secure this Allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to occupy all German forts, fortifications, batteries and defense works of all kinds in all the entrances from the Cattegat into the Baltic, and to sweep up all mines and obstructions within and without German territorial waters without any question of neutrality being raised, and the positions of all such mines and obstructions are to be indicated.

26. The existing blockade conditions set up by the Allies and associated Powers are to remain unchanged and all German merchant ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture. The Allies and the United States shall give consideration to the provisioning of Germany during the armistice to the extent recognized as necessary.

27. All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and immobilized in German bases to be specified by the Allies and the United States.

28. In evacuating the Belgian coasts and ports, Germany shall abandon all merchant ships, tugs, lighters, cranes and all other harbor materials, all materials for inland navigation, all aircraft and all materials and stores, all arms and armaments, and all stores and apparatus of all kinds.

29. All Black Sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany, all Russian war vessels of all descriptions seized by Germany in the Black Sea are to be handed over to the Allies and the United States of America; all neutral merchant vessels seized are to be released; all warlike and other materials of all kinds seized in those parts are to be returned and German materials as specified in clause twenty-eight are to be abandoned.

30. All merchant vessels in German hands belonging to the Allied and associated Powers are to be restored in ports to be specified by the Allies and the United States of America without reciprocity.

31. No destruction of ships or materials to be permitted before evacuation, surrender or restoration.

32. The German Government will notify neutral governments of the world, and particularly the governments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Holland, that all restrictions placed on the trading of their vessels with the Allied and associated countries, whether by the German Government or by private German interests, and whether in return for specific concessions such as the export of shipbuilding materials or not, are immediately canceled.

33. No transfers of German merchant shipping of any description to any neutral flag are to take place after signature of the armistice.

34. The duration of the armistice is to be thirty days, with option to extend. During this period, on failure of execution of any of the above clauses, the armistice may be denounced by one of the contracting parties on forty-eight hours' previous notice. It is understood that the execution of Articles 3 and 18 shall not warrant the denunciation of the armistice on the ground of insufficient execution within a period fixed, except in the case of bad faith in carrying them into execution. In order to assume the execution of this convention under the best conditions, the principle of a Permanent International Armistice Commission is admitted. This commission shall act under authority of the Allied military and naval commanders-in-chief.

35. This armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within seventy-two hours of notification.

CHAPTER LIV

PEACE AT LAST

War came upon the world in August, 1914, with a suddenness and an impact that dazed the world. When it seemed, in 1918, that mankind had habituated himself to war and that the bloody struggle would continue until the actual exhaustion and extinction of the nations involved, peace suddenly appeared. The debacle of the Teutonic alliance was both dramatic and unexpected, except to those who knew how desperate were the conditions in the nations that were battling for autocracy. Bulgaria was first to crumble, then Turkey fell, and Austria-Hungary deserted Germany. The Kaiser and his military advisers, left alone, appealed to the Allies through President Wilson, for an armistice during which peace terms might be negotiated. Prince Maximilian of Baden, a statesman whose liberal ideas were rumored rather than demonstrated, was chosen to open negotiations. President Wilson, acting in concert with the Allies, referred Prince Maximilian to Marshal Foch.

While negotiations were pending, a cabled message was received on November 7th to the effect that the armistice had been signed and that all soldiers would cease fighting on two o'clock of that afternoon. It was a false report, but it spread with incredible speed throughout the country. Celebrations which included virtually every American, made the country a gala place for twenty-four hours. The American people with characteristic good nature laughed at the hoax next day and settled down in patience to await the inevitable declaration of an armistice.

The true report arrived about three o'clock, Eastern time, in the morning of November 11th. Shrieks of whistles, the booming of cannon, and the clangor of bells, awoke millions of sleeping persons, many of whom trooped into the streets to mingle their rejoicings with those of their neighbors. For a day there was high carnival in town and country throughout the land, then the nation settled down to face the imminent problems of reconstruction.

One of these had to do with the immediate reduction of governmental expenditures during the approaching year. President Wilson had appealed to the voters to elect a Democratic Congress as an evidence of approval for his administration. The reply was a Republican House of Representatives and a Republican Senate.

The Congress that had been in continuous session since America entered the war, ended its labors in mid-November.

For length, bulk of appropriations for the war and the number and importance of legislative measures passed, the session was unprecedented.

Appropriations passed aggregated $36,298,000,000, making the total for this Congress more than $45,000,000,000, of which $19,412,000,000 was appropriated at the first (an extra) session, at which war was declared on Germany.

Legislation passed included bills authorizing billions of Liberty bonds; creation of the War Finance Corporation; government control of telegraphs, telephones and cables; executive reorganization of government agencies, and extensions of the espionage act and the army draft law by which men between eighteen and forty-five years of age were required to register.

Prohibition and woman suffrage furnished sharp controversies throughout the session. The war-time "dry" measure was completed, but after the woman suffrage constitutional amendment resolution had been adopted, January 10th, by the House, it was defeated in the Senate by two votes.

Every man, woman and child in the belligerent nations owed almost seven times as much money when peace came as he did at the beginning of the war.

Figures of the war's cost to the world compiled by the Federal Reserve Board were summarized in the statement that the approximate public debt per capita had increased from $60 before the war to almost $400 at the end of July, 1918. To this was added the cost since July, which is at the highest rate of the entire period.

The direct cost of the war was calculated by the board at somewhere between $170,000,000,000 and $180,000,000,000, not taking into account the authorization of the debt or the cost of indemnities.

Four-fifths of the huge burden fell upon the shoulders of the future, only Great Britain and America absorbing a considerable amount by taxation.

The total debt of the seven principal belligerents before the war did not exceed $25,000,000,000.

The board contrasted these figures with the total value of the gold and silver extracted from the earth since the beginning of the world, which, it said, hardly exceeded $30,000,000,000.

The belligerent nations, therefore, owed about six times the amount of all the gold and silver produced in all time.

Prices rose to three times the average of what they were at the beginning of the war.

Great Britain's debt increased almost ten times over in the period of the war, or from $3,580,000,000 to $32,450,000,000 down to June, 1918. These figures do not include the debts of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, British colonies.

France's debt was quadrupled by the beginning of 1918, increasing from $6,833,000,000 to $25,410,000,000.

Italy's debt rose from $2,929,000,000 to $6,918,000,000.

Figures for Russia were brought up only to September, 1917, but they showed that at that time she owed $26,287,000,000, as compared with $5,234,000,000 at the beginning of the war.

The public debt of the United States was calculated to January 1, 1918, in order to be in line with those of other countries, increasing by that date to over $8,000,000,000 from a pre-war figure of a billion and a quarter. Since that time $11,500,000,000 have been subscribed to the Liberty Loans, thus increasing the national debt about sixteen fold.

The most extraordinary increase of all was that of Germany, rising from $1,208,000,000 to $26,332,000,000.

Austria owed $2,736,000,000 at the beginning of the war, which was increased by June, 1917, to $11,573,000,000.

Hungary increased her debt from $1,392,000,000 to $5,910,000,000 by
December, 1917.

The neutrals, Denmark, Spain, Holland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland together owed $2,871,000,000 when war began and increased their debts only to $3,710,000,000.

Existing war obligations of the United States at the close of 1918 matured as follows:

First Liberty Loan, $2,000,000,000, redeemable at the option of the Treasury after 1932 and payable not later than 1947; Second Liberty Loan, $3,808,000,000, redeemable after 1927, payable in 1942; Third Liberty Loan, $4,176,000,000, redeemable and payable without option in 1928; Fourth Liberty Loan, $6,989,047,000, redeemable after 1933, payable in 1938; War Savings, $879,300,000 up to November, 1918, payable in 1923.

With this program of maturity, the Treasury by exercising its option could call in the nation's war debt for redemption in installments every five years until 1947.

Secretary of the Treasury, William Gibbs McAdoo, who was also Director General of Transportation, created a sensation when he resigned both offices in November, 1918, the resignation to take effect January 1, 1919. Coming upon the eve of the peace conference in Paris and the announcement that President Wilson intended to head the American delegates to the conference, the resignation caused widespread surprise. The reasons given by Mr. McAdoo were ill-health and a serious depreciation of his private fortune during his incumbency of governmental positions.

Following the armistice, steps were immediately taken for the repatriation of a considerable portion of the American forces in France and the return to their homes of the men in American training camps. The Third Army of the United States, commanded by General Dickman, was ordered to the western shore of the Rhine, there to co-operate with the troops of the Allies until the conclusion of peace negotiations.

The country was amazed on November 23d when General March announced that the casualties of the American forces which had been anticipated as being less than 100,000, had in reality exceeded 236,000. Explanation for this lay in the fierce on-rush of the American forces during the last month of the war.

A forecast that many thousands of American boys would remain in France was given by Andre Tardieu, General Commissioner for Franco-American affairs, when addressing the Association of Foreign Correspondents in New York City, after the armistice had been signed.

M. Tardieu appealed for permission to retain American soldiers in
France. He said:

"We want first an immediate assistance in the matter of labor. We hope that, during the preparation and the carrying out of the transportation of your troops back to America your technical units as well as other units with their equipment will be able to co-operate in that effort. We soon will have to carry out a colossal work of transportation in view of the supplying of the regions evacuated by the enemy, of the recovering of the railroads in Northern and Eastern France and in Alsace-Lorraine. We will have to clean the reconquered ground of the ruins accumulated by the German hordes. Your army will help us in this work while our population will restore her cities and villages.

"Again in reference, not to all purchases—as a large part of our needs will be supplied outside of the United States—but in reference to those purchases which will be made in America, we are in need of credits in dollars covering about fifty per cent of our total purchases for reconstruction. The assurance of that financial help will bring to every one in France, government and private enterprise, the courage and faith necessary to apply to peace reconstruction the energy and the spirit of enterprise she has so prominently shown during the war.

"We will exact from Germany the restitution of each part of the material taken away from us as can be recovered. But, besides that restitution, we must bear in mind that speed is a primary condition in the reconstruction of France, and that America, on account of her immense capacities for production, ought to give us the first help. We need ships, chartered ships as well as ships transferred to our flag; the speedy reconstruction of the country is strictly depending on the revival of our mercantile fleet.

"The colossal effort put up by the United States in the building of her fleet for war purposes will not be diverted from this sacred end if it, in part, helps France to recover on the seas, for the revival of her forces in peace, the means of transportation which were lost to her on account of the war.

"In reference to these four items—labor; credit, raw materials, ships—I have explained in detail our needs to your administration, by whose welcome I have been deeply moved. What I told them, what I asked for, I am telling it to you again, because a policy of secrecy does not befit our day.

"We have lost two million and a half men; some are dead, some maimed, some have returned sick and incapacitated from German prisons. Whether they be lost altogether, or whether their working capacity be permanently reduced, they will not participate in this reconstruction. The fifteenth part of our people is missing at the very time we need all our material and moral forces in order to build up our life again. The younger part, yea, the stronger part of our nation, the flower of France, has died away on the battle-fields. Our country has been bereft of its most precious resources.

"Our war expenses, on the other side, 120,000,000,000 francs, are weighing heavily on our shoulders. To payoff this debt there are at hand only such limited resources as invasion has left us. The territories which have been under German occupation for four years were the wealthiest part of France. Their area did not exceed six per cent of the whole country. They paid, however, twenty-five per cent of the sum total of our taxes.

"These territories which have been, for the last three months, occupied again by us at the cost of our own blood and of the blood of our allies, are now in a state of ruin even worse than we had anticipated. Of the cities and villages nothing remains but ruins; 350,000 homes have been destroyed. To build them up again—I am referring to the building proper, without the furnishings—600 million days' of work will be necessary, involving, together with building material, an outlay of 10,000,000,000 francs. As regards personal property of every description either destroyed by battle, or stolen by the Germans, there stands an additional loss of at least 4,000,000,000 francs.

"This valuation of lost personal property does not include—as definite figures are lacking as yet—the countless war contributions and fines by the enemy, amounting also to billions. I need hardly say that, in those wealthy lands, practically no agricultural resources are left.

"The losses in horses and in cattle, bovine and ovine species, hogs, goats, amount to 1,510,000 head—in agricultural equipment to 454,000 machines or carts—the two items worth together 6,000,000,000 francs.

"Now as regards industries, the disaster is even more complete. These districts occupied by the Germans and whose machinery has been methodically destroyed or taken away by the enemy, were, industrially speaking, the very heart of France. They were the very backbone of our production, as shown in the following startling figures:

"In 1913 the wool output of our invaded regions amounted to 94 per cent of the total. French production and corresponding figures were: For flax from the spinning mills, 90 per cent; iron ore, 90 per cent; pig iron, 83 per cent; steel, 70 per cent; sugar, 70 per cent; cotton, 60 per cent; coal 55 per cent; electric power, 45 per cent. Of all that, plants, machinery, mines, nothing is left. Everything has been carried away or destroyed by the enemy. So complete is the destruction that, in the case of our great coal mines in the north, two years of work will be needed before a single ton of coal can be extracted and ten years before the output is brought back to the figures of 1913.

"All that must be rebuilt, and to carry out that kind of reconstruction only, there will be a need of over 2,000,000 tons of pig iron, nearly 4,000,000 tons of steel—not to mention the replenishing of stocks and of raw materials which must of necessity be supplied to the plants during the first year of resumed activity. If we take into account these different items we reach as regards industrial needs a total of 25,000,000,000 francs.

"To resurrect these regions, to reconstruct these factories, raw materials are not now sufficient; we need means of transportation. Now the enemy has destroyed our railroad tracks, our railroad equipment, and our rolling stock, which in the first month of the war, in 1914, was reduced by 50,000 cars, has undergone the wear and tear of fifty months of war.

"Our merchant fleet, on the other hand, has lost more than a million tons through submarine warfare. Our shipyards during the last four years have not built any ships. For they have produced for us and for our allies cannon, ammunition, and tanks. Here, again, for this item alone of means of transportation we must figure on an expense of 2,500,000,000 francs.

"This makes, if I sum up these different items, a need of raw material which represents in cost, at the present rate of prices in France, not less than 50,000,000,000 francs.

"And this formidable figure, gentlemen, does not cover everything. I have not taken into account the loss represented for the future production of France by the transformation of so many factories which for four years were exclusively devoted to war munitions. I have not taken into account foreign markets lost to us as a result of the destruction of one-fourth of our productive capital and the almost total collapse of our trade. I have not taken into account the economic weakening that we will suffer tomorrow owing to that loss, to which I referred a while ago, of 2,500,000 young an vigorous men."

This was one of the great by-products of the war. Thousands of young Americans, vigorous evangels of democratic thought, remained in Europe to bring American ideals and American force into the affairs of the old world.

Those who returned were formidable factors in re-shaping the affairs of the nation. Grave injustices were done in some instances to young men who had volunteered in the early days of the war through patriotic motives and who returned to find their places in industry taken by others. In the main, however, the process of absorption went forward steadily and without serious incident.

One factor making for satisfactory adjustment was the insurance system put into effect by the United States Government, affecting its war forces. Immediately following the armistice, the following announcement was made:

Preparations by the government for re-insuring the lives of soldiers and sailors on their return have been hastened by the signing of the armistice. Although regulations have not yet been fully drafted, it is certain that each of the 4,250,000 men in the military or naval service now holding voluntary government insurance will be permitted within five years after peace is declared to convert it without further medical examination into ordinary life, twenty-pay life, endowment maturing at the age of sixty-two, or other prescribed forms of insurance.

This insurance will be arranged by the government, not by private companies, and the cost is expected to be at least one-fourth less than similar forms offered by private agencies. The low cost will result from the fact that the government will pay all overhead administration expenses, which, for private companies, amount to about seventeen per cent of premium receipts; will save the usual solicitation fees and, in addition, bear the risk resulting from the wounding or weakening of men while in the service. Private companies would not write insurance on many wounded men, or their rates would be unusually high.

The government will arrange to collect premiums monthly, if men wish to pay that way, or for longer periods in advance. This may be done through post-offices. The minimum amount of insurance to be issued probably will be $1,000, and the maximum $10,000, with any amount between those sums in multiple of $500. There will be provision for payments in case of disability as well as death, according to the tentative plan.

Thus will be created out of the government's emergency war insurance bureau the greatest life insurance institution in the world for peace times, with more policyholders and greater aggregate risks than a half dozen of the world's biggest private companies combined. Out of the experience gained may eventually develop expansion of government insurance to old age, industrial and other forms of insurance, in the opinion of officials who have studied the subject.

Regulations for reinsuring returning soldiers and sailors are being framed by an advisory board to the military and naval section of the war risk bureau, consisting of Arthur Hunter, actuary of the New York Life Insurance Company; W. A. Fraser, Omaha, of the Woodmen of the World, and F. Robertson Jones, of the Workmen's Compensation Publicity Bureau, New York.

Plans also are under consideration for allowing beneficiaries of men who have died or been killed in the service to choose between taking monthly payments over a period of twenty years or to commute these payments in a lump sum.

CHAPTER LV

AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE

By common consent of the Entente Allies, President Wilson was made the spokesman for the democracy of the world. As Lloyd George, Premier Clemenceau of France, Premier Orlando of Italy, and other Europeans recognized, his utterances most clearly and cogently expressed the principles for which civilization was battling against the Hun. More than that, these statesmen and the peoples they represented recognized that back of President Wilson were the high ideals of an America pledged to the redemption of a war-weary world.

The war produced a sterility in literature. Out of the great mass that was written, however, two productions stood out in their nobility of thought and in their classic directness of expression. These were the address before Congress by President Wilson on the night of April 2, 1917, when, recognizing fully the dread responsibility of his action, he pronounced the words which led America into the World War, and the speech made by him on Monday, November 11, 1918, when addressing Congress he announced the end of the war. Other declarations of the President that will be treasured as long as democracy survives, are those enunciating the fourteen points upon which America would make peace, and two later declarations as to America's purposes.

His address of April 2d was delivered before the most distinguished assemblage ever gathered within the hall of the House of Representatives. The Supreme Court of the United States, headed by the Chief Justice, every member of the embassies then resident in Washington, the entire membership of the House and Senate, and a host of the most distinguished men and women that could crowd themselves into the great hall, listened to what was virtually America's Declaration of War.

The air was still and tragic suspense was upon every face as the President began his address. At first he was pale as the marble rostrum against which he leaned. As he read from small sheets typewritten with his own hand, his voice grew firmer and the flush of indignation and of resolution overspread his countenance. He said:

GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS:

I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible that I should assume the responsibility of making.

On the third of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and Ireland on the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean. That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine warfare earlier in the war, but since April of last year the Imperial Government had somewhat restrained the commanders of its undersea craft in conformity with its promise then given to us that passenger boats should not be sunk and that due warning would be given to all other vessels which its submarines might seek to destroy, when no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that their crews were given at least a fair chance to save their lives in their open boats. The precautions taken were meager and haphazard enough, as was proved in distressing instance after instance in the progress of the cruel and unmanly business, but a certain degree of restraint was observed. The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents. Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter were provided with safe conduct through the proscribed areas by the German Government itself and were distinguished by unmistakable marks of identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion or of principle.

I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would in fact be done by any government that had hitherto subscribed to the humane practices of civilized nations. International law had its origin in the attempt to set up some law which would be respected and observed upon the seas, where no nation had right of dominion and where lay the free highways of the world. By painful stage after stage has that law been built up, with meager enough results, indeed, after all was accomplished that could be accomplished, but always with a clear view, at least, of what the heart and conscience of mankind demanded. This minimum of right the German Government has swept aside under the plea of retaliation and necessity and because it had no weapons which it could use at sea except these which it is impossible to employ as it is employing them without throwing to the winds all scruples of humanity or of respect for the understandings that were supposed to underlie the intercourse of the world. I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of noncombatants, men, women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and innocent people can not be. The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind.

It is a war against all nations: American ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and people of other neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion.

When I addressed the Congress on the twenty-sixth of February last I thought that it would suffice to assert our neutral rights with arms, our right to use the seas against unlawful interference, our right to keep our people safe against unlawful violence. But armed neutrality, it now appears, is impracticable. Because submarines are in effect outlaws when used as the German submarines have been used against merchant shipping, it is impossible to defend ships against their attacks as the law of nations has assumed that merchantmen would defend themselves against privateers or cruisers, visible craft giving chase upon the open sea. It is common prudence in such circumstances, grim necessity indeed, to endeavor to destroy them before they have shown their own intention. They must be dealt with upon sight, if dealt with at all. The German Government denies the right of neutrals to use arms at all within the areas of the sea which it has proscribed, even in the defense of rights which no modern publicist has ever before questioned their right to defend. The intimation is conveyed that the armed guards which we have placed on our merchant ships will be treated as beyond the pale of law and subject to be dealt with as pirates would be. Armed neutrality is ineffectual enough at best; in such circumstances and in the face of such pretensions it is worse than ineffectual: it is likely only to produce what it was meant to prevent; it is practically certain to draw us into the war without either the rights or the effectiveness of belligerents. There is one choice we can not make, we are incapable of making; we will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or violated. The wrongs against which we now array ourselves are no common wrongs; they cut to the very roots of human life.

With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty, I advise that the Congress declare the recent course of the Imperial German Government to be in fact nothing less than war against the government and people of the United States; that it formally accept the status of belligerent which has thus been thrust upon it; and that it take immediate steps not only to put the country in a more thorough state of defense but also to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring the Government of the German Empire to terms and end the war.

What this will involve is clear. It will involve the utmost practicable co-operation in counsel and action with the governments now at war with Germany, and, as incident to that, the extension to those governments of the most liberal financial credits, in order that our resources may so far as possible be added to theirs. It will involve the organization and mobilization of all the material resources of the country to supply the materials of war and serve the incidental needs of the nation in the most abundant and yet the most economical and efficient way possible. It will involve the immediate full equipment of the navy in all respects but particularly in supplying it with the best means of dealing with the enemy's submarines. It will involve the immediate addition to the armed forces of the United States already provided for by law in case of war at least five hundred thousand men, who should, in my opinion, be chosen upon the principle of universal liability to service, and also the authorization of subsequent additional increments of equal force so soon as they may be needed and can be handled in training. It will involve also, of course, the granting of adequate credits to the Government, sustained, I hope, so far as they can equitably be sustained by the present generation, by well conceived taxation.

I say sustained so far as may be equitable by taxation because it seems to me that it would be most unwise to base the credits which will now be necessary entirely on money borrowed. It is our duty, I most respectfully urge, to protect our people so far as we may against the very serious hardships and evils which would be likely to arise out of the inflation which would be produced by vast loans.

In carrying out the measures by which these things are to be accomplished we should keep constantly in mind the wisdom of interfering as little as possible in our own preparation and in the equipment of our own military forces with the duty—for it will be a very practical duty—of supplying the nations already at war with Germany with the materials which they can obtain only from us or by our assistance. They are in the field and we should help them in every way to be effective there.

[Illustration: Photograph] British Official Photograph BELGIAN SOVEREIGNS RE-ENTER BRUGES King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium saluting the Allied colors, on their triumphal entry into Bruges at the head of their victorious army, October 23, 1918.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright International Film Service.
  SURRENDER OF THE GERMAN HIGH SEAS FLEET
  Actual photograph showing the greatest naval surrender in history—the
  German fleet arriving to surrender. Below, The commanders of the
  British and American fleets, Admirals Beatty and Rodman, the King of
  England and the Prince of Wales viewing the surrender.

I shall take the liberty of suggesting, through the several executive departments of the Government, for the consideration of your committees, measures for the accomplishment of the several objects I have mentioned. I hope that it will be your pleasure to deal with them as having been framed after very careful thought by the branch of the Government upon which the responsibility of conducting the war and safeguarding the nation will most directly fall.

While we do these things, these deeply momentous things, let us be very clear, and make very clear to all the world what our motives and our objects are. My own thought has not been driven from its habitual and normal course by the unhappy events of the last two months, and I do not believe that the thought of the nation has been altered or clouded by them. I have exactly the same things in mind now that I had in mind when I addressed the Senate on the 22d of January last; the same that I had in mind when I addressed the Congress on the 3d of February and on the 26th of February. Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of action as will henceforth ensure the observance of those principles. Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic governments backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of their people. We have seen the last of neutrality in such circumstances. We are at the beginning of an age in which it will be insisted that the same standards of conduct and of responsibility for wrong done shall be observed among nations and their governments that are observed among the individual citizens of civilized states.

We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling towards them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse that their government acted in entering this war. It was not with their previous knowledge or approval. It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools. Self-governed nations do not fill their neighbor states with spies or set the course of intrigue to bring about some critical posture of affairs which will give them an opportunity to strike and make conquest. Such designs can be successfully worked out only under cover and where no one has the right to ask questions. Cunningly contrived plans of deception or aggression, carried, it may be, from generation to generation, can be worked out and kept from the light only within the privacy of courts or behind the carefully guarded confidences of a narrow and privileged class. They are happily impossible where public opinion commands and insists upon full information concerning all the nation's affairs.

A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except by a partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic government could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a league of honor, a partnership of opinion. Intrigue would eat its vitals away; the plottings of inner circles who could plan what they would and render account to no one would be a corruption seated at its very heart. Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a common end and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest of their own.

Does not every American feel that assurance has been added to our hope for the future peace of the world by the wonderful and heartening things that have been happening within the last few weeks in Russia? Russia was known by those who knew it best to have been always in fact democratic at heart, in all the vital habits of her thoughts, in all the intimate relationships of her people that spoke their natural instinct, their habitual attitude towards life. The autocracy that crowned the summit of her political structure, long as it had stood and terrible as was the reality of its power, was not in fact Russian in origin, character, or purpose; and now it has been shaken off and the great, generous Russian people have been added in all their native majesty and might to the forces that are fighting for freedom in the world, for justice, and for peace. Here is a fit partner for a League of Honor.

One of the things that has served to convince us that the Prussian autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that from the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting communities and even our offices of government with spies and set criminal intrigues everywhere afoot against our national unity of counsel, our peace within and without, our industries and our commerce. Indeed it is now evident that its spies were here even before the war began; and it is unhappily not a matter of conjecture but a fact proved in our courts of justice that the intrigues which have more than once come perilously near to disturbing the peace and dislocating the industries of the country have been carried on at the instigation, with the support, and even under the personal direction of official agents of the Imperial Government accredited to the Government of the United States. Even in checking these things and trying to extirpate them we have sought to put the most generous interpretation possible upon them because we knew that their source lay, not in any hostile feeling or purpose of the German people towards us (who were, no doubt as ignorant of them as we ourselves were), but only in the selfish designs of a government that did what it pleased and told its people nothing. But they have played their part in serving to convince us at last that that government entertains no real friendship for us and means to act against our peace and security at its convenience. That it means to stir up enemies against us at our very doors the intercepted note to the German Minister at Mexico City is eloquent evidence.

We are accepting this challenge of hostile purpose because we know that in such a government, following such methods, we can never have a friend; and that in the presence of its organized power, always lying in wait to accomplish we know not what purpose, there can be no assured security for the democratic governments of the world. We are now about to accept gauge of battle with this natural foe to liberty and shall, if necessary, spend the whole force of the nation to check and nullify its pretensions and its power. We are glad, now that we see the facts with no veil of false pretense about them, to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, the German peoples included: for the rights of nations great and small and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and of obedience. The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.

Just because we fight without rancor and without selfish object, seeking nothing for ourselves but what we shall wish to share with all free peoples, we shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations as belligerents without passion, and ourselves observe with proud punctilio the principles of right and of fair play we profess to be fighting for.

I have said nothing of the governments allied with the Imperial Government of Germany because they have not made war upon us or challenged us to defend our right and our honor. The Austro-Hungarian Government has, indeed, avowed its unqualified endorsement and acceptance of the reckless and lawless submarine warfare adopted now without disguise by the Imperial German Government, and it has therefore not been possible for this government to receive Count Tarnowski, the Ambassador recently accredited to this government by the Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary; but that government has not actually engaged in warfare against citizens of the United States on the seas, and I take the liberty, for the present at least, of postponing a discussion of our relations with the authorities at Vienna. We enter this war only where we are clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defending our rights.

It will be all the easier for us to conduct ourselves as belligerents in a high spirit of right and fairness because we act without animus, not in enmity towards a people or with the desire to bring any injury or disadvantage upon them, but only in armed opposition to an irresponsible government which has thrown aside all considerations of humanity and of right and is running amuck. We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early re-establishment of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us—however hard it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is spoken from our hearts. We have borne with their present government through all these bitter months because of that friendship—exercising a patience and forbearance which would otherwise have been impossible. We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friendship in our daily attitude and actions towards the millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live amongst us and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it towards all who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the government in the hour of test. They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt to stand with us in rebuking and restraining the few who may be of a different mind and purpose. If there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt with with a firm hand of stern repression; but, if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only here and there and without countenance except from a lawless and malignant few.

It is a distressing and oppressive duty, Gentlemen of the Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts—for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.

His address to Congress on November 11, 1918, while all the Allied Nations were celebrating with exultant hearts the victory that had come to them, was no less dramatic than the speech that had marked the beginning of the war. He prefaced it by reading the drastic terms of the armistice granted to Germany. Continuing he said:

The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted these terms of armistice, it will be impossible for the German command to renew it.

It is not now possible to assess the consequences of this great consummation. We know only that this tragical war, whose consuming flames swept from one nation to another until all the world was on fire, is at an end and that it was the privilege of our own people to enter it at its most critical juncture in such fashion and in such force as to contribute, in a way of which we are all deeply proud, to the great result. We know, too, that the object of the war is attained; the object upon which all free men had set their hearts; and attained with a sweeping completeness which even now we do not realize. Armed imperialism such as the men conceived who were but yesterday the masters of Germany is at an end, its illicit ambitions engulfed in black disaster. Who will now seek to revive it?

The arbitrary power of the military caste of Germany which once could secretly and of its own single choice disturb the peace of the world is discredited and destroyed. And more than that—much more than that—has been accomplished. The great nations which associated themselves to destroy it have now definitely united in the common purpose to set up such a peace as will satisfy the longing of the whole world for disinterested justice, embodied in settlements which are based upon something much better and more lasting than the selfish competitive interests of powerful states. There is no longer conjecture as to the objects the victors have in mind. They have a mind in the matter, not only, but a heart also. Their avowed and concerted purpose is to satisfy and protect the weak as well as to accord their just rights to the strong.

The humane temper and intention of the victorious governments have already been manifested in a very practical way. Their representatives in the Supreme War Council at Versailles have by unanimous resolution assured the peoples of the Central Empires that everything that is possible in the circumstances will be done to supply them with food and relieve the distressing want that is in so many places threatening their very lives; and steps are to be taken immediately to organize these efforts at relief in the same systematic manner that they were organized in the case of Belgium. By the use of the idle tonnage of the Central Empires it ought presently to be possible to lift the fear of utter misery from their oppressed populations and set their minds and energies free for the great and hazardous tasks of political reconstruction which now face them on every hand. Hunger does not breed reform; it breeds madness and all the ugly distempers that make an ordered life impossible.

For with the fall of the ancient governments, which rested like an incubus on the peoples of the Central Empires, has come political change not merely, but revolution; and revolution which seems as yet to assume no final and ordered form, but to run from one fluid change to another, until thoughtful men are forced to ask themselves, with what governments and of what sort are we about to deal in the making of the covenants of peace? With what authority will they meet us, and with what assurance that their authority will abide and sustain securely the international arrangements into which we are about to enter? There is here matter for no small anxiety and misgiving. When peace is made, upon whose promises and engagements besides our own is it to rest?

Let us be perfectly frank with ourselves and admit that these questions cannot be satisfactorily answered now or at once. But the moral is not that there is little hope of an early answer that will suffice. It is only that we must be patient and helpful and mindful above all of the great hope and confidence that lie at the heart of what is taking place. Excesses accomplish nothing. Unhappy Russia has furnished abundant recent proof of that. Disorder immediately defeats itself. If excesses should occur, if disorder should for a time raise its head, a sober second thought will follow and a day of constructive action, if we help and do not hinder.

The present and all that it holds belongs to the nations and the peoples who preserve their self-control and the orderly processes of their governments; the future to those who prove themselves the true friends of mankind. To conquer with arms is to make only a temporary conquest; to conquer the world by earning its esteem is to make permanent conquest. I am confident that the nations that have learned the discipline of freedom and that have settled with self-possession to its ordered practice are now about to make conquest of the world by the sheer power of example and of friendly helpfulness.

The peoples who have but just come out from under the yoke of arbitrary government and who are now coming at last into their freedom will never find the treasures of liberty they are in search of if they look for them by the light of the torch. They will find that every pathway that is stained with the blood of their own brothers leads to the wilderness, not to the seat of their hope. They are now face to face with their initial test. We must hold the light steady until they find themselves. And in the meantime, if it be possible, we must establish a peace that will justly define their place among the nations, remove all fear of their neighbors and of their former masters, and enable them to live in security and contentment when they have set their own affairs in order. I, for one, do not doubt their purpose or their capacity. There are some happy signs that they know and will choose the way of self-control and peaceful accommodation. If they do, we shall put our aid at their disposal in every way that we can. If they do not, we must await with patience and sympathy the awakening and recovery that will assuredly come at last.

FOURTEEN PRINCIPLES OF PEACE

On Tuesday, January 8, 1918, President Wilson placed the peace terms of the United States Government before both houses of Congress, in joint session. The fourteen principles were:

1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understanding of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.

2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.

3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.

4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.

5. A free, open-minded and absolutely impartial adjustment of all Colonial claims based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty, the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.

6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest co-operation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy, and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs, as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.

7. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired.

8. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871, in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interests of all.

9. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognized lines of nationality.

10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and restored, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development.

11. Roumania, Serbia and Montenegro should be evacuated, occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea, and the relations of the several Balkan States to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity, of the several Balkan States, should be entered into.

12. The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule, should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

13. An independent Polish State should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenants.

14. General association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

President Wilson in his address to Congress on February 11, 1918, presented these four principles which are to be applied in arranging world peace:

1. That each part of the final settlement must be based upon the essential justice of that particular case and upon such adjustments, as are most likely to bring a peace that will be permanent.

2. That peoples and provinces are not to be bartered about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were mere chattels and pawns in a game, even the great game now forever discredited, of the balance of power; but that

3: Every territorial settlement must be made in the interest and for the benefit of the populations concerned, and not as part of any mere adjustment or compromise of claims amongst rival states; and,

4. That all well-defined national aspirations shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be accorded them without introducing new or perpetuating old elements of discord and antagonism that would be likely in time to break the peace of Europe and consequently of the world.

President Wilson, in his Liberty Loan address in New York on September 27th, thus stated this government's interpretation of its duty with regard to peace:

1. The impartial justice meted out must involve no discrimination between those to whom we wish to be just and those to whom we do not wish to be just. It must be a justice that plays no favorites and knows no standard but the equal rights of the several peoples concerned;

2. No special or separate interest of any single nation or any group of nations can be made the basis of any part of the settlement which is not consistent with the common interests of all;

3. There can be no leagues or alliances or special covenants and understandings within the general and common family of the League of Nations;

4. And more specifically, there can be no special, selfish economic combinations within the league and no employment of any form of economic boycott or exclusion 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.

5. All international agreements and treaties of every kind must be made known in their entirety to the rest of the world.

[Illustration: Map: Europe, North Africa, East Asia.]
  THE WAR ZONE ESTABLISHED BY GERMANY, FEBRUARY, 1917, THAT BROUGHT
  AMERICA INTO THE WAR.

CHAPTER LVI

THE WAR BY YEARS

Germany's military strength developed during forty years of preparation, and the offensive plans of the German High Command developed in connection with an extraordinary spy service in France, Belgium, Russia, England and the United States, culminated in a simultaneous campaign on land and by sea, affecting these five nations.

AUGUST 1, 1914-AUGUST 1, 1915

Belgium and Northern France were overrun by a German invading force under General von Kluck. The heroic effort of the French army under General Joffre and a supreme strategic thrust at the German center by General Foch turned back the German tide at the battle of the Marne. The scientific diabolism of the German High Command was revealed when poison gas was projected against the Canadians at Ypres, torturing, blinding and killing thousands.

German terrorism on the high seas culminated in the sinking of the Cunard liner Lusitania by a German submarine off the Irish coast. Men, women and children to the number of 1,152 lost their lives. Of these 102 were Americans.

German colonies in South Africa were invaded by British South African troops under General Louis Botha, who during the Boer War commanded a division against the British. The German holdings at Tsing-Tau and in the Marshall Islands were seized by Japan.

German cruisers that had raided sea-going commerce were destroyed. The most noted of these was the Emden, which was defeated and destroyed by the Australian cruiser Sydney off the Cocos Islands.

German sea power was further humiliated in a running fight off Helgoland in which the battle cruiser Blucher was sunk and in a battle off the Falkland Islands in which three German cruisers were destroyed.

Italy entered the war on May 23,1915, and invaded Austria on a sixty-mile front. Russian forces, after early successes, were defeated at Tannenburg by von Hindenburg, the outstanding military genius on the German side.

The development of aircraft as an aid to artillery and as a destructive force on its own account, was rapid, and the use of machine guns and hand grenades in trench operations became general.

AUGUST 1, 1915-AUGUST 1, 1916

The tragic sea and land operations at the Dardanelles and Gallipoli marked this year with red in British history. Sir Douglas Haig succeeded Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in France. The outstanding operation of the British forces on the western front was the bloody battle of the Somme, beginning July 1st, and continuing until the fall of 1915. The losses on both sides in that titanic struggle staggered two continents. Especially heroic were the attacks of the Canadians in that great battle and especially heavy were the losses in killed and wounded of the Canadian regiments. They ranked in magnitude with the depletion that came to the Australian and New Zealand armies in the fatal Gallipoli campaign.

This year will be glorious forever in the annals of France because of the heroic defense at Verdun. That battle tested to the limit the offensive strength of the German machine and it was found lacking in power to pierce the superhuman defense of the heroic French forces under Petain and Nivelle.

Bulgaria entered the war on October 14, 1915, with a declaration of war against helpless Serbia. Greece, torn by internal dissensions, inclined first to one side, then to the other. The occupation of Saloniki by French and British expeditionary forces finally swung the archipelago to the Allies.

A British Mesopotamian force under General Townshend, poorly equipped and unsupported, was cut off in Kut-el-Amara, and surrendered to the Turks on April 29, 1916.

The Italian forces under General Cadorna made a sensational advance terminating in the capture of Gorizia. Portugal entered the war on the side of the Allies after it had refused to give up to Germany several German ships interned in Portuguese ports.

An object lesson in German submarine possibilities was given America when the Deutschland, a super-submarine cargo vessel, arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 9, 1916. The Deutschland later was converted into a naval submarine and re-visited American shores, sinking a number of merchant vessels. It was one of the German submarine fleet surrendered to the Allies in November, 1918.

Russia proved itself to be a military ineffective. German armies under von Mackensen and von Hindenburg occupied Warsaw, Brest-Litovsk, Lutsk, and Grodno. Grand Duke Nicholas was removed from the command of the Russian armies and Czar Nicholas assumed command.

Germany's pretensions to sea power ended with the battle of Jutland, May 31, 1916, when its High Seas fleet fled after a running fight with British cruisers and destroyers. Never, thereafter, during the war did the German ships venture out of the Bight of Helgoland.

AUGUST 1, 1916-AUGUST 1, 1917

This year was marked by two dramatic episodes. The first of these was the sudden entrance and the equally sudden exit of Roumania as a factor in the World War.

The second was the appearance of the United States which became the deciding factor in the war.

Roumania created enthusiasm in Allied countries when it declared war on Austria-Hungary August 27th. A sudden descent by a Roumanian army into Transylvania on August 30th was hailed as the harbinger of further successes. These hopes were turned to ashes when von Mackensen headed an irresistible German and Austrian rush which fairly inundated Roumania. The retreat from Transylvania by the Roumanians was turned into a rout. Bulgarian forces invaded the Dobrudja region of Roumania and on November 28th the seat of the Roumanian Government was transferred from Bucharest, the capital, to Jassy. Roumania ceased to be a factor in the war on December 6th, when Bucharest fell to von Mackensen. Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary died on November 22d, while Austrian hopes were at their highest.

America's appearance as a belligerent was forecast on January 31, 1917, when Germany announced its intention of sinking all vessels in a blockade zone around the British Isles. Count von Bernstorff was handed his passports on February 3d, and on April 2d President Wilson, in a remarkable address to Congress, advised a declaration of war by the United States against Germany. This was consummated by a formal vote of Congress declaring war on April 6th.

This action by America was followed by the organization of a Council of National Defense. Under this body the resources of the nation were mobilized. The council was later virtually abandoned as an organizing factor, its functions going to the War Industries Board, presided over by Bernard Baruch; the Fuel Administration, under Dr. Harry A. Garfield; the War Trade Board, with Vance C. McCormick at its head; and other governmental bodies. George Creel headed the Committee on Public Information.

Conscription was decided upon as the foundation of America's war-making policy, and the training of officers and privates in great training camps was commenced. Great shipping and aircraft programs were formulated and the nation as a whole was placed upon a war footing.

The Russian revolution beginning in bread riots in Petrograd, spread throughout that country, with the result that Russia disappeared as one of the Entente Allies.

FROM AUGUST 1, 1917-NOVEMBER 11, 1918

America's might and efficiency were revealed in the speed and thoroughness with which her military, naval and civilian resources were mobilized and thrown into the conflict. Under the supervision of the Chief of Staff, two million American soldiers received the final touches in their military training and were transported safely overseas. They became the decisive factor in the war during the summer and fall of 1918. To their glory be it recorded they never retreated. Chateau-Thierry, St. Mihiel, Siecheprey, Boureches Wood, Cantigny, Belleau Wood, the Argonne, Sedan and Stenay are names that will rank in American history with Yorktown, New Orleans and Gettysburg. The "land of dollars" became over night the "land of high ideals" to the civilized world. Lightless nights in cities, restriction of the use of gasoline on Sundays and daylight-saving legislation linked civilians to soldiers in war effort.

Italy suffered a severe reverse beginning October 24, 1917, when the German forces rushed through a portion of the Italian army that had been honey-combed with pro-German Socialistic propaganda.

Canada again emblazoned its name in history through the heroic capture of Passchendaele on November 6, 1917.

The Russian revolution turned to the Bolsheviki when Lenine and Trotsky at the head of the Reds seized Petrograd on November 7th and deposed Alexander Kerensky, leader of the Moderate Socialists. The Czar Nicholas was executed by the victorious Bolsheviki and the Imperial family made captives.

The British Mesopotamian forces advanced into Palestine and Mesopotamia, destroying the Turkish army under Ahmed Bey in a battle terminating September 29, 1917. General Stanley Maude, the leader of the expedition, died in Mesopotamia November 18, 1917.

General Allenby commanding British and Arabian forces, routed and destroyed three Turkish armies in Palestine, capturing Jerusalem which had been held by the Turks for six hundred and seventy three years.

The turning point of the war came on March 29, 1918, when General Foch was chosen Commander-in-Chief of all the Allied forces. This followed Germany's great drive on a fifty-mile front from Arras to La Fere. Successive German thrusts were halted by the Allied forces now strongly reinforced by Americans.

Foch, patiently biding his time, elected to halt the German drive with Americans. The Marines of the United States forces were given the post of honor, and at Chateau-Thierry the counter-thrust of Foch was commenced by a complete defeat of the Prussian Guard and other crack German regiments, by the untried soldiers of America.

From Chateau-Thierry to the armistice which went into effect at eleven o'clock on November 11th was only a short span of time, but in it was compressed the humiliation of arrogant Teutonic imperialism, the destruction of militaristic autocracy, and the liberation of the world.

CHAPTER LVII

BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE

GENERAL MARCH'S OWN STORY OF THE WORK OF THE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE DIVISION—OF THE WAR PLANS DIVISION—OF THE PURCHASE AND TRAFFIC DIVISION—HOW MEN, MUNITIONS AND SUPPLIES REACHED THE WESTERN FRONT.

It is important that a general summary of America's military preparations, a detailed description of the operations behind the battle line and a detailed chronology of America's principal military operations in France during the year 1918 should be presented to the reader. Such a summary is afforded by the report of General Peyton C. March, Chief of Staff, United States Army, for the last year of the war. Addressing the Secretary of War, General March wrote in part:

The signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, has brought to a successful conclusion the most remarkable achievement in the history of all warfare.

The entry of the United States into the war on April 6, 1917, found the Nation about as thoroughly unprepared for the great task which was confronting it as any great nation which had ever engaged in war. Starting from a minimum of organized strength, within this short period of sixteen months the entire resources of the country in men, money, and munitions have been placed under central control, and at the end of this period the Nation was in its full stride and had accomplished, from a military standpoint, what our enemy regarded as the impossible. The most important single thing, perhaps, in this record of accomplishment, was the immediate passage by Congress of the draft law, without which it would have been impossible to have raised the men necessary for victory. In organizing, training, and supplying the vast numbers of men made available by the draft law very many changes have been made necessary in the organization of the War Department and in the methods existing therein which were inherited from the times of profound peace.

Shortly after my installation as Chief of Staff I adopted the principle of interchange of the personnel of the various staff corps of the War Department with men who had training in France, and in the application of this principle placed as the heads of various bureaus officers selected on account of their ability and experience in the system of warfare as conducted in France.

At this time, also, I found that the divisions organized in our armies were still regarded as separate units, designated by different titles in accordance with their origin. This made three different kinds of divisions in the United States army—the Regular army, the National Guard, and National army divisions. All these distinctions were abolished and the entire army consolidated into a United States army, without regard to the source from which drawn. The source of supply of all replacements for the various elements of the army, without regard to their origin, was drafted men; and the titles had no significance whatever and were a source of possible disturbance from the standpoint of military efficiency. There was, in fact, no actual difference between these divisions with respect to efficiency—all have done high-grade work from whatever source drawn. All have shown courage and capacity for quick absorption of the fundamentals of modern military training and irresistible dash and force in actual fighting.

When I returned from France on March 1, 1918, I came back with the belief that the most fundamental necessity, both for the American Expeditionary Force and for the success of the allies, was that the shipment of troops to France should be vastly increased and should have priority over everything else; and as this policy became effective a study was instituted looking to our putting in France, if that was possible, enough men to bring the war to a conclusion in the shortest period possible. After a study of the entire situation, including as accurate an estimate of the potential strength of our allies on the western front and of the probable German strength as was possible, I came to the conclusion that the war might be brought to an end in 1919, provided we were able to land in France by June 30th of that year eighty American divisions of a strength of 3,360,000 men. On July 18, 1918, I submitted to you a formal memorandum, accompanied by a study of methods by which the men could be obtained, the supplies procured, and an analysis of the shipping which must be obtained in order to accomplish this very large military program. This was accompanied by an estimate of the cost of the proposed program.

In this study I recommended to you the adoption, as the American program, of eighty divisions in France and eighteen at home by June 30, 1919, based on a total strength of the American army of 4,850,000 men. This was approved by you and by the President of the United States and adopted as our formal military program. To carry this program into effect required the adoption by Congress of a change in the draft ages so as to include men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, and also created a deficiency over the enormous appropriations already made by Congress of some $7,000,000,000. The presentation of the program to Congress, accompanied by the statement that this increase in the army, if laws were passed by Congress which would make it effective, would lead to success in 1919, produced prompt and favorable consideration by that body. Up to the signing of the armistice troops were being transported to France monthly in accordance with that program. The results speak for themselves….

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Photo by International Film Service.
  THE SALVATION ARMY ON THE WESTERN FRONT
  A shell-proof dugout used as a rest room for soldiers.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Press Illustrating Service.
  THE Y. M. C. A. IN THE FRONT LINE TRENCHES
  The Y. M. C. A. sign beside the trench points the way to a dugout,
  instead of the usual hut, in which soldiers found the comforts which
  made the sign of the triangle famous.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Photo from Underwood and Underwood. N.Y.
  A LETTER FROM HOME
  In thousands of France's little stone houses this scene has been
  duplicated. In the towns and villages soldiers were assigned or
  "billeted" to the houses of the inhabitants with the result that a
  deep mutual respect grew up between the two nationalities.

During the year, the most important in the history of the country both from a military and civil standpoint, there have been four heads of the General Staff: Major-General Hugh L. Scott, from the outbreak of the war until his retirement, September 22, 1917; General Tasker H. Bliss, from that date until May 19, 1918; Major-General John Biddle, Acting Chief of Staff at periods during the absence of General Bliss in France, from October 29, 1917, to December 16, 1917, and from January 9, 1918, to March 3, 1918. I assumed the duties of Acting Chief of Staff on March 4, 1918, became Chief of Staff May 20, 1918, and have continued on that duty since.

It was evident, as the war progressed, that the General Staff was acting under an organization and in accordance with regulations which were not only unsuited to the duties and responsibilities confronting it, but were wholly out of date and were not suited to any General Staff organization. Successive revisions of the orders under which the General Staff was acting were made as events demanded, until the experience of the year crystallized the organization of the General Staff into that set forth in General Order No. 80 of the War Department. This order divides the work of the General Staff into four primary divisions: 1. Operations; 2. Purchase, Storage, and Traffic; 3. Military Intelligence; 4. War Plans. Each of these divisions is under the direction of a director; who is Assistant Chief of Staff and is a general officer.

OPERATIONS DIVISION

The Operations Division is under the charge of Major-General Henry Jervey, United States army, as Director of Operations and Assistant Chief of Staff. This division is a consolidation of the former Operations Committee and Equipment Committee, which pertained to the War College under the previous organization. The Operations Division has had charge of the increase in the personnel of the army during the year. On June 30, 1917, the Regular army consisted of 250,357 officers and enlisted men. On August 5,1917, 379,323 officers and men of the National Guard were drafted into the Federal service. There were a few special drafts of small numbers of National Guardsmen into the Federal service after August 5, 1917. During the period covered by this report this division handled the calls into service of men obtained under the draft, the organization of these men into divisions and units necessary for the army, and turned over for shipment overseas up to November 8, 1918, 2,047,667 men. The grand total of men in the army from returns for the period ending October 15th is 3,624,774. This force was organized into divisions, the proper proportion of corps, army, and service of supply troops, and of replacement camps and training centers for Infantry, Field Artillery, and Machine Guns in the United States. Central officers' training schools were organized at each of the replacement camps. Replacement camps and training centers for the various staff departments were also organized. Development battalions were organized at all division camps and large posts and camps for the purpose of developing men of poor physique and the instruction of illiterates and non-English-speaking men of the draft. During the fiscal year 5,377,468 officers and men were moved by railroad to and from the camps.

The Operations Division has during the year also handled all matters connected with the adoption of new types of equipment, fixing allowances for various units, the preparation of tables of equipment for them, and the distribution and issue of equipment, and the determination of priorities of such issue.

It has supervised and studied the needs of camps and construction work therein, and this work in general has been characterized by marked ability and devotion to duty.

PURCHASE, STORAGE AND TRAFFIC DIVISION

The Division of Purchase, Storage and Traffic is under the charge of Major-General George W. Goethals, United States army, as Assistant Chief of Staff and Director of Purchase, Storage and Traffic. This division was organized by merging divisions previously created, and which had been called "Storage and Traffic" and "Purchase and Supply." The new division thus organized was subdivided into Embarkation Service, Storage, Inland Traffic Service, and Purchase and Supply Branch.

Embarkation.—At the outbreak of the war the Quartermaster's Department had charge of the transportation of troops and supplies and continued to exercise these functions until August 4, 1917, when they were transferred to a separate division of the General Staff, specially created for the purpose, and designated as the Embarkation Service. As already noted, this was subsequently merged with the Storage and Traffic Division.

Two primary ports of embarkation were established, one with headquarters at Hoboken, N. J., and the other at Newport News, Va., each under the command of a general officer.

The Quartermaster's Department was operating a service to Panama from New York, but with the shipment of troops to France a new condition arose which was met only in part by taking over the Hoboken piers, formerly owned by the Hamburg-American and North German Lloyd steamship companies, and the magnitude of the undertaking necessitated additional facilities. The situation at New York is complicated by the large amount of general shipping using the port, the diversified interests, even those of the government, and the complicated jurisdiction. An effort was made to bring about such a consolidation and unification as to secure greater co-operation with increased efficiency. To this end the War Board for the Port of New York was established in November, 1917. It was vested with full power and authority to make rules and regulations for operating the facilities of the port, to determine priorities, and to do what was necessary to provide for the prompt and economical dispatch of the business of the government in and about the port. Mr. Irving T. Bush was selected as the board's representative, with the title of chief executive officer. In addition to representing the board he was to arrange for the co-operative use of piers, warehouses, lighterage, terminals, railroads, trucking, and all other transportation facilities in and about the port.

In addition the need was felt for having a shipping expert closely associated with the Embarkation Service, familiar with the facilities at various ports, so that he could properly assign ships, select ships for the cargo to be moved, and arrange for their loading. Mr. Joseph T. Lilly was selected for this work and appointed director of embarkation.

In February, 1918, the available cargo ships were not sufficient to carry the supplies needed for maintaining the troops overseas. To secure the requisite additional tonnage necessitated taking ships from the existing trade routes and determining from what imports and exports they could best be spared without interference with those which were absolutely necessary. This brought about a new situation which could be handled only by those having a knowledge of the trades as well as the characteristics of various ships serving them, since some of them were suitable for War Department needs and some were not. It had happened that an advantageous exchange of ships could have been made with the Allies by which valuable time could have been saved in getting over cargo, but there was lack of knowledge as well as lack of authority. The whole situation was gone over at a conference between the Secretary of War and the chairman of the Shipping Board, as a result of which the Shipping Control Committee was created, consisting of Mr. P. A. S. Franklin, chairman; Mr. H. H. Raymond; and Sir Connop Guthrie, representative of the Allies' shipping interests. The allocation and distribution of available tonnage, as well as questions of exchange of ships, was vested in this committee. So far as the work of the War Department was concerned the committee was charged with the loading and unloading cargo, coaling, supplies, repairs, and, except where vessels are commanded by the navy, of inspection and manning. They also have charge of the management and operation of docks, piers, slips, loading and discharging facilities under the control of the department, or of any board, officers, or agency operating such facilities, together with the direction and management of minor craft to be used in connection with the handling of steamers and their cargoes in port. The amount of cargo shipped overseas, the efficiency of the loading, and the reduction of the time of stay in the ports attest to the efficient manner in which the committee has operated, and it is not too much to say that they are to be largely credited with the results that have been accomplished.

Expeditionary depots were operated at Boston, Mass., Philadelphia, Pa., and Baltimore, Md., primarily for the movement of freight. When cargo ships having accommodations for troops were loaded at these ports troops for the available space were sent from the camps under the direction of the commanding general at Hoboken; similarly shipments of troops were made from Montreal, Canada, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, when practicable. Cargo shipments were also made from other ports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

On May 25, 1918, the water transport branch of the Quartermaster's
Department was transferred and made a part of the Embarkation Service.

In April conditions abroad necessitated the speeding up shipments of troops, and brought to the service such transports as the British Government could spare for the purpose, which have been continued in use. The army transports are officered and manned by the navy, as is the greater number of the cargo ships. The arrangements for transferring ships to naval control as well as for convoys for troop and cargo ships are handled through the Chief of Operations of the navy, who has given every assistance. The way in which the work has been handled by the navy is shown by the loss of no troop ships which were under their protection on the eastbound trips.

Inland Traffic.—The inland traffic service was established on January 10, 1918. As the government had taken over all of the railroads, the necessity for working in harmony with the organization that was placed in charge was apparent, and the Railroad Administration was requested to recommend a competent traffic man to handle the work. This resulted in the selection and assignment of Mr. H. M. Adams as chief of the section. He in turn secured his expert assistants through the Railroad Administration.

At the time the section was formed approximately 15,000 carloads of War Department property held in cars were congesting various Atlantic ports. Steps were taken which relieved this condition and brought about an orderly movement of the traffic when and in the quantities desired. The value of the inland traffic service was soon demonstrated and led to a reorganization, with authority to take over the transportation organizations of the various bureaus of the War Department, both at Washington and throughout the country, so that as now organized the chief of the inland traffic service exercises direct control of the transportation of troops, of the supplies of and for the various bureaus of the War Department, and for the contractors working for the several bureaus. This control extends over the entire country through the medium of representatives stationed at various traffic centers.

Working in conjunction with the Railroad Administration has resulted in minimizing the burdens of the carriers. The work has been performed most efficiently. More than 5,000,000 troops have been moved from their homes, from one camp to another, and from camps to the points of embarkation within the period covered by this report.

Arrangements have been made by which this branch will take charge of all express movements for the War Department, as well as the tracing of the movements of all War Department property, including the contractors and others for the various bureaus.

Purchase and Supply.—The Purchase and Supply Branch is organized into the following subsections: Supply Program, Purchase, Production, Finance, and Emergency.

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE DIVISION

The Military Intelligence Division has as director Brigadier-General Marlborough Churchill, United States army, Assistant Chief of Staff. This division, which had been a branch, first of the War Plans Division and then of the Executive Division of the General Staff, was separated completely and made an independent division by general orders which reorganized the General Staff, thus putting the Military Intelligence Division on a par with similar services of general staffs of other nations of the world.

The duties of the Military Intelligence Division consist, in general, in the organization of the intelligence service, positive and negative, including the collection and coordination of military information; the supervision of the department intelligence officers and intelligence officers at posts, stations, camps, and with commands in the field, in matters relating to military intelligence; the direction of counter-espionage work; the preparation of instruction in military intelligence work for the use of our forces; the consideration of questions of policy promulgated by the General Staff in all matters of military intelligence; the co-operation with intelligence branches of the general staffs of other countries; the supervision of the training of officers for intelligence duty, the obtaining and issuing of maps: and the disbursement of and accounting for intelligence funds.

One of the important functions of the Director of the Military Intelligence Division is that of coordinating the work of this service with other intelligence agencies. Possible duplications of work and investigation by the State Department, Treasury Department, Department of Justice, Navy Department, War Trade Board, and the War Department are avoided or adjusted at weekly conferences held at the Department of Justice and attended by representatives of these departments who consider matters of common interest. For a similar purpose, the Director of Military Intelligence is a member of the Fire Prevention Committee, the War Industries Board, and the National Research Council.

For the purpose of securing close co-operation between the military intelligence services of the nations associated in the war, the British and French Governments were requested by the United States to send officers to this country for liaison duty. These officers have been of great assistance in accomplishing this end, because of their knowledge of the details of intelligence work in Europe.

For the performance of the service for which the Military Intelligence Division was developed, eight sections have been established, each dealing with its peculiar problems, and working in close liaison with its fellows….

It may not be amiss to call attention to the enthusiastic co-operation which this division has consistently received from the various other intelligence agencies, civilian and others. The American Protective League, the Department of Justice, the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Customs, the War Trade Intelligence have all co-operated in the heartiest manner with each and every effort of the Military Intelligence Division. Indeed, it is hardly saying too much to state that the success of the Military Intelligence Division has in a very large measure been due to the loyal assistance which it has received at all times from the various agencies whose functions are similar to its own.

WAR PLANS DIVISION

The War Plans Division of the General Staff is under the direction of Brigadier-General Lytle Brown, as Director and Assistant Chief of Staff. A very large volume of work has been accomplished by this division during the year. Exclusive of subjects pertaining to the historical branch, the inventions section, and routine matters, 9,287 cases were handled by the division during the year.

These included studies as to policies for defense and the organization of the military forces in general as published in Tables of Organization, completed studies on the policy and plans for training the army in general, training replacement troops, training cadres, training centers, training schools, schools for senior and staff officers, and plans for physical reconstruction and vocational training of wounded soldiers.

In addition, through the Training Section, the War Plans Division has supervision of training in general and has kept in touch by inspections by its officers with methods used and progress made.

The Legislative, Regulations, and Rules Branch of the War Plans Division has handled numerous changes in Army Regulations and War Department orders made necessary by the present emergency, and has considered bills before Congress pertaining to the army.

The Historical Branch of the General Staff was organized March 5, 1918, to collect and compile the records pertaining to the war under the approved policy, and satisfactory progress is being made. To June 30, 1918, 67,022 photographs and 2,590 feet of motion-picture film had been received.

The Inventions Section was organized April 16, 1918. This section has taken over from the different agencies of the government the preliminary consideration of inventions and ideas of inventions of a military nature, with a view to placing before the proper bureaus of the War Department those having sufficient military value to warrant test and development at the expense of the government. From April 16, 1918, to June 30, 1918, 4,645 cases were handled, a number of which were of exceptional merit and have already been put to use….

The Chief of Staff has as his principal assistant Major-General Frank
McIntyre, United States army, who acts as executive officer for the
General Staff and also for the Chief of Staff in his absence.

Beside the General Staff divisions which have been referred to in the foregoing, there has been established in the General Staff a Morale Section, under charge of Brigadier-General E. L. Munson, United States army, which has for its object primarily the stimulation of morale throughout the army, and maintaining a close connection and liaison with similar activities in civil life. This section had only gotten fairly into operation before the signing of the armistice, but had already shown its value as a military asset.

Another important addition to the organization of the General Staff has been the establishment of a Personnel Section, under charge of Brigadier-General P. P. Bishop, United States army. In this section has been consolidated the handling of appointments, promotions, and commissions of the entire official personnel of the United States army. This section has proved to be of the greatest value and has come to stay.

The signing of the armistice has interrupted the conclusion of the organization now under way for the consolidation of Procurement and Storage under the Director of Purchase, Storage, and Traffic, but the principle is sound from the standpoint of organization and extremely economical in its results.

The supply of officers for the very large military program has been throughout one of the most important problems which confronted the General Staff. I have already indicated in the statement of the functions of the Operations Division of the General Staff the organization of central training camps for officers throughout the United States. When, however, we embarked upon the final program of placing eighty divisions in France and eighteen at home by June 30, 1919, which involved an army of approximately 4,800,000, the problem of the supply of officers became so serious that an understanding was obtained with the great mass of educational institutions throughout the United States, resulting in the development of the Student Army Training Corps. This scheme absorbed for military purposes the academic plants of some 518 colleges and universities throughout the country, and for vocational training in the army embraced some eighty more. This corps was put under the charge of Brigadier-General Robert I. Rees, United States army, and in its development we have had the energetic cooperation of college presidents and responsible college authorities throughout the entire United States. At the same time, in order to increase the supply of officers, the course at West Point was cut down to one year's intensive training, with the idea of placing at the disposal of the government 1,000 officers a year graduated from that extremely efficient plant rather than the graduation of about 200, which had been the case previously throughout the war.

The separation of the Air Service from the Signal Corps, under the provisions of the Overman bill, and the establishment of a Bureau of Military Aeronautics, under Major-General William L. Kenly, United States army, and of a Bureau of Aircraft Production, under Mr. John D. Ryan, marked an extremely important step forward in the development of this portion of the Military Establishment. The armistice closes out this matter with the two branches of the Air Service in a state of marked efficiency and establishes unquestionably the necessity for the permanent separation of the Air Service from the Signal Corps in the reorganization of the army.

During this period another new agency created in the War Department by Executive order was the office of the Chief of Field Artillery. This office has been filled by Major-General William J. Snow, United States army. This establishment was accompanied by the creation in the American Expeditionary Force in France of the office of Chief of Artillery on General Pershing's staff, having similar relation to all the artillery of the Expeditionary Force which the Chief of Field Artillery has toward the mobile artillery at home. The work of this office has been accompanied by a marked increase in the efficiency of the training system in the various Field Artillery camps, and the office itself has proved to be of distinct value.

I have directed the divisions of the General Staff concerned to study and submit for your consideration a plan for the reorganization of our army, which will take advantage of our experience in this war, which has brought about many changes in organization of all arms of the service, and has developed new arms not known when the war started. The Air Service, the Tank Corps, the development of heavy mobile artillery, the proper organization of divisions, corps, and armies, all will be set forth in the scheme which will be submitted to you with the recommendation that it be transmitted for the consideration of Congress.

The conduct of the American troops in France, their progressive development in military experience and ability, the fine staff work, and the modesty and gallantry of the individual soldier is a matter of pride to all Americans. General Pershing and his command have earned the thanks of the American people.

The work of General Tasker H. Bliss as military representative of the
War Department with the American Section of the Supreme War Council at
Versailles has been of the greatest value to the War Department.

I cannot close this report without making of record the appreciation of the War Department of the work of the many trained and patriotic officers of the army whom the destiny of war did not call to France. These officers, forced to remain behind in the United States by the imperative necessity of having trained men to keep the machine moving, have kept up their work with such intelligence, zeal, and devotion to duty as to show a high order of patriotism. The officers and men who have not been able on account of the armistice to be transported to France deserve also, with their comrades in France, the thanks of the American people.

CHAPTER LVIII

GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY
[Footnote: From General Pershing's official report to the Secretary of
War. November 20, 1918]

Immediately upon receiving my orders I selected a small staff and proceeded to Europe in order to become familiar with conditions at the earliest possible moment.

The warmth of our reception in England and France was only equaled by the readiness of the commanders-in-chief of the veteran armies of the Allies and their staffs to place their experience at our disposal. In consultation with them the most effective means of co-operation of effort was considered. With French and British armies at their maximum strength, and all efforts to dispossess the enemy from his firmly intrenched positions in Belgium and France failed, it was necessary to plan for an American force adequate to turn the scale in favor of the Allies. Taking account of the strength of the central powers at that time, the immensity of the problem which confronted us could hardly be overestimated. The first requisite being an organization that could give intelligent direction to effort, the formation of a General Staff occupied my early attention.

GENERAL STAFF

A well-organized General Staff through which the commander exercises his functions is essential to a successful modern army. However capable our division, our battalion, and our companies as such, success would be impossible without thoroughly coordinated endeavor. A General Staff broadly organized and trained for war had not hitherto existed in our army. Under the Commander-in-Chief, this staff must carry out the policy and direct the details of administration, supply, preparation, and operations of the army as a whole, with all special branches and bureaus subject to its control. As models to aid us we had the veteran French General Staff and the experience of the British who had similarly formed an organization to meet the demands of a great army. By selecting from each the features best adapted to our basic organization, and fortified by our own early experience in the war, the development of our great General Staff system was completed.

The General Staff is naturally divided into five groups, each with its chief who is an assistant to the Chief of the General Staff. G. 1 is in charge of organization and equipment of troops, replacements, tonnage, priority of overseas shipment, the auxiliary welfare association and cognate subjects; G. 2 has censorship, enemy intelligence, gathering and disseminating information, preparation of maps, and all similar subjects; G. 3 is charged with all strategic studies and plans, movement of troops, and the supervision of combat operations; G. 4 coordinates important questions of supply, construction, transport arrangements for combat, and of the operations of the service of supply, and of hospitalization and the evacuation of the sick and wounded; G. 5 supervises the various schools and has general direction and coordination of education and training.

The first Chief of Staff was Col. (now Maj.-Gen.) James G. Harbord, who was succeeded in March, 1918, by Maj.-Gen. James W. McAndrew. To these officers, to the deputy chief of staff, and to the assistant chiefs of staff, who, as heads of sections, aided them, great credit is due for the results obtained not only in perfecting the General Staff organization but in applying correct principles to the multiplicity of problems that have arisen.

ORGANIZATION AND TRAINING

After a thorough consideration of allied organizations it was decided that our combat division should consist of four regiments of infantry of 3,000 men, with three battalions to regiment and four companies of 250 men each to a battalion, and of an artillery brigade of three regiments, a machine-gun battalion, an engineer regiment, a trench-mortar battery, a signal battalion, wagon trains, and the headquarters staffs and military police. These, with medical and other units, made a total of over 28,000 men, or practically double the size of a French or German division. Each corps would normally consist of six divisions—four combat and one depot and one replacement division—and also two regiments of cavalry, and each army of from three to five corps. With four divisions fully trained, a corps could take over an American sector with two divisions in line and two in reserve, with the depot and replacement divisions prepared to fill the gaps in the ranks.

Our purpose was to prepare an integral American force, which should be able to take the offensive in every respect. Accordingly, the development of a self-reliant infantry by thorough drill in the use of the rifle and in the tactics of open warfare was always uppermost. The plan of training after arrival in France allowed a division one month for acclimatization and instruction in small units from battalions down, a second month in quiet trench sectors by battalion, and a third month after it came out of the trenches when it should be trained as a complete division in war of movement….

ARTILLERY, AIRPLANES, AND TANKS

Our entry into the war found us with few of the auxiliaries necessary for its conduct in the modern sense. Among our most important deficiencies in material were artillery, aviation, and tanks. In order to meet our requirements as rapidly as possible, we accepted the offer of the French Government to provide us with the necessary artillery equipment of seventy-fives, one fifty-five millimeter howitzers, and one fifty-five G P F guns from their own factories for thirty divisions. The wisdom of this course is fully demonstrated by the fact that, although we soon began the manufacture of these classes of guns at home, there were no guns of the calibers mentioned manufactured in America on our front at the date the armistice was signed. The only guns of these types produced at home thus far received in France are 109 seventy-five millimeter guns.

In aviation we were in the same situation, and here again the French Government came to our aid until our own aviation program should be under way. We obtained from the French the necessary planes for training our personnel, and they have provided us with a total of 2,676 pursuit, observation, and bombing planes. The first airplanes received from home arrived in May, and altogether we have received 1,379. The first American squadron completely equipped by American production, including airplanes, crossed the German lines on August 7, 1918. As to tanks, we were also compelled to rely upon the French. Here, however, we were less fortunate, for the reason that the French production could barely meet the requirements of their own armies.

It should be fully realized that the French Government has always taken a most liberal attitude and has been most anxious to give us every possible assistance in meeting our deficiencies in these as well as in other respects. Our dependence upon France for artillery, aviation, and tanks was, of course, due to the fact that our industries had not been exclusively devoted to military production. All credit is due our own manufacturers for their efforts to meet our requirements, as at the time the armistice was signed we were able to look forward to the early supply of practically all our necessities from our own factories.

The welfare of the troops touches my responsibility, as Commander-in-Chief to the mothers and fathers and kindred of the men who came to France in the impressionable period of youth. They could not have the privilege accorded European soldiers during their periods of leave of visiting their families and renewing their home ties. Fully realizing that the standard of conduct that should be established for them must have a permanent influence in their lives and on the character of their future citizenship, the Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian Association, Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army, and the Jewish Welfare Board, as auxiliaries in this work, were encouraged in every possible way. The fact that our soldiers, in a land of different customs and language, have borne themselves in a manner in keeping with the cause for which they fought, is due not only to the efforts in their behalf but much more to other high ideals, their discipline, and their innate sense of self-respect. It should be recorded, however, that the members of these welfare societies have been untiring in their desire to be of real service to our officers and men. The patriotic devotion of these representative men and women has given a new significance to the Golden Rule, and we owe to them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

COMBAT OPERATIONS

During our periods of training in the trenches some of our divisions had engaged the enemy in local combats, the most important of which was Seicheprey by the Twenty-sixth on April 20th, in the Toul sector, but none had participated in action as a unit. The First Division, which had passed through the preliminary stages of training, had gone to the trenches for its first period of instruction at the end of October and by March 21st, when the German offensive in Picardy began, we had four divisions with experience in the trenches, all of which were equal to any demands of battle action. The crisis which this offensive developed was such that our occupation of an American sector must be postponed.

On March 28th I placed at the disposal of Marshal Foch, who had been agreed upon as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied armies, all of our forces to be used as he might decide. At his request the First division was transferred from the Toul sector to a position in reserve at Chaumont en Vexin. As German superiority in numbers required prompt action, an agreement was reached at the Abbeville conference of the Allied premiers and commanders and myself on May 2d by which British shipping was to transport ten American divisions to the British army area, where they were to be trained and equipped, and additional British shipping was to be provided for as many divisions as possible for use elsewhere.

On April 26th the First Division had gone into the line in the Montdidier salient on the Picardy battle front. Tactics had been suddenly revolutionized to those of open warfare, and our men, confident of the results of their training, were eager for the test. On the morning of May 28th this division attacked the commanding German position in its front, taking with splendid dash the town of Cantigny and all other objectives, which were organized and held steadfastly against vicious counter-attacks and galling artillery fire. Although local, this brilliant action had an electrical effect, as it demonstrated our fighting qualities under extreme battle conditions, and also that the enemy's troops were not altogether invincible.

The Germans' Aisne offensive, which began on May 27th, had advanced rapidly toward the River Marne and Paris, and the Allies faced a crisis equally as grave as that of the Picardy offensive in March. Again every available man was placed at Marshal Foch's disposal, and the Third Division, which had just come from its preliminary training in the trenches, was hurried to the Marne. Its motorized machine-gun battalion preceded the other units and successfully held the bridge-head at the Marne, opposite Chateau-Thierry. The Second Division, in reserve near Montdidier, was sent by motor trucks and other available transport to check the progress of the enemy toward Paris. The division attacked and retook the town and railroad station at Bouresches and sturdily held its ground against the enemy's best guard divisions. In the battle of Belleau Wood, which followed, our men proved their superiority and gained a strong tactical position, with far greater loss to the enemy than to ourselves. On July 1st, before the Second was relieved, it captured the village of Vaux with most splendid precision.

Meanwhile our Second Corps, under Maj.-Gen. George W. Read, had been organized for the command of our divisions with the British, which were held back in training areas or assigned to second-line defenses. Five of the ten divisions were withdrawn from the British area in June, three to relieve divisions in Lorraine and the Vosges and two to the Paris area to join the group of American divisions which stood between the city and any farther advance of the enemy in that direction.

The great June-July troop movement from the States was well under way, and, although these troops were to be given some preliminary training before being put into action, their very presence warranted the use of all the older divisions in the confidence that we did not lack reserves. Elements of the Forty-second Division were in the line east of Rheims against the German offensive of July 15th, and held their ground unflinchingly. On the right flank of this offensive four companies of the Twenty-eighth Division were in position in face of the advancing waves of the German infantry. The Third Division was holding the bank of the Marne from the bend east of the mouth of the Surmelin to the west of Mezy, opposite Chateau-Thierry, where a large force of German infantry sought to force a passage under support of powerful artillery concentrations and under cover of smoke screens. A single regiment of the Third wrote one of the most brilliant pages in our military annals on this occasion. It prevented the crossing at certain points on its front while, on either flank, the Germans, who had gained a footing, pressed forward. Our men, firing in three directions, met the German attacks with counter-attacks at critical points and succeeded in throwing two German divisions into complete confusion, capturing 600 prisoners.

The great force of the German Chateau-Thierry offensive established the deep Marne salient, but the enemy was taking chances, and the vulnerability of this pocket to attack might be turned to his disadvantage. Seizing this opportunity to support my conviction, every division with any sort of training was made available for use in a counter-offensive. The place of honor in the thrust toward Soissons on July 18th was given to our First and Second divisions in company with chosen French divisions. Without the usual brief warning of a preliminary bombardment, the massed French and American artillery, firing by the map, laid down its rolling barrage at dawn while the infantry began its charge. The tactical handling of our troops under these trying conditions was excellent throughout the action. The enemy brought up large numbers of reserves and made a stubborn defense both with machine guns and artillery, but through five days' fighting the First Division continued to advance until it had gained the heights above Soissons and captured the village of Berzy-le-sec. The Second Division took Beau Repaire farm and Vierzy in a very rapid advance and reached a position in front of Tigny at the end of its second day. These two divisions captured 7,000 prisoners and over 100 pieces of artillery.

The Twenty-sixth Division, which, with a French division, was under command of our First Corps, acted as a pivot of the movement toward Soissons. On the 18th it took the village of Torcy while the Third Division was crossing the Marne in pursuit of the retiring enemy. The Twenty-sixth attacked again on the 21st, and the enemy withdrew past the Chateau-Thierry-Soissons road. The Third Division, continuing its progress, took the heights of Mont St. Pere and the villages of Charteves and Jaulgonne in the face of both machine-gun and artillery fire.

On the 24th, after the Germans had fallen back from Trugny and Epieds, our Forty-second Division, which had been brought over from the Champagne, relieved the Twenty-sixth and, fighting its way through the Foret de Fere, overwhelmed the nest of machine guns in its path. By the 27th it had reached the Ourcq, whence the Third and Fourth divisions were already advancing, while the French divisions with which we were co-operating were moving forward at other points.

The Third Division had made its advance into Roncheres Wood on the 29th and was relieved for rest by a brigade of the Thirty-second. The Forty-second and Thirty-second undertook the task of conquering the heights beyond Cierges, the Forty-second capturing Sergy and the Thirty-second capturing Hill 230, both American divisions joining in the pursuit of the enemy to the Vesle, and thus the operation of reducing the salient was finished. Meanwhile the Forty-second was relieved by the Fourth at Chery-Chartreuve, and the Thirty-second by the Twenty-eighth, while the Seventy-seventh Division took up a position on the Vesle. The operations of these divisions on the Vesle were under the Third Corps, Maj.-Gen. Robert L. Bullard, commanding.

BATTLE OF ST. MIHIEL

With the reduction of the Marne salient we could look forward to the concentration of our divisions in our own zone. In view of the forthcoming operation against the St. Mihiel salient, which had long been planned as our first offensive action on a large scale, the First Army was organized on August 10th under my personal command. While American units had held different divisional and corps sectors along the western front, there had not been up to this time, for obvious reasons, a distinct American sector; but, in view of the important parts the American forces were now to play, it was necessary to take over a permanent portion of the line. Accordingly, on August 30th, the line beginning at Port sur Seille, east of the Moselle and extending to the west through St. Mihiel, thence north to a point opposite Verdun, was placed under my command. The American sector was afterwards extended across the Meuse to the western edge of the Argonne Forest, and included the Second Colonial French, which held the point of the salient, and the Seventeenth French Corps, which occupied the heights above Verdun.

The preparation for a complicated operation against the formidable defenses in front of us included the assembling of divisions and of corps and army artillery, transport, aircraft, tanks, ambulances, the location of hospitals, and the molding together of all of the elements of a great modern army with its own railheads, supplied directly by our own Service of Supply. The concentration for this operation, which was to be a surprise, involved the movement, mostly at night, of approximately 600,000 troops, and required for its success the most careful attention to every detail.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Committee on Public Information.
  THE AMERICAN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IN THE FIELD
  Photograph of General John J. Pershing just after he had been
  decorated with the Star and Ribbon of the Legion of Honor of France,
  the highest decoration ever awarded an American soldier. General
  Pershing was raised to a full generalship soon after his arrival in
  France, an honor which has previously been held only by Washington,
  Grant, Sherman and Sheridan.

[Illustration: Photograph]
  NOTED AMERICAN GENERALS
  General March is chief of staff of the American Army,
  Lieutenant-Generals Liggett and Bullard commanded the First and Second
  Armies respectively, and Major-Generals Wright and Read are corps
  commanders.

The French were generous in giving us assistance in corps and army artillery, with its personnel, and we were confident from the start of our superiority over the enemy in guns of all calibers. Our heavy guns were able to reach Metz and to interfere seriously with German rail movements. The French Independent Air Force was placed under my command which, together with the British bombing squadrons and our air forces, gave us the largest assembly of aviation that had ever been engaged in one operation on the western front.

From Les Eparges around the nose of the salient at St. Mihiel to the Moselle River the line was roughly forty miles long and situated on commanding ground greatly strengthened by artificial defenses. Our First Corps (Eighty-second, Ninetieth, Fifth, and Second divisions) under command of Major-General Hunter Liggett, restrung its right on Pont-a-Mousson, with its left joining our Third Corps (the Eighty-ninth, Forty-second, and First divisions), under Major-General Joseph T. Dickman, in line to Xivray, were to swing in toward Vigneulles on the pivot of the Moselle River for the initial assault. From Xivray to Mouilly the Second Colonial French Corps was in line in the center and our Fifth Corps, under command of Major-General George H. Cameron, with our Twenty-sixth Division and a French division at the western base of the salient, were to attack three difficult hills—Les Eparges, Combres, and Amaramthe. Our First Corps had in reserve the Seventy-eighth Division, our Fourth Corps the Third Division, and our First Army the Thirty-fifth and Ninety-first Divisions, with the Eightieth and Thirty-third available. It should be understood that our corps organizations are very elastic, and that we have at no time had permanent assignments of divisions to corps.

After four hours' artillery preparation, the seven American divisions in the front line advanced at 5 A. M., on September 12th, assisted by a limited number of tanks manned partly by Americans and partly by the French. These divisions, accompanied by groups of wire cutters and others armed with bangalore torpedoes, went through the successive bands of barbed wire that protected the enemy's front line and support trenches, in irresistible waves on schedule time, breaking down all defense of an enemy demoralized by the great volume of our artillery fire and our sudden approach out of the fog.

Our First Corps advanced to Thiaucourt, while our Fourth Corps curved back to the southwest through Nonsard. The Second Colonial French Corps made the slight advance required of it on very difficult ground, and the Fifth Corps took its three ridges and repulsed a counter-attack. A rapid march brought reserve regiments of a division of the Fifth Corps into Vigneulles in the early morning, where it linked up with patrols of our Fourth Corps, closing the salient and forming a new line west of Thiaucourt to Vigneulles and beyond Fresnes-en-Woevre. At the cost of only 7,000 casualties, mostly light, we had taken 16,000 prisoners and 443 guns, a great quantity of material, released the inhabitants of many villages from enemy domination, and established our lines in a position to threaten Metz. This signal success of the American First Army in its first offensive was of prime importance. The Allies found they had a formidable army to aid them, and the enemy learned finally that he had one to reckon with.

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE, FIRST PHASE

On the day after we had taken the St. Mihiel salient, much of our corps and army artillery which had operated at St. Mihiel, and our divisions in reserve at other points, were already on the move toward the area back of the line between the Meuse River and the western edge of the forest of Argonne. With the exception of St. Mihiel, the old German front line from Switzerland to the east of Rheims was still intact. In the general attack all along the line, the operation assigned the American army as the hinge of this Allied offensive was directed toward the important railroad communications of the German armies through Mezieres and Sedan. The enemy must hold fast to this part of his lines or the withdrawal of his forces with four years' accumulation of plants and material would be dangerously imperiled.

The German army had as yet shown no demoralization and, while the mass of its troops had suffered in morale, its first-class divisions, and notably its machine-gun defense, were exhibiting remarkable tactical efficiency as well as courage. The German General Staff was fully aware of the consequences of a success on the Meuse-Argonne line. Certain that he would do everything in his power to oppose us, the action was planned with as much secrecy as possible and was undertaken with the determination to use all our divisions in forcing decision. We expected to draw the best German divisions to our front and to consume them while the enemy was held under grave apprehension lest our attack should break his line, which it was our firm purpose to do.

Our right flank was protected by the Meuse, while our left embraced the Argonne Forest whose ravines, hills, and elaborate defense screened by dense thickets had been generally considered impregnable. Our order of battle from right to left was the Third Corps from the Meuse to Malancourt, with the Thirty-third, Eightieth, and Fourth divisions in line, and the Third Division as corps reserve; the Fifth Corps from Malancourt to Vauquois, with Seventy-ninth, Eighty-seventh, and Ninety-first divisions in line, and the Thirty-second in corps reserve; and the First Corps, from Vauquois to Vienne le Chateau, with Thirty-fifth, Twenty-eighth, and Seventy-seventh divisions in line, and the Ninety-second in corps reserve. The army reserve consisted of the First, Twenty-ninth, and Eighty-second divisions.

On the night of September 25th our troops quietly took the place of the French who thinly held the line in this sector which had long been inactive. In the attack which began on the 26th we drove through the barbed wire entanglements and the sea of shell craters across No Man's Land, mastering the first-line defenses. Continuing on the 27th and 28th, against machine guns and artillery of an increasing number of enemy reserve divisions, we penetrated to a depth of from three to seven miles, and took the village of Montfaucon and its commanding hill and Exermont, Gercourt, Cuisy, Septsarges, Malancourt, Ivoiry, Epinonville, Charpentry, Very, and other villages. East of the Meuse one of our divisions, which was with the Second Colonial French Corps, captured Marcheville and Rieville, giving further protection to the flank of our main body. We had taken 10,000 prisoners, we had gained our point of forcing the battle into the open and were prepared for the enemy's reaction, which was bound to come as he had good roads and ample railroad facilities for bringing up his artillery and reserves.

In the chill rain of dark nights our engineers had to build new roads across spongy, shell-torn areas, repair broken roads beyond No Man's Land, and build bridges. Our gunners, with no thought of sleep, put their shoulders to wheels and dragropes to bring their guns through the mire in support of the infantry, now under the increasing fire of the enemy's artillery. Our attack had taken the enemy by surprise, but, quickly recovering himself, he began to fire counter-attacks in strong force, supported by heavy bombardments, with large quantities of gas. From September 28th until October 4th we maintained the offensive against patches of woods defended by snipers and continuous lines of machine guns, and pushed forward our guns and transport, seizing strategical points in preparation for further attacks.

OTHER UNITS WITH ALLIES

Other divisions attached to the Allied armies were doing their part. It was the fortune of our Second Corps, composed of the Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth divisions, which had remained with the British, to have a place of honor in co-operation with the Australian Corps, on September 29th and October 1st, in the assault on the Hindenburg line where the St. Quentin Canal passes through a tunnel under a ridge. The Thirtieth Division speedily broke through the main line of defense for all its objectives, while the Twenty-seventh pushed on impetuously through the main line until some of its elements reached Gouy. In the midst of the maze of trenches and shell craters and under cross-fire from machine guns the other elements fought desperately against odds. In this and in later actions, from October 6th to October 19th, our Second Corps captured over 6,000 prisoners and advanced over thirteen miles. The spirit and aggressiveness of these divisions have been highly praised by the British army commander under whom they served.

On October 2d to 9th our Second and Thirty-sixth divisions were sent to assist the French in an important attack against the old German positions before Rheims. The Second conquered the complicated defense works on their front against a persistent defense worthy of the grimmest period of trench warfare and attacked the strongly held wooded hill of Blanc Mont, which they captured in a second assault, sweeping over it with consummate dash and skill. This division then repulsed strong counter-attacks before the village and cemetery of Ste. Etienne and took the town, forcing the Germans to fall back from before Rheims and yield positions they had held since September, 1914. On October 9th the Thirty-sixth Division relieved the Second and, in its first experience under fire, withstood very severe artillery bombardment and rapidly took up the pursuit of the enemy, now retiring behind the Aisne.

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE, SECOND PHASE

The Allied progress elsewhere cheered the efforts of our men in this crucial contest as the German command threw in more and more first-class troops to stop our advance. We made steady headway in the almost impenetrable and strongly held Argonne Forest, for, despite this reinforcement, it was our army that was doing the driving. Our aircraft was increasing in skill and numbers and forcing the issue, and our infantry and artillery were improving rapidly with each new experience. The replacements fresh from home were put into exhausted divisions with little time for training, but they had the advantage of serving beside men who knew their business and who had almost become veterans over night. The enemy had taken every advantage of the terrain, which especially favored the defense, by a prodigal use of machine guns manned by highly-trained veterans and by using his artillery at short ranges. In the face of such strong frontal positions we should have been unable to accomplish any progress according to previously accepted standards, but I had every confidence in our aggressive tactics and the courage of our troops.

On October 4th the attack was renewed all along our front. The Third Corps tilting to the left followed the Brieulles-Cunel road; our Fifth Corps took Gesnes while the First Corps advanced for over two miles along the irregular valley of the Aire River and in the wooded hills of the Argonne that bordered the river, used by the enemy with all his art and weapons of defense. This sort of fighting continued against an enemy striving to hold every foot of ground and whose very strong counter-attacks challenged us at every point. On the 7th the First Corps captured Chatel-Chehery and continued along the river to Cornay. On the east of Meuse sector one of the two divisions co-operating with the French captured Consenvoye and the Haumont Woods. On the 9th the Fifth Corps, in its progress up the Aire, took Fleville, and the Third Corps, which had continuous fighting against odds, was working its way through Brieulles and Cunel. On the 10th we had cleared the Argonne Forest of the enemy.

It was now necessary to constitute a second army, and on October 9th the immediate command of the First Army was turned over to Lieutenant-General Hunter Liggett. The command of the Second Army, whose divisions occupied a sector in the Woevre, was given to Lieutenant-General Robert L. Bullard, who had been commander of the First Division and then of the Third Corps. Major-General Dickman was transferred to the command of the First Corps, while the Fifth Corps was placed under Major-General Charles P. Summerall, who had recently commanded the First Division. Major-General John L. Hines, who had gone rapidly up from regimental to division commander, was assigned to the Third Corps. These four officers had been in France from the early days of the expedition and had learned their lessons in the school of practical warfare.

Our constant pressure against the enemy brought day by day more prisoners, mostly survivors from machine-gun nests captured in fighting at close quarters. On October 18th there was very fierce fighting in the Caures Woods east of the Meuse and in the Ormont Woods. On the 14th the First Corps took St. Juvin, and the Fifth Corps, in hand-to-hand encounters, entered the formidable Kriemhilde line, where the enemy had hoped to check us indefinitely. Later the Fifth Corps penetrated further the Kriemhilde line, and the First Corps took Champigneulles and the important town of Grandpre. Our dogged offensive was wearing down the enemy, who continued desperately to throw his best troops against us, thus weakening his line in front of our Allies and making their advance less difficult.

DIVISIONS IN BELGIUM

Meanwhile we were not only able to continue the battle, but our Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first divisions were hastily withdrawn from our front and dispatched to help the French army in Belgium. Detraining in the neighborhood of Ypres, these divisions advanced by rapid stages to the fighting line and were assigned to adjacent French corps. On October 31st, in continuation of the Flanders offensive, they attacked and methodically broke down all enemy resistance. On November 3d the Thirty-seventh had completed its mission in dividing the enemy across the Escaut River and firmly established itself along the east bank included in the division zone of action. By a clever flanking movement troops of the Ninety-first Division captured Spitaals Bosschen, a difficult wood extending across the central part of the division sector, reached the Escaut, and penetrated into the town of Audenarde. These divisions received high commendation from their corps commanders for their dash and energy.

MEUSE ARGONNE—LAST PHASE

On the 23d the Third and Fifth corps pushed northward to the level of Bantheville. While we continued to press forward and throw back the enemy's violent counter-attacks with great loss to him, a regrouping of our forces was under way for the final assault. Evidences of loss of morale by the enemy gave our men more confidence in attack and more fortitude in enduring the fatigue of incessant effort and the hardships of very inclement weather.

With comparatively well-rested divisions, the final advance in the Meuse-Argonne front was begun on November 1st. Our increased artillery force acquitted itself magnificently in support of the advance, and the enemy broke before the determined infantry, which, by its persistent fighting of the past weeks and the dash of this attack, had overcome his will to resist. The Third Corps took Aincreville, Doulcon, and Andevanne, and the Fifth Corps took Landres et St. Georges and pressed through successive lines of resistance to Bayonville and Chennery. On the 2d the First Corps joined in the movement, which now became an impetuous onslaught that could not be stayed.

On the 3d advance troops surged forward in pursuit, some by motor trucks, while the artillery pressed along the country roads close behind. The First Corps reached Authe and Chatillon-Sur-Bar, the Fifth Corps, Fosse and Nouart, and the Third Corps Halles, penetrating the enemy's line to a depth of twelve miles. Our large caliber guns had advanced and were skillfully brought into position to fire upon the important lines at Montmedy, Longuyon, and Conflans. Our Third Corps crossed the Meuse on the 5th and the other corps, in the full confidence that the day was theirs, eagerly cleared the way of machine guns as they swept northward, maintaining complete coordination throughout. On the 6th, a division of the First Corps reached a point on the Meuse opposite Sedan, twenty-five miles from our line of departure. The strategical goal which was our highest hope was gained. We had cut the enemy's main line of communications, and nothing but surrender or an armistice could save his army from complete disaster.

In all forty enemy divisions had been used against us in the Meuse-Argonne battle. Between September 26th and November 6th we took 26,059 prisoners and 468 guns on this front. Our divisions engaged were the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-second, Thirty-third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, Eightieth, Eighty-second, Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth, and Ninety-first. Many of our divisions remained in line for a length of time that required nerves of steel, while others were sent in again after only a few days of rest. The First, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Eightieth, Eighty-ninth, and Ninetieth were in the line twice. Although some of the divisions were fighting their first battle, they soon became equal to the best.

OPERATIONS EAST OF THE MEUSE

On the three days preceding November 10th, the Third, the Second Colonial, and the Seventeenth French corps fought a difficult struggle through the Meuse Hills south of Stenay and forced the enemy into the plain. Meanwhile, my plans for further use of the American forces contemplated an advance between the Meuse and the Moselle in the direction of Longwy by the First Army, while, at the same time, the Second Army should assure the offensive toward the rich coal fields of Briey. These operations were to be followed by an offensive toward Chateau-Salins east of the Moselle, thus isolating Metz. Accordingly, attacks on the American front had been ordered and that of the Second Army was in progress on the morning of November 11th, when instructions were received that hostilities should cease at 11 o'clock A. M.

At this moment the line of the American sector, from right to left, began at Port-Sur-Seille, thence across the Moselle to Vandieres and through the Woevre to Bezonvaux in the foothills of the Meuse, thence along to the foothills and through the northern edge of the Woevre forests to the Meuse at Mouzay, thence along the Meuse connecting with the French under Sedan….

There are in Europe altogether, including a regiment and some sanitary units with the Italian army and the organizations at Murmansk, also including those en route from the States, approximately 2,053,347 men, less our losses. Of this total there are in France 1,338,169 combatant troops. Forty divisions have arrived, of which the infantry personnel of ten have been used as replacements, leaving thirty divisions now in France organized into three armies of three corps each.

The losses of the Americans up to November 18th are: Killed and wounded, 36,145; died of disease, 14,811; deaths unclassified, 2,204; wounded, 179,625; prisoners, 2,163; missing, 1,160. We have captured about 41,000 prisoners and 1,400 guns, howitzers and trench mortars….

Finally, I pay the supreme tribute to our officers and soldiers of the line. When I think of their heroism, their patience under hardships, their unflinching spirit of offensive action, I am filled with emotion which I am unable to express. Their deeds are immortal, and they have earned the eternal gratitude of our country.

CHAPTER LIX

PRESIDENT WILSON'S REVIEW OF THE WAR

On December 2, 1918, just prior to sailing for Europe to take part in the Peace Conference, President Wilson addressed Congress, reviewing the work of the American people, soldiers, sailors and civilians, in the World War which had been brought to a successful conclusion on November 11th. His speech, in part, follows:

"The year that has elapsed since I last stood before you to fulfil my constitutional duty to give to the Congress from time to time information on the state of the Union has been so crowded with great events, great processes and great results that I cannot hope to give you an adequate picture of its transactions or of the far-reaching changes which have been wrought in the life of our Nation and of the world. You have yourselves witnessed these things, as I have. It is too soon to assess them; and we who stand in the midst of them and are part of them are less qualified than men of another generation will be to say what they mean or even what they have been. But some great outstanding facts are unmistakable and constitute in a sense part of the public business with which it is our duty to deal. To state them is to set the stage for the legislative and executive action which must grow out of them and which we have yet to shape and determine.

"A year ago we had sent 145,918 men overseas. Since then we have sent 1,950,513, an average of 162,542 each month, the number in fact rising in May last to 245,951, in June to 278,760, in July to 307,182 and continuing to reach similar figures in August and September—in August 289,570 and in September 257,438. No such movement of troops ever took place before, across 3,000 miles of sea, followed by adequate equipment and supplies, and carried safely through extraordinary dangers of attack, dangers which were alike strange and infinitely difficult to guard against. In all this movement only 758 men were lost by enemy attacks, 630 of whom were upon a single English transport which was sunk near the Orkney Islands.

"I need not tell you what lay back of this great movement of men and material. It is not invidious to say that back of it lay a supporting organization of the industries of the country and of all its productive activities more complete, more thorough in method and effective in results, more spirited and unanimous in purpose and effort than any other great belligerent had ever been able to effect. We profited greatly by the experience of the nations which had already been engaged for nearly three years in the exigent and exacting business, their every resource and every proficiency taxed to the utmost. We were the pupils. But we learned quickly and acted with a promptness and a readiness of co-operation that justify our great pride that we were able to serve the world with unparalleled energy and quick accomplishment.

"But it is not the physical scale and executive efficiency of preparation, supply, equipment and dispatch that I would dwell upon, but the mettle and quality of the officers and men we sent over and of the sailors who kept the seas, and the spirit of the Nation that stood behind them. No soldiers, or sailors, ever proved themselves more quickly ready for the test of battle or acquitted themselves with more splendid courage and achievement when put to the test. Those of us who played some part in directing the great processes by which the war was pushed irresistibly forward to the final triumph may now forget all that and delight our thoughts with the story of what our men did. Their officers understood the grim and exacting task they had undertaken and performed with audacity, efficiency and unhesitating courage that touch the story of convoy and battle with imperishable distinction at every turn, whether the enterprise were great or small—from their chiefs, Pershing and Sims, down to the youngest lieutenant; and their men were worthy of them—such men as hardly need to be commanded, and go to their terrible adventure blithely and with the quick intelligence of those who know just what it is they would accomplish. I am proud to be the fellow-countryman of men of such stuff and valor. Those of us who stayed at home did our duty: the war could not have been won or the gallant men who fought it given their opportunity to win it otherwise; but for many a long day we shall think ourselves 'accursed we were not there, and hold our manhoods cheap while any speaks that fought' with these at St. Mihiel or Thierry. The memory of those days of triumphant battle will go with these fortunate men to their graves; and each will have his favorite memory. 'Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, but he'll remember with advantages what feats he did that day!'

"What we all thank God for with deepest gratitude is that our men went in force into the line of battle just at the critical moment, and threw their fresh strength into the ranks of freedom in time to turn the whole tide and sweep of the fateful struggle—turn it once for all, so that henceforth it was back, back, back for their enemies, always back, never again forward! After that it was only a scant four months before the commanders of the central empires knew themselves beaten, and now their very empires are in liquidation!

"And throughout it all how fine the spirit of the Nation was; what unity of purpose, what untiring zeal! What elevation of purpose ran through all its splendid display of strength, its untiring accomplishment. I have said that those of us who stayed at home to do the work of organization and supply will always wish that we had been with the men whom we sustained by our labor; but we can never be ashamed. It has been an inspiring thing to be here in the midst of fine men who had turned aside from every private interest of their own and devoted the whole of their trained capacity to the tasks that supplied the sinews of the whole great undertaking! The patriotism, the unselfishness, the thoroughgoing devotion and distinguished capacity that marked their toilsome labors, day after day, month after month, have made them fit mates and comrades of the men in the trenches and on the sea. And not the men here in Washington only. They have but directed the vast achievement. Throughout innumerable factories, upon innumerable farms, in the depths of coal mines and iron mines and copper mines, wherever the stuffs of industry were to be obtained and prepared, in the shipyards, on the railways, at the docks, on the sea, in every labor that was needed to sustain the battle lines men have vied with each other to do their part and do it well. They can look any man-at-arms in the face, and say, we also strove to win and gave the best that was in us to make our fleets and armies sure of their triumph!

"And what shall we say of the women—of their instant intelligence, quickening every task that they touched; their capacity for organization and co-operation, which gave their action discipline and enhanced the effectiveness of everything they attempted; their aptitude at tasks to which they had never before set their hands; their utter self-sacrificing alike in what they did and in what they gave? Their contribution to the great result is beyond appraisal. They have added a new luster to the annals of American womanhood.

"The least tribute we can pay them is to make them the equals of men in political rights as they have proved themselves their equals in every field of practical work they have entered, whether for themselves or for their country. These great days of completed achievement would be sadly marred were we to omit that act of justice. Besides the immense practical services they have rendered, the women of the country have been the moving spirits in the systematic economies by which our people have voluntarily assisted to supply the suffering peoples of the world and the armies upon every front with food and everything else that we had that might serve the common cause. The details of such a story can never be fully written, but we carry them at our hearts and thank God that we can say we are the kinsmen of such.

"And now we are sure of the great triumph for which every sacrifice was made. It has come, come in its completeness, and with the pride and inspiration of these days of achievement quick within us we turn to the tasks of peace again—a peace secure against the violence of irresponsible monarchs and ambitious military coteries and made ready for a new order, for new foundations of justice and fair dealing.

"We are about to give order and organization to this peace, not only for ourselves, but for the other peoples of the world as well, so far as they will suffer us to serve them. It is international justice that we seek, not domestic safety merely.

"So far as our domestic affairs are concerned the problem of our return to peace is a problem of economic and industrial readjustment. That problem is less serious for us than it may turn out to be for the nations which have suffered the disarrangements and the losses of war longer than we. Our people, moreover, do not wait to be coached and led. They know their own business, are quick and resourceful at every readjustment, definite in purpose and self-reliant in action. Any leading strings we might seek to put them in would speedily become hopelessly tangled because they would pay no attention to them and go their own way. All that we can do as their legislative and executive servants is to mediate the process of change here, there and elsewhere as we may. I have heard much counsel as to the plans that should be formed and personally conducted to a happy consummation, but from no quarter have I seen any general scheme of reconstruction emerge which I thought it likely we could force our spirited businessmen and self-reliant laborers to accept with due pliancy and obedience.

"While the war lasted we set up many agencies by which to direct the industries of the country in the services it was necessary for them to render, by which to make sure of an abundant supply of the materials needed, by which to check undertakings that could for the time be dispensed with and stimulate those that were most serviceable in war, by which to gain for the purchasing departments of the government a certain control over the prices of essential articles and materials, by which to restrain trade with alien enemies, make the most of the available shipping and systematize financial transactions, both public and private, so that there would be no unnecessary conflict or confusion—by which, in short, to put every material energy of the country in harness to draw the common load and make of us one team in accomplishment of a great task.

"But the moment we knew the armistice to have been signed we took the harness off. Raw materials upon which the government had kept its hand for fear there should not be enough for the industries that supplied the armies have been released, and put into the general market again. Great industrial plants whose whole output and machinery had been taken over for the uses of the government have been set free to return to the uses to which they were put before the war. It has not been possible to remove so readily or so quickly the control of foodstuffs and of shipping, because the world has still to be fed from our granaries and the ships are still needed to send supplies to our men oversea and to bring the men back as fast as the disturbed conditions on the other side of the water permit; but even there restraints are being relaxed as much as possible, and more and more as the weeks go by.

"Never before have there been agencies in existence in this country which knew so much of the field of supply of labor, and of industry as the War Industries Board, the War Trade Board, the Labor Department, the Food Administration and the Fuel Administration have known since their labors became thoroughly systematized; and they have not been isolated agencies; they have been directed by men which represented the permanent departments of the government and so have been the centers of unified and co-operative action. It has been the policy of the Executive, therefore, since the armistice was assured (which is in effect a complete submission of the enemy) to put the knowledge of these bodies at the disposal of the businessmen of the country and to offer their intelligent mediation at every point and in every matter where it was desired. It is surprising how fast the process of return to a peace footing has moved in the three weeks since the fighting stopped. It promises to outrun any inquiry that may be instituted and any aid that may be offered. It will not be easy to direct it any better than it will direct itself. The American business man is of quick initiative….

"I welcome this occasion to announce to the Congress my purpose to join in Paris the representatives of the governments with which we have been associated in the war against the Central Empires for the purpose of discussing with them the main features of the treaty of peace. I realize the great inconveniences that will attend my leaving the country, particularly at this time, but the conclusion that it was my paramount duty to go has been forced upon me by considerations which I hope will seem as conclusive to you as they have seemed to me.

"The Allied governments have accepted the bases of peace which I outlined to the Congress on the 8th of January last, as the Central Empires also have, and very reasonably desire my personal counsel in their interpretation and application, and it is highly desirable that I should give it, in order that the sincere desire of our government to contribute without selfish purpose of any kind to settlements that will be of common benefit to all the nations concerned may be made fully manifest. The peace settlements which are now to be agreed upon are of transcendent importance both to us and to the rest of the world, and I know of no business or interest which should take precedence of them. The gallant men of our armed forces on land and sea have consciously fought for the ideals which they knew to be the ideals of their country; I have sought to express those ideals; they have accepted my statements of them as the substance of their own thought and purpose, as the associated governments have accepted them; I owe it to them to see to it, so far as in me lies, that no false or mistaken interpretation is put upon them, and no possible effort omitted to realize them. It is now my duty to play my full part in making good what they offered their life's blood to obtain. I can think of no call to service which could transcend this….

"May I not hope, gentlemen of the Congress, that in the delicate tasks I shall have to perform on the other side of the sea in my efforts truly and faithfully to interpret the principles and purposes of the country we love, I may have the encouragement and the added strength of your united support? I realize the magnitude and difficulty of the duty I am undertaking. I am poignantly aware of its grave responsibilities. I am the servant of the Nation. I can have no private thought or purpose of my own in performing such an errand. I go to give the best that is in me to the common settlements which I must now assist in arriving at in conference with the other working heads of the associated governments. I shall count upon your friendly countenance and encouragement. I shall not be inaccessible. The cables and the wireless will render me available for any counselor service you may desire of me, and I shall be happy in the thought that I am constantly in touch with the weighty matters of domestic policy with which we shall have to deal. I shall make my absence as brief as possible and shall hope to return with the happy assurance that it has been possible to translate into action the great ideals for which America has striven."

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright Harris and Ewing.
  WOODROW WILSON
  President of the United States during the whole course of the war and
  Commander in-Chief of its army and navy. On November 11, 1918, he
  signalized the end of the war in a proclamation in which he said:—"My
  Fellow-Countrymen:—The armistice was signed this morning. Everything
  for which America fought has been accomplished."

[Illustration: Photograph]
  Copyright International Film Service.
  WHEN IT WAS OVER "OVER THERE"
  Victorious American troops arriving at New York after the signing of
  the armistice.

Summarized Chronology of the War

1914

June

28.—Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife at Sarajevo, Bosnia.

July

28.—Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

29.—Russian mobilization ordered.

August

1.—Germany declares war on Russia.

1.—France orders mobilization.

2.—Germany demands free passage through Belgium.

3.—Germany declares war on France.

3.—Belgium rejects Germany's demand.

4.—Germany at war with Belgium. Troops under Gen. Von Kluck cross border. Halted at Liege.

4.—Great Britain at war with Germany. Kitchener becomes Secretary of War.

5.—President Wilson tenders good offices of United States in interests of peace.

6.—Austria-Hungary at war with Russia.

7.—French forces invade Alsace. Gen. Joffre in supreme command of French army.

7.—Montenegro at war with Austria.

7.—Great Britain's Expeditionary Force lands at Ostend, Calais and Dunkirk.

8.—British seize German Togoland.

8.—Serbia at war with Germany.

8.—Portugal announces readiness to stand by alliance with England.

11.—German cruisers Goeben and Breslau enter Dardanelles and are purchased by Turkey.

12.—Great Britain at war with Austria-Hungary.

12.—Montenegro at war with Germany.

17.—Belgian capital removed from Brussels to Antwerp.

19.—Canadian Parliament authorizes raising expeditionary force.

20.—Germans occupy Brussels.

23.—Japan at war with Germany. Begins attack on Tsingtau.

24.—Germans enter France near Lille.

25.—Austria at war with Japan.

26.—Louvain sacked and burned by Germans. Viviani becomes premier of France.

28.—British fleet sinks three German cruisers and two destroyers off Heligoland.

28.—Austria declares war on Belgium.

29.—Russians invest Konigsberg, East Prussia. New Zealanders seize German Samoa.

30.—Amiens occupied by Germans.

31.—Russian army of invasion in East Prussia defeated at Tannenberg by Germans under Von Hindenburg.

31.—St. Petersburg changed to Petrograd by imperial decree.

September

3.—Paris placed in state of siege; government transferred to Bordeaux.

3.—Lemberg, Gallicia, occupied by Russians.

4.—Germans occupy Rheims.

6-10.—Battle of Marne. Von Kluck is beaten by Gen. Joffre, and the German army retreats from Paris to the Soissons-Rheims line.

10.—Emden, German cruiser, carries out raids in Bay of Bengal.

14.—French reoccupy Amiens and Rheims.

19.—British forces begin operations in Southwest Africa.

20.—Rheims cathedral shelled by Germans.

24.—Allies occupy Peronne.

25.—Australians seize German New Guinea.

28.—Anglo-French forces invade German colony of Kamerun.

29.—Antwerp bombardment begins.

October

2.—British Admiralty announces intention to mine North Sea areas.

6.—Japan seizes Marshall Islands in Pacific.

9.—Antwerp surrenders to Germans. Government removed to Ostend.

13.—British occupy Ypres.

14.—Canadian Expeditionary Force of 32,000 men lands at Plymouth.

15.—Germans occupy Ostend. Belgian government removed to Havre, France.

November

1.—Monmouth and Good Hope, British cruisers, are sunk by German squadron off Chile under command of Admiral Von Spee.

5.—Great Britain and France declare war on Turkey.

5.—Cyprus annexed by Great Britain.

7.—German garrison of Tsingtau surrenders to Japanese.

9.—Emden, German cruiser, which had carried out raiding operations for two months, is destroyed by Australian cruiser Sydney off the Cocos Islands, southwest of Java.

16.—Prohibition of sale of intoxicants in Russia enforced.

27.—Czernowitz, capital of Bukowina, captured by Russians.

December

2.—Belgrade occupied by Austrians.

3.—Cracow bombarded by Russians.

8.—Off the Falkland Isles, British squadron under command of Rear-Admiral Sturdee, sinks three of the German cruisers which had destroyed the Good Hope and Monmouth on Nov. 1. The Dresden escapes.

14.—Austrians evacuate Belgrade.

16.—German squadron bombards Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby on east coast of England.

23.—Siege of Cracow raised. Russians retire.

1915

January

24.—British fleet puts to flight a German squadron in North Sea and sinks the battle cruiser Blucher.

28.—American bark, William P. Frye, sunk by German cruiser in South Atlantic.

February

10.—Russians defeated by Germans in Battle of Masurian Lakes.

18.—German submarine "blockade" of British Isles begins.

25.—Allied fleet destroys outer forts of Dardanelles.

March

2.—Allied troops land at Kum-Kale, on Asiatic side of Dardanelles.

10.—British take Neuve Chapelle in Flanders battle.

14.—Dresden, German raiding cruiser, is sunk by British squadron off the Chilean coast.

22.—Austrian fortress of Przmysl surrenders to Russians.

April

22.—Poison gas first used by Germans in attack on Canadians at Ypres, Belgium.

May

1.—American steamer Gulflight torpedoed off Scilly Isles by German submarine; 3 lives lost.

2.—British South Africa troops under General Botha capture Otymbingue, German Southwest Africa.

7.—Germans capture Libau, Russian Baltic port.

7.—Lusitania, Cunard liner, sunk by German submarine off Kinsale Head, Irish coast, with loss of 1152 lives; 102 Americans.

23.—Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary and begins invasion on a 60-mile front.

24.—American steamer Nebraskan torpedoed by German submarine off Irish coast, but reaches Liverpool in safety.

31.—German Zeppelins bombard suburbs of London.

June

1.—Germany apologizes for attack on Gulflight and offers reparation.

3.—Austrians recapture Przmysl.

3.—British forces operating on Tigris capture Kut-el-Amara.

4-6.—German aircraft bombs English towns.

7.—Bryan, U. S. Secretary of State, resigns.

15.—Allied aircraft bombs Karlsruhe, Baden, in retaliation.

22.—Lemberg recaptured by Austrians.

26.—Montenegrins enter Scutari, Albania.

July

9.—German Southwest Africa surrenders to British South African troops under Gen. Botha.

25.—American steamer, Leelanaw, Archangel to Belfast with flax, torpedoed off Scotland.

31.—Baden bombarded by French aircraft.

August

5.—Warsaw captured by Germans.

6.—Ivangorod occupied by Austrians.

6.—Gallipoli Peninsula campaign enters a second stage with the debarkation of a new force of British troops in Suvla Bay, on the west of the peninsula.

8.—Russians defeat German fleet of 9 battleships and 12 cruisers at entrance of Gulf of Riga.

19.—Arabic, White Star liner, sunk by submarine off Fastnet; 44 lives lost; 2 Americans.

25.—Brest-Litovsk, Russian fortress, captured by Austro-Germans.

28.—Italians reach Cima Cista, northeast of Trent.

30.—British submarine attacks Constantinople and damages the Galata Bridge.

31.—Lutsk, Russian fortress, captured by Austrians.

September

2.—Grodno, Russian fortress, occupied by Germans.

6.—Czar Nicholas of Russia assumes command of Russian armies. Grand Duke Nicholas is transferred to the Caucasus.

15.—Pinsk occupied by Germans.

18.—Vilna evacuated by Russia.

24.—Lutsk recaptured by Russians.

25.—Allies open offensive on western front and occupy Lens.

27.—Lutsk again falls to Germans.

October

5.—Greece becomes political storm center. Franco-British force lands at Salonika and Greek ministry resigns.

9.—Belgrade again occupied by Austro-Germans.

11.—Zaimis, new Greek premier, announces policy of armed neutrality.

12.—Edith Cavell, English nurse, shot by Germans for aiding British prisoners to escape from Belgium.

13.—London bombarded by Zeppelins; 55 persons killed; 114 injured.

14.—Bulgaria at war with Serbia.

14.—Italians capture Pregasina, on the Trentino frontier.

15.—Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria.

17.—France at war with Bulgaria.

18.—Bulgarians cut the Nish-Sulonika railroad at Vranja.

19.—Italy and Russia at war with Bulgaria.

22.—Uskub occupied by Bulgarians.

28.—Pirot captured by Bulgarians.

29.—Briand becomes premier of France, succeeding Viviani.

November

5.—Nish, Serbian war capital, captured by Bulgarians.

9.—Ancona, Italian liner, torpedoed in Mediterranean.

17.—Anglo-French war council holds first meeting in Paris.

20.—Novibazar occupied by German troops.

22.—Ctesiphon, near Bagdad, captured by British forces in Asia Minor.

23.—Italians drive Austrians from positions on Carso Plateau.

24.—Serbian government transferred to Scutari, Albania.

December

1.—British Mesopotamian forces retire to Kut-el-Amara.

2.—Monastir evacuated by Serbians.

4.—Henry Ford, with large party of peace advocates, sails for Europe on chartered steamer Oscar II, with the object of ending the war.

13.—Serbia in hands of enemy, Allied forces abandoning last positions and retiring across Greek frontier.

15.—Gen. Sir Douglas Haig succeeds Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in France.

20.—Dardanelles expedition ends; British troops begin withdrawal from positions on Suvla Bay and Gallipoli Peninsula.

22.—Henry Ford leaves his peace party at Christiania and returns to the United States.

1916

January

11.—Greek island of Corfu occupied by French.

13.—Cettinje, capital of Montenegro, occupied by Austrians.

23.—Scutari, Albania, taken by Austrians.

29-31.—German Zeppelins bomb Paris and towns in England.

February

1.—Appam, British liner, is brought into Norfolk, Va., by German prize crew.

10.—British conscription law goes into effect.

16.—Erzerum, in Turkish Armenia, captured by Russians under Grand Duke Nicholas.

19.—Kamerun, German colony in Africa, conquered by British forces.

21.—Battle of Verdun begins. Germans take Haumont.

25.—Fort Douaumont falls to Germans in Verdun battle.

27.—Durazzo, Albania, occupied by Austrians.

March

5.—Moewe, German raider, reaches home port after a cruise of several months.

9.—Germany declares war on Portugal on the latter's refusal to give up seized ships.

15.—Austria-Hungary at war with Portugal.

24.—Sussex, French cross-channel steamer, with many Americans aboard, sunk by submarine off Dieppe. No Americans lost.

31.—Melancourt taken by Germans in Verdun Battle.

April

18.—Trebizond, Turkish Black Sea port, captured by Russians.

19.—President Wilson publicly warns Germany not to pursue submarine policy.

20.—Russian troops landed at Marseilles for service on French front.

24.—Irish rebellion begins in Dublin. Republic declared. Patrick Pearse announced as first president.

29.—British force of 9000 men, under Gen. Townshend, besieged in Kut-el-Amara, surrenders to Turks.

30.—Irish rebellion ends with unconditional surrender of Pearse and other leaders, who are tried by court-martial and executed.

May

8.—Cymric, White Star liner, torpedoed off Irish coast.

14.—Italian positions penetrated by Austrians.

15.—Vimy Ridge gained by British.

26.—Bulgarians invade Greece and occupy forts on the Struma.

31.—Jutland naval battle; British and German fleets engaged; heavy losses on both sides.

June

5.—Kitchener, British Secretary of War, loses his life when the cruiser Hampshire, on which he was voyaging to Russia, is sunk off the Orkney Islands, Scotland.

6.—Germans capture Fort Vaux in Verdun attack.

8.—Lutsk, Russian fortress, recaptured from Germans.

17.—Czernowitz, capital of Bukowina, occupied by Russians.

21.—Allies demand Greek demobilization.

27.—King Constantine orders demobilization of Greek army.

28.—Italians storm Monte Trappola, in the Trentino district.

July

1.—British and French attack north and south of the Somme.

9.—Deutschland, German submarine freight boat, lands at Baltimore, Md.

14.—British penetrate German second line, using cavalry.

15.—Longueval captured by British.

25.—Pozieres occupied by British.

30.—British and French advance between Delville Wood and the Somme.

August

3.—French recapture Fleury.

9.—Italians enter Goritzia.

10.—Stanislau occupied by Russians.

25.—Kavala, Greek seaport town, taken by Bulgarians.

27.—Roumania declares war on Austria-Hungary.

28.—Italy at war with Germany.

28.—Germany at war with Roumania.

30.—Roumanians advance into Transylvania.

31.—Bulgaria at war with Roumania. Turkey at war with Roumania.

September

2.—Bulgarian forces invade Roumania along the Dobrudja frontier.

13.—Italians defeat Austrians on the Carso.

15.—British capture Flers, Courcelette, and other German positions on western front, using 'tanks.'

26.—Combles and Thiepval captured by British and French.

29.—Roumanians begin retreat from Transylvania.

October

24.—Fort Douaumont recaptured by French.

November

1.—Deutschland, German merchant submarine, arrives at New London, Conn., on second voyage.

2.—Fort Vaux evacuated by Germans.

7.—Woodrow Wilson re-elected President of the United States.

13.—British advance along the Ancre.

19.—Monastir evacuated by Bulgarians and Germans.

21.—Britannic, mammoth British hospital ship, sunk by mine in Aegean Sea.

22.—Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary, dies. Succeeded by Charles I.

23.—German warships bombard English coast.

28.—Roumanian government is transferred to Jassy.

29.—Minnewaska, Atlantic transport liner, sunk by mine in Mediterranean.

December

1.—Allied troops enter Athens to insist upon surrender of Greek arms and munitions.

6.—Bucharest, capital of Roumania, captured by Austro-Germans.

7.—David Lloyd George succeeds Asquith as premier of England.

15.—French complete recapture of ground taken by Germans in Verdun battle.

18.—President Wilson makes peace overtures to belligerents.

26.—Germany replies to President's note and suggests a peace conference.

30.—French government on behalf of Entente Allies replies to President Wilson's note and refuses to discuss peace till Germany agrees to give 'restitution, reparation and guarantees.'

1917

January

1.—Turkey declares its independence of suzerainty of European powers.

1.—Ivernia, Cunard liner, is sunk in Mediterranean.

22.—President Wilson suggests to the belligerents a 'peace without victory.'

31.—Germany announces intention of sinking all vessels in war zone around British Isles.

February

3.—United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany. Count Von Bernstorff is handed his passports.

7.—California, Anchor liner, is sunk off Irish coast.

13.—Afric, White Star liner, sunk by submarine.

17.—British troops on the Ancre capture German positions.

25.—Laconia, Cunard liner, sunk off Irish coast.

26.—Kut-el-Amara recaptured from Turks by new British Mesopotamian expedition under command of Gen. Sir Stanley Maude.

28.—United States government makes public a communication from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance, and offering as a reward the return of Mexico's lost territory in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

28.—Submarine campaign of Germans results in the sinking of 134 vessels during February.

March

3.—British advance on Bapaume.

3.—Mexico denies having received an offer from Germany suggesting an alliance.

8.—Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin dies.

10.—Russian Czar suspends sittings of the Duma.

11.—Bagdad captured by British forces under Gen. Maude.

11.—Revolutionary movement starts in Petrograd.

14.—China breaks with Germany.

15.—Czar Nicholas abdicates. Prince Lvoff heads new cabinet.

17.—Bapaume falls to British. Roye and Lassigny occupied by French.

18.—Peronne, Chaulnes, Nesle and Noyon evacuated by Germans, who retire on an 85-mile front.

18.—City of Memphis, Illinois, and Vigilancia, American ships, torpedoed.

19.—Alexander Ribot becomes French premier, succeeding Briand.

21.—Healdton, American ship, bound from Philadelphia to Rotterdam, sunk without warning; 21 men lost.

26-31.—British advance on Cambrai.

April

1.—Aztec, American armed ship, sunk in submarine zone.

5.—Missourian, American steamer, sunk in Mediterranean.

6.—United States declares war on Germany.

7.—Cuba and Panama at war with Germany.

8.—Austria-Hungary breaks with United States.

9.—Germans retreat before British on long front.

9.—Bolivia breaks with Germany.

13.—Vimy, Givenchy, Bailleul and positions about Lens taken by Canadians.

20.—Turkey breaks with United States.

May

9.—Liberia breaks with Germany.

11.—Russian Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates demands peace conference.

15.—Gen. Petain succeeds Gen. Nivelle as Commander-in-Chief of French armies. Gen. Foch is appointed Chief of Staff.

16.—Bullecourt captured by British in the Arras battles.

17.—Honduras breaks with Germany.

18.—Conscription bill signed by President Wilson.

19.—Nicaragua breaks with Germany.

22-26.—Italians advance on the Carso.

June

4.—Senator Root arrives in Russia at head of commission appointed by President.

5.—Registration day for new draft army in United States.

7.—Messines-Wytschaete ridge in English hands.

8.—Gen. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of American expeditionary force, arrives in England en route to France.

18.—Haiti breaks with Germany.

July

1.—Russians begin offensive in Gallicia, Kerensky, minister of war, leading in person.

3.—American expeditionary force arrives in France.

6.—Canadian House of Commons passes Compulsory Military Service Bill.

12.—King Constantine of Greece abdicates in favor of his second son, Alexander.

14.—Bethmann—Hollweg, German Chancellor, resigns; succeeded by Dr. Georg Michaelis.

16—23.—Retreat of Russians on a front of 155 miles.

20.—Alexander Kerensky becomes Russian premier, succeeding Lvoff.

20.—Drawing of draft numbers for American conscript army begins.

22.—Siam at war with Germany and Austria.

24.—Austro-Germans retake Stanislau.

31.—Franco-British attack penetrates German lines on a 20-mile front.

August

1.—Pope Benedict XV makes plea for peace on a basis of no annexation, no indemnity.

3.—Czernowitz captured by Austro-Germans.

7.—Liberia at war with Germany.

8.—Canadian Conscription Bill passes its third reading in Senate.

14.—China at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary.

15.—St. Quentin Cathedral destroyed by Germans.

15.—Canadian troops capture Hill 70, dominating Lens.

19.—Italians cross the Isonzo and take Austrian positions.

28.—Pope Benedict's peace plea rejected by President Wilson.

September

3.—Riga captured by Germans.

5.—New American National Army begins to assemble in the different cantonments.

7.—Minnehaha, Atlantic Transport liner, sunk off Irish coast.

12.—Argentina dismisses Von Luxburg German minister, on charges of improper conduct made public by United States government.

14.—Paul Painleve becomes French premier, succeeding Ribot.

16.—Russia proclaimed a republic by Kerensky.

20.—Costa Rica breaks with Germany.

21.—Gen. Tasker H. Bliss named Chief of Staff of the United States Army.

25.—Guynemer, famous French flier, killed.

26.—Zonnebeke, Polygon Wood and Tower Hamlets, east of Ypres, taken by British.

28.—William D. Haywood, secretary, and 100 members of the Industrial Workers of the World arrested for sedition.

29.—Turkish Mesopotamian army, under Ahmed Bey, captured by British.

October

6.—Peru and Uruguay break with Germany.

9.—Poelcapelle and other German positions captured in Franco-British attack.

12-16.—Oesel and Dago, Russian islands in Gulf of Riga, captured by Germans.

17.—Antilles, American transport, westbound from France, sunk by submarine; 67 lost.

18.—Moon Island, in the Gulf of Riga, taken by Germans.

23.—American troops in France fire their first shot in trench warfare.

23.—French advance northeast of Soissons.

24.—Austro-Germans begin great offensive on Italian positions.

25.—Italians retreat across the Isonzo and evacuate the Bainsizza Plateau.

26.—Brazil at war with Germany.

27.—Goritzia recaptured by Austro-Germans.

30.—Michaelis, German Chancellor, resigns; succeeded by Count George F. von Hertling.

31.—Italians retreat to the Tagliamento.

31.—Beersheba, in Palestine, occupied by British.

November

1.—Germans abandon position on Chemin des Dames.

3.—Americans in trenches suffer 20 casualties in German attacks.

5.—Italians abandon Tagliamento line and retire on a 93-mile front in the Carnic Alps.

6.—Passchendaele captured by Canadians.

6.—British Mesopotamian forces reach Tekrit, 100 miles northwest of Bagdad.

7.—The Russian Bolsheviki, led by Lenine and Trotzsky, seize Petrograd and depose Kerensky.

8.—Gen. Diaz succeeds Gen. Cadorna as Commander-in-Chief of Italian armies.

9.—Italians retreat to the Piave.

10.—Lenine becomes Premier of Russia, succeeding Kerensky.

15.—Georges Clemenceau becomes Premier of France, succeeding Painleve.

18.—Major General Maude, captor of Bagdad, dies in Mesopotamia.

21.—Ribecourt, Flesquieres, Havrincourt, Marcoing and other German positions captured by British.

23.—Italians repulse Germans on the whole front from the Asiago Plateau to the Brenta River.

24.—Cambrai menaced by British, who approach within three miles, capturing Bourlon Wood.

December

1.—German East Africa reported completely conquered.

1.—Allies' Supreme War Council, representing the United States, France, Great Britain and Italy, holds first meeting at Versailles.

3.—Russian Bolsheviki arrange armistice with Germans.

5.—British retire from Bourlon Wood, Graincourt and other positions west of Cambrai.

6.—Jacob Jones, American destroyer, sunk by submarine in European waters.

6.—Steamer Mont Blanc, loaded with munitions, explodes in collision with the Imo in Halifax harbor: 1500 persons are killed.

7.—Finland declares independence.

8.—Jerusalem, held by the Turks for 673 years, surrenders to British, under Gen. Allenby.

8.—Ecuador breaks with Germany.

10.—Panama at war with Austria-Hungary.

11.—United States at war with Austria-Hungary.

15.—Armistice signed between Germany and Russia at Brest-Litovsk.

17.—Coalition government of Sir Robert Borden is returned and conscription confirmed in Canada.

1918

January

14.—Premier Clemenceau orders arrest of former Premier Caillaux on high treason charge.

19.—American troops take over sector northwest of Toul.

29.—Italians capture Monte di val Belle.

February

1.—Argentine Minister of War recalls military attaches from Berlin and Vienna.

6.—Tuscania, American transport, torpedoed off coast of Ireland: 101 lost.

22.—American troops in Chemin des Dames sector.

26.—British hospital ship, Glenart Castle, torpedoed.

27.—Japan proposes joint military operations with Allies in Siberia.

March

1.—Americans gain signal victory in salient north of Toul.

3.—Peace treaty between Bolshevik government of Russia and the Central Powers signed at Brest-Litovsk.

4.—Treaty signed between Germany and Finland.

5.—Rumania signs preliminary treaty of peace with Central Powers.

9.—Russian capital moved from Petrograd to Moscow.

14.—Russo-German peace treaty ratified by All-Russian Congress of Soviets at Moscow.

20.—President Wilson orders all Holland ships in American ports taken over.

21.—Germans begin great drive on 50-mile front from Arras to La Fere. Bombardment of Paris by German long-range gun from a distance of 76 miles.

24.—Peronne, Ham and Chauny evacuated by Allies.

25.—Bapaume and Nesle occupied by Germans.

29.—General Foch chosen Commander-in-Chief of all Allied forces.

April

5.—Japanese forces landed at Vladivostok.

9.—Second German drive begun in Flanders.

10.—First German drive halted before Amiens after maximum advance of 35 miles.

14.—United States Senator Stone, of Missouri, chairman of Committee on Foreign Relations, dies.

15.—Second German drive halted before Ypres, after maximum advance of 10 miles.

16.—Bolo Pasha, Levantine resident in Paris executed for treason.

21.—Guatemala at War with Germany.

22.—Baron Von Richthofen, premier German flier, killed.

23.—British naval forces raid Zeebrugge in Belgium, German submarine base, and block channel.

May

7.—Nicaragua at war with Germany and her allies.

19.—Major Raoul Lufberry, famous American aviator, killed.

24.—Costa Rica at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary.

27.—Third German drive begins or Aisne-Marne front of 30 miles between Soissons and Rheims.

28.—Germans sweep on beyond the Chemin des Dames and cross the Vesle at Fismes.

28.—Cantigny taken by Americans in local attack.

29.—Soissons evacuated by French.

31.—Marne River crossed by Germans, who reach Chateau Thierry, 40 miles from Paris.

31.—President Lincoln, American transport, sunk.

June

2.—Schooner Edward H .Cole torpedoed by submarine off American coast.

3-6.—American marines and regulars check advance of Germans at Chateau Thierry and Neuilly after maximum advance of Germans of 32 miles. Beginning of American co-operation on major scale.

9-14.—German drive on Noyon-Montdidier front. Maximum advance, 5 miles.

15-24.—Austrian drive on Italian front ends in complete failure.

30.—American troops in France, in all departments of service, number 1,019,115.

July

1.—Vaux taken by Americans.

3.—Mohammed V, Sultan of Turkey, dies.

10.—Czecho-Slovaks, aided by Allies, take control of a long stretch of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

12.—Berat, Austrian base in Albania, captured by Italians.

15.—Haiti at war with Germany.

15.—Stonewall defense of Chateau Thierry blocks new German drive on Paris.

16.—Nicholas Romanoff, ex-Czar of Russia, executed at Yekaterinburg.

17.—Lieut. Quentin Roosevelt, youngest son of ex-President Roosevelt, killed in aerial battle near Chateau Thierry.

18.—French and Americans begin counter offensive on Marne-Aisne front.

19.—San Diego, United States cruiser, sunk off Fire Island.

20.—Carpathia, Cunard liner, used as transport torpedoed off Irish coast. It was the Carpathia that saved most of the survivors of the Titanic in April, 1912.

20.—Justicia, giant liner used as troopship, is sunk off Irish coast.

21.—German submarine sinks three barges off Cape Cod.

23.—French take Oulchy-le-Chateau and drive the Germans back ten miles between the Aisne and the Marne.

30.—Allies astride the Ourcq; Germans in full retreat to the Vesle.

August

1.—Sergeant Joyce Kilmer. American poet and critic, aged 31, dies in battle.

2.—French troops recapture Soissons.

3.—President Wilson announces new policy regarding Russia and agrees to cooperate with Great Britain, France and Japan in sending forces to Murmansk, Archangel and Vladivostok.

3.—Allies sweep on between Soissons and Rheims, driving the enemy from his base at Fismes and capturing the entire Aisne-Vesle front.

7.—Franco-American troops cross the Vesle.

8.—New Allied drive begun by Field Marshal Haig in Picardy, penetrating enemy front 14 miles.

10.—Montdidier recaptured.

13.—Lassigny massif taken by French.

15.—Canadians capture Damery and Parvillers, northwest of Roye.

29.—Noyon and Bapaume fall in new Allied advance.

September

1.—Australians take Peronne.

1.—Americans fight for the first time on Belgian soil and capture Voormezeele.

11.—Germans are driven back to the Hindenburg line which they held in November, 1917.

12.—Registration day for new draft army of men between 18 and 45 in the United States.

13.—Americans begin vigorous offense in St. Mihiel Sector on 40-mile front.

14.—St. Mihiel recaptured from Germans. General Pershing announces entire St. Mihiel salient erased, liberating more than 150 square miles of French territory which had been in German hands since 1914.

20.—Nazareth occupied by British forces in Palestine under Gen. Allenby.

23.—Bulgarian armies flee before combined attacks of British, Greek, Serbian, Italian and French.

25.—British take 40,000 prisoners in Palestine offensive.

26.—Strumnitza, Bulgaria, occupied by Allies.

27.—Franco-Americans in drive from Rheims to Verdun take 30,000 prisoners.

28.—Belgians attack enemy from Ypres to North Sea, gaining four miles.

29.—Bulgaria surrenders to General d'Esperey, the Allied commander.

30.—British-Belgian advance reaches Roulers.

October

1.—St. Quentin, cornerstone of Hindenburg line, captured.

1.—Damascus occupied by British in Palestine campaign.

2.—Lens evacuated by Germans.

3.—Albania cleared of Austrians by Italians.

4.—Ferdinand, king of Bulgaria, abdicates; Boris succeeds

5.—Prince Maximilian new German Chancellor, pleads with President Wilson to ask Allies for armistice.

7.—Berry-au-Bac taken by French.

8.—President Wilson asks whether German Chancellor speaks for people or war lords.

9.—Cambrai in Allied hands.

10.—Leinster, passenger steamer, sunk in Irish Channel by submarine; 480 lives lost; final German atrocity at sea.

11.—Americans advance through Argonne forest.

12.—German foreign secretary, Solf, says plea for armistice is made in name of German people; agrees to evacuate all foreign soil.

12.—Nish, in Serbia, occupied by Allies.

13.—Laon and La Fere abandoned by Germans.

13.—Grandpre captured by Americans after four days' battle.

14.—President Wilson refers Germans to General Foch for armistice terms.

16.—Lille entered by British patrols.

17.—Ostend, German submarine base, taken by land and sea forces.

17.—Douai falls to Allies.

19.—Bruges and Zeebrugge taken by Belgians and British.

25.—Beginning of terrific Italian drive which nets 50,000 prisoners in five days.

31.—Turkey surrenders; armistice takes effect at noon; conditions include free passage of Dardanelles.

November

1.—Clery-le-Grand captured by American troops of First Army.

3.—Americans sweep ahead on 50-mile front above Verdun; enemy in full retreat.

3.—Official reports announce capture of 362,350 Germans since July 15.

3.—Austria surrenders, signing armistice with Italy at 3 P. M. after 500,000 prisoners had been taken.

4.—Americans advance beyond Stenay and strike at Sedan.

7.—American Rainbow Division and parts of First Division enter suburbs of Sedan.

8.—Heights south of Sedan seized by Americans.

9.—Maubeuge captured by Allies.

10.—Canadians take Mons in irresistible advance.

11.—Germany surrenders; armistice takes effect at 11 A. M. American flag hoisted on Sedan front.

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